38. Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Ty
Everyone took the rest of the day to settle in—unpacking their bags, washing clothes, and, Ena’s favorite, taking a ridiculously long bath. Though even Ty had to admit, after months of exclusively sponge-bathing in cold streams, it felt like the most amazing luxury to sit in a tub of warm water.
Overall, he found Greya and Perse to be excellent hosts, and Ena had not been joking when she’d said her sister was an excellent cook.
They ate roast chicken, potatoes, and assorted roasted root vegetables almost to the point of bursting before crashing together in bed once night fell.
Ty slept almost a full twelve hours—occasionally interrupted by Ladon, of course—and didn’t rise until well past sunrise, refreshed and thankful.
The next day brought renewed challenges, though.
While he and Turner had done their best not to draw attention, word had spread through the Coven about the arrival of two more daemons, and the band of stryx camping out in the nearby woods.
Greya had spent the day fielding questions and having discussions with several different Coven members who stopped by to express their concerns.
It seemed like she’d been able to alleviate most of them—for now—but it was clear that many of the witches were uncomfortable harboring daemons long-term, despite the Coven’s reluctant agreement that they needed to work with them in order to remove the current King of the Underworld.
To that end, it was later that evening that Greya called a meeting between herself, the daemons, and a few of the stryx to discuss what to do next.
Time was of the essence, both for the sake of the unhappy witches, and for the Underworld.
Iblis only knew what Cole was up to while they hid away in the Auster Coven.
So, just before sunset, he and Ena found themselves sitting around Greya’s large dining room table, along with Max, Kaya, Xena, Perse, Steig, and Turner.
It was quite the gathering, and there was an air of excitement and nervousness as everyone took their seats.
Even though Greya had called the meeting, and this was her house, he knew he held equal responsibility here, because it was he who had encouraged this.
It was he who was putting people at risk to overthrow Cole, and he wanted to do his best to keep everyone safe.
So Ty cleared his throat, making known that he intended to speak first. “Thank you all for being here,” he said, calling everyone’s attention to him.
“I know how much you risk—all of you—by being a part of this, and I want to start by saying how much I—we,” he added, looking over at Turner and Steig, “appreciate your support.”
The faces around the table, including Ena beside him, smiled back at him encouragingly, so he continued.
“Steig has updated me on the state of the Underworld. I think it will come as no surprise to those of you who are familiar with him, but Cole has become increasingly unhinged since the breaking of the bond. He is highly volatile, but that might put us at an advantage.
“Steig has told me that his erratic behavior has turned even more daemons against him, and Lara has been working in secret to convince them that replacing Cole as king is the best course of action. I am hoping that this will make one targeted attack against him and a swift show of force all that is necessary for his removal. I’m sure you’ll all agree that minimizing the loss of life and violence is our primary goal.
However, knowing daemons as I do, we should be prepared for some violence. ”
“What kind of violence?” Greya asked. She was no longer Ena’s sister in this moment. Instead, Ty could tell she’d assumed the full power and responsibility of the matriarch of the Auster Coven. “Physical, or magical?”
“Likely both,” Ty said. “Daemons rely on hand-to-hand combat whenever possible—we are all trained in it, and it’s our bread and butter—but we will also use our Powers to disrupt our opponents when we can.”
“You should know,” Greya said evenly, “that even though I have the support of my Coven, and the pledged support of Occidens, most of the witches will not condone fighting unless we are attacked first. If it comes to that, you cannot rely on us en masse.”
“Understood,” Ty responded.
“What about magical assistance?” Turner asked from across the table. “Would the witches help with that, if it didn’t entail them physically fighting?”
“It depends,” Greya said, looking over at Perse. “If it was to help reduce the loss of life overall…then perhaps some would be willing to participate.”
“Okay, good to know where the witches stand,” Ty said, turning his attention towards Max, Xena, and Kaya. “And if it does come to physical fighting, how do the stryx feel about that?”
“Stryx are not fighters, not like daemons,” Max responded.
“But we do hunt, and have good aim with our bows, and we have no problem with the necessity of violence. Of course, if the mission is conducted during the full moon, those of us with predator forms could Change and lend our support to subdue Cole’s allies that way as well. ”
“Wait,” Greya chimed in. “Why the full moon?”
“The stryx can only Change on the full moon,” Kaya explained. “Well, all except Max, because he has a bloodmatch.”
“The full moon just passed,” Perse said. “We would have to wait another full month. Do you think we can wait that long?” he asked Ty.
Ty looked to Ena, gauging her reaction to that. He didn’t want to overstay their welcome with the Auster Coven, nor should Steig be absent much longer from the Underworld. Even with Ungar and Jace held up by the Occidens witches, their long absence was no doubt arousing suspicion.
