Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
SLOAN
The trio of Edison, Jack, and Sloan followed close behind Cherub’s quick pace. The gargoyle had donned a long, white cloak to shield her from the day’s rays as they walked down the wall’s steps and up toward the capitol.
At this early hour, most of the city of Azra was still asleep. Only the very first risers were already walking to the harbor or opening their shops along the city’s main road.
“How did you know they were coming?” Sloan asked Cherub’s back. “How did you know to go and get Jack?”
“I didn’t.” Cherub looked over her shoulder. Her deep hood hid every inch of her skin. “Croft had a headache last night as she felt a large use of magic close by. I can fly three times faster than a horse can run. She sent me out to take a look.”
Jack spoke up. “Yeah, when I first saw her, I felt like I was still in a dream. We decided it was best if I came first. I can tell you whatever you need to know, including the death of?—”
“Not yet,” Cherub warned Jack with a stern scowl. “Wait until everyone is gathered.”
During the rest of the trip, Sloan caught up with Jack’s training and his life as a member of the New Order in New Hope.
Before they knew it, they were entering Azra’s capitol building and heading for the room with descending coliseum seating where Sloan had first met Theo.
When they walked inside, Croft and Theo were already present, the latter rubbing sleep from his eyes. Croft didn’t look like she had ever gone to bed. She was a mess, from her disheveled red hair to her wrinkled black cloak.
Sloan could only imagine what she had to be going through. She was about to meet her daughters for the first time in years and try to explain to them why she had abandoned them so many years before.
“Jack.” Theo, ever the politician, was the first to grab Jack’s hand. “Thank you for your service in the New Order and now coming to aid us in our hour of need.”
“You’re welcome.” Jack released his hand. His stare quickly turned into a gawk as he looked at Croft next. “You … you look a lot like?—”
“Yes, well, let’s just be done with all of the questions at once, shall we?” Croft looked up to where the remaining members of the meeting were piling in. Kimberly, Aareth, and Kade entered through the door. Aareth and Kade looked like they had just rolled out of bed. Kimberly was fresh and rested.
“Jack!” Aareth quickened his pace down the stairs when he saw his friend. The hard man picked Jack up in an uncharacteristic move. “You’re all right.”
“I can’t … I can’t breathe,” Jack gasped.
“Oh, sorry.” Aareth dropped him, grabbing both of Jack’s shoulders in his arms and keeping him at arm’s length. “You look good. I was starting to worry. Where’s Abigail?”
“Everyone take a seat.” Croft stood in the center of the room. “I understand there are plenty of questions, and we will have all our answers, but please, sit down so we can begin.”
Aareth and Jack sat next to one another, whispering information. Kade found a seat next to Sloan. “I was going to make you breakfast this morning, but I woke up to an Azra guard shaking me awake, instead of your beautiful face.”
Sloan was about to respond, when Croft’s commanding voice filled the room.
“Let’s make this short and simple.” Croft looked each of them in the eyes before she continued.
“The time for caution is over. I’m the sister of both Queen Eckert and Leah Nobel, as well as the mother to Abigail and Elizabeth Ahab.
I also rule the city of Azra. All of this has been kept a secret until now, but there’s no reason to hide it any longer.
An enemy is knocking on our door, and it’s time to shed blood instead of hide truths. ”
Everyone besides Sloan, Theo, and Cherub looked to one another in various levels of shock.
“Questions can come later.” Croft motioned for Jack to take the lead. “Right now, Jack has information we all need to know. Jack, please.”
Jack’s eyes were wide as he digested the meal of information Croft had just provided. He cleared his throat to try to buy himself time to gather his thoughts.
“Eleanor Eckert is dead,” he said. “We suspect killed by Leah Nobel. Fenrick Trillion was murdered the same night. The New Order barely escaped the city. We were hounded by an army of Leah’s latest vampire soldiers.
” Jack took a breather, letting his words sink in.
“There’s also a railway being built day and night from New Hope to Azra.
They have some kind of mage engine on the tracks now.
It looks like it’s meant to raze Azra to the ground. ”
A rippled of murmurs echoed through those gathered.
“We meet them with violence before they can arrive at the gates,” Kimberly said, rising from her seat next to Edison. “We don’t give them an opportunity to use their machine.”
“Though I agree with Kimberly”—Aareth shook his head in regret—“my pack of wolves won’t be ready, and neither will Sloan’s vampire squad. We were supposed to start turning them today.”
“So then the question becomes: do we wait and prepare our soldiers and defenses here”—Croft narrowed her eyes in thought—“or do we go now before the enemy reaches our homes?”
Sloan had remained quiet until now. There was a piece of the puzzle no one had voiced yet.
She was a military strategist, and the first rule of strategy was to anticipate your enemy’s moves.
Leah would be counting on them meeting her attack, head-on.
She would have to understand that as soon as the reports came back to her, the New Order militia had escaped to Azra.
“If we do go out and fight,” Sloan said, looking to Croft and meeting her stare, “Leah will have a few surprises for us. She’s betting that we leave the safety of our walls. She knows that those escaping New Hope will have seen her mage engine.”
“She wants us to go out and fight her?” Edison asked as though he was thinking to himself. “But why?”
“I don’t know.” Sloan stood from her seat to be able to gauge everyone’s thoughts. “And I’m not saying because of that we stay here, but I am saying we should consider that, as well.”
“We have to go out and fight.”
Everyone in the room looked over at Kade. He had a faraway glimmer in his eye. As he continued, Sloan could tell he was thinking about his dead and broken family. “Allowing those monsters right outside your walls isn’t an option. Keep them as far away from your people as possible.”
A hush crept over the room as everyone debated the pros and cons of the situation. What they decided now could very well be the beginning of a victory against New Hope, or defeat.
Sloan finally broke the tense silence. “We do both. We meet them on the battlefield and stop their progress, while others remain here and bolster our forces. This is going to be a war, not a single battle. We have to act now but still plan for the bigger picture.”
“I agree.” Croft once more looked at everyone in the room. “This is what we’re going to do.”