“We will find a way. I don’t believe we would’ve been brought back if we couldn’t.”
“I can’t do this,” I whispered. “I can’t watch you stand against him. I won’t.”
“I won’t be alone,” she said fiercely. “If we face Baladon, we face him together, remember? Now and forever, Forrest. I meant what I said. Didn’t you?”
“Of course I did.”
“Then there’s nothing else to think about,” she insisted and pulled me into her arms. “You and I are strong enough to face this head-on. It doesn’t matter how large Baladon’s army is, or what monsters he pulls from the abyss. We are destined to end this war, one way or another.”
“It’s the another part that bothers me,” I mumbled. “I’m sorry, I thought I was ready, but now that the moment’s here… ”
“But it’s not here,” she said, picking up where I lost the words to speak. “Not yet.”
I let her star-filled hair fall through my fingers, lighting up the dim room. I was going to remember this night with Mori for as long as I had left to live in this world. Her hand ran up my back, and I relaxed at her soothing touch.
“No matter what the days bring,” she whispered, standing on her toes, she pulled my head down to hers, “know this, I love you. I will always love you.”
“And I you.” I captured her mouth with mine.
The kiss grew heated, and it no longer mattered what awaited us outside this door. We had tonight in each other’s arms. Not even Baladon could steal this from us, not with all the power at his command or the minions he controlled. No, tonight was for Mori and me alone.
And I swore to make it last as long as I could.
12
Mori
I stretched my arms over my head as I yawned, curling deeper into the blankets and the warmth left behind by Forrest’s body. But Forrest was missing. I opened one eye, then the other.
He sat at the edge of the bed, slipping his boots on.
“What time is it?” I asked sleepily.
He grinned over his shoulder, eyes shining with mischief. “Early. Go back to sleep.”
“No, I’m up,” I insisted and yawned again. “You know, I thought coming back here would have meant no more sleeping. Or eating.” My stomach grumbled, and I glanced at it curiously. “Think your mortal ways have spoiled this goddess.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“No, I quite enjoy sleeping. I think even dreamt last night.”
“What about?”
I said nothing. Instead, I shifted to the edge of the bed and wrapped my arms around him, holding him close.
He chuckled as I nibbled his ear. “Is that so?”
“And it’s all your fault.”
“I think I’ll accept that blame.” He turned to kiss me, and I squealed with laughter when he pulled me right onto his lap, deepening the kiss then leaning back with a sigh. “You really can go back to sleep. I’m going to track down the dragons and Keanu. I need speak to them. See what they can tell me.”
“No, I’ll go see if Lucy or Greyson are around. Maybe start picking their brains on this whole facing our prophecy thing.”
Smoke slipped from his nose at the mention, but I ignored his reaction. He’d get over it eventually. I hoped. I climbed out of bed and tugged on my clothes. I blew a kiss as he left me alone to finish dressing and braid my hair. I left a few minutes after he and wandered the fortress, taking my time to admire the details I hadn’t been able to last night, in my rush upstairs to get to Forrest. I’d sensed his unease and his anger at himself for believing he’d failed his people, when in fact, he had been what kept them fired up and motivated this whole time. He was their beacon of light, and it was high time he realized that. Speaking with the other dragons would bolster his confidence, which we would need desperately before too long.
I hadn’t even reached the main level of the fortress inside the mountain when a loud whistle caught my attention and I backed up a few steps to find out where it came from.
Sabella and Kate sat in a room that appeared to have been a library at some point. I waltzed in, and they whistled louder, catcalling and laughing as my cheeks grew hot.
“Really?” I asked as I joined them at their rickety wooden table.
“What? I mean last night was your wedding night,” Kate reminded me with a wink. “So?”
“So, I think I’m going to keep all those details to myself,” I announced, and they both groaned. “Oh, come now, you don’t really want to know, do you?”
Kate shook her head. “Gods no, he’s too much like my brother.”
“Good, then get your laughter over with and inform me why you two are up so early.”
“Couldn’t sleep,” Sabella said, then yawned.
“And Craig couldn’t either, which meant I was up early,” Kate grumbled. “Drives me nuts, sometimes. Worrying so much about everything.”
“They all are,” Sabella said.
I nodded in agreement knowing exactly what they referred to.
“Is Lucy up yet?”
Kate nodded. “Said she’d be along shortly. She’s catching up with Abby and the rest of the coven. Now that she’s not dead.” She let out a heavy sigh. “I still can’t believe she lived.”
“She, Hank, Danielle,” Sabella said quietly. “Boris, though, I wish we could have given him a proper send-off. He deserved one.”
“I’m sure they did when they had a chance,” I said.
“Yeah, probably.” She coughed a few times and sat up straighter. “Right then, we need to come up with a way to end this war, so let’s get started, shall we? Any ideas?”
“Aside from being ungodly reckless, tracking down Baladon, and facing him head on? No,” Kate announced. “And if we even come close to suggesting that, I guarantee the boys will chain us all to a wall to stop us from running off.”
I leaned over the table, noticing the map that was laid out between the three of us. “Is this the front Danielle mentioned?” I asked, tapping a long line of small Xs on the map.
