Admittedly, my declaration wasn’t exactly very explanatory, but my voice raised even higher in irritation—or was it desperation?—when I replied again.
“Leo’s gone! He went to that fucking witch! He’s going to sacrifice himself for us.”
“He’s not!” Ricky shot back on instinct, and honestly, I couldn’t fault him for the denial, not after I’d run up the entire river. “This whole week he’s been...” But then his eyes finally focused on the letter, and all the air left his body at once. “Son of a bitch!”
He whirled, fist raised as if to punch out one of my windows, but he seemed to realize the destruction that would cause and pulled back at the last moment. Honestly, I didn’t even care if he shattered my windows. What did a greenhouse matter when the love of my life was marching to his death? I’d give it up, and every single plant I’d ever nurtured to life, to make sure Leo was safe.
A knock sounded on the opposite door of the greenhouse, and we both turned to see Andromeda and Tabitha there with blankets over their shoulders. They were still a bit frail but had largely returned to a much healthier size, and their skin didn’t look so ashen anymore. I was getting good at caring for shifters.
“Did we hear right?” Andromeda asked wearily. Although I was utterly devastated, I felt bad for her as well. She had only just been reunited with her alpha and still didn’t have all her memories back. To have him ripped away from her had to be like reopening the wounds that were only just beginning to close. “Leo’s gone to the witch?”
“Yeah, he has,” Ricky said. God, he sounded so broken.
“What do we do now?” Tabitha asked, sounding forlorn. It was like we were all being orphaned all over again, which was a crazy shared trauma to have.
It was too much heartbreak in such a small space, and suddenly, I was done. Done having things happen that were over my head, done being a damsel. I wasn’t going to allow Leo to sacrifice himself, and that was that.
“Gather everyone up,” I said, surprised at the steel in my voice. “Get them all out front.”
“Why? Are you going to announce it to all of them?” Ricky asked.
I was uncharacteristically short when I answered, but every second was precious. “Ricky, just get everyone. We don’t have a ton of time.”
I was grateful when no one argued with me, and the three of them hurried off. They assembled everyone quite quickly. I stared out at the small sea of faces as I stood on the steps of my greenhouse, marveling that they were all here because we’d chosen to stand up against what was wrong. It hadn’t been an easy path, not at all. But the pain, the loss… it was all worth it. Because we were all safe. And it made no sense for that safety not to extend to the man who had sacrificed so much already. Leo might be ready for his life to end, but I wasn’t.
“As I’m sure all of you have heard by now, or maybe even surmised on your own, Leo has taken Katarina’s offer of his life in exchange for all of ours. He is buying our salvation with his blood.
“So, for those of you who wish to honor that, you are free to go live your lives. Free to have the peace that he’s bought with his flesh. I won’t hold it against you.” It was hard to say those words, but it was true. If we wanted to go up against the most powerful witch, I could only have people who were one thousand percentsure they were where they wanted to be. No wishy-washing. No one who felt pressured.
“But those of you who are like me, who aren’t willing to let him die alone and in pain at the hand of someone who knows her sons were in the wrong, it’s our time to help Leo.”
“What do we do?” someone in the crowd asked, and I understood their trepidation. Even with my limited understanding of magic, I had felt Katarina’s awe-inspiring power. She’d destroyed my house without so much as blinking, which was telling of what she could do to simple flesh and bone.
“We fight. I don’t know the specifics yet, but I’m sure if we all put our heads together and call on every single ally who’s willing to join the fight, I’m willing to bet we could beat the odds. Again. A month ago, many people would have told us we were insane for trying to go after the brothers, but we defeated them. I believe we can do that again.”
Murmurs erupted throughout the people gathered, and I left them to it as I headed to the house. There had to be maps or literature or something I could rustle up from the debris. I would see who chose to join us eventually, but I wanted everyone to make their choice out from under my watchful eye. Again, the whole pressure thing.
I wasn’t worried. Leo had made his choice, sure, but I’d made mine.
And it was time for one last plan.
44
LEO
Iwas prepared to die. That was such a strange sentiment to have since I’d spent my life fighting for survival, but it was the truth. The gem had led me on quite the long journey, especially on human foot, and in my hours of walking I’d had even more time to digest the reality of what was going to happen.
Sure, I wished I’d had more time with Ven, and I wished I didn’t have to go through the pain I was about to go through, but it would be worth it.
At least, that’s what I told myself.
The gem’s light finally dimmed, and I looked ahead. The foliage shifted apart, revealing a deep-set shadow even my enhanced vision couldn’t see through. The entire thing was foreboding and dripped of evil.
As far as I knew, there were no residences or cities anywhere near here. It was rare to find such places of wilderness within America, and I was sure Katarina’s heavy enchantment was to thank for it. As much as I was all for anything that helped keep the wilderness as the wilderness, the way the witch went about things felt so unnatural.
Taking a deep breath, I walked forward and stepped into the dark. The time it took to travel through that space was barely a breath of a second, and yeah, that made my skin crawl. That strange lack of light was almost oily in nature. Viscous, slippery, clinging to my skin with an almost desperate persistence.
Once I stepped through the other side, I half-expected to come out encased in the stuff, but there wasn’t even a speck of it on me. Rather unsettling.
