“You’re going to come with me?” I asked.
Danaus shook his head and gave a little smirk. “You’re an idiot sometimes. After everything that we’ve been through, do you honestly think that I would leave you now? Just when things are starting to get interesting?”
“I’m so glad I can keep you entertained,” I growled, but there was no real venom in my tone. I was just relieved to find that Danaus would be staying at my side, even if it meant that I and possibly he would need to take on new identities as we started a new life wherever we landed next. “Aren’t you concerned about the coven if we go to Europe?”
“For the most part, you are the coven now, and it appears that Our Liege has his hands full with Ryan,” Danaus replied, brushing off my concerns.
I opened my mouth to voice another concern about Europe, but the words never left my tongue as the front door to the house burst open and slammed against the back wall. I didn’t have time to move from the spot where I was standing when Shelly ran into the house. Her face was red and sweat had collected at her temples, dampening her pretty blond hair. She gasped for air, desperately trying to catch her breath. It appeared as if she had run the entire distance from Cynnia’s secret lair to my house.
“What’s wrong?” I demanded, impatient for her to finally catch her breath.
“Aurora! She’s here!” Shelly exclaimed between gulps of air.
“What do you mean she’s here? There’s no way she would be insane enough to launch an attack at night when the nightwalkers are available for battle,” Danaus said.
“No, she’s here. In Savannah.”
“Where?” I asked in a low, cold voice. This creature had set fire to my home, killed hundreds of humans, nightwalkers, and lycanthropes, and was now threatening to expose our world to the humans. She had to be stopped at last.
Shelly leaned against the doorway with her arms wrapped around her waist. “She’s headed toward Forsyth Park. Cynnia and Rowe have gone to meet her, while Nyx is bringing in Kane and the rest of the animal clan.”
With a stiff nod, I turned my attention to Danaus. “Call Barrett and tell him to bring his people to Forsyth Park. The war ends now.”
Thirty-three
Danaus and I left my car on a quiet, shadow-covered street and walked the last few blocks to Forsyth Park. The massive green area stretched several city blocks, but I knew where Aurora would be: in the center of the empty green expanse, waiting with her army. I had mentally contacted Knox and all the other nightwalkers in the city, ordering them to converge on the park and wait for my signal to attack. All around me, I could sense nightwalkers slowly approaching the park, falling into step behind me as I drew closer. They remained cloaked, little more than soundless shadows in the deepening night. My army was small, numbering less than two dozen after all the deaths that had plagued my city during the past several months. However, we were strong and ready to call an end to the war with the naturi as Cynnia had promised.
As we reached the green space, I noticed two distinct sides lined up against each other with a wide swath of ground separating them. Rowe stood beside Cynnia in the center, and Nyx was next to a pair of large naturi along the far left flank. I could only assume that this was the illustrious animal clan I’d been hearing about. I guesstimated there were more than a hundred of them, adding to the rest of Cynnia’s army lined behind her.
Meanwhile, Aurora had taken up a position on a hill so she could look down on her little sister. By sheer numbers, the two sides looked evenly matched. I knew that I wasn’t looking at the entire naturi race, only those that had answered the call to war by either Aurora or Cynnia. The rest were most likely waiting for a winner to be officially declared.
Pausing before crossing the street to enter the park, I watched as a man walking his dog slowed down and stared into the park. His brow furrowed and he shook his head before hurrying on his way. My eyes followed the direction of his gaze.
“Fuck,” I hissed, now hesitant to enter the park.
“What’s wrong?” Danaus demanded, standing directly beside me.
Aurora and her army aren’t cloaking themselves. They want to fight this battle in the open, in plain view of the humans, I mentally said, blasting the information out to Danaus and all the nightwalkers in the region.
What do we do? Knox inquired, briefly touching my mind. Engaging them will nullify our own cloaking and people will be able to see us. What about the secret?
