Chapter 41
Hayden
For a moment, I had everything.
Peace. Love. A family. A safe home. Not just the future of my pack, but the future of all wolf shifters. Joanna is a she-wolf, and she’s going to breathe life back into our kind.
Now, it’s all unraveling before my eyes.
“We’ll fight by your side, Lucifer,” I try to keep any hint of regret from my voice as I lean toward my father-in-law. “No matter what, we’re with you. You’re part of our family now… part of our pack.”
“That’s kind of you to say,” Lucifer rumbles. “But Ansley made it through most of her life without me. You can still stay here, where nobody can find you, and raise your child. I’m sure there will be more. I will not put her life in danger, nor will I put her mates’ lives in danger.”
“I don’t really have any powers other than cosmic whatever, but I’ll fight,” Daisy joins in. “Or I’ll try to. Just… please don’t let them burn me at the stake.”
“You are not going,” Lucifer says firmly.
“But we are,” Jaxton asserts. “I still have a score to settle with the Crimson Templars. This could be the best shot we have of taking them down. Making this world safe for all Scions. Then we wouldn’t have to hide.”
“Anything from Ansley yet? Has she been able to reach the other Scions?” Wyatt asks.
“Still trying,” Lucifer replies. “She’s been at it for a week now. I promised I’d give her time, but every day that passes, I get angrier. They’ve been holding Gabriel prisoner… probably since they shot him out of the sky two millennia ago.”
“Without his blood, the Crimson Templars only have their weapons,” Storm says. “We’re no match for them alone, but if there were more of us…”
“There will be,” Ansley says, walking into the room.
“Ansley, you’re back,” Remy jumps up. “I thought you were staying up there all day.”
“No need,” she says. “I’ve made contact with them all. Every Scion on the planet.”
“Contact is one thing,” Storm says. “But they still have to show up.”
“Three days from now. Sunset,” Ansley says. “That’s when we strike.”
“You’ll need to stay here with the baby,” I try to make my words sound more like a command than begging. “But the rest of us will go. Go and pray that we’re not the only ones who show up to fight.”
“Daisy can take care of Joanna,” Ansley isn’t hearing me, apparently. Turning to her best friend, she says, “I know you’ll fight if we ask you to, even if you’re just trying to bite them in the leg, but I really need you to take care of my daughter.”
“I don’t like this. You’ll be in danger,” I argue.
“Neither do I,” Lucifer backs me up. “If the other Scions show up, great. If they don’t, then I’ll take as many Crimson Templars out as I can.”
“So will we,” Remy says, and the rest of us nod in agreement.
“But you stay here, Ansley. Seriously. I’m glad you’re learning to use your power better, but if something happens to us, someone has to look after Joanna.
You have to tell her how brave and handsome we were.
” He’s trying to ease the sting of this with a feeble attempt at humor, but Ansley isn’t falling for it.
“I can’t ask every Scion on the planet to fight the Crimson Templars, then not show up myself,” Ansley says, shaking her head. “And if something happens to all of you, then what? I raise Joanna alone? I can’t teach her to be a she-wolf. Only her pack can do that!”
“But if you fall, daughter, then…” Lucifer’s voice chokes off.
“If you consider Gabriel family, then so do I,” Ansley pushes back. “Either we all go, or none of us do. I’ll tell the other Scions the plan is off.”
Lucifer leans forward and makes eye contact with each of us. A silent understanding passes between us. Ansley is determined, and if there’s ever going to be a chance to take the Crimson Templars down, this is it. It could be the only real chance we ever have.
“We fight,” I growl. “All of us.”
“Except me,” Daisy chimes in. “I’ll just stay here being useless.”
“You’re not useless,” Ansley sighs, walking over to her best friend. “You’re the best godmother Joanna could ever hope for. And if for some reason, we don’t make it back, I know you’ll love her as much as we do.”
“I will,” Daisy says hesitantly. “But please don’t die and leave me to raise a baby on my own. I take birth control for a reason.”
