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If I beat him then, I can beat him again.
I tried not to let my mind wander to our last encounter, where I’d failed to save myself.
Never again.
That was why I called on the darkness again, willingly entering it and offering it loving caresses. Sucking in a breath, I released the air slowly, focusing on my magic. More dark emotions rose, until I brimmed with fury, and rage, so raw and powerful that I thought I might explode if I didn’t release them.
My attention snapped to Zuriel, and I unleashed everything I’d stored at him, willing him to crash into the ground. He dipped, nearly halfway, before righting himself. “Better. Add more fuel to your power.”
I allowed my hatred of Kazimir to fill me, the heat starting in my toes and traveling to the top of my head. My muscles tensed as they flooded with adrenaline, and I forced myself to focus on channeling that into what I wanted my magic to do. With a scream, I threw everything at the Angel, and he plummeted to the soft mats, landing with an echoing smack.
He dusted himself off, then leveled a serious gaze on me. “Remember what you did just then. Keep it close for the future. You will need it,” he said cryptically, and once again, I felt like he knew something I did not.
With his mind reading abilities, I was certain he knewmanythings no one else did.
I can’t believe he kept this a secret for so long…
“I think that’s enough for today,” he stated, interrupting my thoughts.
I kicked myself as I remembered Ruslan reminding me to come to the war council meeting today. “Yeah, we’ve got to get to the war room,” I commented, retrieving my swords and sheathing them in their pretty scabbards.
We made the trek up the spiraling stairs, away from Rares’s chaotic workshop that bustled with Félvér day and night as they assisted in making potions or tending to the herbs needed to make them. The halls of Ryza were busier than usual with the cold driving more indoors, but we managed to arrive at the new war room just in time for the meeting.
Zuriel and I slipped inside, joining Ruslan, Drazen, Liliana, and the others around the massive table covered in maps and battle plans. A few more trickled in behind us, and I took my place at Ruslan’s side. Once everyone was gathered, he began.
“We were surprised and out-strategized before. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen again. While I don’t think the Night Fae will move until winter is over, we can’t be certain. The time to plan is now.”
“How are we supposed to plan when Kazimir is insane?” Drazen grumbled, surveying a map of the Night Realm.
“His madness does present a problem. It makes him unpredictable,” Ruslan commented.
“But he has Viktor to help with his military strategy,” Liliana piped up. “He’s the best strategist the Night Realm has ever seen, and Kazimir knows that – trusts him with that. He’s unlikely to go against what Viktor says.”
Ruslan turned his attention to my best friend. “And what would Viktor do?”
Endre’s input would have been valuable to this question.
But Ruslan still didn’t trust him – rightfully so.
Liliana’s brows dipped as she thought. “Trying to enter the Iron Realm directly is a mistake – everyone knows that. We have the advantage here, with the high peaks, especially with the threat of avalanches as the snow falls thicker every day.” She paused, running her fingers absently over the paper in front of her. “Viktor would either wait out the winter or return to theDay Realm for a second assault. Try to draw us out because they cannot penetrate the Iron Realm.”
“So you think we should send reinforcements to the Day Realm?” Drazen asked her.
Zuriel interrupted before Liliana could reply. “What about how they moved away so quickly during the last battle? Desmond could not have done that alone.”
“Zuriel has a point,” Rares said from somewhere I couldn’t see. I hadn’t realized the old Mage had even entered the room. “Desmond always thought that Mage magic wasn’t tied to blood since it is potions and spoken spells. But I didn’t have the time to study it with my other priorities. He must have figured out a way to teach the Night Fae.”
A threatening rumble reverberated in the room as Ruslan braced his hands on the table and glared at his Mage. “Do you mean to tell me that all this time, we had another option than the tunnels or relying on the handful of Mage Félvér to move about quickly?”
“Well, technically it's possible, yes. Magic is everywhere in this world, though each magical race can only pull on certain strings of it,” Rares's voice grew small as Ruslan’s commanding presence expanded. Pressing my lips together, I smothered a smirk as the old Mage quaked beneath my mate’s wrath.
“You’ve finished giving the permanent ability to shift to those who need it?” Ruslan questioned, and Rares nodded. “Good. This is your new priority. If you can’t figure out how to contain Kazimir’s binding magic, figure out how to get my people the fuck away from him.”
The room was poised with tension on the verge of breaking, so I sent soothing emotions in all directions, doing my part in shifting the conversation back to more productive topics.
“So, when and where should we station our troops?” I asked.
“If we’re going off Viktor’s strategy, the Day Realm,” Liliana declared, tapping the map with her finger.
