It's been four days, and Roman's shadows still haven't found any evidence of Silas moving toward his home; it looks like he will be coming to us. He's been rallying all his people into one spot; even people from his kingdom were seen moving out, so everyone is on edge, including me. I suggested moving in once he had them all together, but Roman said it's better to let him think he has the element of surprise, and it will give us the "home-field advantage." I wanted to just get it over with; the stakes are so much higher now. Given that we're unsure if he will lead with those half-Kudde beasts he made, Roman had the security system expanded so my family and I would have time to take off and neutralize that threat.
Thayer, Dahlia, and all the troops he planned to send are here. Roman called and updated him on the situation, and he said he'd rather come now if an attack is imminent, so they could get familiar with the land. It was no question whether or not we would be attacked at night; while the sun doesn't kill vampires, they aren't at their full strength when the sun is out. Thayer said he and his men could manipulate the moon to give off UV light for a short period of time, so we will at least have that to add to our list of advantages.
Aylin and Dad also ordered their army here for the same reason. Then, we had roughly three hundred vampires Samirah and Damon brought. Three hundred wasn't a lot, but they were still well-trained, and I wanted them to get their revenge against the men who abused them. The pack was officially full.
I was back to training day in and day out; as it turns out, I can indeed make Aylin invisible as long as she's touching me. To my surprise, we can still see each other when I have us both invisible. It takes a bit more concentration, but the more I do it, the less taxing it becomes. We've been going over flying basics, and I've used my wings a handful of times. Still, we obviously can't risk me falling into a tree or anything, so it's just been the very basics in case we somehow fall out of the sky.
Dad and I haven't gone over anything new, just refining what I already know, especially burning people alive from the inside. I had questioned why I couldn't just manifest a flame and make a bonfire out of them, but apparently, it takes a lot more energy to manifest fire and ice than it does to just use your mind to burn them. We'll need to conserve our powers as much as possible.
Although, having to stop once every half hour to pee and shove my face is getting annoying. I've already regained half the weight I lost; Dr. Crowen said it was my supernatural healing when I questioned why I looked almost normal again. Little Bean is now measuring in at one pound and four ounces, which seems so small compared to how much belly I have. I was visibly pregnant before, but it was if you looked at me for long enough. Now, I have a very defined baby bump, which only makes me anxious to end this.
The night surrounds Aylin and me as we fly through it; it's only a waxing moon tonight. I look up at the tiny sliver of moon, the little light it gives off mocking me. We were ready for him to move in on us last night when it was a new moon, thinking he would do it when the night sky was at its darkest. I was almost relieved when they didn't.
"Let's get home; I'm done. My back is killing after being held like I'm your bride for all these hours," I tell Aylin; she cracks a half smile before she swoops back to Earth. While she wasn't exactly warm and fuzzy before, she's been extra cold to everyone except me, Dad, and Az. I had asked her about Damon, and she just shook her head and said she would talk about it when she was ready. I knew not to push her.
"Amara is done; she's ready for this anyways. We're just playing games now," Aylin says to my dad and Azrael as we portal home.
We land in the kitchen, Roman meeting me there with a kiss as he pulls a plate loaded with food from the microwave. Man, I missed Fajita night! Something about fajitas coming out on the sizzling skillet makes them so much better fresh, but I won't complain. I quickly pound down four of the six Roman gave me, the baby playing soccer in my belly the whole time. I hand him the other two to finish as I rest my head on his shoulder. I'll just close my eyes for a few minutes.
I wake to Roman picking me up, oops. I should have known that was a trap; I don't ever just "close my eyes for a few minutes." I yawn
"I can walk," I tell him.
"I know. Doesn't mean you need to," he tells me, pressing a kiss to my temple and portaling us to our room.
"I think portaling is making you lazy," I say, hopping out of his arms, discarding my clothes, and crawling into bed.
"I like to think of it as preserving energy," he says, crawling beside me and pulling my back to his chest. I just shake my head.
"You have the night patrols on high alert tonight? And the Fae, demons, and vampires, who will stay up?" I ask him
"Yes, dear," he says mockingly; I pinch the skin on his hand. "Hey, that was rude."
I just shake my head and wiggle closer, pulling the blanket up and tucking it under my chin.
Any sleep I get isn't restful; if I'm not tossing and turning, I'm getting up to pee. I look at my snoring mate and brush his loose, long hair out of his face. I'll let him rest; he'll be up soon enough. They're coming tonight; I know it in my bones. I glance at the clock. 11:23. I sigh, laying back down and closing my eyes. Some sleep is better than no sleep, I guess.