“Then it’s settled,” Lucifer says. “In three days’ time, at sunset, we finish this. Once and for all. We rescue Gabriel. We kill every last Crimson Templar. We leave a crater where the Vatican currently stands.”
“A crater? Really? There’s so much nice artwork,” Daisy pouts. “Oh well, I’ll cross that one off my bucket list.”
“Who cares about history when it’s all wrong?” Wyatt rumbles. “Let’s burn it to the fucking ground.”
“Coming from you, that’s impressive,” Jaxton chuckles. “But I agree. The Crimson Templars are using it for their home base. They’ve got an angel imprisoned there. They get no quarter.”
The plan is in motion. I don’t fully agree with everything, but Ansley’s right. She’s the voice the other Scions heard. In some ways, she’s going to be the one they look to as a leader. Until Lucifer streaks across the sky. Then I have a feeling we’ll all be following him into battle.
Five Alpha Wolves, a Nephilim, an angel, and every Scion on Earth. If they show up, the odds might actually be in our favor for a change. No more hiding. No more running. The world could be what it used to be, before the Crimson Templars started killing our kind.
That’s something worth fighting for.
The next three days pass, filled with research, battle planning, training, preparation, and lots of worry. Ansley spends her time in the tower, still practicing, still reaffirming the plan for the other Scions.
Then Lucifer walks into the room where we are gathered, now in all his angelic glory with a halo floating above his head.
“It’s time,” he says calmly. “It’ll be sunset in Italy soon. I’ll have to make multiple trips to bring all of you there.”
“No, you won’t,” Ansley says as she walks in behind her father. “I arranged for a ride.”
“A ride? How?” Lucifer asks.
“The Fae. They can open rifts, and one should be opening right about…” Ansley pauses, then a seam of light appears in the middle of the living room. “Now!”
“Whoa!” Daisy says. “That goes to Italy?”
“It does,” Ansley affirms. “The Fae are the most trustworthy of all Scions, despite their penchant for mischief. They were the only ones I felt comfortable disclosing our location to.”
“A wise choice, daughter,” Lucifer says. “Let’s go.”
I walk over to my daughter, now cradled in Daisy’s arms. I lean over, move the blanket, and smile when I see her eyes.
“Sweet Joanna,” I whisper. “I’ll come home to you, if there’s any way possible for me to do so. If I don’t… Daisy is Mitra. One day, you’ll understand why we trusted her to take care of you.”
“Aw, handsome, you’re too kind,” Daisy’s voice is tight with emotion but, in typical Daisy fashion, she holds onto her whimsical nature. “This little wolf is safe with me. Now, if she starts trying to bite me one day, that might be a different story.”
“If… if things don’t go our way, stay here as long as you can. Until she needs a wolf. You’ll know when,” I sigh, covering Joanna with the blanket again. “Ansley said there are other packs near New York City. That may be your best shot.”
“If you don’t come home, they may not either,” Daisy says. “We’ll be fine. You’re going to be fine. Think positive. Think dead Crimson Templars. Lots of them!”
“We’ll do everything we can to ensure it,” Ansley’s words are firm and confident as she walks over to us.
I leave Ansley to say her goodbyes to Daisy and our child. Lucifer walks to the portal, and I gather around it with my brothers. We’re ready. More than ready. We’ve been waiting for this fight for centuries, but never imagined we could possibly be on the winning side.
“Let’s go fuck shit up,” Jaxton snarls.
“Damn right we will,” Remy agrees.
“We’ve been together a long time. Most of that time, we had very little to live for, except each other.
Now, we’ve got everything to live for,” I assert, looking at my brothers.
“Let’s show the Crimson Templars what we’re capable of.
Make them regret the day they declared war on our kind. On all Scions.”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Storm adds. “Well, maybe Jaxton said it best. Let’s go fuck shit up.”
“Then what are waiting for?” Wyatt says, moving closer to the portal.
The time has come.
We’re going to end this, or we’re going to die trying.