“Where—?”
Bastien’s question was cut off by the blast of a horn. The sound echoed so loudly I had to cover my ears.
Footfalls came next. Three of Chastity’s witches tore past us, their red hair and black skirts flowing behind them. They didn’t stop to acknowledge us. In the distance, metal groaned, and a great booming sound filled the corridor. Another puff of dust rained down from the ceiling.
Bastien’s hand fit around my waist, and he pulled me against him. When our eyes met, I didn’t need to read his emotions to know what he was feeling. We thought we were safe inside Chastity’s hidden underground fortress. But now, it was clear her defenses were being breached.
Bastien didn’t tell me to go hide in our room. He caught my chin and forced me to focus on him. “Save your magick until it’s absolutely necessary,” he reminded me. “You cannot draw them to you. You wait.”
I nodded shakily. Now that I’d seen how battles worked, I knew I couldn’t expect to use my power and save us all. Because the other side had magick too.
Metal groaned again, and the walls rumbled. Bastien took my face between his hands and kissed me as if he might never get the chance to again. It was a desperate kiss. One that brought tears to my eyes, because this was the very last thing either of us had expected. When we broke apart, I rested my head against his chest, trying to will the tears away. We hadn’t just brought warriors. We’d brought Tansy. And those children. If anything happened…
Bastien kissed the top of my head and held me against his chest. “Take my dagger.”
I went very still. I knew why he wanted me to take a weapon, but the words caused a rush of memories. Rabbits splayed open on wooden tables. Women screaming in birthing beds. I was too useless to cast spells, so I was expected to help. But there was always so much blood. I couldn’t. I’d faint, or nearly faint, then I’d be ridiculed and beaten for my reaction.
My family never tried to understand why blood bothered me so much. They didn’t care. I was a burden, and that was all that mattered. Until the day Mama put a cursed necklace around my throat and sent me to become the sanguine partnerof a fearsome vampire or die. Knowing either way, I’d be forced to face my biggest fear.
Why did everything always come back to blood?
“Take it!” Bastien said more urgently this time.
I fumbled for his chest rig and found the smooth leather grip of his dagger. The same one he’d held against my throat in an attempt to save me on that balcony. When I pulled it free, the polished metal reflected a woman I did not recognize. She didn’t look like the girl who had once fainted at the sight of a cut finger. She was stronger.
“Stab the neck of anyone who comes near you,” he whispered against my ear. “If you can’t reach their neck, slash an artery.”
I nodded.
He took my hand, and together, we ran through the dark and twisting corridors of Chastity’s Stronghold. I’d been unconscious when they brought me in and hadn’t had the opportunity to see just how elaborate the underground fortress was. But now it was my duty to defend it against the Witches of the Light.
A strange, creeping sensation sat in my stomach as we rounded the next corner. A dread I couldn’t name settled in my stomach. I wrote it off as battle nerves. The last time we’d fought, we’d lost Devlinn and other brave soldiers.
Shouts filled the air, along with the sweet aroma of dark magick mixed with the tang of sweat. Hundreds were packed inside an entrance hall with cathedral ceilings. Bastien’s warriors and Chastity’s witches working together to brace the massive metal doors with wood beams and magick spells.
Natalia was giving an impassioned speech to a group of soldiers standing at the front with long pikes. Grunts and cheerswent up in bursts.
The guilt was back, choking me until I could barely stand it. Somehow, this all felt like it was my fault.
“Claire!” I turned and found Tansy, sword in hand. She rushed over to me and threw her arms around my neck. I hugged her back fiercely.
“What are you doing here?” I asked over the noise of the crowd, pulling back to see her bloodshot eyes and hollowed cheeks.
“I’m here for Devlinn. He-he’d told me to find peace. And there’s only one way to do that.” Her voice grew stronger with every word. “I have to live.”
There was a boom, and the metal doors groaned. I touched her cheek, memorizing her face. “Watch your back, okay? You’re the big sister I never had. I can’t lose you.”
A weak imitation of her usual grin tugged at her lips. “I was raised to fight. Wandandblade. I’ll be fine.” She covered my hand with hers. “You take care of yourself. Do you hear me?”
I nodded once. Bastien set his hand on my shoulder. “Come, Claire. This way.”
I looked at Tansy one last time before Bastien, and I melted into the sea of bodies. The disorientation of being lost in the crowd escalated my anxiety. All the bodies pressing in around me. I held tight to Bastien’s hand until we found Chastity’s tall, hourglass figure standing beside Gorrath. They were shouting orders at a gathering of red-haired witches. When they saw us, they dismissed the group.
I narrowed my eyes at Gorrath. Why hadn’t he knocked on the door and told us there was an invasion? At least the demon had the good sense to look remorseful.
“What’s going on?” Bastien asked.
Chastity glowered at him. “Somehow, the moon witches have found the hidden entrance to my stronghold. My scouts say a white-haired witch leads an army of weres!”
