by Nora Roberts
“Well.” Mae Pickett shifted in her seat, pushed back her long gray hair. “I get why you want it, but it seems to me you’re going after a hell of a lot, and you haven’t been at this very long. A lot of the rest of us have been at it less. Maybe we ought to take smaller bites for a while yet.”
“I’m looking at the numbers up there,” Little added. “The ones you got under Arlington. That’s a high number. And that ain’t talking about how we hear they have freaking rocket launchers, and got Uncannys working with them who can fry a man with a look. And some of them fly around like bats. Now, I like a good fight as much as the next, but we’ve already got our hands full. Maybe we study on this awhile, take a few months to train more men, get a better lay of the land. We can look at it again later on.”
“We strike, all three, tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow?” That not only brought Little out of his seat, but started a roll of those murmurs and mutters. “Listen, girlie—”
“Here is the light.” She drew her sword, and it flamed. “Here is the storm.” The air in the room trembled at her words. “You are not bound, and so you will choose. Fight or flight, courage or caution. You think this is the beginning? The beginning was long ago, long ago when men turned from magicks. When faith lost turned to hate and fear. When the dark crept over and through.”
“Okay now.” Little patted a hand at the whirling air. “Just bank that down.”
She stopped him with a look from gray eyes gone to smoke. “The shields are seven, and one is open. What poured through killed your mothers, your children, and still you doubt. They feed on your fear in feasts, and still you question courage. Look and see, look and see what comes if the next opens.”
She flung out a hand. Where the blackboard had been stood a window, and through it, madness.
Men striking down men in fields where crops lay dead and dying. Children huddled with the glassy eyes and distended bellies of the starving. A sky ripped with lightning, red and black.
And the crows, always the crows, screaming in triumph as the world burned and bled.
“I will strike the light against the dark, and I will cleave it until its blood runs black on the ground. I will burn the blood, bring a storm to whirl away the smoke.
“We will strike this blow, one, two, three, on the desert, by the sea, near the battle cries of the dead city. Before the dawn breaks, the standard of The One flies.”
As she felt the power ebb, she sheathed her sword.
“Okay then.” Eddie gave Fred’s hand a rub. “Arlington.”
Giving Eddie a nod of approval, Mick echoed him. “Arlington.”
Colin stepped up beside her. “Arlington.”
As others did the same, Little rubbed his jaw. “You punched my lights out once before. I guess you did it again. Arlington.”
PURPOSE
Necessity’s sharp pinch!
—William Shakespeare
CHAPTER SIX
With the plan in place, Fallon addressed the numbers again.
“We have ten from Mae, ten from Troy added to Thomas’s troops. Boris, Charlie add the rest to New Hope’s. We’ll need volunteers willing to relocate, to secure and hold those bases, to recruit from those locations, and train.”
“We have fifteen who’ve agreed to go to South Carolina,” Thomas told her.
“You’ll need that many more to start, and at least one with tech knowledge, two medicals.”
“Ray would go,” Rachel said. “We’ll miss him here, but he came to me, told me he’d like to go. He was born not far from there.”
“We can send a healer.” Troy folded her hands. “In that way, they’d have a witch as well. Mae, you have Benny.”
“Yeah. He’s hardly more than a kid, but he gets all that computer stuff and so on. He’d go.”
“Who would you put in charge, Thomas?”
“Mick.”
She started to object. In part of her mind he was still the goofy boy who’d flipped out of trees and run races through the woods. But he was more, she thought as she looked at him. Much more.
“Good. Mallick?”
“Forty. We have them, and the medicals, the technicians. We would need building supplies. There’s much disrepair.”
“We’ll work on it. Who will you put in charge?”
“Duncan. For the next six months, we estimate.”
She’d known it, already known. But she heard Katie’s quick sound of distress.
“It seems far.” Fallon went to her, took her hand as Hannah had taken the other. “But he can be with you just as quickly from there. Tonia can take you to see him, to see where he is. Both of you,” she added for Hannah.