I wake as Roman shoots up. I'm instantly out of bed and throwing clothes on, knowing it's time; he follows.
"The shadows say they're only moving our way, towards the southern border. We have time to rally everyone into position," he says
I only nod, adrenaline already flooding me, as he comes to me and grabs my shoulders, looking me dead in the eyes.
"Please just stay, hide in the bunkers, or better, go to the underworld. No one has to know you didn't fight tonight," he begs me in one last anguished attempt.
I look into his eyes. I can see the desperation and practically hear Adonis screaming at him to force me into submission, his own instincts telling him to do the same. But that's not who he is; that's not the mate I need him to be. I grab his wrists and move his hands so he's cupping my face.
"You know I can't," I tell him.
This is my fight; I will not be that same seventeen-year-old girl hiding in a tree while I watch everyone I love die for me. I will not. I will never be that helpless little broken girl again. Roman only sucks in a breath, closing his eyes and nodding before he pulls me to him, his hand in my hair and the other around my back as he crushes me to his chest.
"I'll come back to you if you come back to me," I say as I lift my head from his chest and pull him down for a kiss.
His kiss is as desperate as his words, but I take it all as he moves his lips against mine, his tongue fighting mine for dominance that I give over, and his hands squeezing my ass, pulling me closer. We're both breathing heavily when he pulls away after a few minutes.
"Come on, baby. It's time to go," he tells me, and then he grabs my hand and portals us to the woods near the southern border.
What we come into is the face of calm determination. Demon, wolf, Fae, and the few vampires are assuming their positions. Thayer, Dhalia, and four other Fae are stationed in a tree with a clear shot at the moon, ready for when they hit our go point.
"Ten minutes out," he whispers to my dad before I hear it flitter through the mind link as well.
Aylin and Azrael appear next to me, both with their wings on full display. Aylin grabs my arm, but my father puts a hand up before he comes up and pulls us both in his massive arms.
"Both of you, please be careful. At the first sign of risk to yourselves, portal back to the castle," he says as he clunks our foreheads together and kisses each of them.
"Ready, sister?" she says to me.
I nod as she scoops me up and flies into the dead of the night, Azrael and Dad on our heels. We're far, far above the trees, when Aylin finally comes to a stop, her wings flapping behind her. I look down; my pack and our allies below are the sizes of ants. I gulp but remind myself I have wings and the ability to portal if we get knocked out of the air. I don't make us invisible just yet, not until we can be seen, as I don't want to drain my powers before I need to.
I lift my eyes from my people, looking for my enemy, our target. My eyes scan the trees over and over until I see them. Artemis' tits, how many "poorly trained" soldiers did Silas have in his kingdom? It looks like there are easily ten thousand, if not more, and I don't even see their abomination of a science experiment we're supposed to kill yet. Aylin growls as the idea that Samirah and Damon betrayed us flits through our heads as we fly over to the spot we plan to attack from, just before the border.
Seeing no dogs up front, I assume that means they'll lead with the grenades, so I mindlink the entire pack with the information. I feel the link connect and watch as the Fae warriors in the middle unleash their wings and fly above the trees, ready to execute our backup plan.
Just as the vampires are about to approach the border, wolves jump out, snarling and running to them as I watch the front line of the vampires simultaneously throw small objects in the wolf's direction.
"NOW," I shout through the air, immediately turning us invisible, and Aylin takes off.
The flying Fae below us hear our signal and dip down below. I watch a few seconds longer than I should as they scoop up the wolves running right at the vampires, lifting them up above the explosions, and let out a sigh of relief. I feel a few packlinks break through the bond that Roman and I left open for each other; any life lost is abhorrent, but at least it was better than it would have been. Chaos breaks free below us as the Fae drop those wolves into the vampire's formation, and everyone else runs at the oncoming bloodsuckers. I don't get to dwell on it as Aylin shoots us forward until we find the Kudde-hybrids.
They're ugly, feral things. They look exactly like Damon and Samirah described. From up above, they look like bears with one hell of a hunch back, running on four legs. But when we dive down closer, they have an elongated snout like a wolf, their limbs are long and gangly, and I can see even from here that they're foaming at the mouth.
I swallow my horror and disgust as we fly above them, Az and Dad on the opposite end of the vampire's formation as we get to work. I concentrate on one; it yelps and trips over itself for a second, but it resists my magic somehow. I concentrate harder but still nothing.
Aylin has the same issue; then I see that some have already jumped into battle and are effortlessly ripping wolves to shreds.
