“Hmm.” He tapped his mouth with his index finger. “Almost. We have an overwhelmingly impossible goal set out in front of us. If you want to win this war and kill your father, then you have to stay alive to accomplish that. If you keep bottling your anger and lashing out at your allies, soon, you’ll be, well, ally-less. And then you’ll be dead. Unfortunate fact of life.”
“Oh, just stop talking already.”
“Nah, I love the sound of my voice far too much for that. Just think about what I’m saying, alright? Maybe give him a little kiss when you get back.” Calyx forced a shudder. “To show him you still care. And on that note, I will proceed to shut up.”
“Hallelujah,” I quipped.
I turned my attention back to the outpost. My gaze drifted over what supplies I could see from our position. At first glance, there were more than enough materials down there to keep our paltry group fed, armed, and patched up for weeks, if not months. With my army’s numbers added in, though, I wasn’t quite sure. Levi would be able to give me a better estimate.
“Well, Leader of the Group? Think we can take it?”
“Not with just the seven of us. Rathiel's blood magic and my hellfire and shadows could do some real damage, but they outnumber us by a lot. Plus they have that dragon down there.” I nodded toward the cage.
Calyx followed my line of sight and nodded. “Yeah, that’s a bit of a problem. Maybe you could kill it like you did the last one. You barely needed us. Might even give you a chance to blow off a little steam.”
“Sounds good in theory, except those hellspawn down there aren’t going to sit back and just let me storm their outpost and murder their pet. If we're gonna do this, then we need to level the playing field.”
“Oh? And how do you plan to do that?”
I glanced back at the camp, at the caged dragon banging its horned head against the iron door. Then I turned to Calyx and grinned for the first time today. “I guess it’s time I finally resurrected my army.”
Chapter Ten
RATHIEL
Thankfully,it didn’t take long for Calyx and Lily to return. I spotted them the instant they crested the nearest ridge, their silhouettes sharp against the smoky air. Calyx dropped first, landing heavier than usual and hissing through his teeth when his bad wing moved wrong. He shook it out, winced again, then tucked it away.
Lily landed a breath behind him, her shadow-wings dissolving before the dirt settled around her boots. Relief came fast—too fast—and I locked it down. After our earlier conversation, I wasn’t sure where we stood. I just knew she wanted space, and I intended to give it to her.
Apparently, I was the only one.
As always, the others immediately closed in on her. And as always, the hellwyrm was first. Mephisar slithered his massive body around her, then butted his head against hers, like he’d been waiting all day for her attention. Perhaps he had. The two certainly had a bond—I couldn’t deny that. No doubt Sable’s death would reinforce their connection.
Eliza, Gorr, and Vol followed. Gorr limped next to Eliza, while Vol rode her shoulder like a king refusing to dismount his steed. Usually, the imp ran a constant commentary, never understanding when to shut his mouth. But that wasn’t the case tonight. Everyone was on edge, thanks to the dragon attack, Sable’s death, and Lily’s reaction to it.
Levi watched from the edge of the camp, near his lack-of-a-bedroll. He caught my eye and dipped his head, but he didn’t move off his rocky seat. Probably because of the orange ball of fur curled up in his lap. I didn’t know much about Earth animals—practically nothing, in fact—but Lily had assured me more than once that you did not disturb the fluffy ones. And according to her, Purrgy was the fluffiest, goodest boy—and no, I didn’t know what that meant. I just heeded her advice and made sure not to disturb him.
Calyx peeled away from the group and headed toward his little spot next to the fire. He didn’t say a word, leaving the debriefing to Lily. As for me, I stood at parade rest, watching. Lily hadn’t so much as glanced my way. I told myself not to take it personally. She had an entire coterie fishing for her attention.
Her fingers scritched the underside of Mephisar’s scaly jaw, then Gorr’s head, right behind his ear. The two beasts practically purred with contentment. After a few minutes, she tore her focus away from them and—finally—looked at me.
“Hi, Rath,” she said, her voice a bit tentative.
Just like that, everything in my world fell back into place. She could be as angry with me as she wanted, so long as she kept calling me Rath. That told me everything I needed to know.
The smallest smile tugged at my lips, but I bit it back, all too aware of the many eyes watching us.
“Well?” Eliza urged. “Was your little trip worth it?”
The siren hadn’t spoken much in Lily’s absence. In fact, none of us had. Lily’s outburst had shaken us all. She was usually socalm and collected. A few times, I’d felt Levi and Eliza’s gazes weighing on me, but I hadn’t given them the satisfaction of showing them I’d noticed. If they wanted to chat about it, they could do so among themselves. I wasn’t interested.
Lily nodded. “The outpost is well-stocked with supplies.”
She paused, and everyone heard the hesitation.
“But?” I asked.
She released a long sigh. “But it’s also well-guarded. Their numbers are substantially larger than ours. And…” She grimaced, her nose crinkling. “They have another dragon.”