“Yeah, and the main encampment is about ten miles from it, here.” Kate pointed to the square someone had drawn on the map. “According to the scouts’ last report a few days ago, the camp was heavily guarded, and the army is camped between the frontline and the main body back here. Baladon could be anywhere now, since we dragged him back from the human realm. Danielle mentioned last night she was sending a few more scouts out today, but she’s only taking volunteers.”
“Don’t blame her,” I murmured, eyeing the battlefield, wondering how depressing it would be to see it in person.
No one else but the six of us could shift or use magic. As for Baladon, he knew we were back. So how to weaken him so we would stand a chance to attack?
“Do we know how many of the numbers here are able and willing to fight?” I asked them.
“Three hundred? Maybe four, plus the army we brought with us.” Kate said.
“And the rest?”
“Danielle said they’ve either been taken captive under that sleeping curse, missing, or… or dead. There’s a fair number here too old or too young, many more wounded,” she added. “What exactly did you have in mind?”
“Not sure yet, but we need to see this up close if we’re going to make a plan.”
“Pulling Baladon back into the realms, think it wounded him?” Kate mused.
“It’s possible,” I said slowly, peering down at the map some more, tilting my head one way then the other.
I found where we were currently located and looked for routes to take to the enemy lines that would keep us out of sight. If we drew out Baladon for one final showdown now, he would come for us, but his army would go after any left unprotected, the small army we did have. And what about the prisoners they had?
“Our first plan should be to free the prisoners,” I suggested. “Take away any chance he might have of using them against us.”
Sabella and Kate stared at me like I’d gone insa
ne. “You want to what, sneak into his camp and bust out the prisoners? A rescue mission?”
“Yes. I fail to see the problem.”
“One, the guys will never go for it, and two, how the hell do you plan on sneaking in there without being seen?” Sabella leaned back in her chair, shaking her head. “No, even with the gift of sight, I can’t see a way this plan actually works.”
“Haven’t even made the plan yet,” I whispered.
“Alright then make one, let’s hear it.” Kate waved her hand over the map. “How do we get past the troops camped outside the main group?”
I rose, leaning over the table, and stared at the frontline and the distance from it to the main camp. Trees flanked both sides of the army, but after what Danielle said, I doubted they offered much cover. Even so, a little cover was better than no cover. I walked my fingers through the tree line to where it butted up against the main camp.
“Where would you keep your prisoners?” I asked, not looking up from the map.
“At the rear of the camp,” Kate said. “It’s what Celandine did, back in the day,” she explained when Sabella and I glanced at her. “What? I have all her memories, and she fought in a war, too.”
“Right, so if Baladon is being smart, he’ll keep the prisoners near the rear,” I went on, “to make it harder to get them out, yes?”
The seconds ticked by and then minutes as the three of us pored over the map. There had to be a way to get them out. We just had to find it.
“Wait,” I whispered, “the orb.”
“What do you mean the orb?” Sabella asked.
“We sneak in a very small group of us to the cages, and then we use the orb to transport them out, far enough away from the battlefield so they can escape, and where no one sees us appear.”
Sabella puffed out her cheeks, muttering to herself as she tilted her head back and forth. “I guess in theory it would work, but what happens if you wind up transporting any of the bad guys? Or I don’t know, what if Baladon himself shows up? You’ll risk everyone we rescue getting killed.”
“A risk we might have to take to get them all out.”
“You agree with this plan? Seriously?” Sabella asked Kate. “And to think, I used to be the crazy one.”
“It’s either that or we have to use a distraction to pull the entire army away from the camp. That’s risking far more lives lost and more destruction,” Kate argued. “We sneak in, maybe draw the attention of the guards near the cages, they maybe sound an alarm if we can’t get out of there fast enough, but once we're gone, there’s no way to trace where we went.”
“So it’s settled then, we rescue the prisoners first,” I stated.
“Is that so?” Forrest growled.
The three of us whirled around, looking into the furious faces of my dragon, Craig, and Tristan.
Forrest’s arms were crossed, and his jaw clenched as he shook his head at me. “You’re already planning to charge headfirst into the enemy’s hands? We haven’t even been back a full day.”
“We were just going over our options,” I said lightly. “Not making any actual plans.”
Forrest’s scowl said he did not believe a damned word. “You expect us to believe that?” he asked.
“Oh, come on, can’t we just throw ideas around without deciding to take off?” Sabella said.
It was Tristan’s turn to growl and snarl. “What? I recall you doing just that, not too long ago, mate,” he said, growling each word harshly.
“That was different,” she insisted.
“I don’t see how. You went against my orders then, and you’re about to do it now.”
“Oh, just calm down all of you.” Kate waved her hand, as if we had not been in fact planning to go rescue the prisoners.
None of us had to say it to know we would certainly go without telling the guys, if only to spare the lecture and dragging them with us.
“Calm down?” Craig muttered. “You’re standing there plotting how to sneak into Baladon’s encampment, and you want us to calm down?”
