You don’t have to help, no one would blame you if you ran as far away from here as possible.
Adriana frowned at him, slightly shaking her head in annoyance at his words and pulling the walls around her mind back up. He merely wanted her to know she had a choice in herrole, and if she decided to turn around, walk out that door, and run for the hills, Xander knew his first response would be to go with her. But the truth was, he didn’t have that option. He was the only one who could truly connect to Caligo’s darkness, and he was the appointed leader of the Courts. No matter how much he resented his responsibility and the things he’d done, he would do them over and over again to protect his family. And he knew that Adriana, as the last and only Luciferus, didn’t really have that choice either.
“There will be mortal refugees, too,” Edward said. “Those who are seen as Daemon sympathisers will be treated just the same as us. We’ll need to provide them sanctuary as well.”
Xander nodded. “We already have camping spaces across the grounds for everyone, and we can set up beds in the manor. It’ll be a tight fit, but we’ll make it work until we know how far we can expand our borders. We’ll set up patrol troops starting tonight, see how far we can claim as our own. For now, use the cottage and that area for families and young children that arrive.” Standing from the table, he looked around the room. “We will overcome this. We will win, and we will live peacefully again. We cannot lose. If we do… we lose everything.”
No one said a word, the realisation of the extent of their situation settling across the room. He had not meant to crush any of their hope, but the seriousness of the incoming war weighed heavy on him. This was not just a war with Rook, this was the beginning of a whole new battle with Lilith. This was the beginning of the end.
“And on that cheery note,” he poorly joked, “I think we should end it there. It’s late and we all need to rest. Tomorrow is when the real work begins.”
Edward produced a large scroll and laid it in the centre of the table. It contained the dates of all the Courts’ meetings and leaders, dating back to 1820—the year Striga and Thomasconvinced Xander to forge the Courts. Edward scribbled their names down underneath the last entry and then passed it round the table with his pen for the new Courts to add their names.
The Lamiae: Alexander Duran, Deion Daktari, Nicolai Fernandez, Edward Paul and Kadeem Gowon. The Lupi: Niamh Yue, Ade Kamari and Dylan Lowell. And the Incantrices, a section that had been left blank since 1874: Cassandra Romilly and Adriana Clarke.
Adriana was last to sign, and Xander watched as her fingers lingered over the pen strokes of her great-grandmother’s and great-grandfather’s signatures from the previous Court signings, a strange look on her face. Xander missed each and every fallen leader of the Courts, but he missed Striga and Thomas most of all. Aside from his brothers, they were the closest friends he’d ever had.
The Court leaders all slowly stood, each of them heading out of the room to prepare for their duties. Kadeem spoke with the Lupi about their plans for training on how to fight, offering his advice where he could. Deion and Edward announced they would check in on their children and the other families that had begun to arrive, whilst Nicolai offered to take Cassandra on a tour of the grounds. But Xander remained standing over the table, watching Adriana lose herself in her thoughts before she quickly signed the scroll and abruptly left the room.
“Addie?” Cassandra called after her, but Adriana ignored her and ran up the stairs.
Cassandra turned to Xander, her head tilting towards the door in a silent plea for him to go and speak to her sister. He gave her a genuine smile, glad that a mutual trust was beginning to bloom between them, and made his way up the stairs.
He found Adriana standing on the small balcony of the room she shared with Cass, looking out across the lake at all the trucks, vans and tents set up across the grounds. Dozens ofDaemons had made their way to Duran Manor, and they were expecting plenty more to arrive over the next few days. It was strange enough being back, but it was even stranger seeing the grounds busy again.
Xander knocked on the doorframe to let her know he was there, but he knew she could sense his presence as soon as he’d reached the top of the stairs. They had always been painfully aware of one another, even when they didn’t want to be.
“I meant it,” Xander said, as he walked through the room to stand on the balcony beside her. “When I said you don’t have to do this, I meant it. I’ll stand by whatever decision you make, whether you fight or not is your choice. You have more than earned your freedom from this world of pain.”
Adriana let out a long sigh as she continued to gaze out across the grounds, her attention fixed on the remains of her old house in the distance. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it. I could keep running from you, from everyone, because it’s all I’ve known for so long. But I am so tired of running, Xander. I’m tired of running from everything I went through, from everythingwewent through.”
She turned to face him, her hands holding something close to her chest as she looked up at him. His breath hitched at the look in her eyes, the sadness within them, and the determination that lay deep within her.
“I’m not running anymore,” she said firmly. “I’m staying right here, and I will fight with everything that I have. I will stand alongside you.”
Adriana opened her hands to show a small silver chain. He recognised it as the necklace Striga had bought her for her birthday all those years ago. She unlocked the clasp and slid off a charm he didn’t know it had. Only it wasn’t a pendant, he realised. It was a ring. His mother’s ring, the same one that he had proposed with.
“You kept it?” Xander asked, his voice unable to hide his shock. “After all this time?”
Adriana nodded as she stared at the ring, the pale blue stone such a perfect resemblance of her eyes. “I could never throw it away, I knew how much it meant to you. And now I can give it back to you.”
Xander stiffened at her words, a sharp pain lancing through his chest as she held the ring out in her palm for him to take. He shook his head with a forced smile playing on his lips, and wrapped his hand around hers, closing her fingers around the ring.
“I can’t take it,” he whispered. “It belongs to you. My heart belongs to you, it always has, whether you want it or not.”
He kissed her knuckles before turning their hands over so his were on top. With a nod, he gestured for her to look at their hands, specifically the silver band on his left ring finger.
He knew she’d noticed it in the cottage before, but it had escaped her mind since then. As she inspected it closely, he saw the moment she realised it was not a plain band at all, and was engraved with the Incantrix moon cycle. Even though they never had their wedding, Xander had made sure to wear it every day ever since that terrible night, ever since he thought he’d lost her forever.
“I’m yours, Adriana, to do with whatever you see fit. Throw me away if you wish, hate me as much as your heart desires. But I will always be yours.”
A tear trailed down her cheek as she continued to study his ring, her overwhelming sadness so heavy it rolled off of her in waves. But beneath it, something stirred, something warm and beautiful. A whiff of hope, a spark of devotion. A glimmer of the same love Xander held for her.
He loved her, he had always loved her… and he had killed her. Though it was not truly him, he knew she needed to deal withthat just as much as he did. They needed to cope with the truth of what had happened and choose where to go from now. But Adriana was right, they couldn’t run from it, not anymore.
She brought his hand to her lips, kissing his ring but avoiding his skin. Xander couldn’t help himself and leant down as she tilted her head up, his lips brushing delicately against hers, selfishly desperate for her to want him back.
“Ask me,” Xander said, unashamed of his begging tone. “Please, ask me.”
