Chapter 52 Luka
LUKA
“The only way to kill Keziq is if I die.”
Lennox didn’t even look at me, her gaze fixed on the fire still burning in the tent. It didn’t keep the cold from slithering along my veins.
“Yes,” the first witch confirmed.
“So we could kill her over and over again, but each time she’ll come back until Luka and the other tie are severed or they die.” Kara’s voice was quiet.
“Yes.” Hecate’s lips were set in a firm line, the wrinkles coating her face scrunching.
No one said anything, the only sounds in the room were our ragged breaths and the fire crackling in the hearth.
“Who’s the other life?”
“Adreona is the other life.”
“For fucks sake. Of courses it is,” Lennox swore.
“Is there any other way to kill her?” Lennox’s voice was quiet. “Any loophole?”
Hecate shook her head. “I’m afraid not, the only way to sever the spell is if Luka’s heart stops.”
Dread settled low in my stomach. Where did we go from here? We couldn’t kill Keziq—not until I died. Killing Adreona was all a part of the plan, so that wouldn’t change anything, but to stop Keziq from reversing the spell on vampires—I needed to die.
“So is it even worth it? Going forward with this war if it will all end in death?” Kara’s voice was tentative. “Why continue fighting it we have no way to change the end result.”
“We will not stop fighting on account of my life.”
“Luka—” Lennox finally turned her attention to me.
“No—you’ve put your life on the line countless times, Lennox, it’s my turn. The way I see it, the only way we win is if I die. That’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”
I didn’t want to die—not when I had so much more life to live. So many plans left unseen, but I’d do it if that’s what it took to save the vampire population. To save Lethenia. To win this war…
“I won’t let you do this, Luka. I won’t let you die for this.”
“Why not? It is one life for the lives of countless others.”
“Yes, but that one life is your life.” Her eyes flashed with determination. “And it might as well be my life, I’ve already lost my parents—I don’t think I could survive losing you.”
“But you would. It would be hard, but you’re Lennox Adair, you can survive anything.”
“Losing you might be the one thing I can’t survive.” Her voice cracked and her bottom lip trembled—making me question if I could in fact sacrifice myself and leave her behind—
“Enough with the dramatics, you two.” Luce’s voice reminded me that we were not alone.
“As nice as that speech was Luka, I have an idea, one that won’t kill you—not permanently at least.”
“What do you mean?”
Luce met Hecate’s red eyed stare. “She said the only way to sever the spell is if Luka’s heart stops—” The left corner of Luce's mouth curved up. “So all we need to do to sever the spell is to temporarily stop Luka’s heart.”
“No. No fucking way are you stopping his heart.” Lennox’s face was set in a firm line. “Absolutely not.”
“Would that work, would that actually work?” Hecate dipped her chin. “Luce, you could do it?”
“I’d have to study the spell—make sure I know how to do it exactly, but yes, I think I should be able to do it.”
“I can help you, it’s a delicate spell, but if done correctly, it should go off without a hitch,” Hecate added.
“No, you’re not doing this. You’re not stopping my mate’s fucking heart,” Lennox all but growled.
“It’s this or I die for real, Sweetheart. You need to pick the lesser of two evils.”
“I’m not picking when the choices are you dying permanently and you dying temporarily!”
“Him dying temporarily is clearly the to-go choice here, L.”
“This is not the time for jokes, Nico!”
Lennox looked around the room, her eyes wild. “All of you are okay with this? You’re all okay with her stopping his heart?”
No one said a thing, the silence was damning enough for Lennox.
“Fine, you guys go ahead. But I want no part in this.”
“Lennox—” I clamored after her out of the tent. She didn’t stop, not even turning a shoulder toward me as she continued her pursuit through the camp.
“Lennox!” I followed her to the area we had set up as a training facility. The remaining snow had been pushed aside, forming a circle, the dirt packed down into an even base.
She drew a blade from her thigh, rotating it in her hand before sending it careening toward a tree.
The blade stuck into the trunk. She quickly drew another, one after another she threw her blades until she emptied her sheaths.
Her chest heaved, her ragged breaths echoing in the empty forest.
