I just stared at him, coming to the conclusion that there was probably some math behind this very scientific rundown, and that Gabriel had actually done it. His voice was so smooth and slight and indifferent that a tiny bit of hope had sprung up in my chest. Fifty-to-one wasn’t terrible odds, but how many of those were Searchers? How many of the “common people” were actually skilled fighters? The Wolves and the Brockens. And me.
I found myself lost in thought as I stood there, surrounded by silent white faces and dismal words. Gabriel seemed to know what he was talking about, and I believed very much that he and his “allies” had been planning for this for a very long time; taking notes, learning secrets. And waiting in the shadows, for me.
But it is not us they have been waiting for, Warrior. Is it? We are not the girl the prophecy speaks of.
“No. We’re not. It’s Nelly. But they don’t know that.”
I don’t think we
want
them to know that. But some of them do know, Warrior. Some of them do.
I looked around the room and ticked them off in my head, the ones my sister had—how had Tommy put it?—
touched.
Gavin. Patterson. Soraya. Catherine. Tommy. Victoria. Simon. And Camillia.
Something inside of me pulled tight, as if someone had wrapped a rope around my insides and yanked hard. That was eight people too many who knew my sister’s secret, who could betray her at any point and speak up about her power and her importance and her…current state. As if sensing somehow that I was thinking this, all eight of the people my sister had taken from Two Rivers looked up at me. Catching gazes with each one of them in turn, I realized they did know what I was thinking about. It might have had something to do with the fire that was probably burning behind my eyes, promising to deliver not so sweet nothings if one of them were planning to betray Nelly.
“There is another option on the table,” Gabriel said, drawing my attention back to him. “A unique opportunity that we must consider.”
I raised my eyebrows. I could feel my Monster within me sitting at full attention, listening carefully.
Gabriel continued. “King William has many that follow him, an impressive army of an estimated ten-thousand, at least some of which have been enhanced by Accursed blood, but they are not all always with him. They are spread out in all five cities. Of course, he keeps a personal guard at all times, but I suspect that he moves around so frequently and secretly because he knows of our plots against him.” He paused. “But we know where the King is right now, don’t we?”
Why, yes we do,
my Monster chuckled.
Intriguing suggestion, Warrior.
I thought about this for a moment. “How many in his personal guard?” I asked.
Gabriel shrugged, just the slightest lift of his thin shoulders. “I can’t give you an exact estimate. Fifty, a hundred, maybe.”
My eyebrows shot up. I’d seen the Warriors the King kept around him. They were enormous beasts as silent as death and just as swift. Huge men with the training of gladiators. Expert killers.
Didn’t seem so scary to me.
“That’s because you’re insane.”
Look who’s talking.
I realized everyone was watching me. “And how many fighters do we have with us right now?”
Gabriel plucked his glasses off his face and began polishing the lenses on the front of his collared shirt. “We can have roughly thirty capable Vampires and Wolves ready to move out in a matter of twenty-four hours. And of course, we have
you.
”
I took a long moment trying to absorb all of this, but Gabriel cut into my thoughts with his soft, mumbling monotone once more. “I will not repeat the mistakes of others. Every choice that is made from here on out is yours, Sun Warrior. It is your decision if you think we should move cautiously, or strike out at the lion’s neck.”
But we can’t leave here yet, Warrior. We haven’t heard from the Seer, and God-knows-what is happening to Nelly. She needs us now more than ever.
For the first time since we walked into this insane meeting, I looked over at Kayden. He was standing slightly behind me, his arms crossed over his chest, the cords of hard muscles in them standing out, tense and flexed. A little bit of his tawny blond hair had fallen from the short ponytail at the back of his neck, and it hung in his face in a way that I knew annoyed him. His golden eyes were narrowed to slits, his mouth a hard line. He’d said nothing the entire time we’d been here, and looking at him, I was kind of glad he hadn’t. I was sure I was going to hear it later, though.
I turned inward again, searching for the answer to the question that still hung in the air. So, I thought, it had come down to a decision between making a ballsy move that could save a lot of people, or waiting around, losing the opportunity, and hoping for an opportunity that might not even come—the Seer hadn’t even agreed to see me yet—on a chance that I could save my sister from…well, herself. It was a decision that felt as big as it sounded.
Worse yet, nine of the thirteen other people in the room knew about it. They knew what it would mean if I chose to pass on the opportunity to nip the problem in the blood, to possibly kill the King when he wasn’t expecting it. They knew that I was basically being forced to choose between saving the world and saving my sister. And they also knew what my answer would be. They’d have to be very stupid not to.
“How long do I have?” I asked, hoping that my voice didn’t sound as guilty as I thought it did. “How long do I have to decide?”
