CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO #2
“Glad you could make it,” I said. I expected the faerie to make a sardonic comment or maybe offer a sensual greeting, based on our previous encounters, but Gwyn was silent.
She finally turned in the direction of that menacing dark swarm and gave the devil’s followers a long, hard look.
A moment later, small bits of yellow appeared, leading all the way to the unsettled horde.
Flowers had sprouted up through the snow. I studied the ones around my boots, recognizing them instantly. Wood anemones.
Gwyn hadn’t uttered a word, yet her message was loud and clear.
She was on the hunt.
Probably her last, I thought grimly, scanning the writhing mass of demons for the tenth time. It struck me, again, that people were going to die today. A lot of them. Maybe ones that I loved.
And I was about to lead the charge.
“Perhaps you should say something,” Gwyn said.
Her tone penetrated the thick fog of dread that had started to gather around me. I tore my gaze away from the horde and met Gwyn’s cool, ancient eyes, willing my heartbeat to slow down. Worried that others could hear it, I glanced toward the army to gauge their expressions.
With a startled jolt, I realized everyone was looking at us. The rats, the wolves, the fae, the nymphs. They stretched out in either direction, as far as the eye could see, and every single face was turned to me.
That was when Gwyn’s words finally sank in: Perhaps you should say something.
A speech? But … I hadn’t prepared anything. I swallowed a curse, mentally kicking myself for not expecting this. Why hadn’t I expected this? Oh, right. Maybe it was because I’d never led an army into a medieval battle before.
More panic rose from the pit of my stomach and crept through my veins. But the leader of the Wild Hunt was still waiting for a response, and she could probably tell I was scared shitless. Schooling my features, I nodded at her and said, “I’ll remember this, Gwyn.”
I didn’t thank her, because she was a faerie, after all. A faint, knowing smile touched the huntress’s lips, and I braced myself for her to say something ominous or taunting.
“As will I,” Gwyn said. Then she added, “Thank you, Fortuna Sworn. You’ve been the most interesting thing to happen in this world for the better part of a century. For that alone, I am glad to fight by your side tonight.”
She bent into a deep bow, and I found myself staring at her again, shocked by the gesture. When she straightened, I didn’t know what to say other than, “I’m glad, too. Good luck, Gwyn. I … I hope we see each other on the other side of this.”
Feeling her eyes on me, I returned to Sarod and climbed into the saddle a tad less gracefully than I would’ve liked.
My face felt hot as I turned him back in the direction of our waiting forces.
This time, I focused on Collith and Laurie.
The sight of their familiar faces steadied me.
Once I was close enough to call out to them, I drew on Sarod’s reins again.
My stomach fluttered with nerves again. I took a slow, soundless breath and then raised my chin, silently defying the fear.
Defying him. I kept my back to the nightmare across that field and fixed my complete focus on the people who had shown up to fight for us.
They were all that mattered. I spotted Gil and Adam with the vampires.
There was Zara, standing with a cluster of other healers, evident from the bags they all carried.
I also found Narfu, and Nan, and so many more whose paths had crossed mine during the wild, winding journey to this battlefield.
Just as I opened my mouth to speak, there was another flurry of movement on the horizon. I raised my gaze, and when I realized what I was looking at, an awed breath caught in my throat.
Cyrus and Tabitha were here.
Two dragons approached from the east. There was hardly any light left, but the faintest glow shone through their wings as the enormous beasts descended.
Horses made sounds of alarm or unease, shifting restlessly.
Agitated breaths shot from their nostrils, and it was cold enough now that I could see them.
Luckily, Sarod was calm and still beneath me.
His long face turned toward the new arrivals, and he hardly reacted when they landed just a few yards away from us.
Tremors rumbled through the hill from the force of the beasts’ landing.
Clumps of earth went flying. Now the horses screamed in terror, and their riders shouted, grasping wildly at the reins. I didn’t blame them.
I’d seen Cyrus in his true form before, but the sight still struck me with awe.
His body was serpentine and scaled, ending with a deadly looking tail that flicked against the grass.
The other soldiers must’ve felt the same, because they had given my friend a wide berth, and they scattered even farther every time he moved.
