Chapter 42 #2
I wasn’t so sure about Athira owning her actions.
Most of the time, yes. But when it came to Raes and Gratia?
Athira had clearly had words with Raes to the effect of “if you care for my daughter’s happiness and relationship with her mother, then here’s the story you’ll go along with.
” If it was any consolation to him, then Raes now had a certain level of power over Athira.
I’d seen him use it—with a smirk, no less.
“You want to talk to everyone, or me?” Tempest asked.
I had no illusions about the figure I presented. Tempest was the dream, and I was the nightmare. Both of us were powerful, but one was far more approachable.
She snorted at my expression and swirled magic around her throat.
I planted myself next to her.
“Your attention,” she said, and her voice echoed across the meadow.
“My sister and I have an announcement. Good news, and we could think of no better place to make such an announcement than at the first summit of the Supernatural Alliance. The year has been one of recalibration and healing, of mourning and gratitude for the peace sorely won, and amid that, the leaders of the races have been hard at work putting our efforts toward a lasting peace and understanding between our races.”
She reached for my hand again. “The needs of our respective peoples are vast and varying, and the level of acceptance we aspire to will take time and effort from everyone toward a common goal of lasting peace. But there was one obvious need to figure out a solution to first, and that was a demon’s need to feed on pain. ”
A new silence stole over the knolls. Because that was the obvious elephant in the room.
She continued, “Any being in the demons’ northern territory is fed upon to sustain life in the realm.
Without a food source, their race will die.
So the leaders of our alliance have spent this year developing a sustainable alternative.
What we discovered was more than we’d hoped for.
You will know that while I possess a small amount of demon power, my sister possesses a small amount of magus power.
We also shared a womb that appears to have forged a unique bond between us.
We are able to transfer power with one another, much as I can do with my mate, though in a more limited capacity.
“With some experimentation, we have found that we can harness and transfer pain between us. Usual pains like heartache or injury can be gathered in our territories through magus methods, without any negative effect to our peoples, and I can draw this force into me to push through to Syera. Syera can then convert it into a food source suitable for demons before releasing it into the realm. This means the demon’s Earth territory can be emptied of unsuspecting supernaturals from other races.
It means that there will never be another need for war to expand their territory and find new food supplies. ”
There was a slight lie in that. More than a slight one, really.
Our peoples had no idea that Tyran had planned to form a master demon race.
We hadn’t wanted that idea or fear to enter anyone’s mind.
So the story was that Tyran had wanted to conquer the other territories to secure a larger food source.
To be fair, we’d thought that was true for most of the war.
This way of feeding the magic of the demon realm and its occupants offered a lasting solution to assuage any fears of another war.
The method of gathering and transferring that Tempest had described would be completely harmless too.
This plan gave magus vital importance to demonkind, and vice versa, which may forge a bond between our races for the first time in history.
Other races could be reassured that we weren’t secretly feeding on them.
Demons would benefit from a far larger and more populated feeding ground than we’d ever had, so our people would flourish from this strategy too.
“One last announcement,” Tempest called over the murmurs breaking out. “Soon we will all stand witness to the closure of demon gates into our various territories. One gate will remain open in Bluff City, Deception Valley, and on these knolls to connect us to the royal demon palace.”
My lips twitched. “Palace” was a much prettier image than “demon fortress.”
She continued, “Permanent barriers will be placed over these remaining gates to lessen any health effects to supernaturals living close by. Thank you.”
Polite applause broke out, and I found Tsan’s face in the crowd. His brows rose as he clapped, and I smiled back. We’d wondered how both of those announcements would be received.
Any change was going to take time, and we’d encounter resistance on the way, but there was so much hope, and with that came so much possibility.
The reason we could have hope and possibilities? The eight leaders of the alliance. They’d fought for those things. More specifically, the four women who’d decided to play the game. And win the game too.
And we had won. Somehow we’d all fucking won.
We left the podium, and Tempest nudged me. “You’re deep in thought.”
I hummed. “Just thinking about the odds we each faced. If any one of us had slipped or failed, then we wouldn’t be here now. Tyran would rule our territories. Me too. Or Carmine still.”
Basilia. Andie. Tempest. Me. If a single one of us had lost… I shuddered at the thought.
Somehow we’d each done our part, though.
I’d never know how. But I felt so relieved and grateful to be standing here with them.
My twin shivered. “Sometimes I think about that too. I almost feel more terror in hindsight than I could stop to feel in the moment. Everything happened so fast at the end, and it’s only now that I dwell on how the hell we balanced on the edge of that sword. How did we topple the right way?”
My lucky demon would say that our actions had created opportunity, and luck had nothing to do with the end result. I couldn’t be sure about that, or about his manifestation tricks, but I’d won this future on a gamble—or so it still felt—and I planned to live out that future to the fullest.
“I’ll be back soon,” she said. “I have gates to explode.”
I watched my twin walk away. Wild joined her, and I smiled when familiar arms wrapped around me.
“They took that well,” Carmine said.
I closed my eyes to enjoy the way his voice rumbled in his chest. “They did,” I murmured. “It’s going to all be okay. I can’t believe it, but I know we’ll all be okay.”
“They’ll be okay because of you,” he replied softly. “I’ll be okay because of you, and our son will be okay because of you. You may not believe it, but everyone here does, and that’s because they believe in you.”
“We did it together.”
Adeuto ran over to us, and I smiled to see a carefree smile on his face after our brief separation. He barreled into me, and I braced for impact as only a boy mama knew how.
“Be careful of your mother,” Carmine admonished.
Adeuto gave me a sheepish look, and I winked, picking him up after. Carmine’s arms wrapped around both of us, and I ignored the surprised looks from surrounding races at our family display.
Family. For years I hadn’t even consciously wished for this, but the depth of my gratitude said otherwise. That deep, relieved thankfulness said that my soul had always yearned for this ending with Carmine and our son.
The urge to cry rose in me, and Carmine tightened his grip around us. Our family. Together. Alive. Free. Safe.
Healing.
We’d be okay.
Not just us, but all those here. All four of the supernatural races and their beloved leaders.
We were all going to be okay.
The End