“Unforeseen by you and Mryddin, perhaps, but probably not by Vivienne.” I hesitated. “But in the end, the how or why doesn’t really matter. All we need to know is that I can do it and that we need to use it.”
She stopped abruptly. “I take it you have a plan?”
I smiled, though it held little in the way of amusement. “I do. I’m going to send Max a message he absolutely cannot ignore.”
Chapter Twelve
“By shutting down gates, I presume,” Luc said. His expression was calm, but the emotions boiling through our link were a thick mix of acceptance and fear, admiration and anger.
I placed a hand on his thigh, a gesture of comfort I knew would provide none. “Not just any gates. The four London ones.”
“That will definitely get both his attention and Darkside’s.” Mo resumed her pacing. “However, there is one tiny flaw in your plan—”
“The fact that the only way to survive Elysian’s full power is in the gray,” I cut in flatly.
“I would hardly call that a small flaw,” Luc commented.
“And it’s not, but I have no intention of risking death. I’ll step into the gray to close each gate.”
Mo’s expression was suspicious, and rightly so, given I wasn’t exactly telling the truth. But all she said was, “That will certainly send them a message.”
“Yes, the fact that Darkside placed their bets on the wrong fucking twin.”
Mo chuckled. “I meant more along the lines of ‘fuck with us and we’ll close all the gates down.’”
I raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said that wasn’t feasible?”
“I don’t think it is, but that’s not the point. Neither of us know for sure, and they’d be the losers if we actually could.”
“Just to be the voice of reason here,” Luc said. “If you do attempt to shut the gates, they will attack en masse. None of us can afford that right now.”
“No, but unless they can get the main gate open, any mass attack is naturally restricted by the dimensions of the minor gates. It’s probably the only thing that has saved London,” Mo said. “Such attacks have been tried in the past, but they were always countered, thanks to the fact that the width of the gates only allows two or three of the bastards to exit at the same time.”
“Yes, but there’s more than enough of them already in London to make a counterattack on Gwen,” Luc said. “Even if the sun forces them underground during the day, there’re still the halflings to deal with.”
I frowned. “I thought they were slowly being beaten back?”
“The operative word there being ‘slowly.’” Luc’s voice was grim. “I’d put money on the fact that there’s still a multitude of gates that have not yet been properly warded.”
My frown grew. “Why would you think that, given the warning went out hours ago?”
“If there’s one thing that has never altered across multiple centuries,” Mo said, “it’s the fact that the wheels of government—large or small—move very slowly. Disaster generally has to punch them in the face before motivation gets real.”
“The attack in London would surely have done that, though,” I said.
“You’d think so.” Her voice suggested she wasn’t overly convinced.
“Council action or lack thereof is not the biggest problem with your plan,” Luc said. “Historically speaking, closing the gates has always required proximity. That’s why the battles between them and us have always been in the fields surrounding the main gate. If closure could have been done from a distance, then surely one or more of the witch kings would have attempted it.”
“Just because it’s never been done doesn’t mean it can’t be. And as you’ve said, I’m already using Elysian in ways no other witch king has.”
“Even if we presume you can close gates from a distance, that doesn’t alter the fact you can’t do four at the same time,” he said. “And the minute you close one, every single demon on the ground and in the air will hit you.”
“Then I’ll close them in an area that’s already well protected—the palace.” I thrust up from the bed and began to pace. “We have to take the fight to Max. Now. Before he or Winter can hit us again.”
“You won’t get anywhere near the palace,” Luc commented. “The minute they see you in the sky, they’ll hit you with everything they have. You’re a target, remember.”
“Yes, but while their attention is on me, Mo can surreptitiously track down the last remaining version of Winter and grab him.”
“Max won’t trade his life for Winter’s,” Mo said. “Your brother is many things, but romantic was never one of them.”
“Whether or not he loves Winter isn’t the point,” I said. “Winter is his link to Darkside. They may be using his relationship with Winter to get their hands on the sword and the throne, but Max is well aware of that and using it to his advantage.”
His comments on the bridge had made that pretty obvious.
“He’ll just attack Ainslyn in retaliation,” Luc said. “He knows you care about the people there.”
“But by the time that happens, her defenses will have been strengthened. And we’ll use the map room as a control point and hit any location where we see them gathering, hard and fast.”
Luc’s expression remained unconvinced. “There are other gates you can close without risking London. Max will still get the message and react.”
“Yes, but I need to send a warning as much as a message. Shutting down the London attack will do exactly that. Besides, Winter is in London.”
“No witch king has ever been able to shut down an attack by themselves,” Luc said.
“No other witch king had mage powers to call on.”
“Yours are too raw to be reliable.” He glanced at Mo. “You know that.”
“Her talents may be raw, but they’re also strong.”
“It’s too great a risk, and you both know it.”
“What I know,” I said heavily, “is it’s a risk that’s absolutely necessary to take.”
“Bunkering down in Ainslyn makes more sense.”
“Do you honestly think the attack on London will cease if I use Elysian to shut down the gates around Ainslyn?” My voice held an edge I couldn’t quite control. “The royal family is key to his domination plans. While they exist, he cannot legitimately claim the throne—”
“Which he can’t claim anyway, because he didn’t draw Elysian,” Luc cut in sharply.
“But how many people actually know the sword in the stone wasn’t the real one? I’d wager most of your fellow Blackbirds don’t even believe it.”
“There are some—”
“And if the very people who are historically responsible for guarding the sword and the king who draws it won’t believe the sword in the stone is fake, why would anyone else? We need to show everyone the truth in a very public manner.”