“No, I don’t think we should,” Ty said decisively. “I think acting as soon as possible, before word has time to spread of the stryx’s arrival, and our whereabouts, is best.”
“Okay, then we’ll just have to count on the stryx’s support with their bows, which doesn’t leave us with much manpower to force our way into the Underworld. Arrows won’t be suited for the tight quarters of the passageways,” Steig noted.
“Good point,” Ty agreed, thinking. “Maybe we don’t use force then, at least not to get in. Maybe we use deceit.”
“What do you mean?” Ena asked.
“We know that Cole’s number one goal right now is finding me. What if Steig pretends to have found me, and brings me back to Cole?” he explained. “It would get the two of us in without arousing suspicion.”
“That might work, but there’s something else you don’t know…
” Steig said, his tone heavy. “Cole gave me an imperae collar, and I was instructed to capture Ty and put him in it instantly, to ensure he can’t get away.
If I come back with him uncollared, it will arouse his suspicion. How do we get around that?”
“There might be a way to disempower it,” Ena chimed in. “I’m not positive, but if I remember my rune research correctly, there is one that severs the Imbued Power from the object. If we add that, hidden, it would look like he is collared, but he’d retain his control.”
“That’s genius,” Kaya added, smiling proudly at Ena, who beamed back at her.
“It is,” Steig said, nodding gratefully at Ena.
“But it brings us to our next problem—Cole will have all his cronies and his new army of imperi around him. Even if we get in, there’s no guarantee that we’ll be able to take him out, or survive against that many trained opponents with just the two of us. ”
“Aren’t we all forgetting something?” Turner asked suddenly. “Witches’ Gifts work against daemons now. We’re overlooking the most powerful person here.” He turned to look at Ena, and everyone else followed suit.
“What do you mean?” she asked self-consciously.
“Your visanis,” Turner explained. “If we’re able to get you in, too, you could control him instantly, with just a word—make him an easier target. You could control anyone who acts against Ty and Steig, too, until the rest of us can arrive as backup.”
“Would that work?” Ena asked hopefully.
“It could,” Steig responded excitedly. “If I pretend to have captured both Ena and Ty, then it’d be three of us against them. That’s better odds.”
“No. No way. I’m not bringing Ena openly back into the Underworld, not even as a pretense,” Ty spoke adamantly. Even if Ena was okay with this plan, it made him extremely uncomfortable. “Cole could kill her instantly or separate her from us—any number of things. That’s too risky.”
“What if she is disguised as something else?” Max chimed in, and all eyes swiveled towards him.
“Disguised as what?” Steig asked skeptically.
“Her Change form,” Max said, his eyebrow raising as he looked at Ena.
The room fell silent as all eyes turned to her, and Ty felt her stiffen beside him.
“My—my Change form?” Ena asked, her hesitance palpable.
“I am not the only one who can Change at will, Ena. Because Ty is your bloodmatch, you likely can too,” Max explained gently.
“But, I-I’ve never Changed before. I have no idea what form I’d take, or even if I can,” Ena said, seeming agitated.
“Maybe it’s time you found out,” Max replied. He spoke kindly, but he looked at her with unspoken intent. He was challenging her.
Ena and Max stared at each other, the tension in the room palpable as they all waited to see what Ena would say to that.
Ty didn’t love the idea of her being involved at all, but he had to admit, having her Gift would be an incredible asset.
If she was hidden until the last minute, that would help keep her safe, but she suddenly seemed…
afraid. There was no way he was going to force her to be involved if she didn’t want to be, but he’d never known her to back down from a challenge, and something about her reaction to the topic had him curious. Why was she running so hard from this?
So he decided to push her, just a tiny bit.
“That would be ideal, Ena,” he said to her. “Depending on what animal you can Change into, of course. If it’s something that could be brought in without arousing too much attention, we could sneak you in.”
“This is all so hypothetical,” Ena said dismissively. “We don’t even know if I can Change.”
“Then why don’t you try?” Xena asked, seeming confused by Ena’s reaction. “I promise it’s not as scary as it looks.”
“I—” Ena’s eyes darted around the room, looking at everyone.
What was going on with her? He could tell she was resistant to the idea—too resistant—but he also knew she wanted Cole removed as badly as he did.
The fact that she wouldn’t even entertain this as a possibility without trying first was so unlike her.
All of a sudden, he saw tears form in her eyes, and he realized they’d pushed her too far.
“Ena, what’s going on?” he asked quietly, placing his hand on hers in comfort, but she refused to look at him.
“I need to go check on Ladon. Please excuse me.”
And without another word, Ena stood up from the table, and rushed away, leaving him and everyone else staring after her in confusion.