“Yes, I do,” she argued, staring him down. “Do you really think I would do anything without telling you first?”
Forrest rolled his eyes.
Craig barked a laugh. “I recall you running off to face our enemy once before. Remember how that turned out? I will not let you risk your life on a whim that this plan, whatever the hell it is, will work and not get you killed. Whatever you do, you’re doing with me by your side, understand?”
“And if I’m trying to keep you alive a bit longer?” she argued
That argument applied to all of us, as far as I was concerned.
Forrest’s eyes narrowed as I held his gaze, wanting him to understand we weren’t doing this to throw our lives away. But, if the three of us did fall, that left the three of them to keep fighting. And who knew? Going to the camp might give us our chance to attack Baladon and get it over with.
“Where you go, I go,” Craig stated. “And nothing you say is going to change that. Got it?”
Kate opened her mouth, probably to keep arguing, but he turned on his heel and stormed out.
Tristan did the same and left Sabella with a furious growl.
I waited for Forrest to follow, but he sighed and joined us instead.
“You’re not going to go pout with them?” Kate asked.
“What’s the point? They should know by now how this goes, so let’s hear it,” he said, giving in. “What’s this plan of yours?”
I reached for him, but he held up his hand.
Sabella and Kate gave him annoyed looks.
I looked at his upraised hand. “Really?”
“I never said I wasn’t annoyed with you, but I want to hear this plan. Five seconds, or I’m leaving.” He tapped his fingers on the table, waiting.
I finally gave in, shaking out my hair hard so stars tumbled down over him on purpose.
I started explaining the plan— Kate and Sabella chimed in—outlining all we’d figured out so far. Forrest’s face remained perfectly blank throughout the entire time. He never said one word, and when we finished, he rested his palms on the table and got up.
For a moment, I was distracted by the way his shirt pulled tight around his muscles, and my face burned hot as I tried to swallow around the sudden lump in my throat. He shot me a sideways glance, his lips twitching in a smile, then turned back to the map. Damned dragon. He knew exactly what he was doing.
“Minimal loss of life—if, and that’s a big if—it goes according to plan,” he finally said. “But you’re right. Getting the prisoners away from Baladon this early in the game will stop him from using them against us. It’ll bolster our numbers, too.”
“So that’s a yes?” I asked tentatively.
“As much as I hate to say it, yes, it’s a sound plan, but I’m not the one you have to convince.” He looked at Kate and Sabella, who both groaned. “Have fun with that conversation.”
They marched out of the room together leaving us alone. The door closed behind them, and Forrest just stood there, staring at me.
“What?”
But he said nothing, still. Barely even breathed.
I grew anxious under his watchful gaze and fidgeted, not even sure what I should say at this point. I wasn’t going to apologize. At some point, we would’ve shared our plan with him, it just might’ve been after we attempted to carry it out and were successful. He was king of the dragons, just like Tristan was the shifter alpha, and Craig was the demon king. Their people needed them here to boost morale. If I gave him that speech, he’d get pissed all over again.
“Are you really just going to keep standing there?” I finally blurted.
He burst out laughing. “To see you make that face? I might.” He pulled me into his arms. “What am I going to do with you, huh? You’re as bad as the rest of them.”
“What can I say? You didn’t marry a pushover.”
“No, I didn’t.” He rested his chin on my head, his arms cur
ling even more firmly around me, as if he was afraid I’d take off at any second. “Can you just promise me one thing?”
“Swear I won’t tell anyone your ticklish spot.”
He laughed, and I warmed as that rumbling sound echoed through me. “As much as I appreciate the thought, not that. Just be careful, alright? Whatever plans we make, we’re all going to be in danger, and I don’t want you taking any unnecessary risks. For my sanity sake.”
I was about to tell him I couldn’t promise that, but bit back the words and nodded instead. “Promise,” I replied softly. If that was what he needed to hear then, that’s what I would tell him.
“Good, now then, should we go find the others and make sure they’re not trying to tear each other apart?”
“We could,” I said with a grin, “or not.” I wound my arms around his neck.
13
Mori
So much for plans.
“Have you three completely lost your minds?” Lucy yelled, not much later.
“That’s what I said,” Craig grumbled until Kate elbowed him in the gut. “What?”
“You said you were fine with this plan,” Kate shot back. “That’s why we’re telling Mama and everyone else about it. You can’t just suddenly change your mind again.”
“I can do what I want, love,” he said, holding her tightly in his arms. “I said it before, and I’ll say it again, I do not agree with this plan, but I did not say I wouldn’t go along with it,” he added quickly. “I swear with anyone else, it would never work.”
“You saying I’m special?” she teased.
His lips thinned. “Yeah, let’s call it that.”
He kissed her, and the argument was over, for the moment at least.
“We have to get them out,” I insisted. “The longer Baladon has them in his grasp, the more likely he’ll use them. Please, Lucy, we need your help with this.”
She rubbed her forehead furiously as a stream of curses slipped from her lips.
“What exactly do you need?” Danielle jumped in.
“We need an exact layout of the camp,” I told her. “Where the cages are, how many guard them, what the tree line looks like.”
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