We made a promise to assist Cynnia, I replied. It’s the only way that we will finally be free of Aurora. Remain cloaked as long as possible, but do not hide from the battle. Aurora’s army must be exterminated.
Danaus touched my arm, bringing my gaze up to his face. What about the coalition? he asked me privately.
I guess they’ll finally get their proof positive that we exist. The only problem is whether they will survive long enough to show the world.
Steeling myself for the fight that loomed ahead, I marched across the street and entered the park and felt the other nightwalkers moving as well, bravely entering. They had to know that many of them weren’t going to survive the fight ahead of them. It was going to be a bloody night, and I was ready for it.
Danaus and I slipped through the crowd of naturi and came to stand behind Cynnia and Rowe. Aurora smirked down at me when I appeared at her sister’s side. My cloak was only effective against those who didn’t use magic, which was a shame. I would have been more than happy to climb the hill unseen and knife the bitch in the back, ending this contest all too quickly.
“I see that you’ve not only chosen to side with your fellow traitors, but also useless mongrels such as these nightwalkers,” Aurora declared disdainfully.
I opened my mouth to throw my own barbs at the naturi queen, but Cynnia spoke up before I could. “I have surrounded myself with those that have the same vision as me. We are looking to pursue a peaceful existence on the earth, coexistence with all the other races rather than running blindly into one war after another. You’re killing off our people when we are at our weakest.”
“The naturi are not weak!” she shouted, shaking both of her fists at us. “We have returned to the earth and are back to our former strength. Our numbers will grow instead of diminish. We will sweep away the waste and protect the Great Mother.”
“You’ve lost the support of the Great Mother,” Nyx called out from another part of the field. The declaration caused a rumble of concerned conversation among the ranks before she could continue. “I’ve seen it in your aura. I’ve seen it when I look and speak to you. You’ve grown weak as your connection with the earth has nearly been severed. The Great Mother has turned her back on you. You have no right to lead the naturi now. Step down.”
“Enough!” Aurora screamed. “This is your last chance. Throw down your arms and hand over your lives to me and I will spare all those that have chosen to side with you.”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Cynnia look up at Rowe one last time, as if for confirmation. The one-eyed naturi merely smiled at his former wife. “Go fuck yourself, Aurora. We’re coming for your head.”
I couldn’t stop the smile that rose on my lips.
Aurora floated into the air, a wreath of fire surrounding her, making her a beacon in the night. It was the signal her armies had been waiting for, and with it her people charged into battle. In response, Rowe sprouted a pair of black leathery wings and launched himself into the air, sending the naturi armies forward to meet the attack in a clash of short swords and arrows. My people hung back, waiting to catch up those that slipped through the ranks. Everyone was armed in some fashion, though I had warned that no one was to bring a gun without a silencer. I’d thought we would be able to keep this battle a secret from the humans, but now we were completely exposed to the world.
Danaus remained tight at my side, and Knox soon joined our group. My main concern was to act as a defense against Aurora so Rowe or Nyx could launch their attack against the queen. In fact, I kn
ew I was the only defense Cynnia’s people had against Aurora’s light clan. Cynnia had a handful of the light clan members on her side, but they were already engaged in one-on-one battles with their clan members.
Fireballs were launched through the air in quick succession, but I quickly captured them, stopping them from crashing into our own forces. This quickly captured the attention of the light clan, which turned its attention toward me. I smiled, welcoming the battle with them. I’d shove that fire back down their throats.
“Back off a little, boys,” I said to Danaus and Knox as I widened my stance. I tapped the powers swirling like a wild dervish around me. With all the naturi, nightwalkers, and lycanthropes in the region, it felt as if I were growing drunk on the power at my disposal. Summoning up a ring of fireballs around myself and my companions, I fired one after another at the light clan members. They caught the fire, but I could feel their struggle to control it and dissipate the energy before they were torched. I needed to put only a little more power behind it.
