Page 78 of Peacemaker

Chapter Twenty-Six

Natural Born Rifter-Killers

“I have come,” Himself told us, “because the rifters are close to breaking free. You will live in misery like you’ve never known if they are not conquered. And there is only one way to begin their defeat.”

He looked at me.

I blanched. “What do I do?” I asked. Not because I wanted to know, really, but because I had to.

“You will feed the earth your pure blood,” Himself said. “You will awaken the vampires. The true vampires. They are the only ones who can crush the enemy. They are the only ones who can set things right.”

He looked around the room, then settled his gaze on Rhys. “You must do many things. You know them all. And you know the order in which they must be completed.”

Rhys nodded somberly. “I’m weakened by the shifts.”

“I will lend you what I can but even I am limited by your curse.”

Rhys stood, almost as slowly as Himself had sat, and walked to the king. He gave him his hand, and then, with a laboriousness that was hard to watch, he knelt.

I saw it happen. I saw Himself share power with Rhys. I saw Rhys brighten, and I saw his energy return. At least some of it.

When he stood, it was as though he’d never been hurt—but I had no idea how long it would last.

Himself looked at me. “You have your hunters, and you have your master. Natural born rifter-killers all.”

Clayton caressed Blacklight’s gleaming hilt, and there was a fierce, strong pride in his eyes.

“She has given you the silver horn,” Himself told Angus. “The rifters are immune to silver, but they will not be immune to yours.”

He stood and stared down at all of us, Nadine looming and quiet behind him. “You have chosen wisely,” he told me. “Even when you did not know that you were choosing. Go into Willow-Wisp just before the sun is gone tomorrow and release your blood into the earth. Your master will pull you back before you fall. Trust him. Call them. Call them all. The elders believe their prisoners will break free tomorrow night. And we will fight the battle of our lives.”

Himself and Nadine left the same way they’d arrived, leaving a roomful of silence and dread behind.

No one spoke.

Everyone knew we might not survive the battle—at least not all of us.

And then I looked at Shane and began to shake, because when I looked at him, I saw death in his face. And I couldn’t bear it.

Darkness had barely fallen before Amias came into the way station. “Tomorrow, you will come into Willow-Wisp,” he told me. He didn’t approach me. Didn’t try to touch me. Just told me what would happen. “You will bring them back.”

He was shaking, as well. But he trembled with joy. With pure happiness. His eyes were lit with it. His vampires were coming home—alive, healthy, his.

Whatever else loomed, that imminent resurrection was bigger than anything else.

“Amias.” I held out my hand. “I…” I’m sorry I didn’t consider your loss. I’m sorry I didn’t comfort you. I’m sorry I didn’t really understand your grief. “I’m sorry.”

He took my hand, then pulled me to him.

“Why not raise them tonight?” Leo asked.

“Because the humans are going to need at least one night of peace,” I said. “I need to tell them all what’s coming and help them make plans to stay as safe as they can.”

“The humans are not the reason we wait,” Amias told me. “When my children get the first taste of your blood and rise from their deaths, their sickness, and their prisons—from their despair—they will be at their most powerful. That is when they will fight.” He clasped his hands over his chest. “They will be bursting with life and pure blood and eagerness to once again face our most hated enemy.”

And then, he looked at Jamie. He hissed and flashed his fangs, and the sudden power surge in the room caused the lights to flash.

Al stepped in front of him. “He belongs to me. I won’t allow him to be hurt.”