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Chapter Thirty
Blake
Tamsin and I reappear on the stone table in the Valley of Souls. The first light of dawn is rising over the peaks to the east, casting a golden hue across the snow. Before us stand the witches and warlocks of the Highland clans, a hundred strong, along with an angel, a faerie, a vampire, and a tiger shifter.
“You found me,” Tamsin says breathily, placing her hand over my heart.
“I will always find you,” I say. “Last time we spoke, it was in anger. I was in the wrong, I shouldn’t have started that fight.”
“There is no bad blood between us,” she whispers. “When I was lost in the dark, it was my memory of you that brought me back to myself.”
“I hope we have many fights ahead of us,” I say. “Because I intend to stay by your side through the good and the bad.” I drop to one knee and look up at her. “I’ve loved you all these long years, Tamsin MacPherson. You are the strongest, bravest, smartest woman I’ve ever met. Your soul is a part of mine. Your magic is woven in my heart. If you’ll have me, I’ll be yours for as long as I live.”
Tamsin smiles and pulls me to my feet. “I will have you, Blake Blackstock. Forever.”
And I kiss my witch atop the altar of our forebears. A pulse of magic shoots across the valley, and cheers ring up from the clans behind us. We clasp our hands together and raise them above our heads, turning to face our family and friends.
Colin, Daniel, Luciana, Nessa, and Ainsley stand on the front line. Tamsin’s eyes widen when she sees her sister, and she breaks away from me and runs toward her. Luciana meets her halfway and they embrace with all the joy and sorrow of the past, and hope for the future.
“You shouldn’t be here in your condition,” Tamsin says, her eyes dark with worry.
“This is going to take all of us,” Luciana responds. “I can’t stand on the sidelines.” She points to the other former demons. “You saved me. You saved all of us.”
“I shouldn’t have been gone for so long,” Tamsin says, her eyes shimmering with tears. “I’ve been a bad sister and I’m so sorry.”
“We’ll have many years to make up for it.” Luciana hugs her again.
At that moment, a volley of cries rings across the valley from the other side. I whip around and see a wave of warlocks marching down from the peaks. Clan Cameron, Aengus at its head. A horde of skeletal warriors walk among them. A chill moves over me—I knew Clan Cameron could summon the dead, but there has never been an occasion to see it with my own eyes. As they move toward us, the air beyond the stone table shimmers and a host of demons appear, three dozen at least. They are darkness and shadows like their mistress.
But where is she?
Tamsin turns and runs back to the stone altar, the others on her heels. We stand and survey the scene before us. The numbers are about even on both sides, but that’s before Darkness even arrives.
A swirling vortex appears before us and I jump back, expecting the evil creature herself to emerge. But what steps out of the portal is not one being, but a dozen. Nine dragon shifters, a man who is part demon by the power rolling off of him, and two witches, one with flaming red hair, and the other with hair black as night.
“Ven!” Tamsin yells, running toward the red-headed witch. “And Ryder! What are you doing here?”
But before anyone can respond, Luciana runs forward and pulls Ven into a mighty hug. “I heard you’re my savior,” she says.
Ven blushes and pulls the half-demon into their hug. “Ryder, too. That’s what friends are for.”
The raven-haired witch answers Tamsin’s question since everyone else is occupied with reunions. “I’m Rowan Stonecroft, and this is my fiancé Xander Cole.” She points to one of the dragon shifters. “Along with his fellow members of the Order of Nobilis Draco. Luciana contacted us last night and said you could use a little help.”
As if to emphasize her statement, the ground begins to shake as the demons, skeletons, and opposing warlocks charge across the valley floor.
“It seems we’ve arrived just in the nick of time,” Ryder says. “I always do like to make an entrance.”
“Are those…zombies?” asks Xander, a dumbfounded expression on his face.
“In a manner of speaking,” I respond.
At that moment, there’s a clap like thunder and the bright light of dawn turns to night in an instant.
“She’s here,” I growl.
The witches and warlocks all summon their magic, which swirls around them and glows in their hands like colored lanterns. Beyond the altar, a cyclone of shadows approaches. And then, from the sky above, a brilliant burst of white light appears and arcs toward us. It lands with a flurry of sparks as if a comet had just crashed down.
At first, I think it’s an angel.
But he doesn’t have wings. He has pearlescent white skin and hair that shines like moondust poured from a pitcher. He is dressed entirely in white, a long robe with a thin golden chain around his waist. A blinding glow pulsates off of him, making it hard to look directly in his face.
A hush falls across the valley.
The radiant creature stands between us and Darkness. He strides toward her, and for one brief moment, I think that some celestial being has intervened on our behalf. When the robed man reaches Darkness, however, he turns and they face us, shoulder to shoulder.
“Darkness’s brother,” Tamsin whispers in horror.
I don’t have time to contemplate further who he is or what this means, because a pulse of light like a nuclear blast shakes the valley, and the ranks of the enemy charge us.
The battle begins.