"Concentrate on that one," she says, pointing to one running straight at a wolf and a Fae fighting side by side.
I do as she says, and I have to put some effort into it, but it turns to dust with both of our powers concentrated on it at once.
"We keep doing that. To your left, the one with its eyes on the brown wolf," Aylin says
I waste no time listening to her command and turn my head, my gaze focusing on the filth about to pounce on Lake's wolf as it turns to ash before it can even pounce.
We continue to fly through the chaos, taking them out individually. I have no idea how long we've been at this or how many we've destroyed, but we're both panting. Fuck, we prepared for this draining our energy, but I'm exhausted, and so is my magic. I look around, finding my dad and Azrael flying together, doing the same thing we're doing, then I look at the battlefield.
I only count four more. Four more, that's two in each group. We can do that. Aylin sucks in a breath as we dive back down, lingering on the one for an entire minute before the three wolves attacking it find an opening and tear its throat out, saving us from having to use more energy on it.
My chest heaves. We see one going for Aston's grey wolf, and we both zero in on it, but we only slow it down as I yell at Aston through the mindlink, and he turns. A vicious snarl leaves his lips as he jumps into a one-on-one battle with the hybrid-Kudde. We focus on it, and my heart rate spikes. It whimpers as it feels us burning it from the inside out but continues to thrash with Aston. Fuck, it's not working, it's not working! I'm about to say fuck it and manifest a fireball, not caring that it will officially drain me. Manifesting always takes more energy than just burning them with my mind. I'm ready to call my flame forward, but I don't have a clear shot at him, and I can't risk setting Aston on fire. I let out a scream of terror as it gets the upper hand and rips through Aston's throat, and he falls.
"NO" I yell
I try to jump out of Aylin's arms to get to him, but she holds me tight as my hands go to my head, and I start to pull my hair out as I feel Adonis' whimper leak through the bond. No! No! Not Aston! I think back to all the times he trained me on top of the other warriors, not complaining for a second, his carefree personality, how he learned what I was the night my seal broke and didn't even bat an eye.
I feel Aylin flying us away, but my own horror overruns everything else I'm feeling; I close down my walls, knowing Roman will feel it too, as Aylin lands us in a tree and grabs my face.
"Amara! Amara, breathe," she commands me as she slaps me, very lightly, but enough to get me to focus on her instead of my own grief.
"This is battle, you cry after, and I will be there for you, but right now, we recharge for a minute while we plan our next move, that spent our magic," she says.
"How? How is our magic spent? We're the two most powerful beings on this Earth right now; how is it so spent that I couldn't save my friend?" I cry
"Balance. It's all about balance. Killing those things took...a lot more energy than we anticipated, and we used too much power all at once. It will come back; it just needs a minute." she tells me, still breathing heavily.
Her words prove accurate as I feel my magic fizzing back to life. When we're about to take off, I hear her suck in a breath and follow her eyes. Damon and Samirah fight back to back as they take out vampire after vampire, but they're being swarmed. It looks like they're holding their own, but Aylin's worry still makes the air thick.
"Go to him. I'll have Dad come and get me," I tell her, and she looks at me hesitantly.
"Go to your mate; I'll be fine," I reassure her.
Her eyes widen, and I give her a bored look before she waves her hand at me dismissively. Although Damon's display at our meeting made it obvious, their banter back and forth over the last few days left me with no questions.
"Stay here and stay invisible; I'll have Dad come grab you," she says before she takes off.
I continue looking around; I don't see any sign of Silas being here. Coward. I don't see any hint of Felix either, and I wanted his death just as much as I wanted Silas'. I was more disturbed than anything at not knowing his role in all this other than just bringing me to them. Damon had mentioned that he heard Felix was working with black magic and necromancy, which was unsettling but unsurprising given that he manipulated our fake mating. I'm unsure what that means for this battle, but we needed those two dead above anyone else.
Hand on my belly as I feel my little girl moving, I tune into the bond with Roman; he's not hurt, and he's getting tired, but he's okay. I let them calm my anxiety for a minute before I jump when Dad flies up to the tree. Wordlessly, I grab his neck as he lifts me. I make us invisible as he flies through the battle.
From what I could see, there were no more kudde hybrids, but they had done their damage, tearing wolves, Fae, and demons apart, leaving a trail of body parts in their wake. I shudder as we fly closer and call my dagger to my hand. I toss it at a vampire I see with its arm's around a wolf's neck, hitting him right in the back of his head. I call my dagger back and continue that rhythm as Dad uses his mind to tear vampires to shreds.
