CHAPTER SEVENTEEN #2
Collith stopped, and my attention shifted, too.
We all looked toward the other end of the table.
At some point while we’d been talking, Nym must’ve emerged from his room and started setting pieces of paper down.
Slowly. Deliberately. The faerie’s gaze was downcast, his expression strangely serene.
As if he was fulfilling some purpose, or doing something he’d done a thousand times before.
I drew closer to see the pages. They were the sketches he’d had on his walls.
Then I looked closer, and I went still with shock.
Each one was a puzzle piece. All of the lines connected, spanning dozens of pages, creating a single, final image.
I’d looked at Nym’s drawings so many times, but I had never seen them.
The completed picture was undeniably from the battle we were about to fight.
Some of the details we’d seen before in the smaller works, like the armor I wore and the rolling hills behind me.
But some details were new.
Before, I’d been surrounded by vague depictions of Fallen. Werewolves. Dragons. Now the warriors around me were familiar and vivid. Collith. Laurie. Cora. Dracula. The Wild Hunt. Even the Rat King. And at the center of it all, I sat atop a horse.
No, I thought, staring at the thin, harsh lines of the creature’s body. A kelpie.
My focus shifted back to the other figures in the image.
Judging from this, there were at least four armies.
We’d attack Lucifer from every direction, surrounding him and the demon horde like the eye of a storm.
As I touched one of the drawings, marveling at how it had all come together so perfectly, Gil’s comment drifted back to me.
It makes me wonder if I was wrong about Him, after all, and maybe He does take an interest in us. Manipulate us. Because I refuse to believe my luck is this shitty.
I remembered my amusement. You really think God instrumented it so we’d meet the Rat King?
Now the idea didn’t seem so ludicrous.
Maybe the Maker had seen the threat Their angel posed to humankind.
Maybe Michael hadn’t been completely full of shit, and even his master couldn’t break the rules that created balance.
Maybe this was the only way They could offer help.
How had Michael put it? Nudges. Gentle nudges.
Subtle opportunities. Small moments. Every step had led me down this path, to this night, when humans needed saving the most.
Stranger things have happened, I thought, tapping my finger against the image of my face. My mind worked quickly.
“Olorel is just over a month away,” I said. “Which means we have that long to convince these people to not only form an alliance, but fight side-by-side on a battlefield where they may very well die. Nym, are these drawings a certainty? Or are they just possible outcomes?”
“Tick tock,” he said, his eyes troubled. “Tick tock.”
Guess we weren’t getting any more help from Nym, then. I continued to stare down at his drawings, my chest filling with hope. Hope was dangerous, I knew that. Hope got you hurt.
But sometimes … sometimes it was exactly what you needed.
In a burst of resolve, I got up from the table and went back into the kitchen. “What are you doing?” Collith asked.
“I’m making a fresh pot of coffee.”
“Why?” Gil sounded wary.
I opened the cupboard where we kept the grounds and smiled over my shoulder. They were all watching me with concern in their eyes. “Because we’re going to make a plan. Lucifer may think he has this in the bag, but he doesn’t get to win. Not this time.”
“She’s got that look in her eye,” Laurie said to Collith in a conspiratorial tone. But he was smiling, too.
As the coffee brewed, I watched my small family begin to form a strategy. My gaze went back to Nym’s drawings. There weren’t many of us now, but more would come. And like Collith had said, when that Gate opened, we would be there. While the others held back the tide, I’d use my power to close it.
Even if it was the last thing I ever did.
The countdown began.
During the day, my life bore some semblance of normalcy.
Well, as normal as a Nightmare’s life could be when she lived in a loft full of other supernatural creatures, and she was literally trying to stop the devil from unleashing Hell on Earth.
I worked my shifts at the bar, because Gate or no Gate, there were still bills to pay.
I spent time with my family. I trained at Adam’s shop.
Now more than ever, my skill with the sword was vital.
It was during one of those training sessions that I discovered something—Michael had given me something else when he’d died.
Thanks to his blast of power, I was faster.
Stronger. The changes were subtle until I started fighting, and then it was unmistakable.
