Chapter 29
“What?” Trace snarled, his voice echoing off the walls.
My ears rang, Declan’s words still reverberating there. “My dad knows about Leighton’s phoenix mark.” That mixed with Saoirse’s warnings about what other supernaturals might do to someone with that mark. My hand lifted to my chest, rubbing over the spot where the mark lay.
“Explain,” Colt growled.
Ronan moved farther into the room, bringing Declan with him. “Liam was heading out to get a fly in, and he heard Patrick with a few of his top people. He said that he’d received word from a trusted source yesterday that Leighton had what looked like a phoenix mark.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, and five sets of eyes shifted to me in question. “Mimi,” I whispered.
“What about that bitch?” Trace clipped.
“After gym yesterday, when I bent to get my stuff, she was staring at my chest. I thought she’d just seen Colt’s brands, but maybe she saw the mark.”
Dash cursed. “What did Patrick say he was going to do?”
Declan stared at the window, so much rage in his expression.
It was Ronan who finally spoke. “He said that he’d tried to see if he could get us on his side. That he wanted to use Leighton’s abilities. But we weren’t accepting of his offers.”
“That rat bastard,” Colt growled.
“It gets worse,” Declan said. His voice sounded completely dead. As if there was no emotion in him at all. The emptiness set me on edge, the hairs on my arms standing on end.
“He’s the one who set the shadow demons on us. He cloaked one of his guards and had them stake out access points on the property,” Ronan said, anger vibrating each word.
Colt pushed to his feet and began pacing. “He’ll die for this.”
“Not if he kills us first,” Declan said, that deadness still in his tone.
Everyone turned to him in question.
Ronan shifted. “He’s gathering his forces, trying to gauge if the vamps will stand with him, and then he’s going to declare war.”
My mouth went dry, my throat squeezing tight. “This is because of me.”
If seven people had died in a shadow demon attack, imagine how many would perish in an all-out war. I couldn’t have those lives on my conscience.
Dash shifted to face me. “Bullshit. This is on a bitter, power-hungry old man.”
“Damn straight,” Ronan agreed.
“He could hurt so many,” I whispered.
“We’re going to stop him,” Colt said, so much certainty in his words.
Trace’s hands clenched and flexed as his eyes swirled with a bright purple. “I’m going to remove his organs one by one, but I’m going to keep him breathing while I do it.”
“That’s one way to handle it,” Dash said drolly.
Declan kept his focus on the window. “You won’t get close enough to even try.”
“He’s right,” Ronan agreed. “His guard is on alert. He won’t go anywhere without half a dozen of them now that he knows what Leighton is. We need others to stand with us. If we have enough of a show of force, he might back down.”
The doorbell rang.
Colt jolted. “No one called from the gate.”
Ronan made a motion to tell Colt to relax. “We called Darius and Saoirse on our way home. We’re going to need everyone we have.”
A little of the tension went out of Colt’s shoulders. A second later, Baldwin led Saoirse and Darius into the lounge. He nodded at us. “Do you need anything?”
Colt shook his head. “But you should stay to hear this.”
Worry swept over Baldwin’s expression, but he nodded, moving deeper into the room.
Saoirse was pale, her face drawn. “I’m so sorry for your losses.”
“Thank you,” Colt said with a nod. “Have you brought them up to speed?” he asked Ronan.
“They know everything you do,” Ronan informed us.
“You should’ve told me about the phoenix mark from the beginning,” Darius grumbled. “We could’ve been preparing.”
“The fewer people that knew, the greater chance we had of getting through this unscathed,” Colt argued.
Darius sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I get it. But this is going to be a clusterfuck.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
His gaze moved to me. “Don’t apologize. What you are is nothing short of a miracle.”
“You’re not scared of me?”
A gentle smile spread across Darius’s face, the same kind of smile my father used to bestow upon me. “No, Leighton. I think you’re incredible. You’ve surprised me at every turn, and I have no doubt you’ll master your new gifts.”
My throat burned and contorted. “Thank you.”
He nodded, then turned to the rest of my guys. “You know the wolves will stand with you.”
“And I’ll gather the dragons who are loyal to justice. There are many who want nothing to do with Patrick’s tyrannical rule,” Saoirse added.
“No,” Ronan clipped. “We can’t risk it.”
Declan turned then, his face still a blank mask. “There are some who will stand with us. Seán, Liam, James, Sam, and Connor for sure. I’m sure there are more. Some may even be able to share intel.”
Saoirse nodded. “We’ll move carefully. I’ll only approach those whose motives I’m 100 percent certain of.”
Ronan gritted his teeth but finally nodded. “We have to be beyond cautious.”
“He’s right,” Darius agreed. “And that means you all need to proceed as if you have no idea what Patrick’s up to. Classes, activities, parties. Nothing has changed.”
“We need to be training,” Trace argued.
Darius turned to him. “No amount of training will help you if Patrick knows you’re coming. Surprise is our best hope right now.”
Declan nodded. “The dragons have far greater numbers than any other clan. Patrick has been merciless with his military training, both in dragon and human forms.”
“We’ll need everyone we can get on our side,” Dash said. I could see him doing the mental calculations of the numbers we’d need.
“Who do you think we might sway?” Colt asked.
Saoirse pressed a hand to her cheek. “Certainly not the vamps. I think the casters are likely. I’ll sense Delphine out first. I can never read Marjorie, so the demons are an unknown.”
Colt scanned our group. “Even with the casters and wolves with us, we’ll be severely outnumbered.”
Which meant one thing. I had to get control of my abilities, and I had to do it now.