I narrowed my gaze in his direction. “What is it, Balfor?”
“I do have a small stash of valerian that could be used as a fog to sedate any beast that tries to breach the sewer gate, if it comes to that. It’s not enough to stop this entire army, mind you, but it could provide a brief respite from an attack, just long enough to patch up the breach.”
My hands dropped heavily to my sides. “I asked you for valerian before. You said you didn’t have enough.”
He winced. “Enough to take out an army? No. But it might be enough for this.”
“There weren’t that many storm fae when I asked you before,” I said, my voice rising. “You forced me to use my power against them when we had an alternative all this damn time?”
“I am so sorry, Your Majesty,” Balfor whispered, and then his lip began to tremble. “I do not believe in war.”
“And yet war has come for you all the same.”
Toryn cleared his throat to steer the conversation back to the task at hand. “We still need someone to stand watch and set off the valerian if the beasts find the sewers. And that’s a—”
“I’ll do it,” Caedmon said, lifting his eyes from the table. “I was in Gailfean with you. I know what’s at stake. I’ll do it.”
Beside him, Brigid nodded. “I’ll go with you.”
“You’re certain of this?” I had to ask. “You understand the risks?”
“Far better than most,” Caedmon answered with a tight smile.
With a nod, I moved another sword piece into place. “And so our plan is set. This will be a tough battle, but we might just have a chance of fighting off this army of beasts.”
“Unfortunately, I think you’re forgetting something important, Kal,” Roisin said with a tense grimace. “What if the storm fae use elite powers against us? Or worse…what about the gods? Are they coming? How will we beat them?”
I exchanged a quick glance with Tessa. This was her domain, and she thought she could help, but the truth was, neither of us knew how she could use her powers against them. For now, we just hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
“The storm fae will not be able to scale the walls, so we will focus on the beasts first,” was the only thing I knew to say. “Now go to our people and pass out the onyx gemstones from Queen Tatiana. Get everyone inside somewhere. Anyone who wishes to wait it out in the castle may do so, including all our storm fae refugees. And tell them not to leave until they hear the ringing of the temple bell. That will be the signal that the battle has ended and it is safe for them to come out. We will fight for them with everything we’ve got. That’s all we can do.”
Forty-Four
Tessa
My blood roared in my ears as I perched on the stone ledge of the battlements with my wings flared wide behind me.My wings. I still wasn’t used to thinking of them like that, and every time they so much as twitched, a strange sense ofdéjà vurushed through me, like something fundamental in the fabric of my reality had changed—something I should have understood but didn’t. The seamstresses had taken my fighting leathers and stitched them back together, but they’d left two holes for my wings, just in case I wanted to use them in the fight.
“Should I do a sweep and see if I can spot where they are?” I asked Kalen, who had been brooding for the past hour while we stood watch.
“I just sent Boudica,” he said quietly. “She’s far less conspicuous.”
“I could check the Gaoth Pass.”
“I want you by my side.” He held my hand and kissed me with furious intent. When he pulled back, he took my face in his strong hands, and the look in his eye, something deep and fierce, made my breath catch. “Whatever happens today, I want you to know I love you. I love your grit and your stubbornness and your unwillingness to back down from a fight. I love the fierce love you have for your sister and how you would rip apart the world to keep her safe. I love the way you look at me, the way you taste and feel, and that glorious, defiant spark in your eye. I love everything about you, Tessa Baran. I will love you even after this battle, whether we’re alive or our souls have been written into the stars.”
My heart thundered as I gazed up at him, scarcely daring to believe it. They were the words I’d longed to hear. He loved me.
And I loved him so much, it was like a deep ache in my soul.
“Kalen,” I breathed with tears in my eyes. “You’re acting like you don’t think we’ll make it out of this alive.”
His hands tightened on me. “We might not. And I needed you to know this before it all ends.”
A tear slipped down my cheek, a hot trail against my cool skin. “I love you, too. More than I ever thought it possible to love anyone.”
I climbed off the battlement and wound my arms around his waist, pressing my face against his chest. My wings draped awkwardly behind me, but he didn’t seem to notice or care. He just held me like that until the knots in my shoulders loosened and the frantic pattering of my heart eased.
And then Boudica swooped in with a sharp caw.
