His fingers slid down to my chin and held me still as he leaned forward and kissed me. It was little more than a gentle brushing of lips, but there was nothing sweet about the storm of emotion that burned between us. It was heat and fire, love and caring, need and desire. We might not in truth know each other all that well in this lifetime, but our souls had spent an eternity finding and then losing one another. This might finally be our time, but only if we could survive what was coming.
He pulled back and rested his forehead against mine. “You’re the most courageous woman I’ve ever met. You’re also the Witch King’s heir and Elysian’s wielder. You can do this. You just have to believe in yourself as strongly as the rest of us do.”
A smile tugged at my lips. “That’s hard when I’ve spent almost my entire life believing I was nothing more than a disappointment—”
“Not to Mo, you weren’t. Even blind Freddie could see that.”
“Well, no, but—”
The rest of the words were lost to another kiss. And oh, this time there was nothing gentle about it. It made my blood roar and my heart sing, and I wanted nothing more than to lose myself in his arms and his touch, to rip off our clothes and feel the press of his muscular and glorious body against mine, the heat and thickness of his erection deep within. But the first time we made love deserved time, and we had none of that left right now.
I had to go. If I didn’t, we wouldn’t stop my brother, though why I was suddenly so certain of that, I couldn’t say.
I pulled away reluctantly and pressed a hand against his cheek. “I’ll ring when we get to London.”
“Good. And good luck.”
“You too.”
I left without looking back, even though I knew this might be the very last time I ever saw him. Not because he might die, but because it was very possible I would. I wasn’t a fool, and I was about to use Elysian in a way that had already been responsible for the death of one witch king.
If such a death was to be my fate then so be it, but one thing was certain—there was no way on god’s green earth she would take me before my brother.
The bloody glow of the fires consuming parts of London were visible from a long way out, and were no doubt representative of the disaster happening on the ground.
We flew fast over Watford, following a wide highway of destruction that ran from the gate near the old Priory down into London. But the damage in the outer boroughs wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. The demons’ target had been London, and they’d simply taken the most direct route to get there, destroying anything and anyone that got in their way, but leaving multiple other areas untouched. There were even streets where destruction was heavy on one side and nonexistent on the other. That was not Darkside’s usual method, but given the palace was the key to their plan and their main goal, it also wasn’t surprising.
We swept over the M25 and into Greater London. Red and blue lights filled the streets below; some screamed through the streets, chased by demons on foot or in the air, while others formed a part of the multiple blockades that spanned many major and minor roads. Each had at least one heavily armed military vehicle on hand and was manned by dozens of people, although from this height it was impossible to tell whether they were witch, military, or police, or even a mix of all three.
While Darkside attacked many of these blockades and ran riot through the surrounding streets and parks, the bulk of the fighting had contracted to the area around the palace. The dome of magic protecting the building and its immediate surrounds pulsed frantically, a sign that the witches who bolstered the power of the old protection spells were nearing the end of their strength. There’d no doubt be others ready to take the reins of control, but the changeover point was always a dangerous one.
Demons were everywhere. There were multiple buildings on fire, monuments were smashed, and bodies lay where they’d fallen, human and demon alike. There was a running battle along Grosvenor Place, tanks mowing down demons along Birdcage Walk and through St. James’s Park, and palace guards using the high, wire-topped brick wall near the Mews as a barricade from which to shoot. In the air, squadrons of winged demons targeted the pulsing shield with what looked like energy rifles, while others raged against helicopters or targeted bunkered soldiers on various nearby rooftops.
With a flick of her wing, Mo changed direction, flying across the university area and then on to Southwark. As the glittering and so-far-untouched glass structure that was the Shard came into view, she descended, arrowing hard and fast toward the pyramidal building’s open top.
I shifted shape and landed beside her. My heart was beating a million miles an hour, and my limbs were shaking. It wasn’t exhaustion. It was fear.
I scanned the sky for any indication we’d been seen, but for the moment we appeared safe. But that would end the moment we flew anywhere near the palace.
I rubbed my arms, but it did little to ward off the gathering chill. “Are you going to contact the High Council now?”
“No. They won’t be inside the palace, and they can’t help me track down Winter.”
I glanced at her. “They could help you capture him, though.”
“I’ve never needed help to grab the likes of Winter, Gwen. Not when I’ve got their DNA to use. He may think he’s oh-so-clever, but he is in the end nothing more than another fucking half-blood with delusions of grandeur.”
A smile tugged at my lips, despite the tension that rode me. “Now tell me what you really think.”
She nudged me lightly and then retrieved the plastic-wrapped hair from her coat pocket. “While I’m setting up the tracker, why don’t you contact Luc and make sure everything is set for your entry into the palace?”
I nodded and made the call.
He answered immediately. “You’ve made it safely to London, then?”
His voice was filled with weariness, and guilt stirred. Not only because of the responsibility I’d placed on his shoulders, but also on Mia’s, Ginny’s, and Barney’s. Luc had trained his entire life for a moment like this, but neither of my friends nor even Barney had. And yet here I was, placing them on the front line and betting all our lives on the fact that I was stronger than my brother.
What if I was wrong? What if he killed me and claimed the sword, despite the warning on the King’s Stone? I sucked in a breath and pushed the doubts away. Truth was, if Max did win, everyone I loved would die anyway. Or be subjected to something far worse.
“Have you been able to contact Ricker and the team inside the palace?” I asked.
“Yes. They’ll be on standby—the minute they see you, they’ll open a portal. It will by necessity be small, so keep your wings close to your body going through.”
It wasn’t so much my wings I had to worry about but Nex and Vita. In theory, neither knife should respond to the magic in the shield, but given the fickle nature of luck, there was a chance—however remote—that they would.
Of course, I was magic immune and should technically be able to get through the shield without a portal, but I had no desire to risk this being the one time my immunity didn’t work. Or even on it working but drawing on too much of my strength.
“How are things going there?”