“Is he ready, and willing?” Katie asked Mallick.
“He’s both. You can be proud of the son you made.”
“I am. I would—Hannah and I would like to go, see where he is, when we can.”
“We’ll make sure of it. We’ll need two hundred, minimum, for Arlington,” Fallon continued. “I’d like some from every base. Even green recruits, as we’ll have the training ground. Four medicals to begin, at least one of them a witch with healing experience and skills. Three techs.”
With the numbers satisfied, she turned back. Some still had doubts, she knew, but they’d fight. “Three a.m. for South Carolina and Arlington. One a.m. for Utah. We’ll take the dark to defeat the dark. What you need—troops, weapons, support—will be sent to you by nightfall. Thank you for what you’ve done, what you do, what you will do.”
Lana, who hadn’t spoken throughout, stood. “And please, come upstairs. There’s food and drink before you travel home again.”
Of course there is, Fallon thought, but touched Mallick’s arm. “A moment first?”
When he stepped outside, he took part of that moment to glance around. Smiled at the beehive.
He listened to the bees hum, smelled the green, the sweetness of flowers, herbs, the scents of food ripening in and above the ground, on branches.
He watched with easy amusement as a large woodpecker with its red crown pecked manically at a cake in a feeder.
“Suet,” Fallon told him. “Dad built the feeder, Mom makes the suet. The birds go nuts for it.”
“It’s not your farm, but still a strong place. And you’ve done well here.” He gestured toward the barracks. “I’d like to see your training grounds before I leave.”
“I’ll take you, and anyone who wants to see. We have strong, skilled soldiers. We’re ready for Arlington.”
“I have no doubt.”
“But you knew John Little had doubts.”
“Yes, as others would.” He turned back to her. “If you can’t alleviate doubts, or convince those who have them to follow you despite them, how can you lead?”
“Did I? Alleviate or convince? Enough for those who doubt to keep following me even when we bury our dead? Because we will bury dead after Arlington. And there are harder battles to come.”
“War is loss, girl.” He gripped her shoulder when she started to shake her head. “Not fighting this war means the loss of all. Lose sight of that, we’ve already lost. Lose faith in yourself, no one else will keep faith with you. You know this.”
“Knowing it at thirteen, fourteen when you trained me, when I picked up the sword and shield is almost a picture in a book, or words on a page. Using my sword, as I have, my powers, as I have, to spill blood, to take lives, is no small matter, Mallick.”
“War should never be a small matter.”
“I’ll use my sword, my powers, in this war. I’ll lead men to battle, and some to their deaths. And I will never, never consider a single death by my hand, a single death by my order, a tactic. If I don’t feel the weight of each life lost, what have we won? Who will we be at the end of it?”
The hand on her shoulder gentled. “You learned well. Accept the weight and fight on.”
“Why didn’t Duncan come?” She hadn’t meant to ask, but the words slipped out. “His mother misses h
im. And Hannah. Tonia, at least, sees him now and then.”
“He felt he’d better serve by staying behind, working with those we’ve chosen for the mission.”
“Like he feels he’d better serve by staying in Utah for six months?”
“Yes.”
“You agree?”
“Yes. Those under his training and his command trust and respect him. And what he learned in New Hope he takes with him to build there. The West is vast, and much of it empty. You’ll find uses for it. He’ll find them for you.”
“Then we’ll see what he can do in six months. Go, eat. I’ve kept you from my mother’s cooking long enough. I’ll take you to the barracks before you leave.”
“Will you eat?”
“Let them enjoy a little hospitality without The One hovering.”
She walked toward the hive. They’d built these here, another at the barracks. Enough, as Fred had four at the farm next door, and others had their own.
She thought of how her father had taught her to build the hives, how she’d learned from what pulsed inside her how to call the queen and the swarm.
