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Scattered gasps erupted from those who still gathered close. The crowd swelled inward as villagers clamored for a closer look at the risen king. Drak turned, smiling at some of them, baring his flat, non-threatening teeth. When he looked back at Finan, he nodded. “Would you consider taking a new oath? One to swear to join the army against Silver and the vampires?”

“I don’t understand,” Finan said as he searched Drak’s face.

Drak raised his voice. “We are gathering an army to fight against the queen of the undead. To end all bloodlust here and restore the home described in the sagas. This must be done carefully and swiftly.”

“We can’t fight them,” Finan said. “We can only leave.”

Drak shook his head. “We can.” Stealing a look at me, he lifted his chin. “We have a god on our side. She can see the future Silver plans, and then we can strike at the queen’s weakness.”

“Which is what?” Finan asked.

The crowd agreed, with many voices insisting that Silver was invincible with her army of unkillable predators—that thousands of humans still weren’t enough against a few hundred vampires.

Drak met my gaze, and the sadness that creased his lips and brow made my heart skip. “Silver’s weakness is her sister.”

I deflated, letting all the breath empty from my lungs and the tension in my shoulders drop. This was the best course of action. Gather an army while I prepared to meet my sister again, one last time. Drak gave me a slight nod, and I knew that by announcing this, he was agreeing to let me go. I didn’t have to listen to him, but we were a team; we made choices together, and this was his blessing.

I knew he didn’t choose this because he cared to win this war, but because he wanted to give me peace.

Drak

9 days later

After nine days of stealing Silver’s subjects and the vampires’ food, life felt fucking good. About as good as the warmth radiating from the fire at the center of our camp. But the closer battle loomed, the less I could enjoy being alive and with my wife.

With each passing day, she practiced projecting foresight into Silver’s mind, but she never broke far enough past the surface to see her sister’s plans. Silver was an enigma that none of us understood, and living as a human in a god’s role made Lux as powerful as she was drained.

“She wants vengeance, what’s so hard to understand about that?” Soren asked as he ripped off a bit of bread. Stasia had found a hearth in Old Skaldir and, with wheat from Mara and kindling brought by villagers who slowly filtered over to our cause, she’d baked our camp several loaves of fluffy, fresh bread. I’d forgotten how delectable human food was. Even watching Soren take another bite left my stomach groaning for more.

Lux dropped her face into her hands. Only the five of us sat surrounding the fire, but our camp was ten times stronger now with dozens of tents and hundreds of villagers from Mara and beyond coming every day.

“All I can see are her present moments,” Lux said. “She knows everything we’re doing, of course.” I looked around the camp. That was obvious. There was no hiding hundreds of escaped villagers. “But she doesn’t care as long as our number doesn’t grow past the vampires she has. We aren’t a threat.”

Soren swallowed and whistled. “Good thing she doesn’t know about the nuances of hiding in plain sight.”

“And gossip,” Stasia agreed. “Gossip can do wonders.”

“It’s not gossip if they’re not spreading rumors about their peers,” Finan said, his voice flat while the scar kept his mouth upturned. “They’re sharing crucial information under the cover of lies.”

Lux’s jaw tightened at that word. Just as I had spoken in code to the woman in the market, the people of Vylheim spread the word about our army through secret conversations. Soren’s last report after he’d returned from moving through the shadows across Mara said our army reached all the way to Myrr and Torsholt. Skaldir was one of the last villages left to remain untouched by this news.

“Ah, yes, coded conversations, just like we used to do together before you took your wolf's face off.” Stasia smiled at Finan.

He didn’t offer one back. “You communicated with me. If I dared return it⁠—‌,”

She rolled her eyes. “Right, you’d be a traitor. Well, surprise, surprise, look at you now. You’re a traitor to your oath, anyway.” He flinched, still unable to fully accept the removal of his mask. Stasia softened. “I just mean you’re free now.”

He stood and paced the length of the fire. Subtly, he brushed too close to Stasia, snagging a single curl in the crook of his finger as he passed her, and said, “we’ll be free when this war is over.” When she looked up at him, the ghost of the smile he’d denied her earlier crossed his lips. I didn’t know why he still hid his desire for her when he didn’t belong to the Grimward anymore. “Preparing for this battle is all we should be focusing on.” Apparently, it’d take a long time for him to shed his role as a soldier, something of which seemed to be his entire identity.

“Agreed,” I said, giving him a nod so he’d know how much I appreciated that he chose to fight for us. With my hand on Lux’s back, I made circles between her shoulder blades and leaned forward toward her ear. “What if you rest before trying the foresight again?”

She shook her head. “No, I need to figure out this block. If I’m seeing Silver’s thoughts at all, it means she’s off the throne, which means now could be my only chance. I should know her better than most. Seeing her intentions should be easy. She wants revenge. She wants to make everyone suffer. It’s as simple as Soren said.” She sat up and gestured toward the asshole fading in and out of shadow. Axel sat beside him, unbothered by the way Soren toyed with his powers. Maybe it was even a comfort to Axel—a reminder of the Valkyrie woman he’d once so fiercely loved. He never spoke of what became of her, and though I never met her, I was sure I’d love her like a mother. Axel was the only father I’d had for a long time. “I can’t think of a single other thing my sister cared about.”

I straightened as I recalled what Silver spoke of when we were children. “Her mother,” I said. I blinked at Lux. “Your mother. She cares about her mother. That’s why Silver always used her to get to you, but she never actually killed her. She wants you both to suffer.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying the fisherman can be baited too, by a larger predator.”