“She’ll see it as a challenge,” he said, bringing his gaze back to mine.
“She already does. We might as well make use of this moment when everyone is coming together. Yes, we’re stable, but that’s only for now. We can’t guess what’s ahead once she starts executing her plans again.”
He looked back at me.
“And if it goes wrong?” he asked quietly.
I reached for his hand and heard Twobble barking some orders to Skonk in a hallway beyond, something to do with a flattened croissant, and I smiled.
“It will. Some of it will. You can’t have success without a little bit of failure along the way.” I let out a sigh. “But if we don’t, she consolidates through fear. If wedo, we consolidate through choice.”
He leaned forward again, forearms on the table, closer now.
“You realize,” he said softly, “that once you do this, there’s no returning to a quieter version of this place. There’ll be goblins tearing through this building in greater numbers. Orcs stomping down the halls, and wolves shifting whenever they feel like it.”
“I think quiet left a long time ago, and I doubt it’s coming back.”
He nodded and sat back as the doors at the far end of the banquet hall opened, and Nova stepped inside.
Her raven hair was still braided, though a few strands had come loose and brushed her cheek. There was dirt at the hem of her long coat. Her staff tapped once against the stone floor as she crossed the threshold.
She didn’t hurry.
She walked the length of the hall, eyes taking in the witches, the windows, the chandeliers, the space. When she reached our table, she inclined her head to Keegan, then to me.
“More shifters are coming,” she said.
The pit in my stomach deepened. “How many?”
“More than we anticipated.”
Keegan’s jaw tightened. “From Caleb’s pack?”
“No,” Nova said. “Two other large packs.”
“Two others,” I repeated.
She set her staff gently against the table and rested both hands on the wood. “Word has spread. The northern territories aren’t holding. Smaller packs are abandoning outposts. They’re moving here.”
The kitchen sprite from earlier peeked around the door, gauging the mood again. Nova glanced at it and offered the faintest smile, and the sprite relaxed and disappeared.
“How soon?” I asked.
“By nightfall, the first group,” she replied. “By tomorrow, perhaps a dozen more.”
“Once the goblins return with the information about the orcs’ land, we’re going to have to send them onto the shifters’ woods.”
Nova nodded as the room tilted slightly. Everything was happening so quickly.
“The packs won’t cross the boundaries,” Keegan said firmly. “Unless they’re invited.”
A student in the corridor outside the hall laughed at something someone said, the sound bright and normal. It felt strangely distant.
“Did you speak with Caleb?” I asked Nova.
“Yes. He won’t refuse them, and the packs here promised to welcome them.”
Keegan ran a hand through his hair again. “If this becomes an influx—”