I would’ve realized it sooner, but the galbraith demon’s poisonous kiss had muffled everything.
We all discovered it at the exact same moment. Adam had just brought up his arm in what should’ve been a killing blow—during a training session, at least. I’d left myself vulnerable for a split second, and for a vampire, a second was all they needed. I should’ve been a goner.
But I moved instinctively. Before I could even blink, I had moved. Adam’s practice sword struck mine and I felt the vibration through my entire body. Adam and I stared at each other through our crossed weapons. I couldn’t decide who was more shocked.
“Holy shit,” I heard one of the guys say. I could barely hear it over the thrum of magic in my veins.
Then I felt my lips curve into a slow, wondering smile.
Within a matter of days, I got so good that I even started beating Adam.
If the boys weren’t around, I trained at home with the new equipment Collith had bought.
Until now, we’d been using the first floor of the barn mostly for storage, but with Narfu living there and our ever-expanding household—not to mention Collith’s need for a project—it was transformed.
Now the space was brighter with newly installed lights, the floor was sealed concrete, and Collith had added several walls.
Every time I opened the barn, that new-house smell whooshed in to greet me.
In the moments I wasn’t working or training, I was reading.
I had no shortage of material to get through since Viessa had started sending over everything she could find amongst the fae.
I’d kept her up to date on everything that was happening, especially after we’d failed to save Thuridan, and her response had been the shipments.
They arrived every few days in old, heavy trunks, carried by stoic-faced Guardians who silently took the trunks of everything I had finished and left as silently as they’d come.
Despite the amount of research I’d already done over the past year, I hadn’t seen any of these new books or papers before—all of it was from bloodlines we’d never had access to, back when Lyari and Collith had been trying to help with my search.
The Unseelie Queen knew how much was riding on getting that Gate shut, too, and she had commanded her entire Court to cooperate with me.
The result was overwhelming, to say the least. Sometimes my family tried to help, but more often than not, it was me at that dining room table.
I stooped over the books for such long stretches of time that my neck began to hurt.
Those were the daylight hours … but night was a different story.
Night was when the Fallen emerged.
Once again, Collith and I used the Door to journey to other places in the world. Once again, Sorcha and Laurie provided us with leads or locations. But now, instead of looking for Oliver, we were looking for allies.
Looking … and failing.
The morning after I was denied an audience with the Rat King, I drove to Adam’s shop in a foul mood.
My mood worsened when I discovered the door was locked.
They were probably just at Bea’s. I went back to the car, glancing across the street as I considered whether or not to stop by.
But I needed to hit something, or run so hard that I couldn’t think.
So I drove back home and blasted music the entire way.
By the time I walked back into the barn, I was practically vibrating with pent-up energy.
For once, the new-house smell did nothing to lighten my mood.
I closed the door harder than necessary and took off my jacket, immediately starting toward the training room.
I’d only gone a few steps when Collith appeared in one of the doorways, holding a screwdriver.
There was sawdust on his button-up shirt and his hair was wilder than usual.
“Back so soon?” he said.
“Shop was closed,” I muttered, reaching down to take off my shirt.
I wore a sports bra underneath, and the air conditioning whispered over my skin as I tossed my shirt and bag onto the new couch near the mats.
I glanced at the enormous reptilian creature across the room.
He was tucked in the shadows, nestled in blankets I’d brought down for him since he seemed to prefer the floor. “Hey, Narfu.”
The demon chirped. I began stretching, thinking I’d just take my frustration out on the punching bag.
But when I turned, Collith had put his screwdriver down and also removed his shirt.
Now he only wore the dark jeans he’d been working in, and his naked torso gleamed in the light.
He still had a tan from the summer sun, and the lines of his abdomen flexed when he tossed his shirt next to mine.
“You’ve been so focused on the sword lately, why don’t we brush up on your hand-to-hand?” Collith suggested, raising his eyebrows at me.
“Sounds good.” I swallowed and turned away quickly, knowing he’d sense any arousal. I bent to take off my shoes and socks, and Collith did the same.