Overhead, thunder rumbled like two cars slamming into each other, then the skies opened in a massive downpour. The fire I’d created flickered and popped as it strained to remaining burning through the sheets of falling rain. My clothes were instantly plastered against my skin and I struggled to blink back the water dripping into my eyes. The wind clan was making its move to bring down the lightning and eliminate a chunk of Aurora’s army. I paused in the fight with the light clan to notice that Rowe had returned to the ground and was hacking through one enemy after another with a smooth grace that spoke of years of bloody practice. I smiled as I glanced over to see Danaus performing the same elegant dance of blood and death.
Turning my attention back to the light clan, which had closed the distance between us, I summoned up more fire. This time I simply encircled them with a ring of flames that sprang up from the ground and stretched more than seven feet into the air despite the pounding rain. Pulling free both my sword and knife, I stepped away from Danaus and Knox’s protection and walked through the ring of fire, where they could not follow. The naturi seemed stunned within the flames as they struggled to put out the fire and continue on their march toward the other fighters.
“You picked the wrong side,” I mocked as I leveled my sword on one of the light clan members, removing her head in a flash of steel. Others in the light clan quickly drew their weapons, but they looked awkward with the pieces of metal in their hands. They were heavy magic users, not used to getting their hands dirty in a battle. Despite being outnumbered by six to one, I made quick work of them, cutting them down in a bath of blood. I was sprayed as I sliced through arteries and removed limbs, but the continuous downpour washed me clean again.
When I lowered the flames again, seven naturi light clan members lay in pieces in the mud. However, my victory proved short-lived as I looked over to find that two of Cynnia’s guards had been killed. The young princess was standing against trained naturi fighters with a sword trembling in both hands while the guards at her back were slowly being overwhelmed. This fight was nothing if Cynnia was killed. I knew that these naturi wouldn’t follow Rowe or Nyx. They needed Cynnia. With a violent wave of my hand, a swirl of fire whipped through the crowd and engulfed the fighters surrounding Cynnia and her guards. Their screams tore through the night as they fell thrashing to the ground in an effort to put out the fire.
“Get your naturi ass in the air,” I growled at Cynnia when I finally reached her side.
“I belong at the side of my people,” she stubbornly replied, though her hands were still trembling.
“And if you get killed, all your people would have died for nothing. Get your wind clan ass in the air so we don’t have to worry about protecting you. Rain down some lightning.”
Cynnia glared at me, but at the same time a set of pristine white wings sprouted from her back. She wordlessly took to the sky with her arms stretched over her head. What’s more, I noticed an increase in lighting striking the ground with pinpoint accuracy. The young princess was finally working to her strengths. It was a small lesson she would need to learn if she had any hope of succeeding as the next queen of the naturi. I only prayed that Nyx survived this as well. Cynnia would need her experienced and level-headed guidance over the next several years.
With sword and knife clutched tightly in my hands, I started to turn my attention back to the fight being waged around me when fresh screams erupted. I twisted around to find the nightwalkers were quickly sinking into the ground. At the same time, the wind clan had taken to the air. Even the animal clan had abandoned their enemies and changed to winged creatures so they could take to the air. The earth clan siding with Aurora was finally getting into the fight. They were causing the ground to change to quicksand, pulling my people down into the earth so they could no longer move, let alone fight.
Twisting around, I found Danaus and Knox up to their knees in the muck but still fighting one naturi after another with their weapons. A part of me wished I had let Danaus bring his guns, but he had favored his old-fashioned blades after so many centuries. He would have been able to cut through so many of these bastards that much faster, turning the war in our favor.
I summoned up another wave of fire to wash through members of the earth clan I could spot weaving their spells, but the fire was just as quickly extinguished. I frowned when I heard Aurora’s laughter above the fighting. I might have decimated the members of her light clan, but she could still stop me from using fire against her forces. I needed another form of attack.
