Dirge found Shay a moment later. She looked nervous under the witch’s scrutiny, and Brielle wasn’t far behind, with Galyna at her shoulder. Shay glanced Elodie’s way, and the two of them exchanged a worried glance, almost like coconspirators. What were they up to?
“What do you need?” Shay asked.
“What of your mission? Was it successful?” The witch glanced between the three women, and my suspicions were confirmed.
Damn it. I knew Elodie had agreed to let me go to the front without her too easily. I had been so relieved, I didn’t ask questions. “What did you get up to?” She just clenched my fingers tightly, staying silent. She gave me thatdon’t ask that right now or elselook.
“Successful,” Brielle answered, lifting her chin and turning to Kane. “I asked Shay to flash us behind the battle lines. We found Bran and removed the taint from his blood caused by Narcissa’s influence.”
Kane’s face turned about three shades of purple, and I got the feeling they were engaged in a mental argument. When he spoke aloud again, he simply asked, “And what was the outcome?”
Brielle shrugged. “As far as I’m concerned, it was a success. We all came back alive.”
Elodie chimed in then, seeming at ease now that the secret was out. “At least we tried. And maybe—maybeit will still work. After all, Bri removed the taint from his blood. Maybe he’ll still see reason?”
Another window shattered over our heads, a second burning brand flying through the window. Karissma extinguished this one before it reached the ground, and Lucien returned with a grenade launcher on his shoulder. Gael was right behind, a heavy-caliber sniper rifle over each shoulder.
Elodie crossed the circle and said something to him that I couldn’t hear over the mayhem, and he passed her one of the rifles.
“We need to get back out there. Let’s form up everyone who’s still fit to fight. We should be able to surprise them, come up from behind if we go out the secret tunnels beneath the castle,” Kane said.
“Wait, there’s… there’s one more thing.” Shay stammered, unusual for the usually confident woman. “It might be nothing, but my dad gave me this.” She pulled on a gold cord around her neck until a coin at the end appeared. “He told me a long time ago that I’d need it. But I can only use it once.”
Kari crossed over to stand in front of Shay. “May I see it?”
Hesitantly, Shay removed the necklace, placing the coin in the witch’s hand.
“Interesting. It’s very old, Etruscan, if I’m not mistaken.” She passed it back to Shay and returned to her former position.
“What does it do?” Brielle asked as the ground began to shake under our feet.
“I don’t know, only that help will come. But it seems like we could use some backup!”
“Do it,” I called over the din of panicked wolves. “We’re running out of time.”
One of the great stone columns that supported the room was starting to crack, and I was grateful Bence was in the bunker below, where even if the whole castle collapsed, he would still be safe. But if the rest of us got wiped out, who’d be left to take care of him? We had to move, and now.
Shay nodded, shared one glance with Dirge, then brought the coin to her lips, kissing it. “In time of greatest need, I call for greatest might.”
A heartbeat passed, and nothing happened.
“Look out!” I shouted, pointing upward. The cracked column began to fall.We’re out of time.
The witch spun, lifting both hands and chanting as she slowed the descent of the giant column. “Get out of here, all of you. Quickly, before the whole damn place comes down around our ears.”
I grabbed Elodie’s hand, and we ran for the nearest door with our pack. If this was our last hurrah, I wanted to face it by her side.
Chapter 71
Elodie
We ran out of the collapsing castle to see our enemies had breached the walls. They were everywhere: in the courtyard, climbing over the walls, billowing out in every direction like an endless wave. And somehow, more dark creatures I’d never seen before had arrived—or, by the looks of them, been summoned straight from hell—to augment their numbers.
But I was a talented sniper, Enclave certified, and if we could fight our way to a good perch, maybe I could take Bran and Narcissa out from afar. It wasn’t plan A, because a sword was a surer way to end most supernaturals. Taking the head off pretty much anyone was game over, whereas plenty of supes could recover from bullet wounds, just like us wolves. But at this point? Even slowing Bran and Narcissa down would help.
Gael had a rifle too. As long as one of us was successful, that would be enough. If they were both incapacitated, we could capture them. Without the leaders, hopefully, the army would fall apart.
But the courtyard was overrun, and my plan to get somewhere high up would have to wait. I slung the rifle over my shoulder by its strap, freeing my staff and disassembling it intotwo short swords. There was a crush of bodies, both friend and foe, and the length of the full staff would be unwieldy.