She’d taught Mallick how to build a hive, called the swarm for him, taught him how to tend it, gather the honey, the propolis.
They’d need hives at the new bases. Did Duncan know how to build a hive, how to call the queen, how to tend and gather?
She held out a hand. Dozens of bees flew out to cover her hand, her wrist.
“That always creeped me out,” Mick said from behind her.
“We need them more than they need us.” She sent the bees flowing back. “It’s really good to see you, Mick. The couple of times I went back to check in with Thomas, you were off hunting or scouting or scavenging.”
“Bad timing. But now it’s good to see you, too. And all this. I was hoping to see the whole community, the town and all, but, well, next time.”
“Next time.”
“You always used to tell me what a great cook your mom is. Man, you got that right.” He patted his belly, then held out a cookie. “Brought you a cookie.”
“Thanks.”
“I like your dad, and your brothers. You’ve got one more brother, right?”
“Ethan, the youngest. We sent him and Fred’s kids into town for the meeting. They’re still too young to fight.” But not for much longer, she thought. “They train, but today, they’re helping in the community gardens.”
She gestured with the cookie, started to walk toward the barracks. “How are Twila and Jojo and Bagger and, well, everybody?”
“We’re good. We’ve been taking care of the cottage, the gardens, and all that. The faerie tribe and the shifters, too. There are more of us now, and some regulars.”
“Regulars?”
“You know, like your dad and Colin.”
“Non-magickals.”
“Right. Hey, there’s Taibhse.”
The owl stood on his branch, sent Mick a stony stare.
“He’s still pissed off I tried to shoot the apple. Man, that was years back.”
She remembered, too, the faerie glade with its lovely green light, the pool, the great white owl and his golden apple. And her horror when she thought the young elf meant to put an arrow in the owl. She’d leaped up, the first time her powers had taken her so high. In deflecting the arrow, shedding her own blood, the owl bound himself to her.
And oddly, that had begun her friendship with Mick.
“Where are Faol Ban and Laoch?”
“They’re here. They’ll go with me to Arlington.” She turned to him then. “We will take Arlington.”
“I know it. I believed it before we came here. I only believe it more now.”
His simple faith warmed her. “And you want Carolina? To leave the elf camp, build our base there?”
“I’ve never seen the ocean. Sabine’s taken us higher in the hills, down in valleys, but the ocean? I mean, man, it’s the ocean. Sabine and my father have cozied up.”
“I—What?”
“Yeah, they, you know, got together. I’m good with it. She makes him happy. And she’s smart, sort of calm, like him. They work, I guess.”
“I’m glad.”
“Anyway, this is the farthest she’s ever flashed me so far, and what a ride. I’d like to see the ocean. I’ve learned a lot,” he told her, looking away from the groups working on the training grounds. “We train, like that. Minh whips us pretty hard. We build. Like I said, there are more of us now. Minh had first choice, but he and Orelana don’t want to uproot their kids from the life they know. Not yet. I’m second choice, but—”
“Not for me.” She put a hand on his arm. “Even when we were kids, the others followed your lead. When your camp took sick, you, sick yourself, were the one who managed to get to us for help.”
“I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about me commanding a base.”
“Then I’ll tell you I know that base and the people on it will be in good hands.”
“That means a lot. I’ve missed you, Fallon.” He put a hand on hers, and she felt it, saw it in his eyes.
What he’d felt for her as a boy, what he’d felt with that first kiss, still beat inside him. She wished she could give it back to him, feel it for him, want him as he wanted her.
Because she couldn’t, she turned her hand under his, gave his a strong squeeze. Of friendship. “I’ve missed you.”
And though she knew it hurt him, turned to walk back toward the house, and spoke—as a friend—of their childhood adventures.
After they’d left, after she’d walked Mallick through the barracks, she sat with her parents, ate the cold pasta salad her mother put in front of her.
“I thought everything went very well.”
Fallon eyed her mother between forkfuls. “You didn’t say much.”
