Chapter 42
My mind is scattered into a thousand different places.
I feel like Aunt Nancy when she took up lacemaking—I’ve dozens of threads but only two hands to keep them under control.
“You’re pacing, pulu.”
I turn on my heel and realize that I have, in fact, worn a track into the dusty basement floor.
Looking up at Alexis, some of my panic recedes. “Gods, I’ve missed you so much.”
Donovan ducks under the door jamb. “Miss me too?” My heart melts at his pleading puppy dog eyes. “Always.”
Maximus pushes past him. “And me?”
Cosmo follows Max, muttering, “Fuck my life.” I’m about to give him the middle finger, but the sound of the table-door being dragged aside distracts me.
“Lu!”
He wraps me in his arms, then I turn and look at the men in the room. “I wish Wes were here…”
“Yeah, yeah. If you give a mouse a cookie,” Cosmo drawls.
I swirl around and poke my finger on his chest. “Cut. It. Out.”
Surprisingly, Cosmo grins. “Just calling it like I see it.”
Fair enough. Maybe it’s not so far from the truth.
“Alright, let’s get going,” Alexis says, but I can tell by his tone that he’s amused. After trekking the tunnels for ten minutes, we meet up with Willow and Duncan. I give both of them huge hugs.
Settling into the meeting room, Willow clears her throat. “So, er, I’ve something to announce.”
“Whatcha got, Bloomhower?” Donovan asks, throwing a paper dart at her like we’re in middle school.
Willow grins. “Well, you are looking at the newest Elite heading to Electus Tower.”
“Shit, yes!” I leap towards her and squeeze her tight again, then turn back to look at Alexis. “Thank you, thank you.”
“It was your idea, pulu. Crankshawe told me she didn’t want any details, just a valid reason to promote her, so there we have it.”
“You and Watson will still have to get crafty,” Max winks.
“Actually,” Alexis says, his tone amused. “I’ve assigned Willow and Naomi adjoining rooms.”
Her eyes grow wide. “I’d kiss you, but I don’t think Theo would like it.”
“Yeah, I’d not like it either,” he says, looking a little uncomfortable. “But we should move on. We’ve only a week to perfect our plan.”
A week until Cosmo’s engagement party, then one day later?
The Dunamis Pulse.
The atmosphere instantly changes.
Alexis and I move to the front of the room. I let him speak first.
“So, we all know Janine Hart is filled with dark energy. Traditional spells, no matter how powerful, will not work against her. Furthermore, she is now protected against non-magical attacks.”
Cosmo nods. “The Conclave have perfected bullet and blade repulsion casts. No one is going to shoot that bitch dead.”
“What about my arrows?” Donovan says, looking smug. “I’ll just ‘William Tell’ her ass.”
“Really?” Alexis asks. “Do you want to tell everyone what happened when you tried shooting against the building site wards? Your arrows didn't just miss; they were physically pushed away.”
Donovan slumps. “Fine, that wasn't a success, but I can work harder, shoot harder.”
Somehow, I don’t think the problem is strength.
“The wards don’t register shifted forms when you pass through them. Why do they defend against Dono’s arrows?” I ask.
“It’s the intent, pulu. An arrow is an attack that the wards register. Just traveling through them doesn’t register as offensive. It doesn’t alert the wards at all.”
Shit. “So the ascended Elite are protected from anything that has an intent to attack them?”
“That’s what I’d surmise."
We all go silent as the logic sinks in. If the Conclave assholes are immune to anything with an ‘intent to attack,’ then all our beasts are useless against them.
My gut coils with worry. “Is killing Janine even possible? If Dono can't shoot her, Max can’t tear her head off, and even dragon fire won’t work, do we need to rethink our whole idea?”
“No. Her death is still the best option in destroying the whole ascension program.” Alexis’s voice sounds strained.
“But the optimal chance for success will need Theo to be in the center of the action.
The wards and the dark energy are looking for a strike, a blow. They aren't looking for... an embrace.”
The guys are instantly on their feet. “Absolutely not,” Donovan yells.
Max growls at the same time. “No fucking way.”
Ludo also muscles forward. He puts a thick arm across my chest as though to bar me from even thinking about stepping into that kind of danger.
Donovan gets in Alexis’s face, yelling about me being safe is the top priority.
“All of you, stop.”
I don’t shout. I don't have to. I put every ounce of the authority I’ve gathered since Amirene first touched my soul into those words.
“Lex is right. I’ve had a feeling all along that only I can stop her. My magic isn't a weapon—it's me. If I go in with no 'intent' to harm, but instead to heal the imbalance she’s created, the wards might not even blink.”
—Might? Not acceptable, Nymph—
“Tee-Tee,” Dononvan groans. “Baby.”
“No, don’t baby me. I’m a grown woman, and I'm the only one here who isn't a threat by the Conclave’s definition. Yes, you guys are super-powered, but to Janine’s armor, you're just bigger targets. It’s my essence that will take her down.”
Ludo lets out a low, mournful noise. Even Cosmo looks disapproving, his jaw set tight.
“Pulu, it will be dangerous,” Alexis says softly. “You have to truly believe you aren't attacking her.”
“I can do it. I have to.”
“Can everyone chill out and actually listen to her?” Willow yells into the fray. “Theo, explain the mechanics. How do you think you can pull this off without triggering her defenses?”
Everyone pauses.
The circle of men looks ready to start a small war just to keep me in this basement, but they’re finally listening.