Pulling together the energy again, I wrapped it around my fists and balled it deep in the dark pit of my chest. This was going to take everything I had, leaving me extremely vulnerable.
“Danaus, when I give the word, you need to wipe out the earth clan.”
“I don’t know if I can,” he replied as he dodged a blow, then slammed his own blade through the throat of his opponent. “I can’t be that exacting with such a broad stroke. I might kill some of our own forces.”
“Concentrate, damn it!”
Sucking in a deep breath, I reached out with my powers and encircled each of the nightwalkers I could sense. I pulled them out of the earth while struggling to lift myself out as well. Straining, I plucked Danaus’s energy out of the mess and lifted him so he hovered just an inch above the soggy ground. At the same time, I felt a set of roots spring from the ground and try to pull everyone back down.
“Do it,” I said in a ragged voice, praying that Aurora didn’t notice my preoccupation. I couldn’t defend myself or anyone else from a fireball as I struggled to keep all of my people out of the mud.
A wave of warm energy swept past me and into the fight as Danaus reached out and started boiling members of the earth clan from the inside. Their screams rang out through the night, echoing across the vast expanse of the park to bounce off nearby homes. I knew without a doubt that we were running out of time. Soon, the Savannah police would be arriving to respond to the multiple calls of death and destruction in their precious Forsyth Park.
I held my people steady above the earth as long as I possibly could before the strain finally got to me. With a groan, I released them, allowing everyone to fall that one inch back down to the ground. Danaus instantly collapsed to his knees in exhaustion, but the ground held him. He had managed to kill at least enough of the earth clan that they could no longer pull us into the ground.
Pausing long enough to get the trembling in my arms to stop, I looked around the battlefield to find it littered with bodies from both sides. However, a quick count revealed that Cynnia’s army was holding up better than Aurora’s.
Apparently, Rowe had come to the same conclusion. “We’re going after Aurora,” he announced in a low voice after he and Nyx approached me. Despite the pounding rain, he was still covered in blood from the battle. “We need you to keep her fire attack at bay.”
I started to agree that I would cover their backs when I heard gunshots. I twisted around to see at least twenty
men ringing the park with semiautomatic weapons trained on us all. They weren’t the cops. The Daylight Coalition had finally arrived.
“I can’t,” I growled with frustration. I wanted nothing more in this world than to climb that hilltop with Rowe and Nyx and aid in removing Aurora’s head once and for all. But I couldn’t. “The coalition is here, and I need to lead the nightwalkers against these fucking zealots.”
“Mira!” Rowe snapped.
“No, it’s okay,” Nyx said quickly, laying a hand on his shoulder. “I can handle Aurora. I just need your help taking her down. Leave Mira to cover our backs. You know the Daylight Coalition won’t stop with just killing the nightwalkers. We will be next.”
“Thank you. I’ll leave Danaus to watch over Cynnia,” I offered. It was the best I could do. The hunter wasn’t going to be pleased with my decision, but he was better skilled to deal with the naturi than some of the other fighters, and the remaining nightwalkers could join me in taking out the Daylight Coalition members that had slaughtered Daniel and his family as well as four lycans.
“Don’t play too long,” Rowe admonished.
“Good luck,” I replied, giving him a small smile. “You know I envy you.”
Rowe smirked at me, his one good eye dancing with laughter. “Eat your heart out.”
A low chuckle escaped me as I turned my back on my unexpected comrades and focused on the Daylight Coalition. It was time for a little payback. I would teach them what it meant to mess with a nightwalker, particularly one called the Fire Starter.
Thirty-four
Rowe turned his stern gaze on me as Mira led her group of nightwalkers in the opposite direction to take on the Daylight Coalition. We were left to finish up with Aurora’s army. My sister-queen, underestimating the number of naturi willing to side with Cynnia, had not brought a large enough army. It was only a matter of time before she realized as much and beat a hasty retreat that we couldn’t allow or afford.
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