Jamison slides to the ground, and I tap Gatlin, asking him to set me down. When he does, I run over and fall to my knees in front of him.
I brush his damp hair back to stare into those steel-blue eyes of his. “What do you need? Water? Healer?”
His hands reach out and pull me to him. “You.” He places a sweet, lingering kiss on my lips. “And maybe some water.”
His canteen is on the side where he was blasted that first time. I run and grab it. Returning, I lift it to his lips, and he takes a few gulps.
My gaze lingers on Bennett for a second. “What was in the hole behind him?”
Jamison sighs heavily. “The only thing he was afraid of… a null vault. It would have stripped him of his magic. Permanently.” He cups the back of my head. “My original intent was to wear him down and bind his magic, but when he went after you, I knew binding wouldn’t be enough. There was always a chance he could get it back and come after you.”
Fear of losing his magic ruled Bennett his whole life. What a waste. “Thank you.” I’m relieved I don’t have to look over my shoulder, waiting for him to strike. “Frederick’s dead too. From what I saw in the air a minute ago, there’s mostly stragglers left. I’m going to find Hawthorne and see how he’s doing. Will you be okay? Or do you want Gatlin to give you a ride to the main tent?”
“Main tent,” Jamison says, pushing himself to his feet. He glances over at Charlie, who’s sitting on the dirt, downing a jug of water.
Not wanting him to be alone, I ask Maverick if he can join him, and he replies that he’s on his way. We wait with Charlie until Maverick crests the hill. Covered in dirt and grime, the demon’s eyes are fierce as they sweep over Charlie. He drags him into his arms, and we leave the two of them there.
Once in the air, Jamison surveys the battle below. “With Frederick and Bennett gone, we should be able to quickly rein in the rest.” He borrows my comms and redirects a majority of our army to the largest concentrations of enemy forces. But he orders the magic users to find and incinerate the dead vampires.
As we touch down at the main tent, Hawthorne comes striding out to greet us both. He immediately begins fussing over the small wound on my arm, but I assure him it’s probablyalready healed from the significant amount of magic in the air. Unwilling to take my word for it, he unrolls the strip of cloth. Closed and slightly pink, it looks days old. He heaves a sigh and pulls me into his arms.
“Careful,” I say, showing him the blades and explaining how they came into my possession. “I don’t know whether they can kill all immortals or just vampires. I’ll have to research them.”
He stares at them, barely blinking. “The Blades of War can kill more than just vampires and supernaturals. They can kill gods too.”
36
PHAEDRA
Not wanting to think about killing gods, I enter the main tent. Daegan and Jamison are already deep in discussion about the changes they need to implement to make the council more democratic. Each race will elect more than one individual to represent them. Self-appointment will not be tolerated. And once all of the supernatural representatives are finalized, the council will decide the best way to approach the humans and include them.
Several protest, but Bennett’s actions have empowered the humans. Not only can they now detect supernaturals, but they also have the technology to eliminate them. It’s in everyone’s best interests to work together and find a way to move forward.
How the gods are going to take this new approach, I’m not sure, but they have to know the treaty was broken the second the vampires and Bennett began working with humans.
Hawthorne and the rest of the elves, along with a few Fae they called in, are walking around, healing the wounded. One of the Fae males bends over Agos to examine him.
Agos, whose arm is torn off, looks over at me and winks. His mate, Riv, the beautiful red-haired man hovering protectively over him, swivels around with a glare on his face. When he sees me, a smile breaks out, and he gives me a sheepish look. I laugh.
Gatlin comes up beside me, and I point out the two of them. “You remember Agos, don’t you?” His brows lower. “Looks like his mate, Riv, is as jealous as you are.”
Instead of being ashamed, Gatlin gives me a lazy shrug. “I’m not going to apologize, nor will I change.” He turns toward me. “And to be clear, we won’t need Agos’ services any longer. The five of us need to learn how to work together in a fight. The alley was a disaster. So many mistakes.”
I wince. It was obvious we hadn’t worked out all the kinks or played to our strengths. “I agree.” He lifts a brow, and I wrap my arms around him. “What? I realize things have to change. Quite frankly, I’m looking forward to it.” I only hope the gods let us.
Some of my worry must show on my face as he frowns and pulls me into his arms. “We’ll get through this. And when we do, I want to go home to the farmhouse. Get a few animals. Make that our base.” His lips catch mine for a brief second, then he mutters a few colorful cuss words. “Too many damn people in here.”
“What’s left to do?”
Gatlin rubs his hand up and down my spine. “The clean-up is almost done. We should be able to leave within the hour. I’ll go hurry them up.”
Jamison and Daegan are cleaning up the command center.
Charlie and Maverick walk in, arm and arm, and I stride over and give them both a hug. “Thank you. I know the two of you don’t usually involve yourselves in politics or battles, but itmeans a lot to me that you were here with us.” I grasp Charlie’s hand in mine. “We’ll never be able to repay you. You saved him.”
Charlie blushes and tries to wave me off, but Maverick beams. “We weren’t about to let you have all the fun.” He leans in close. “Besides, with Bennett gone, there’s a lot of opportunity to grab some of his market share for our own.”
Charlie gives him a look. “Some of us had more altruistic reasons. Like a new democratic way of life. The old way only worked for a small percentage of the supernatural world. I like what Jamison and Daegan are doing for the future. It’s going to change things considerably.”
