Page 93 of Commanding Blood And Bonds

Those realizations led to an animated discussion over Grayshell’s proposed strategy moving into the coming war. Human safety—an inevitable byproduct of their authority’s compliance with our proposal—was a top priority, followed shortly by preserving as many natural resources as we could.

Attempting to silence the complaints of my hunger, I nodded in agreement before explaining, “There will come a day—not so far from now—where our existence will be common fact. According to Ally’s visions, there are two outcomes. Either we will be demonized and prosecuted, or worshiped like gods. If souls aim to oppress them, then all souls must be punished alongside those at the helm of the revolution. It’s there that we can make a difference. As their defenders, we will at least plant the seed that we’re not all the root of their problems.”

“Right,” Ally said definitively. “Our best bet is making sure we’re prepared to differentiate ourselves from the Renown, or whoever else these assholes acquire. We need a presence that’s undeniable. A cut and dry divide between dark and light, so that they can correlate the difference and know we’re here to help. Because…”

“The witch trials will be back,” Rose deduced.

“Only, it’s a shoot first and ask questions later situation,” I pointed out, shifting back in my chair with a huff. Ally and I might’ve run circles around this conversation but it didn’t mean any of our allies had the same chance to process.

“Good thing bullets can’t touch us.”

“They can,” I countered, earning two sets of narrowed brown eyes.

“Or they will be able to soon,” Ally amended. “I’ve seen it, and it’s going to get unspeakably ugly. They’ve…weaponized reapers venom, as far as we can tell. Freya saw it in action, and it’s not a desirable death.”

“What do you mean?” Kingsley asked, drawing out each word as if keeping a rope on that temper I’d born witness to.

“Slow. Agonizing. According to Freya it eats the skin alive from the inside out,” I said. I went on to explain everything Freya had reported to us. The ongoing plea of Reyna’s man to ‘get it out’ was what seemed to catch his attention the most.

“What if you did?”

“Get it out?” Ally guessed, or read, I was never sure which. When the king nodded, she sucked down a breath. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen them in malleable visions and—luckily—haven’t encountered one in person, so I’m not sure. Perhaps if it goes clean through, you can avoid it leaching into your system?”

Irritation etched across Kingsley’s perpetually solemn face as he asked, “Like lead poisoning?”

“Maybe? Your guess is as good as mine until we can get our hands on one.”

“Why are we worried about allying with the humans if there’s a weapon like that in the hands of our enemy? Shouldn’t that take priority?”

“Freya and Bellaton are hunting for it now,” she reassured.

“No offense, but I’m not putting my faith in a newborn.”

“A newborn with divine memory,” I said, trying and failing to avoid feeling defensive of the soul that chased me through lifetimes to fulfill her vow to my mate. Freya wasn’t just my sister, anymore; the connection of finding another soul mate in our group had roared to life on that killing field. “She’s lived many lives and has a record of most of them.”

“So, how can we help?” Rose interrupted cheerily before Kingsley could snipe back, clinging to some semblance of her enthusiasm despite the circumstances. She waved her hand, and the plates of food hovered over to the table, settling with subtle ceramic clinks. The clouds finally moved past the sun, freeing its warmth to radiate down through the windows into the cozy space, the light settling over Ally’s luminous skin.

“Keep your eyes up. Help us talk to human leaders. Mostly though, we have to understand this bond before the horsemen descend, or I don’t see this ending well for us…” Ally’s eyes drifted off into the other, her ribs ceasing their movement mid-inhale. My shield had remained properly spooled inside my chest today, so I could watch the vision clear as day as it rushed through her mind.

Running through the heart of a city, fear coursing through her veins as rapidly as the rivers of sweat across her skin, the healer banked towards the hospital. There would be help. Magnolia said there was help there.

She dared a glance backwards, sobbing as she saw what she fled from. Tight on her heels stood a skeletal demon, its frame a cross between an onyx stag and a man, ribs jutting out, and hands tipped in blood soaked talons. The mutated face was topped with a crown of antlers, the comparison halting as it opened its mouth to roar and revealed rows of jagged teeth. She screamed as the beast caught her, gutting her in one motion with those enormous horns.

Ally’s hand flew to her mouth, eyes wide as they locked on me for a beat before she was moving, rushing for her phone where she’d left it across the room.

“With all due respect, what the fuck was that?” Kingsley asked, scowl directed at her back, clearly irritated he couldn’t see whatever sent her launching for her cell.

“Mortiferous Nóchtaithe?”

“Christ,” Kingsley groaned, running a palm over his face. Nausea roiled in my gut, nerves bristling. I had seen it in her mind; the beast peeled right out of a nightmare. But logic was warring hard with what the vision had presented. Alvara’s mind was thrumming—she had decided to research the beasts, and hadn’t even made it to Kingsley’s computer when the visions began whirring through her head with the information we’d find. “Because hell hounds and blood wolves weren’t enough, we just needed to add more nightmares to this mess.”

A muffled thud jerked all of our attention to the front door right as it opened—all, except for Ally, of course, who kept her eyes in the other world. Cold rushed through the little room, stealing the air from the space, but relief washed over me. Something like a sense of coming home as I laid eyes on Alec and Fae, both bundled and red nosed, snow sliding off their boots beside the black backpack he had evidently dumped on the deck.

“I’m sorry.” Alec blinked before clearing his throat, eyes narrowing to slits. “Did you just say we’re hunting the Lethal Night?”

“Actually,” Fae interjected, stepping forward to wrap her arm around his as she continued, “given the state of the world right now, that tracks.”

Rose burst out laughing, rising from her chair and heading straight for the little blonde to wrap her in a collision of a hug, right as Ally pulled herself from her psychic download. Rose had just inclined her head in curiosity, when a smirking Ally prowled up to her sister, wrapping her in a much gentler embrace. Alec’s narrowed eyes flicked to her face, the dip between his brows deepening.