I refuse to think about the dead I can identify, and I can't even let my mind move to Aston, or CiCi, for that matter. No, I can't go there, I have to stay concentrated. I pause from my dagger throwing and look around; this is good, this is good. They're pushing us back some, but we seem to have it under control. I ensure my mental shields are intact, just in case. Then out of nowhere, I feel Dad's grip on me loosen, and a force knocks us back.
"FUCK" he yells as we start to fall.
We tumble through the air, my heart rate spiking when I see an arrow sticking out of his shoulder. Fuck, did I lose my concentration and make us visible? I panic when I see the ground quickly approaching and call my wings forward just as Dad tosses me. He hits the ground, his noninjured shoulder taking the brunt of his fall.
Still panicking and falling, I angle my wings to slow my fall and catch some wind before flapping them as I go down. I shield my belly as I hit the ground with my legs and trip. I don't hit the ground hard, but it's certainly not what I would call a graceful landing.
Frantically, I try and find Dad. I stumble around, searching when I see him, the arrow still sticking out of him, rolling around, trying to get the upper hand on a vampire. I waste no time concentrating on the vampire before he's dust and run up to Dad.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," he says
He snaps one end of the arrow off, and I pull the other end out of his back and watch as his wound heals much slower than it usually would.
"Fucking devilsbane," he says as he sniffs the arrow
"I thought you were immune?" I ask, remembering how Aylin says her army takes a daily antidote
"I am, but my body has to get it out of my system first. That's how the antidote works, more of a vaccine," he says as he catches his breath
"Ah. There she is; I was wondering when you would show up," I hear a silthery screechy voice say from behind me. I turn around, knowing I'll see Silas
"I could say the same," I say back as he circles me
Roman's POV
They just keep coming. I have no idea how many I've killed, but it doesn't seem to be making a dent. Adonis rolls over as two crawls on our back and crushes them just as one lunges for my now exposed neck. I open my jaws to crush him just as a hellhound catches him midair, and they roll around before the hellhound bites his face. The vampire screeches as the hound's fang pierces his eye before being cut off with a gurgle as the hound tears his neck.
Helpful little dogs they are; maybe I should breed my own. I take a staggering breath as Adonis, and I leap back into the chaos, continuing to tear apart the vamps. The extra moonlight the Faes cast has started to dim, making me wonder just how long we've been at this.
I snarl as I feel a bloodsucker jump on my shoulder, ripping at it. A feral growl leaves me, throwing my body sideways and knocking him off. He wastes no time pouncing on me again, and I feel him slice up my side. He's at the right angle for me to grab the arm with the blade he used to cut me, and I rip his arm off just as he slams it into my side. We both howl in pain, and I shake him off me before jumping on him and ripping his head clean off before I'm forced to shift back.
I pull the dagger he shoved into me as I feel myself start healing. Slowly, but still healing. I have no time to waste, though, as my vulnerability is spotted, and two bloodsuckers come at me. Fuck it, what do I care?
I shift into my demon form as I portal behind them and blast them with the icy smoke that leaks from my hands. They both fall forward as I jump on them and freeze their bodies before I punch their heads clean off. I'll have to thank Azrael for that little trick later.
As soon as their heads hit the ground, a splitting pain shoots through mine, but it's not my own pain. Amara! The pain comes in my leg next. What the fuck happened? I shift into Adonis again, not caring about the throbbing in my shoulder telling me I shifted too early as pure fury numbs me. I run in the direction the bond is pulling me in. I don't even try to weave in and out of the vampires coming at me; I just run them over, hoping I at least crush a few skulls with our massive paws.
Now in demon-wolf form, we make it there quickly and find Armaros taking on at least seven vamps while Amara...Amara is rolling around snarling with some fucker I've never seen before, but I can guess who it is. His red eyes are wide as I run up to them and grab his shoulder in our maw, throwing him off her. He howls as we take a chunk of his shoulder out, and he hits the ground a few yards away. I stand over Amara, who looks fine, and scan her quickly.
"He's too fast; I can't concentrate on him to burn him or land a blow," she pants.
He lets out a feral snarl as he moves at the speed of light before approaching us and upper-cutting me so I go flying; we twist so we land on our feet and charge at him. He runs right at us, too, and we collide; claws and fists fly, growling booms, and we land bites on each other, but neither gets the upper hand. I finally see an opening and go to grab his hand and rip it off before I feel his claws sink into my head. His red, now glowing eyes stare into mine, and my mind goes blank as he sinks his claws into it, and I fall under his command.