“Graysen,” Xae growled. “He's at one of the towers, so Ember would be safe behind its ward.”
“Yes, but if Ember saw Aranren outside the tower ward, he would go to him,” Air said.
“So our trap will rely on Death setting a trap,” Taroc said.
“Yes!” Air exclaimed. “And if Death sets a trap, he will not suspect thatheis walking into one.”
“Holy shit, that's brilliant,” Keltyr said.
“We still need to take this to the General and the Emperor,” Rath said.
“Kiss-ass,” Fire said.
Rath scowled. “Excuse me?”
“I said, 'Kick ass, Lord Ratharin,'” Fire's tone went prim. “What did you think I said?”
Rath rolled his eyes. “We cannot make such plans without the Emperor's approval.”
“We know that, Lord Ratharin,” Air said. “Because Ember will not be alone for long in that tower. As soon as Aranren appears, Graysen will summon the Wraith Lords and all of you will help Ember trap Death.”
I thought we'd been having a relatively private conversation, but that was ridiculous. We were talking to the Elements in the dining hall. About ending the war. Everyone had been listening in. And when Air delivered those momentous words, the Wraith Lords cheered. I think many of them thought they wouldn't be a part of the end battle—myself included. Evidently, they hadn't liked being left out.
I flinched at the sudden burst of sound, but then my heart started racing for another reason. The end was near.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
I stared out across the open field that surrounded the watch tower, toward the village of Fress. In the other direction was another village—Hardris. But it was Fress I was worried about. Its residents and the humans on duty at the tower.
We couldn't send all the humans home as I wanted to. It would make Death suspicious. We needed at least a handful to make an appearance on the walls. But we did warn them what was coming and offered to fade half the crew to their homes. I assured them that they would be observers only, remaining safe within the ward. The Wraith Lords would be fighting the battle. Half of the assigned watchers were from Fress, and they didn't hesitate to say they'd stay. The group from Hardris took a little longer to decide, but in the end, there was no reason for them to leave. They wouldn't be in any danger. In fact, they'd be safer than the people outside the tower.
That's the part I especially didn't like. Not that the soldiers would be safe, but that the nearby villages might be put in jeopardy. But we had warned them too, and in Fress, Nex and Evina were hunkered down with the villagers in the orphanage, all the windows barricaded. And there was nowhere else that I'd visit alone. It had to be here. This tower. These people. Me. Alone.
Even though I was without my team, I wasn't really alone. I had Gray, and he was an impressive fighter even without magic. And even though the bonds between my lovers and I were stretched thin—too thin for me to draw power from—I still got comfort from knowing we were connected. I could feel them through our bonds when I closed my eyes and focused.
And there, just a little further away, was a spider-silk thread that clung tenaciously to my heart.
With a soft sigh, I felt Ara's love shimmer down that fragile line of magic. Tears slipped out between my shut lids to trickle down my cheeks. I sent my love back to him and willed him to be strong. Soon. Just a little longer, my love.
Drawing my attention back to my current environment, something occurred to me. My bonds to my team thinned with distance. We could only empower each other when we were physically close. So maybe my bond with Aranren was stronger than I thought. It could be distance thinning it in addition to whatever Ara had done in his attempt to destroy it.
I tried to remember the last battle. No. That hope was false. Even standing before Ara, the thread had been thin. So it wasn't distance weakening our connection. But that could be a good thing. A stronger bond would have caught Death's attention.
“Hey,” Graysen said as he joined me on the lookout walk that circled the top of the tower. “We're supposed to be hanging out, doing friend shit.”
I chuckled. “What exactly is friend shit?”
“It's friendship but with a T.”
I burst out laughing. “Shit instead of ship, eh? It doesn't float and it stinks.”
We laughed together.
Then Gray sighed and leaned on the stone wall. He looked across the treetops as if he could see through them. “You've been here a day, and he hasn't shown up yet. Do you think he knows you're here?”
“Oh, he knows. The ward around the tower prevents him from entering or sensing what's inside, but he can see who comes and goes. If he couldn't, I would have brought my lovers with me and just hidden them in the tower. But Death can see us fade. Or maybe he just senses the fading. Whatever it is, he knows I'm here. But he's biding his time, waiting for me to leave the tower. That's why I'm going out there today. I just need to decide on what ruse to use for going beyond the ward.”
“We could take a walk to Fress,” Gray suggested. “Visit the kids.”
