“Okay,” he said, letting her stand. “Then let’s do this together.” He tilted her face up to his and placed a kiss on her lips. “And never do that again.”
She smiled and kissed him back.
They strode out of the healing tents as a unit and straight to the war council, which seemed to be in uproar.
Cyrene silenced them all with a raise of her hand. “I know that you are all mad at me for going up against Malysa. It was just supposed to be a rescue mission, but now, I know what we’re going up against next.” She filled everyone in on what had happened with the Voldere. When everyone began to speak again as one, she held up her hand. “We can no longer play by her rules.”
“And how to you presume we do that?” Gwynora asked.
“Yeah, we’re doing all that we can,” Quidera said.
“No, we’re not,” Cyrene said. “We can do more. But what we need are more people. We need more soldiers. We need one big push to crush their line and take down their blood magic lines. We need to storm the castle and take control.”
“But how are we going to get more soldiers?” Brigette asked.
“Yeah, we can’t exactly make new soldiers,” the Commander said.
“What if we could?” Cyrene countered.
Everyone looked around in confusion.
“Malysa gave me an idea about how to get more soldiers. I’m willing to try to change the tide of this war if you all are.”
Cyrene looked from one person to the next. Waited for someone to object. But all she saw was deference to their leader and trust in her.
“What I need is eight other magical users. They’d have to burrow down into their reserves and pull up everything they had. Every last drop. Then, tomorrow, at high noon, they’d have to be willing to link with me and Sarielle. So, we would have a round ten.”
Dean stepped forward first. “I will do it.”
Then, Avoca with a nod.
And Gwynora and Quidera simultaneously.
To everyone’s surprise, the Commander stepped forward first. “I gave you my name. I will give you this.”
With a halting step, Ceis’f entered their circle. “If it helps us defeat Malysa, I will link with you.”
Cyrene’s eyes widened in surprise. It was one thing for Ceis’f to join her army and fight for her. Another entirely for him to link with her magic.
“I can ask Jenstad,” Quidera offered. “He is strong and controlled with his energy.”
“Thank you,” Cyrene said.
One more.
The Commander sighed. “Haeven will not want to do it, but if I order her…”
“No,” Cyrene said. “You can ask her. But, if she does not wish to, then I will not make her. This must be voluntary. We must be a team.”
“Then…I will ask,” he said reluctantly.
“If Haeven won’t do it, then I can ask one of the Network members, Krauss. He has improved the quickest,” Gwynora offered.
“Thank you.” She tilted her head toward Gwynora. “Malysa thinks that she has already won. That our destruction is assured. Let’s prove her wrong.”
52
The Bloodline
At high noon, Cyrene stood in the clearing away from camp.
She hated that they had sent soldiers out to die while she was standing here. She wanted to use her magic for good—to bust through that line, take down Kael, and set this all to right. But she knew that this was just as helpful as the raging battle. This might change everything.
If she could do it.
Her circle slowly came together. Dean to her right, then Quidera, Jenstad—who had eagerly accepted the invitation—Gwynora, the Commander, Ceis’f, Avoca, and finally, Sarielle. They were just missing one link in the circle. The tenth member who would close off the connection.
She looked to Tristen.
“She said she would come,” he said gruffly. He was clearly irritated that she wasn’t on time.
Cyrene glanced up at the sun, the bright heat and light that it put out. She prayed that Haeven got here on time. The last thing she wanted was to have to wait another day.
Then a silver-headed figure appeared. Her gaze cast around the circle from Cyrene to the dragon to her Commander. Then, she nodded. “My apologies for being late.”
“Join us,” Cyrene said, gesturing to her empty place. “As long as you are willing.”
Haeven moved to the empty spot. “I want this ended as much as the next person.”
Cyrene smiled at her. Haeven blazed with power. Probably the most in the circle after Cyrene. Or at least, on par with Dean. It would be a huge advantage to have her here. And Cyrene was glad that Haeven had agreed to it despite her past.
“When I was with Malysa, she boasted that we were never going to win because we didn’t have enough people,” Cyrene began. “That she could destroy all magic once and for all. That she’d started with the fall of magic, and now, this was her final stand. And it gave me an idea. There are trace amounts of magic in so many people that never have access to it. There’s magic in bloodlines that, for some reason, at seventeen, don’t come into their powers. And I wondered, if Malysa can create something new, then why can’t I?
“What we’re about to do has never been attempted. But, together, we can prove that there’s more magic in Emporia than Malysa could ever realize,” Cyrene told them. She took Dean’s hand and pressed her other hand against Sarielle’s side. “Please join hands.”
One by one, her friends reached out for the other. She had only ever linked with this many people once before in Fen when she helped the Ancient Ones erect the bubble around the town. The one that Malysa had destroyed before burning the village to ash.
This would be different. More complex. But she was a different person now than she had been then. And she knew she could do this.
“Access your magic and then let down your defenses enough to link up with your neighbors.”
Cyrene felt the light touch of Sarielle and then the brush from Dean. They were the easiest since she linked with them most regularly. Then Avoca, her other bound sister. But it went further, Avoca to Ceis’f. Dean to Quidera, who linked easily with Jenstad. The Commander reaching out for Jenstad. It was Haeven who hesitated the longest. Cyrene could tell that she had never brought her defenses down enough to do anything like this.
“It’s okay,” Cyrene assured her. “You can trust me.”
Haeven met her eyes. She looked hard and flat and unreadable. A queen in her own right in that moment. Then, she slowly, finally released. And they all tapped into together.
Cyrene breathed a sigh at the power between them. Then she removed her hold on the diamond, which once again hung at her throat. Suddenly, they were all aglow. Each of them with a beautiful gold hue all around their body. The shine of the Doma.
“Whatever you do, don’t release your link to each other. I don’t know how long this will take, but if you break apart, …it will all be for naught.”
Cyrene waited until she had assent from everyone, and then she closed her eyes and brought forth her spirit magic. Despite the combined power of her circle, she and Sarielle were the only ones who had access to spirit. But even so, she felt as if she were floating on a cloud of pure, blissful magic.