At this, Simon gave me an almost surprised look, as if he had expected me to jump into the air at the opportunity of taking down the King. Olivia looked up for the first time since I had accused her of planning all of this, her eyes as sharp as ever. “Where’s Nellianna?” she asked.
A little panic went through me. I realized I didn’t have any clue about what kind of story the others had told, or who they had told it to. I also didn’t know how much Olivia knew about Nelly, if she knew that my sister was the one meant to free the people. She had told me before that it was me that was meant to lead the revolution, but was that because she thought it was true or was it some sort of trick? I fumbled for something to say in my head, but an unexpected voice caught me from having to.
“She is safe with her mother,” Camillia said, her eyes catching mine for only the briefest of moments, but I got the message:
Shut up.
“After Alexa rescued Diana from Dangeon she returned to Two Rivers and helped us escape King William’s wrath. She agreed to come here with me, to fight with us on the condition that her sister be left out of it.” Camillia’s voice was so sure, so steady, so regal that even I almost believed her.
Except our Mother is dead and Nelly is the true Savior.
Olivia nodded, and if she knew differently from what Camillia had said, her old face gave no indication. She looked at me. “I’m glad to hear you found your mother and that she and your sister are well,” she said, “Hopefully, when this is all over you will be able to return to them.”
I think I hate this old bitch, Warrior. She knows what the prophecy says. She knows the savior dies in the end. All for the cause. I swear I won’t judge you if you should somehow decide you want to kill her while she sleeps in her cozy bed tonight. Yes, I’m sure I hate her. We should kill her.
That
would be poetic fucking justice for you.
“How long do I have to make this decision?” I asked again.
Gabriel shrugged. “Who knows? The King may have already fled Two Rivers, though I doubt it. He’s got resources and more information there about you than he does anywhere else. I would say a decision should be made by morning. Are you saying you want to wait until then?”
“Wait,” I said. “Why do you think he has more information about me at Two Rivers?”
Gabriel gave me a look that suggested that that was a stupid question, but my head seemed to be spinning in circles going a hundred miles a minute. All of a sudden, this was feeling like too much. Way too damn much.
“Because,” said Gabriel, “you made friends when you were there, no? Acquaintances? Maybe told people little things about yourself, things you might not have thought were even important, but the King will think it’s important. He will think all of it is very important.”
I could feel the eyes of the others on me like weights, could hear the unspoken accusations in my ears. What Gabriel was saying put faces on all the people I was letting down by stalling for time in hopes of saving Nelly. One person in particular stood out in my mind, the person I hadn’t allowed myself to think about so that I didn’t have to feel guilty about leaving him there. About everything.
Jackson.
As his name went through my head I felt like a fist went through my stomach. I clenched my teeth as I felt sudden, traitorous tears begin to burn my eyes, but I gratefully felt my Monster stepped forward and forced them back. Now was not the time to cry. I would save Jackson. My sweet, innocent Jackson who had been dragged into this mess simply for associating with me, for loving me. I had to believe that I could still make it right. I had to believe that he could take care of himself until I got there, that the King wasn’t questioning him at this very moment about me, torturing him to gain details about things that could hurt me, like my undying love for Nelly was sure to do. I had to pretend to hope that everyone left that I loved and cared about would make it through this.
Especially
Jackson. I owed that to him, because I was already planning on breaking his heart.
“I don’t think it’s them we hate,”
I told my Monster.
“I’m pretty sure it’s just
me
I hate. Me, most of all.”
I took a deep breath, but felt like none of it reached my lungs. “You’ll have my answer by sunrise tomorrow,” I said, and there it was.
Really, though, the decision had already been made. Long, long ago.
King William
Jackson sat opposite his father again on the couch that faced the armchair in the Queen’s office. The questions had been going on for hours, and Jackson was starting to wonder if his father would ever run out of them. The focus of the questions was mainly on Nelly, and this made first a spark of dismal hope pass through him, then an even sharper flash of guilt. He knew very well how much Nelly meant to Alexa, and it didn’t matter who his father was more interested in. To destroy one would be to destroy the other. And there was no point in even attempting to lie about it. That would only serve to make things worse.
The more Jackson told, the more excitement King William felt. His son had confirmed his assumptions about the Sun Warrior and her half-Accursed sister.
King William’s gaze on his son was cold, calculating. With every tiny bit of information that Jackson gave he felt more and more confident about his plan. And the spells that Syris had provided were working wonderfully. He already knew more than enough, but he enjoyed very much watching his traitorous son squirm and anguish over it all. He needed to break Jackson of the ridiculous hold the Sun Warrior had over him, and he knew that it wouldn’t be easy. And, his boy
had
to be punished for his poor judgment. Taught a lesson. The King could care less about Jackson’s feelings for the girl, as long as he followed orders. Did as he was told. Perhaps one day down the line his son would learn how live without love. He thought he was doing the boy a favor.