Page 390 of Commanding Blood And Bonds

Can we focus the demons where we want them? I asked.

That’s the idea.

Then go.

“Um…” Magnolia’s voice shook. “Did Freya and Cyrus just vanish?”

I sighed, “Yep.”

“They’re going after the gates?”

“Yep.”

“It’s like a giant chess game,” she whispered. “Moving pieces across the board, even when it costs you.”

“Yes,” I said quietly—but when I looked down, her skin had gone pale. “Mags?”

She blinked up at me. “Which soul would you say is your most observational?”

Cyrus

Three portals and several hours later, we returned to Santa Bloom.

Freya stumbled on impact, chest heaving, swiping a shaking arm across sweat-slick skin as her eyes locked on mine—searching for reassurance I couldn’t give.

Impossible.

This was impossible.

The war Grayshell had chosen to stand against would consume us all. Santa Bloom was under siege—but so were Chicago, New York, New Orleans, and God knew how many others. We'd made a detour through Ivy Springs—a hellscape of blood and fire, once cradled by now-burning mountains.

But August and Freya still had mortal family. So, we punched through the lines, dropped their loved ones in a safe house, and closed the gate behind us without explanation.

It wasn't sustainable. They were just two souls. And both had to be standing on the razor’s edge of burnout. No one else had a clue how to close the goddamn portals, so the lightning wielder and I ran defense while the girls stitched shut one rift after another.

Impossible. Continuing like this was impossible.

Which brought us back here. Alvara staggered into her mate, gasping, coughing on the thick smoke clinging to the air like poison. This city was already lost. The war unwinnable. But still they moved. Still they fought. The walls reinforced themselves, Grayshell’s blades cut through enemy lines with relentless precision. For every one of ours that fell, ten Renown followed—and twice that in demons. But it wouldn’t last. Fatigue and burnout would claim us before the enemy did.

The allies they’d promised us? Nowhere to be seen.

Successfully divided. Inevitably conquered.

Alvara dropped us into a parking lot beside what used to be a mall. The walls had been blown apart, windows shattered and blackened with the soot of an inferno. The stench of excrement, carrion, and charred flesh made my stomach turn. Even my shadows flinched away from the dark magic soaked into these walls.

Hell no, they whispered, curling back beneath my skin despite the pitch-black cocoon surrounding us.

“This feels like suicide,” I muttered, my element pulling me back toward the carnage, toward the red-and-gold flashes of light painting the sky in apocalyptic bursts. The witches’ once-beautiful city was now smoldering.

Even here, the air was thick with ash. It fell like cursed snow. Lightning arced overhead, no doubt August’s doing, as his frustration surged.

“My love, he’s right,” he said, shaking his head. “We can’t keep this up. Not like this.”

“No choice,” Ally panted, her voice fraying at the edges. Screeching demons tore past us—unbothered by our presence. We were too inconsequential to kill, apparently.

“Just...give us a second,” Freya wheezed, hunched over, gripping her ribs with a blood-soaked hand. “Need to catch my breath.”

I looked at her, really looked.