The hair ripped loose from her braid blew around her face as she continued to stare at her blades embedded in the bark of the tree.
I took slow measured steps toward her, leaving only an inch between her back and my front as I took her clenched fists in my hand, forcing her fingers to interlock with mine.
“Lennox.”
She closed her eyes and shuttered as I wrapped our connected arms around her torso.
“The one time I want to choose to be selfish—that I want to pick myself over Lethenia—I can’t even do it. I can’t be selfish and ask you not to risk your life because either way I lose. There is no winning in this.”
“You know how good of a witch Luce is, and with Hecate’s help stopping—doing this spell, should be no problem.”
“But what if it doesn’t work?” A single tear slipped down her cheek.
“We can’t focus on the what if’s Lennox.” I couldn’t let myself. I couldn’t let myself think about what it would do to Lennox if I died. But there was no way out of this. There was only one option that could keep us on track to win this war.
And it depended on me risking my life.
“I’m scared,” she admitted. I wrapped my arms tighter around her.
“I’m scared too, but we can’t let fear dictate our decisions. We’re Lennox Adair and Luka Rossi for fucks sake.”
She managed a weak smile.
“I know you’ll be able to survive without me if it doesn’t work, Lennox.”
“Sure, I probably would, but it doesn’t mean I want to. I don’t want to live in a world without you in it.”
“Let’s hope to the fucking Goddess you don’t have to.”
She shifted in my hold, turning so she could embrace me fully, her cheek resting against my chest.
“If Luce fucks this up and kills you for real, I will kill her, I don’t care if she’s my cousin.”
“I’d be upset if you didn’t. Sweetheart.”
We returned to the tent a while later, everyone was still there, waiting for Lennox’s return, excluding Astria. She must have had enough of us and returned to the sky.
All eyes tracked Lennox as she made her way to the center of the room, bracing her hands on the edge of the large circular table in the center of the room.
“I apologize for my reaction earlier—it was—it was a lot to take in. But you all know me—”
“Exactly, we all know you so there is no need to apologize,” Kara interrupted.
“I still feel like I need to.”
“Kara’s right.” Luce stood and approached her cousin. “You don’t have anything to apologize for. Your reaction was warranted.”
Lennox only dipped her chin, meeting Luce’s gaze. “I’ll let you do the spell. I trust you. I’m still terrified, but I trust you, Luce. I trust you all. I want to make sure you all know that.”
“We do.” Declan pushed off from the dresser he leaned against. “We know every choice, every decision you make, is not made lightly.”
“We know your intention is always to look out for us, all of us,” Nico continued.
I pulled Lennox into my side, her eyes blinking rapidly as our friends approached us.
“Thank you. It means a lot—you saying all that—”
“What are friends for, after all.” Lennox grinned at the harpy, and I couldn’t help myself—I smiled too. Declan didn’t let people in often, but I could see it—I could see the relationship formed between him and my mate.
“Okay, enough of this sappy shit. If we don’t stop, I’m going to cry.” She steeled her shoulders. “Luce, you can do the spell, but not yet. There is still a lot we need to do. And I’m assuming you need time to research?”
Luce and Hecate shared a look—a silent conversation occurring between the two.
“Yeah, we need some time,” Hecate said finally.
“I was thinking we wait until we meet in battle—we only get one chance at this. If Keziq catches on to what we’re doing, she’ll never let us get near her again.”
“Is that worth the risk though? Waiting until we meet in battle? What if she figures out the spell before then?” Kara countered.
“If we don’t have access to her, we can’t kill her anyways—I’m sure with a spell of this magnitude she’d feel the shift—correct?”
Hecate dipped her chin in confirmation.
“If she knows we cut her tie to Luka she’ll hide away until she’s successfully completed her spell. Waiting is another risk we have to take.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. “We leave in two days time to start marching to Arcadia,” Declan reminded us.
“Is that enough time to get the legions ready?”
“Yes, that’s plenty of time. We’ll be ready.”
“How’d it go in Verbial—was everything dealt with accordingly?” Lennox asked.
“Soldiers were given two options, either fight with us or stay and defend Verbial. If they refused to choose, they were thrown in the dungeon to be dealt with after the war.”
