“How much time do we have?” Mya asked.
I’d been so busy in my own mind that the debate had begun without me.
“Not much. The succubus in the human realm are trying to scale the mountain. Thus far, the Faeries and our archers have been able to pick them off before they make much progress. But there are too many for us to hold them off forever,” Gwen said.Our. We. Gwen spoke of the humans as her own. I expected a mixed reaction from myself, but found only a surge of pride.
“The Aquarians and remaining elementals will go through the rift and join you in the fight there. The Faeries of the Fen will fall back and protect the rear. We need fresh troops at the front,” Arran said, using Excalibur to draw corresponding marks on the maps. He was the only one I’d trusted to hold it. I still wore my scabbards, for all the good they’d do me, but they were empty. Shackling me wouldn’t mean much if I still had access to my daggers.
“Would it not be wise to split the terrestrial army instead? They are more seasoned and used to fighting as a unit,” Elora questioned. “They would help steady the myriad groups already in the human realm.”
“No—"
“You are sending your weakest forces to the human realm and keeping the best for yourself.” The unnamed human leader had decided they were entitled to an opinion.
I have not yet tasted human blood…
No. The only blood I needed to taste was Arran’s. And not now. Not with this monster lurking inside of me. Exhaustion clawed at my mind and the succubus took advantage. I forced myself to gulp down the tea that Cyara had prepared, safely warm in the special cup that Osheen had fashioned for me months and months ago. It seared my throat on the way down, but that was a small price to pay for the stimulant she’d ground into the brew.
Arran lifted Excalibur. Not a threat—it was much too loose in his hand for that.
As if he needed a blasted sword to be lethal.
The human’s eyes widened.
A nightingale swept into the tent, gliding over our heads and shifting into a slight female form just behind Arran’s shoulder. I was at his side, but even I could not hear what she said. Arran’sface showed no hint. He whispered a response, she shifted, and then was gone again.
“The horde forming in the Effren Valley is bigger,” Arran said simply.
The group erupted at the news. There had never been a true hope of hiding an army of this size. The succubus had found us—found me. I wondered if the pull was stronger now that one of their own squatted within my body.
The human kept arguing. “The fae are stronger. You’ll last longer against them—”
“If your alliance cannot hold, then it is not an alliance at all,” Arran countered.
“Enough.” I may not have the actual Round Table, but I was still the High Queen of Annwyn. And according to Arran, my eyes were now an eerie black. If the crowd would stop for anyone, it would be me.
The human stepped behind the elderly Sylva. I rolled my eyes, black as they were. At least he was silent. As was everyone else.
“We need the terrestrial army here in the Effren Valley to hold off the succubus,” I said. I hated the rasp in my voice, but I kept going. “They must hold the succubus back long enough for me to reach the Tower of Myda at the center of the valley.”
Where all of this had begun, less than a year ago. Or seven thousand years ago.
“What about your void power?” Mordred asked. He had not been among those who’d witnessed my loss of control, but I was certain everyone had heard of it. The High Queen of Annwyn is a succubus. Hotter gossip had never been spread.
Enemy.
“I cannot touch my void power, not until the last moment.” That realization had come later, while Arran rocked me back and forth on the ground. Opening the rifts was dangerous. Goinginto the void gave the succubus in my mind too much power. If I was going to maintain control long enough to drag the succubus back to their realm, I could not use the void until the very last possible moment. “The void, the shadows… they are too closely intertwined with the succubus.” My head began to tilt to the side, but I snapped it back forcefully.
Mordred is not my enemy. Mordred is precious to Arran, whether he realizes it yet or not. Mordred is not my enemy.
The darkness receded. All eyes were still on me. Worried faces, all. I could hardly blame them. I took another deep drag of tea.
“Uniting the Sacred Trinity has made me the master of death. The succubusaredeath. I am High Queen. I will use my power of the void and the new powers this thing has given me, and I will rip them from these realms forever. The tower is the highest point in the valley. From there, I will open a rift and force the succubus back to our realm.”
Our.
I could not even control my words. Suddenly, the shackles and my wrists and legs did not seem like enough. The monster was going to get out. I was going to kill everyone, feast on their flesh, taste their souls and open the way for my sisters—
“I will stay at your side.” I hadn’t even noticed Mya moving. But her hand on my arm was warm, her sapphire blue eyes clear and unafraid.