“I had nothing to add. You knew what to say and how to say it. You knew what to show them when they needed to be shown.” As she spoke, sitting at the outdoor table in the summer heat, Lana snapped beans she’d make for dinner. “I’ve seen what you showed them, and worse, in visions of my own.”
“You never said.”
“I want you to know I understand what’s at stake. I don’t go into battle like you do—”
“You battle every day.”
“Not like you do, not in a long time. But I know how to defend myself and others. That’s why I’m going to Arlington. Wait,” she said before Fallon could object. “Your father and I already went a few rounds on this, and I won.”
“I’m calling it a TKO,” Simon added.
“A win’s a win. Rachel, Hannah, and I will set up the mobile medical stations. We know how to fight if the fight comes to us, but more, there are going to be a lot of casualties on both sides. You need us.”
She couldn’t stand it, couldn’t stand it. Her mother was snapping beans she’d steam for dinner, and talking about going to war.
“I’m taking your husband, two of your sons. I’m sending two of Katie’s children into the fight already. Jonah and Rachel have three kids, still young. One of them should stay in New Hope.”
“We’re needed. Jonah and Rachel have made arrangements for their boys if anything should happen to them. So have Poe and Kim for their kids. It took considerable arguing to convince Fred and Arlys to stay behind—and the children helped tip that scale.
“We were the first wave,” she added. “You won’t leave us out of this.”
“Hannah’s not a warrior.”
“She’s a medic. Medics go to war because soldiers go to war. My power doesn’t reach yours, Fallon, but it’s not inconsiderable. Trust it, and me.”
“You won’t budge her,” Simon warned. “Let’s talk about what you left out of the meeting. You didn’t say who you’ve got in mind to command Arlington.”
“We need a team of leaders there, considering its size and its location. My first choice would have been you.” She took her mother’s hand when the knuckles went white. “But you’re needed here. So I�
�ve asked Mallick if he would go, and, since Duncan’s staying in Utah, who he’d put in charge of that base. He surprised me by naming John Little. So . . . I’m going to trust him on that. He’ll go to Arlington, along with—if they agree—Aaron and Bryar. We’ll need instructors, teachers. There’s an elf, Jojo, the best scavenger and scout I’ve ever seen. Thomas will ask her. And . . . I want to ask Colin.”
She heard her mother’s sigh—resignation, not surprise—as Simon reached for Lana’s hand. “We expected it.”
“I want to say he’s too young to lead,” Lana began, “but he’s not. So, once again, I send one of my children to Mallick.”
“Everything you both taught him, everything he learned since coming here, he’ll take with him. If you ask me to pick someone else, I will.”
“He’d want this,” Lana said. “He’ll want it. I asked you to trust me. I trust you. Go talk to him.”
“I will.” She rose to take her plate to the sink. “Then I’ll go talk to Aaron and Bryar before I stop by the clinic and talk to Rachel and Hannah about the mobile medical.”
She saddled Grace for the trip to town, then rode first to the barracks.
Colin, hands fisted on his hips, disgust on his face, berated two recruits on a poor showing in hand-to-hand.
She let him run through the insults—lead-assed, shit-for-brains, mama’s babies, and so on—then signaled him over.
“Clipper, take over here. And if one of these dance-arounds doesn’t land a punch, punch both of them.”
He strode to her. “Make it fast, okay? I’m still behind because of this morning, and I’ve got to drill with the Arlington platoon.”
“It’s about Arlington—or after Arlington. I’m asking Mallick to relocate there.”
“Good choice,” he agreed.
“And some others,” she continued, “including Aaron and Bryar.”
“Huh.” He considered it as he watched the—obviously by his standards—pitiful show of hand-to-hand. “Yeah, I see that. They’ve got a couple of kids, but they’d do all right. Both of them are smart, good teachers, resourceful.”
“I’d like you to go. Help secure, hold the base, train. Lead.”