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“He is,” Janice, the shortest one, says, a hint of regret in her tone. “The deepest kernel of his soul, anyway.”
“But don’t feel bad about it,” the leader says, waving a breezy hand. “Believe it or not, a zombie body is way better than where he was before we brought him back. Pieces of shit like him end up in the lowest levels of the netherworld. And the rehabilitation process is brutal.” She exhales with a shake of her head. “No way am I ending up back there again. I’m keeping my karmic load light this time around and sticking around for at least another eighty years.”
I glance back to her, studying her face more closely than I did before.
She grins. “Youth spell. It’s my specialty. So don’t worry, your majesty. If you start feeling your age in a couple decades, I should still be around to help you out.” She gives my arm a gentle squeeze. “I’m Ola, by the way. And I want to thank you personally for what you’re doing for us and for a better future for all women and children. We won’t forget it. Not a one of us.”
The two other women murmur their agreement, and I do my best to release the resistance still dragging at my heels, making every step feel heavier than the one before.
Bane makes his begging sound again, almost as if he can sense my weakness.
I snap my attention back to his face, my eyes narrowing as I promise him, “No matter what happens next, this is how you end. Even if Maxim’s forces overpower ours, he won’t save you. No one will save you. You’re just a battery now, a power source to be used by your betters.”
He growls again, straining against his bonds, rage making every vein in his bare neck stand out.
I smile as I add, “You’ll finally be useful. For the first time in your wretched, arrogant, wasted life. I hope that makes it easier to not sleep at night.”
I turn, moving slowly back toward the door as my former mate rages impotently behind me.
At least this feels good.
This feels really, really good.
It feels so good that I’m still smiling when I emerge into the chilly early evening air to see two of our battalion leaders running toward me from the camp.
“Helicopters,” Harmon says, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder. “Our spies in the city saw them leave a few minutes ago. They’re cloaked with a spell but moving fast. At least twenty of them. They should be here by nightfall. Maybe sooner.”
My smile fades, but so does my resistance, replaced by determination not to be on the losing side of this battle. I’m no angel—I just proved that down in the pit—but I’m going to make a better world than Maxim ever will.
He’s not a terrible man, he’s just not good enough, and our poor planet has suffered more than anything should have to.
It’s time for change on a massive scale.
It’s time to give all creatures, no matter how much power they wield, a reason to feel hopeful about the future.
Standing straighter, I give the order, “Launch the phoenix offensive,” I say, nodding when Harmon looks surprised. “It’s our best chance to disable their forces with the least loss of life on either side. We’ll make the camp look like it’s been destroyed by fire, lure them in to capture the few people left behind, and then emerge from the portals, surrounding them and hopefully triggering a swift surrender. We don’t want to obliterate these people. We just need them to understand it’s time to step aside and embrace something better.”
Harmon salutes me. “I’ll give the order,” he says, then adds, “my queen,” for the first time.
The pride in his voice—pride for being on the right, kinder, gentler side of history—strengthens my resolve.
I can do this. And I will.
And when it’s all over I’ll know that I’ve done the right thing when I look into my people’s eyes and see their confidence in me.
Ignoring the softer voice in my head whispering that people are masters of contradiction—accomplished at being both proud of their choices and completely misguided at the same time—I let the witches lead the way back to my cabin to prepare for the ritual.
The moon is already rising, and Ola has promised to help Elsbeth bind me to the sword. I want her magic and her stabilizing faith in me close until the deed is done and it’s too late for any of us to turn back.