“And Viona? Was she found?”
“Yes, Adreona had all but left her for dead. Kara healed her. She was left in charge of the Twilight Court at your request.”
“And she was given a communication crystal?”
Declan nodded.
“How many Twilight Court soldiers decided to come with us?”
“About half.”
“Good, that’s good,” I murmured. “What of Bergan?” I asked tentatively.
“I threw him in the dungeon,” Nico said, a smile breaking out on his face. “He, too, will be tried after the war. He didn’t have anything kind to say about anyone during his questioning in case you were wondering.”
“Well, that’s one less problem to worry about.” Lennox quickly changed the subject. “Declan—as someone who has studied war their entire life, do we have a fighting chance to win this?” Lennox asked tentatively.
“I’ve trained the Blood Courts army over the past few years, I know what they are capable of. They’re lethal fighters. But they won’t have the numbers on us. Especially with all of the courts siding with us now. They might have better skill, but we have the numbers.”
“What if—” I shook my head.
“Say it.” Lennox nudged me.
“What if we could get some of the Blood Court soldiers to side with us?”
“You can’t be serious!” Luce threw her hands in the air dramatically.
“How would we even do that?” Nico pressed, curiosity lining his voice.
“Once we get closer to their camp, we could sneak in, talk to the ones you know—the ones you think might switch sides—who might be easily persuaded.” I paced as I spoke, the idea coming clearer and clearer in my mind.
“They could turn on us in battle,” Declan countered.
“Or they could turn on the Blood Court.” Lennox smiled.
“This idea is mad.” Luce shook her head.
“But it’s mad enough it might be fucking brilliant.” Lennox’s face lit up. “How many do you think could be persuaded? Would it be worth the risk?”
“Dec? You trained them…”
He sighed, his brows furrowing. “Many of them might be loyal to me if I asked. I might have been a hard ass in my training, but they respected me. And you know who they didn’t respect—”
“Lorenzo,” I finished for him.
“Exactly. Any time Lorenzo showed up in the barracks or at training, many of the soldiers made it well-known how much they disliked him. He’d always tried to offer them tips, but you know Lorenzo, he was in no position to be offering fighting tips.
I heard them talking about him behind my back more than once.
I have no doubt a large chunk of them might join us, even only for the opportunity to oppose Lorenzo. ”
“I think we should do it.” Lennox sat in one of the chairs around the table, her eyes scanning over the map in the center. “It’s worth a shot anyway.”
“Is there anyone you trust enough to send a letter feeling them out?” I asked.
Declan was quiet as he thought. “There is one I trust, but I still don’t think we should send a letter with any kind of information.” His wings rustled. “But I could ask him to meet me. Explain in person, I’d feel much better about that.”
“How soon can you go?” Lennox asked eagerly.
“For fucks sake, you want to do it now, don’t you.”
Lennox smiled coyly. “I don’t see why not. We’re at the beginning of a war, I have no intention of dragging this on any longer than necessary.”
“Can I at least have the night to think about it? This isn’t something we shouldn’t rush into.”
Lennox sighed. “Fine. But I want your decision by noon tomorrow.”
Declan dipped his chin. “Anything else, Your Majesty?” he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
Lennox’s eyes sparked. “Well well well, it looks like I’ve finally tore through Declan’s defenses.”
I leaned back in my chair, trying to hide my smile.
“Did you know this side of him existed?”
I chuckled. “Yes, I just never thought you’d see it so soon.”
“Sassy, Declan. I love it. I want to see more.” She shoved him in the leg with her elbow. “Got any more to give?”
“Stop,” he grit out, crossing his arms over his chest.
“C’mon, Dec. Give us a little smile,” Nico cooed.
“Stop,” he repeated.
“C’mon, Declan,” Luce and Kara cooed in unison.
“I’m leaving.”
We continued to jab at him as he elbowed his way out of the tent. “I hate you all,” he called out.
“You love us!” Lennox cheered, a smile lighting up her face. “Goddess, I needed that.” She slumped back in her chair. “Anyone got any alcohol? I need a drink after today.”