“We will not survive this day,” she murmured.
Her arm slid from my grip as her knees buckled. She sat hard on the ground, palming the dirt. Dead grass speared the gaps in her fingers. Pressing her forehead to the ground, she breathed in, as if she were memorizing the scent of it, as if she were taking her last moment to find peace where she could.
“Get up.” My voice cracked. “You need to take everyone to safety.”
“There is no safety in this world.” She curved forward, her gray dress rippling in the wind. It was as if she’d become one with the earth. Perhaps that was the point. Because soon, she would.
Kalen’s roars filled the air. Nearby, more steel sang from Toryn, Fenella, Roisin, and other warriors. But it wasn’t enough. No matter how well Kalen could fight, he could not kill a hundred of these things. Not when they were amongst his people, not when the gods were likely close enough to block him from using his power.
I cast a desperate glance around, searching the mists for someone else to lead the civilians across the bridge. Those who weren’t scattering were kneeling on the ground with tears streaking down their faces. Dozens of humans who I recognized from my village. They’d been through so much these past few months, and now they were giving up. They didn’t want to fight for survival any longer.
Motion near the bridge snagged my attention. I could barely see my sister as she motioned people across with one hand while holding the other against her chest. She sensed my attention and found me in the chaos. With a grim nod, she lifted her fisted hand in the air.
“Callisto’s gemstones,” I murmured.
She read my lips. She always could. And then she arched her brow in question.
My heart pulsed a frantic beat. I glanced back at Kalen, now surrounded by four or five shadowfiends. It was impossible to tell how many there were with how quickly he danced between them. He’d kill all these, but there were dozens more. They’d rip hundreds of fae and humans to shreds.
These beasts would decimate us.
Kalen had insisted we’d find an answer—that there would be another way for us to win. And he was right. There was a way. At least for this battle.
Loosing a breath, I resigned myself to the decision I knew I had to make. I turned back to Nellie and nodded.Use the damn thing.
Determination flashed in my sister’s eyes. She brought her fist up to her lips, cracked open her fingers, and whispered. Instantly, the howling, thundering horror stopped. All around us, the beasts went still. They blinked and sat back on their haunches, as if waiting for their next order. Sobs and whimpers still echoed through our group, but they quieted after a time. Then the patter of hurried footsteps rose quickly in their place as everyone rushed toward the bridge.
I nodded at Nellie. She nodded right back, then slipped the stones into her pocket.
Bracing myself, I turned to Kalen. He stood drenched in blood in the middle of the battlefield. Twenty dead shadowfiends surrounded him. His eyes flashed as he met my gaze, then he strode to the nearest passive beast and chopped off its head.
He grabbed the beast’s fur and lifted the head into the air, waving it so all the warriors could see. “This is our enemy. Kill them all.”
“No,” I called out to him.
Kalen’s sapphire gaze slid my way. He arched his brow. “Explain your objection.”
Gone was the warmth in his voice. I’d done exactly what he’d feared. And now I was taking a stand against him in front of his own warriors. I wanted to swallow down my words, but I couldn’t. Not when the answer was so clear to me.
And so I said, “These beasts can harm the gods, and we have the power to control them. If we don’t use that power, they’ll attackus, just as they’ve done now. We need to take them into our army and turn them back on the gods. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
Murmurs went through the gathered fae fighters.
Toryn, clearing the blood off his spear, looked between me and Kalen. “We don’t need to make this decision now. First, we must get everyone to safety. The beasts can remain here in the meantime.”
Fenella sidled up to my side. Her face was splattered with blood, but she wasn’t wounded as far as I could tell. She must have taken out several beasts herself. “The gods are coming. They’ll have more creatures with them. Let’s at least order the ones here to guard the bridge and kill anyone who comes near it.”
Kalen worked a muscle in his jaw. He wouldn’t much like having this conversation so publicly, in front of the warriors looking to him for orders. For a long moment, all he did was stare at the bridge as if imagining what might happen when the enemy arrived with its greater forces.
“Fine,” he finally said with a snap to his tone. “Order the beasts to guard the bridge, but nothing more. And then we’re going to rid ourselves of these fucking gemstones, so the temptation to use it is gone.”
* * *
The gemstones seemed toperchon the table, like some kind of animal ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice. Kalen hadn’t spoken a word to me since we’d crossed the bridge. I helped make sure all the humans found places to rest, either in Teine or in Albyria’s castle halls. Most buildings and rooms weren’t habitable yet, thanks to Oberon’s fires, but the light fae had rebuilt more than I’d expected. There was room for everyone. It was just cramped.
“Where is Ruari?” asked Mykon, a fae man with horns creeping through his hair. One of his brothers, then. “Is he not joining us?”
“Ruari didn’t make it. He got wounded. Then he used his final moments to help us escape,” Nellie said quietly. She hadn’t wanted to release her grip on the gemstones. Kalen had taken her reluctance to mean it was infecting her with its darkness, but I was fairly certain she and I were on the same page. Destroying them or hiding them wasn’t the answer. Not until the other gods were defeated.
