“Come on. Let’s go in and talk.” She nodded to the large double doors of the giant redbrick church.
I squirmed. Not exactly what I wanted to do right now. But I needed some answers. Following her up the steps, I looked back over my shoulder as the sun began to rise, casting orange, buttery light over the Paladin village. It was so … stunning … and yet … clearly dying. Hundreds of the small redbrick cottages dotted the landscape, all built in straight little rows. In the distance were the open fields. Black sludgy stuff marred the tips of the corn and other crops. The trees looked … ashy … like they had been burned. The plant death covered everything. As Astra led me inside, I did a quick check in with Sawyer.
‘Sage and over three thousand warriors are on their way to you now. I’m going to do my best to help out here today and see if I can get back over to you tomorrow for a visit.’
His reply was immediate.‘No. It’s too dangerous, just stay there. I’m sending Eugene to protect you. He should reach you in a couple hours.’
I wanted to argue that I didn’t need protecting here, but I knew it would make him feel better to send someone to look after me. It made me sick that neither of us knew when we would see each other again.‘Alright. Everything okay there?’
It was a stupid thing to ask. What could be okay about a war?
‘My mom, your parents, and Raven’s family are safe. So that’s good.’
That sounded an awful lot like good news-bad news talk.
‘And the bad news?’
I could hear him internally sigh, and desperation bled through our imprint.‘It’s bad, Demi. I’m glad you’re not here to see the fall of everything my father helped build.’
Oh God. I sagged in the doorway as Astra waited patiently for me to join her inside.
‘Sawyer. Tell me. I can come back. I can help.’
‘No. Stay there. The three thousand men will be a big help. I gotta go.’
He pulled away from me and I was left with my mind spinning. What the hell was I supposed to do now? My fiancé was in crisis and I was helpless to do anything.
“Everything okay, Alpha?” Astra wrung her hands nervously and I felt her trepidation through our bond.
I sighed. The entirety of Magic City was at war and I was pretty sure that war started because of me, and my fiancé was left dealing with it all, but bitching about it wasn’t going to help anyone. “Let’s just talk about how I can help here.”
Astra nodded, her brown hair bobbing. “Come on in.”
She stepped deeper into the space and behind a row of pews. I stepped inside and allowed myself to examine the space further.
Rows and rows of thickly lacquered dark wood pews lined the giant room from the front to the back. Astra wove in and out of the aisles, making her way to a stage up at the front. It had church vibes in the way it was laid out, but I could see no religious insignia or idols. We arrived at the stage and I peered at the glowing light coming from it. I expected to see a cross or something of that nature, but instead there were hundreds of flickering candles.
“One protection prayer for each soldier who left,” she informed me.
My eyes widened.
Over three thousand tealights?That must have taken all night.
She walked across the hardwood floors and toward the flickering stage as I let my eyes go to the windows at the top of the building. There was more of that homemade looking glass. It was no Roman catholic cathedral but there was a good vibe to the place, peaceful.
Astra stepped up onto the stage and I followed her. Now that we were close to the candles I could feel their collective heat, admiring the lights as they flickered and swayed. They were stacked on little risers in ascending order.
Astra reached into a little box on the side of the stage and set one more tealight down on a space she found on the floor. Then she clasped her hands and muttered under her breath. I stood there watching her, thinking about when she’d healed Walsh and how that magical blue glitter stuff had fallen from the sky and onto her body. She’d literally saved his life with her power. I also thought about how they’d called her priestess. That was a word the witches used but she was clearly a wolf … a spiritual or religious one.
She baffled me. But in a good way.
Looking up from her clasped hands, she waved her fingers over the small candle and a flame burst from the wick. I sucked in a breath at the display of magic.
“That was for Sage,” she told me, acting like she didn’t just do something super cool and amazing like light a freaking candle with her mind!
“Are you … part witch?” I was trying to figure this all out. Figureherout.
She scowled. “The witches are evil. They’ve turned away from the Father and use their magic to power the darkness.”