“I’m going to connect with her. Send in my Lumina like secret agents, flood her system until the dark energy is displaced by the light.”
Donovan's face is horrified. "Theo, she’s evil. If you go in there, you might never get back out.”
“I think you’re wrong. When I'm with Wes, the sparkles are actively seeking the dark inside him, working to overturn the corrupted cells in his soul. I guess they’re like antibodies.”
Alexis is watching me carefully. “You need skin-to-skin contact when you’re with Wes, and even then, it’s slow going.”
“I know, but I’ll start building up a huge Lumina store inside me. By the night of the party, I'll be a reservoir. When I touch her, I won't just trickle it in—I’ll flood her, forcing out the dark.”
“To where?”
We all turn to look at Duncan.
“Energy can’t be destroyed,” he says. “Don’t want to be a downer, but it’s the first law of thermodynamics. It's a classic boss-fight problem in level three of Witch War Elite Force.”
I turn to look at him. “So how do you combat it in the game?”
“This is not a game,” Cosmo snaps, though he looks at Duncan with a flicker of interest.
I shush him. “Go on, Dunc.”
Duncan shrugs, then pushes up the sleeves of his too-big brown blazer. “If you try to delete a massive power source, the server crashes. The energy has to go somewhere or it just explodes in your face. Total wipeout.”
“So I’m not 'killing' her dark energy?” I ask, but I think I already know the answer.
“No. You’re displacing it, kicking it out of its house. So you need somewhere for the energy to go. In the game, you prepare a ‘sink’—a vessel to contain the extracted power so it doesn't just re-infect the nearest person.”
“Then what’s going to be our ‘sink’?”
After a beat, Alexis responds. “Amirene told us to send it into the void, that’s the ultimate sink. But the archives I need to understand what the Void is, and where, are missing.”
“I thought you were all-knowing, big bird.” Donovan glares at Alexis like all this is his fault. “Can’t you find a book to tell you?”
“What do you think I just said? What I need is no longer in the library. Gods, I’m trying. I’m trying and I’m fucking failing.”
He runs his hands through his hair and looks more distraught than I’ve ever seen him. Max walks over to his cousin, and pulls him into a hug. “You’ll figure it out. You always do.”
I hope Max is right. But if not? “Worse comes to worse, I’ll just absorb it myself.”
I’m not surprised by the new chorus of disapproval that meets that idea. “Look, guys, this is happening. All I need is the time and space to have flesh on flesh contact with Janine for a while. So what is the excuse to have me touch her revolting flesh?”
“That’s easy,” Cosmo says, sliding his hands into his pockets. “I’ll tell her that you’re acting a little strange. Maybe I see a shadow behind your eyes or some such bullshit. She’ll want to check you over herself, no doubt about it.”
“That could work,” I say, thinking it over.
“I hate this plan,” Donovan groans. “Hate with a capital Hay.”
Willow reaches out and squeezes my hand. "I'll support whatever you decide, Theo.”
—I do not support this…I will be here, away from you…unable to help…don’t do this, Nymph—
“I have to, Lu. What choice do we have? I’m on the chopping block in a week anyway. I’d rather die trying to stop them, than die enabling more dark energy flow into those bastards.”
Donovan comes over and picks me up into his arms. “No. More. Talk. Of. Dying.” He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “Seriously, Tee. I can’t take it. You know I’m going to gallop you out of there if things go sideways.”
Leaning my head against his chest, I let a little Lumina calm him. “I know you think this is insane, and potential suicide mission, but you’ve got to believe in me. Believe in Amirene. She told me to follow my instinct, right? Well that is exactly what I’m doing.”
“I agree,” Cosmo says. I turn, surprised, and look at my previous tormentor. “We have no idea how powerful Theodora really is. I think when her true power is unleashed she’ll be unstoppable.”
He looks at me steadily, and all I see in his eyes is a true belief in what he’s saying.
“Thank you for the support, Cosmo. I appreciate it.”
He takes a step closer. “I vow to always support you, Theodora.” His voice is low and packed full with sincerity.
“I understand my word means nothing to you, but I promise I will do everything within my power to help you, to protect you. And I’m forever sorry about the way I treated you before.
Fuck, Theodora. I know I’m the ultimate asshole," he says, his voice low and raw. “My behavior has been unforgivable, so there is no reason to forgive me. But, I just want you to know I realize what an elitist prick I am. I’m not the same person I was last year. Or even last month.”
There is a truthfulness in his words that is impossible to ignore.
I give him a nod and suddenly feel overwhelmed with a new sensation.
Calm.
“Put me down, Dono.”
Once out of Donovan’s arms, I step toward Cosmo and hold out my hand. An amused, bittersweet smile forms on his face as he reaches out.
As our palms meet, a chill runs through my body. High-speed flashes of every moment he spent tormenting me strobe in my brain. I can almost feel the phantom weight of the sigil he’d burned into my neck.
So much pain. He put me through too much.
My instincts scream at me to pull away, to hide my hand in my pockets where it's safe. But I don't
It’s time.
Time to move on. “Hi, my name is Theodora Wilson.”
“Glad to meet you, Theodora. I’m Cosmo Drakeward and I’m a total asshole most of the time.”
“Who isn’t?” I reply, making him chuckle. “But I hope your assholeness won’t stop us becoming friends.”
“I’ll ensure it doesn’t.”
“Then friends it is.”
Turning back to the room I spread my arms wide.
“Now, who’s coming with me to see Wes?”