Frills and spikes rippled around Cyrus’s head as he stretched to his full height.
He was beautiful, I thought as I tipped my head back …
and back. The dragon met my gaze calmly, his black eyes somehow older and wiser than they were in his other form.
Unlike Tabitha, whose coloring was just as dark as I remembered, like a starless sky or a windowless room …
Cyrus’s scales were a deep scarlet. Like flames, and sunsets, and blood.
His feet ended in sharp, curved claws that could cut through a man’s torso like butter.
I gave Cyrus a nod of acknowledgment before my focus moved over the rest of our forces. I was still facing them. The sun had fallen, taking its warmth with it. Its absence left the Flint Hills in shades of black and gray.
Once again, I opened my mouth to speak. From the corner of my eye, I saw one of the witches make a gesture, and whatever she did made my words echo over the hills.
“Our ancestors were called guardian angels,” I called, my heart loud in my ears.
“Today we are all Guardians, and we are all that stands between this world we’ve made our home and the ones who seek to destroy it.
Everyone believes they have the right to a future.
The right to peace. The right to life and happiness.
We don’t. We have a right to nothing except for the things we carve out for ourselves. So let’s do some fucking carving!”
I raised my sword in the air, my voice echoing over the massive crowd.
They began shouting something, over and over.
My Enochian was good, but I didn’t recognize this phrase.
I frowned and looked over at Gwyn, who had returned to her horse and ridden across the field, stopping at my side. The rest of the Hunt streamed past us.
“What are they saying?” I asked.
“They’re calling you the Queen of Shadows,” the huntress replied, her tone amused. But her dark eyes were intent on me as the chant grew louder, spreading through the hills like thunder.
Something about that look reminded me what Gwyn was … and what she was capable of. I looked back at her in a way that would remind her of what I was, too.
Before either of us could say anything else, a new sound moved across the battlefield.
I turned swiftly, reaching for my sword as my eyes roamed the length of Lucifer’s army again.
The sound happened again, and this time I recognized it—drums. Somewhere in that swarm, there were creatures playing drums. But they were nothing like what I’d heard in my world.
This was slow, like a beating heart. I felt my own sink with realization. No.
It couldn’t start right now! We were still waiting for some of our people.
I pressed my heels into Sarod’s sides, and he must’ve felt my urgency, because he turned and broke into a gallop. The moment I returned to my place at the front, I twisted around to search the sea of faces behind us again.
“What’s wrong?” Collith asked quietly. Laurie stood on his other side.
I hid my frown, since I didn’t want the army to see it, but I felt a small crinkle between my brows. “She’s not here yet.”
“Fortuna.”
The sound of Laurie’s voice made me turn. He was looking at something behind me. My head whipped round, and in an instant, the knot I hadn’t even known was in my chest immediately began to loosen.
Lyari Paynore made her way through the crowd. She was on foot, both of her hands wrapped around a banner. The dark material flapped in the wind, and then it unfurled, allowing me to catch a glimpse of the shape sewn there.
It was a black rose.
Lyari reached us a few moments later. “Your Majesty,” she said, inclining her head.
It felt like my heart was in my throat. “Lady Knight,” I said back, because it felt right.
Her shoulders straightened, and she held her head a little higher. “I apologize for my tardiness. It didn’t seem right that we should ride into battle without a banner.”
“I agree. It doesn’t seem right.” I looked at the demonic army again. Lyari’s arrival wouldn’t save us, and we were probably still heading for certain death, but I felt stronger all the same. My voice was firm and clear as I said, “Thank you, Lyari.”
And then Lucifer appeared.
He strode through the tangle of monsters, tall and shining in the dark.
He wore white armor. The plates looked thin, delicate, every edge lined with gleaming gold.
His hair had been cropped short, and the silken strands stirred in the wind, blowing past his blue eyes.
The sword at his hip was long, black, and wicked.
It was the biggest piece of demon glass I’d ever seen.
But I looked past the sword as if it were nothing, my gaze searching the swarm of demons again. Another whisper of unease went through my mind, like a cold exhale.
Where was Oliver?
Lucifer reached the front of his army and kept walking, clearly heading in this direction. My throat went dry as I realized he was coming to meet me.
It was time.