The old demon bowed low at that, stooping all the way to the ground to touch her horns against the toes of Bex’s boots before she sprang back up and ran into the crowd, yelling in Riverlander for her people.
Bex watched her go with a lump in her stomach. Hearing that her wrath demons wouldn’t starve now that the witches had invented bottled emotions should have been great news, but so much had happened in the last twenty-four hours that Bex didn’t know how to feel anymore. Telling Zargrexa about the wrath demons they’d lost had left her numb inside, but there was nothing she could do about it except keep pushing forward.
With that in mind, Bex pulled herself straight and turned around to face the delegation of Blackwoods that had been waiting patiently since she arrived. She wasn’t sure if they’d actually been waiting for her or for Adrian, but he’d stuck steadfastly by her side, as had Nemini. It was put-up-or-shut-up time now, though, so Bex raised her heavy new horns as high as she could and stepped into the center of the stone circle.
“Witches of the Blackwood,” she said in a formal voice. “Thank you for coming to our aid once again.”
“It is only fitting that victims of a mutual enemy should band together,” replied the sharp-eyed Old Wife of the Past, whom Bex was pretty sure was Adrian’s Aunt Lydia.
“As I’m sure Zargrexa already told you,” Agatha continued when her oldest sister paused, “we have taken every possible step to assure our victory this day. We bring with us ten thousand demons from the survivors of the Seattle Anchor. We’ve also secured an escape route for the victims of the Hells as well as food and shelter for them within our Blackwood.”
“It is our aim that the new Bonfire Queen should be free to attack Gilgamesh at full force without the burden of worrying that she’s left anyone behind,” Muriel, the young Witch of the Future, finished.
“Thank you,” Bex replied, unsure which witch she should be looking at since they seemed to speak in rounds. “We are deeply in your debt.”
“It is we who are beholden to you,” said Lydia, Witch of the Bones, as she pointed a knobby finger at Drox’s ring on Bex’s right hand. “Our forces are unsuited for direct combat. We can provide support from the air, but we’ll be relying on your demons to push the main assault.”
Which explains why they were so eager to remove the noncombatants,Drox whispered in her head.A camp full of starving refugees is an obvious target. By evacuating our wounded, they free you to be their attack dog.
“I am always happy to attack the tools of Heaven,” Bex said, both to the witches and her sword. “But I’m even more happy to know my people will be safe. If you promise to evacuate those who are unable or unwilling to fight, I’ll gladly lead the charge. Captain Roga?”
She’d expected the war-demon captain to jump at the sudden call-out, but he was a soldier from horns to hooves, and all he did was step forward. “My queen?”
“What’s our army looking like?”
“Fierce,” he replied proudly. “We have many who are weakened even among the war demons, but this is the fight we’ve been waiting for all our lives. If these witches can provide us with food, I’m certain I can get you a fighting force worthy of your new name.”
Bex was about to tell him good job when Nemini suddenly spoke.
“Do we have time for that?” she asked in a surprisingly sharp voice. “Given how hard Gilgamesh was working you all in the Hells, he’s obviously in a hurry. That fits with what Adrian was saying as well, as does the fact that we have yet to see any retribution. It’s been over twenty minutes since Adrian firstgrew his tree and ten since Bex sliced one of his towers in half, but we haven’t seen a single prince.”
“Maybe he’s out of princes,” Bex said hopefully. “We have been burning through them pretty fast.”
“Gilgamesh never runs out of princes,” Nemini replied, pointing a calm finger at the white castle covered in golden lions and constructs. “Even if he’s running low on active sons, his fortress is well defended. I’ve been fighting Gilgamesh since the day he first marched into Paradise. He’s an audacious general, not a cautious one. If he’s holding back, it’s because he feels he has no need to attack us, not because he’s afraid.”
“Then he’s an idiot,” Bex growled. “We all know Gilgamesh is up to something. He’salwaysup to something, but there’s no way the thing he’s using all this new sin iron to build is so powerful that he doesn’t have to worry about the army standing in front of his…”
Her voice trailed off. Bex hadn’t actually thought about the words until they came out of her mouth, but after what her mother had said about resetting the world, Gilgamesh’s intense focus suddenly seemed a lot less suicidal. There might be an army on his doorstep, but he was already inside his citadel with the Crown of Anu, the Sword of Ishtar, the Hammer of Enki, and who knew what else at his disposal. Gilgamesh had always stolen his powers. His sorcery, the warlocks’ use of demon names, even Heaven itself all came from the gods, so if they could turn the wheel to reset the world, then Gilgamesh…
“Oh, ho, ho,” the Morrigan cackled from her perch on the tallest stone. “The little fire finally sees it, does she?”
“The future is rarely clear to those in the present,” Muriel observed, turning to gaze up at the palace towers Bex had yet to destroy. “Gilgamesh’s greatest strength is that he’s always kept his eyes upon it. But focusing on the future blinds one to what is happening right now.”
“And right now is always when we die,” Agatha finished, turning to Bex with an expression that was nothing like the kindly mother she liked to play. The woman who faced her now was the Old Wife of the Flesh, Witch of the Present, and she had only one question.
“Do you understand what must be done?”
“I do,” Bex replied, looking over her shoulder at the plaza full of rushing demons. “There’s no time to wait for the army to organize. I’ll march right now with whoever’s ready.”
“Weare ready,” promised Lydia, looking less like a crone and more like a vengeful wraith as she gripped her raven-carved broomstick. “Our coven has spent the last two hundred years preparing for today. This time will not be like all the ones before.”
“Because if we fail this time, there won’t be another chance,” the Witch of the Future finished.
“We’ll never get a chance if we keep wasting time talking,” the Witch of the Present scolded her sisters before returning her gaze to Bex. “If we take care of your weak and wounded, can you fight unhindered?”
“I’m going to do that no matter what,” Bex promised. “If my guess is right”—she looked up at the Morrigan, who nodded her black beak—“then this is now an all-or-nothing fight. That means no breaks, but it also means no rules.” She pointed at the golden peak of the castle’s highest tower. “You can fly, right? Can you take me straight to the top?”
She was pretty sure that was where Gilgamesh was hiding. Going straight for the head was usually a good strategy, but the Morrigan was already shaking her head.
