Chapter 30 #2
“Exactly. They’re not tapped into Horsemen magic so my guess is the only way they can even sense whether Ares is still alive is through the prophecy, which remains unchanged.
As far as they’re concerned, I just haven’t completed my mission yet.
” I crossed my arms, laying out my cards on the table for them.
“And when I show up at Temple with the baby—or rather, with what they think is the baby—no one will suspect a thing.”
“A decoy,” said Dominic, his lips curving into something that wasn’t quite a smile but had a hint of approval in it.
“Wrapped in a blanket and shielded from their magical detection,” I continued, waggling my brows. “I tell them there’s some kind of protective aura around him. Something that requires the Council’s help to break through before I can finish the job.”
Trace worked his jaw as he mulled it over. “That could work, but I don’t like the idea of you walking in there alone. There’s too many variables. Too many things that could go wrong.”
“It’s the safest option,” I said, forcing conviction into my voice even as the white lie sat bitter on my tongue.
“They won’t be expecting it and with my Nephilim abilities and the Sword of Angelus, I’m strong enough to do this.
I know I am.” The words came easier than they should have, smoothing over the real reason I wanted to go alone: Because this was my fight, and I needed them to be as far away from danger as possible.
Of course, I couldn’t just come out and admit that outright or they’d never go for it.
Trace shook his head, folding his arms across his chest. “I’d rather take the risk trying to bring the wards down and go at it together. There’s strength in numbers.”
“And give them time to mobilize their forces?” I countered. “No. My way is cleaner. They’ll never see this coming because it’s exactly what they expect. Their obedient Fourth Horseman delivering the prize they’ve been waiting for.”
“Unless, of course,” said Dominic as he rose from his chair with predatory grace, “we combine both plans.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, my pulse picking up despite myself.
He moved closer, his movements languid and purposeful, like a hunter circling its prey.
“Your worry is that bringing the wards down will sound the alarms and they’ll descend on us before we breach the threshold.
” His fingers trailed along the back of the couch as he walked, his eyes never leaving mine.
“But if you’re already inside, playing your role as their faithful servant, creating a distraction with your performance and false prize, then Caleb or the sisters can work on the wards without drawing immediate attention.
By the time anyone notices the fluctuation in their defenses, we’ll already be inside. ”
“And even if they do sense something,” agreed Trace, the pieces clicking into place across his features, “they’ll assume it’s the Son of Perdition setting off their alarms. It’s the perfect cover.”
“No, it’s not.” Everything in me rebelled against the idea of them being anywhere near that place when this thing went down. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
Dominic tilted his head, studying me as though I were a puzzle he was particularly enjoying solving.
“My plan is better. The fewer people involved, the more chance I have of not getting caught.”
Dominic’s smile turned cold and knowing, cutting through my excuses like a knife through warm butter.
“Whatever delusions you’re entertaining about leaving us behind, abandon them now.
” His gaze held mine, unflinching. “We’re not liabilities you need to shelter or protect, angel.
We are Revenants. Faster, stronger, and considerably harder to kill than your average Descendant.
We are assets, whether you want to admit it or not.
Now, we either do this together, or we don’t do it at all. The choice is yours.”
“What kind of choice is that?”
“The only one you’re getting,” he answered evenly.
My jaw clenched, heat rising in my chest as I glared at him. “You don’t get to decide that.”
“I most certainly do.”
I fisted my hands at my sides, frustration bleeding into anger. I opened my mouth to tell him exactly where he could shove his ultimatum when Trace cut in.
“Come on, Jemma,” he said, closing the distance between us and catching my hand in his own. His thumb traced circles against my palm, anchoring me as his eyes held mine. “You know we can’t let you walk into that deathtrap without backup. That’s not going to happen no matter how you try to spin it.”
“I don’t need backup,” I insisted, pulling my hand from his and stepping back. “I need you both alive.”
“And we need the same from you,” he said, his voice lowering. “What if something goes wrong while you’re in there? What then? Are we just supposed to stand outside and wait to find out if you’re alive or dead?”
I swallowed hard, trying to keep the ache in my chest from climbing any higher. I hated that I was putting them in this position. That I was expecting them to do something I knew very well I couldn’t do myself.
But I didn’t know what else to do.
“I’ve already lost too many people,” I said, tears burning behind my lids. “I can’t…I won’t add you to that list.”
“Look, I get what you’re saying. I do. I would feel the same way if this were reversed.
But there comes a time when we have to face the reality.
And the reality is we’re stronger together.
” He dipped his head to catch my gaze. “You’re not protecting us by keeping us out.
You’re only making it easier for them to pick us off one by one when they come for what’s left of us. ”
“I…” I shook my head, unable to find a rebuttal.
I hadn’t considered that.
Dominic moved closer, crowding into my space with that menacing presence that always made the blood in my veins course hot under my skin.
“As endearing as your resistance is, it’s entirely futile.
We’re bonded to you for a reason, angel.
And it’s not so you can martyr yourself while we watch from the sidelines.
If you fall, we fall. That is how the anchor works.
Separately, we are remarkable. But together?
” A shadow crossed the dark of his eyes. “We are unstoppable.”
I wanted to keep fighting them on it. To insist they stay as far from Temple as possible.
That despite knowing we were stronger together, I couldn’t bear the thought of losing anyone else.
But the stubborn set of Trace’s jaw and the immovable certainty in Dominic’s gaze told me I wasn’t going to change their minds.
That I’d already lost this battle, just like I’d lost the battle to keep them from the barrier or from every other dangerous thing I’d done since the day they walked into my life and changed everything for the better.
The truth crashed over me with the force of an inevitability I couldn’t outrun.
They were right. We were stronger together.
The anchor bonds, the way we’d fought side by side at the barrier and every time before that, the way they balanced me when I threatened to tip too far into the darkness.
None of that worked if we were separated.
And as much as I knew I couldn’t survive losing them, they couldn’t survive losing me either. It wasn’t fair to ask that of them. To demand they stand aside and watch me walk into danger alone when I knew with absolute certainty I’d never do the same.
“Okay,” I finally agreed, the word coming out reluctant despite meaning it this time. “But we stick to the plan no matter what. No deviating, no improvising, and no throwing yourselves in front of me like a bunch of lovesick, sacrificial lambs.”
“So says the one planning to hand-deliver herself to the Council,” muttered Dominic.
“That’s different.”
“How so?”
I straightened. “Because William is mine,” I said, the cold edge in my voice making both of them go still. “After everything he did to me and to my family, he’s going to answer for it.”
“How refreshingly bloodthirsty of you.”
The voice came from the doorway, smooth and dripping with amusement. All three of us whipped around in unison to find Anita leaning against the doorframe, her sisters Annabelle and Arianna standing just behind her.
None of them had made a sound. Not a footstep or even a breath and certainly nothing that should have escaped Dominic and Trace’s heightened senses.
Anita’s lips curved into a knowing smile as her eyes found mine. “Though I must say, vengeance is such a limited ambition when you have the potential for so much more.”