“The warriors’ vows are not so easily broken,” Damien rebutted. “Your queen herself put an end to Marcus for his betrayal of The Order.”
I shoved down the horror crawling over my skin at the mention of Marcus’ death and held my head high, eyes forward.
“My queen,” Tobias scoffed under his breath, and a muscle flexed in Damien’s jaw, his eyes growing colder.
“It is a valid concern,” Aster said in the gentlest way possible. “We’ll have to find a way to validate all the serving warriors.”
A wave of uncertainty washed over me. How would we even begin to verify that every warrior currently serving hadn’t been working for Marcus? The warriors of The Order weren’t the only ones who could switch sides. It could be anyone, warrior or civilian.
“What about Cole?” Lysander chimed, tilting his head to us from across the table, his white hair held back by the intricate braids draped across the back of his head. “He needs to be tried for his crimes.”
Damien didn’t respond. My skin heated, irritation growing within me. They spoke as if it was Damien’s fault that Cole betrayed The Order. Damien had been working overtime to combat what was coming for them, had sacrificed so much to fight the darklings. We should be working together to figure out a way to bring them down. This wasn’t the time to battle for whatever power they hoped to gain by turning on Damien.
“Personally, I’d prefer he be executed on sight,” Lysander said. “But the families of those he’s had a hand in killing deserve to see him sentenced to the fullest extent.” He settled his chin on his hand. “Death may be too kind.”
“I heard he escaped The Order,” Alec said, a genuine question, his tone not as tainted as Tobias’ and Lysander’s had been. “Have you located him?”
Zephyr answered as second in command. “We’re working to locate him. We’ve found some leads and are closing in on him.”
I glanced toward him briefly. Was he telling the truth? Had they found leads? Damien hadn’t mentioned anything, but I’d been so busy with training. I hadn’t been involved in the search.
“You sure are taking your sweet time fixing this, Damien,” Tobias drawled, and a realization crossed my mind. Was he challenging Damien? Questioning his ability to lead as king? Could they remove him from his seat?Oh my God… had they planned this from the beginning?
Zephyr growled a warning at Damien’s side. “That’s ‘Your Majesty’to you.”
“And what would you do if you were in his place?” Xander said, coming to Damien’s defense. “I don’t see you joining in the search.”
Tobias leveled a glare at the Kyrios of House Stoicheion, but when he opened his mouth to speak, Xander continued. “No, you’re too absorbed in your aristocratic parties and frivolous lifestyle to care. I doubt you could bring down a single darkling, let alone the number our king, our queen, and their warriors face every night.”
“We need more recruits,” Damien said, cutting into their argument. A strange feeling resonated through me, like a string growing taut, as if it were wound so tight it might snap. Was this the bond he’d mentioned? It was different from the way his emotions felt. I didn’t understand it, but I couldfeelhis patience waning. I offered a reassuring squeeze of his hand.
Their heads all turned to him, silence falling.
Damien continued. “Anyone willing to fight, willing to train, male or female. It doesn’t matter if they have use of magic or not. We will need every able-bodied warrior to fight the darklings. Cas saw a vision of the darkling nest. We stand to face hundreds of them. It could be months; it could be days. At this moment, it’s unclear when, where, and how many will attack us. We haven’t been able to ascertain how powerful the darkling queen is yet, or what manner of beasts she’ll summon from the Godsrealm to fight at her side this time.”
Dread crawled over my skin. I’d never thought that she could summon creatures from the Godsrealm, but of course she could. Like Damien, she was a descendant of House Skiá.
She could summon shadow beasts.
My blood chilled as I remembered some of the creatures Damien had told me of, how powerful and horrible they were. The vision of the monstrous six-legged wolf Lucia and Damien had encountered flashed in my mind. Would she summon creatures like that? Or worse?
A user’s level of magic dictated just how powerful a beast they could summon. How large the creature would be or how many there were. Melantha wasn’t bound by the same limits the immortals were. She could tap into the full power the darkness offered. If an immortal crossed that limit, they would lose themselves to the darkness. Whether they’d become a darkling or something worse, I didn’t know. Damien had told me she was limitless—more powerful than him.
I shuddered just imagining it.
“More fodder for you to throw to the darklings? Is that really your approach?” Tobias dared to say. “Was it not enough for you to get my sister killed?”
Damien stiffened, and I winced as that taut string I’d felt turned icy. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye to find a muscle ticking in his jaw, and I held back the urge to ask.
“Vivienne was slaughtered on your watch due to your incompetence. I know you won’t care if it happens to the rest of my house,” Tobias bit out, and I felt my blood pool in my feet. Vivienne was his sister?
I’d noticed it when I’d first met Calista, how much she resembled Vivienne. She was her niece. My eyes slipped to Damien. I could only imagine how badly that statement hurt him, and the aggravation that flared within me was difficult to squelch. Damien had never forgiven himself for Vivienne’s death, and this bastard would use his own sister to get under Damien’s skin. I took his hand in quiet reassurance without turning my narrowed gaze from Tobias.
Damien drew a deep breath, squeezing my hand in return. He didn’t give Tobias the satisfaction of a response as he turned to Alec and the others. “They would be given the same training as any warrior. Anyone who wants to take a stand to defend their families will be given a fighting chance. Whether they use it to fight at our side when the time comes or to defend their family in their own homes, it will be their decision in the end. I will not suffer them to die defenseless under the darklings’ claws.”
The Kyrios all pondered silently.
“I won’t send more of my house to die,” Tobias spat.
