“Tejus, can I have a word with you?” I asked the sentry.
“Of course,” he replied, politely.
Hazel shot me a warning glare, but left us alone.
“There was actually something I wanted to discuss with you,” he said. My eyebrows shot up in surprise, but I waited for him to continue.
“I gather from what Queen Nuriya says that the jinni or jinn responsible for sealing the entity may still be somewhere in Nevertide. We are investing a lot of hope in the idea that the immortal waters will end the shadow and the entity, and I want us to have an alternate plan in case this doesn’t work.”
“Go on,” I replied slowly.
“I thought that perhaps Benedict, Julian and your son’s red-headed friend—”
“Yelena,” I corrected.
“Yes—Yelena. Maybe the search for the jinn should be left to them. The shadow and the entity will be distracted; they could go about their search relatively unnoticed—there are few sentries left in the kingdoms, and fewer still who would seek to harm them.” He hesitated, clearly uncomfortable with what he had to say. “I thought, now you’re here, I should check with you before I gave the order.”
I glanced over at my daughter, talking to Grace and Benedict by the staircase. His plan was a good one, and I was relieved that at least one of my children wouldn’t be going into battle. Tejus had just risen in my estimation.
“Thank you,” I replied. “I think it’s a good plan. But I think they should be accompanied by one of the dragons or Hawks—and perhaps a jinni or two if we can spare them.”
He nodded. “I’ll speak to Derek and Ash.”
When he turned on his heel to walk away, I placed my hand on his elbow, stopping him. He turned back to me with a puzzled frown.
“My daughter and son survived a very hostile land,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “I’m starting to understand that you might well be a large part of the reason that they’re all in one piece—and happy.”
He smiled, briefly.
“Your children are impressively robust. They kept themselves alive.”
I smiled back at him, knowing that he was being modest but appreciating his words all the same. My children were robust, but he had continually protected them, putting their lives before his own. No matter what had taken place between Tejus and my daughter, and the part he had to play in their initial kidnapping, I would forever be grateful to him for that.
I watched him walk off toward Hazel. She looked up at him worriedly, wondering what I’d said to him. He laughed and shook his head, murmuring that it was about Benedict and nothing to concern herself with. He kissed Hazel on the top of her head, and she leaned against him. She must have been tired.
“Rose?” Caleb came to stand next to me, watching the couple.
“I’ve changed my mind about him,” I muttered.
“That was quick.”
I rolled my eyes. “He loves her, clearly. What else is there to do? Keep holding a grudge against him, telling her she can’t see him? She wouldn’t listen and we’d lose her forever.”
“I know,” he murmured, “and you know that’s not what I’m suggesting. It… It just feels like she’s… growing up too fast!” He exhaled a breath, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. “Way too fast.”
I looked into his brown eyes with a wide grin, wondering if he had forgotten that it hadn’t been all that long ago when he had been in Tejus’s shoes—under the scrutiny of my father.
He seemed to catch on to my train of thought as he cracked a small, reluctant smile. “I know… I’m finally showing my years.”
Chuckling, I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “She’ll always be your little girl,” I whispered. “Just like I’ll always be my dad’s.”
He sighed again and averted his gaze toward Hazel and Tejus, a sense of brokenness still suffused in his expression. “I know we were never going to be able to protect her forever,” he muttered. “I suppose a part of me just hoped our children would remain in The Shade, experiencing more peace than we ever did.”
I squeezed my husband’s hand as I joined him in gazing at our daughter. I had hoped for the same… just like my parents had for Ben and me.
You would have thought us Novaks would have learned our lesson by now.
Hoping for normality in the life that we Shadians lived was like hoping for dryness in the rain.
Normal wasn’t what we were, and it wasn’t what we’d ever be.
We lived in the line of fire, and, even with all the anxiety that came with it, I knew we would never have it any other way. Caleb and I had to accept that and be proud to see our children following in our footsteps, even if it was difficult. Their lives wouldn’t be easy, but they would be rewarding.
I cleared my throat, tugging gently on Caleb’s sleeve, coaxing his eyes away from our daughter and back to me.
“That’s enough moping for now, Mr. Achilles,” I said. “Let’s go and get the other human children ready.”
His face was the picture of reluctance, but he nodded. “Okay, dear.”
I smirked, catching his hand and leading him toward the opposite end of the hallway where the kids had been sleeping. Jenney had been watching over them—another sentry who had gone out of her way to make sure my children were well-fed and provided for. Another inhabitant of Nevertide I was grateful for.
Despite my initial reservations, it made me think that perhaps this land truly was worth saving.
Benedict
“I’m taking the crossbow,” I said to no-one in particular. “I think it’s lucky. If they actually let us join the battle this time, I’m going to kick ass.”
“Well, yeah, now it’s been magicked with the immortal water, of course it is,” replied Julian, in the most sarcastic voice he could manage. It didn’t bother me—I knew it was because he was nervous. I wasn’t going to take it personally.
“Are you thinking of taking anything else besides a sword?” I asked.
“Daggers. I found them in the armory—have you been there yet? It’s pretty cool.”
No!
“Why didn’t you tell me there was an armory?” I yelled.
Julian shrugged. “You seemed so pleased with your crossbow.”
I turned away in a huff and saw Yelena sitting on the bay of a window, watching us with a scowl on her face.
“What’s up with you?” I asked.
“Jenney just told me that all the humans are going to be staying behind. Again. I bet they let you go just because you’ve got vampire parents—it’s not fair. It’s not like you’re vampires.”
“Yeah, but we will be,” I pointed out, “and we probably have latent fighting skills like theirs.”
She scoffed, rolling her eyes in disbelief. I thought that was a possibility—how could we not be badass when we had such badass parents? Yelena’s parents were probably school teachers or something. Maybe even dentists.
“What do your parents do?” I asked, wondering why Yelena had never really talked about them much.
She mumbled something I couldn’t quite catch.
“What?”
“I said, they’re accountants.”
I hid a smile. I had been close.
“Don’t laugh!”
“I’m not,” I protested. “It’s just that it’s very different from my parents. That’s all.”
“You’re such an idiot sometimes,” she sighed, turning her face out to the window and ignoring me. I could see her cheeks starting to flush red, and I felt guilty. It wasn’t her fault her parents had boring jobs.
“Do you miss them?” I asked.
She carried on looking out of the window, and I thought she wasn’t going to reply, but after a while she did.
“Sometimes. I don’t know. We never spent much time together as a family anyway. They like computers, a lot. And I’m too noisy.”
“Well,” I replied, feeling generous, “maybe when we get back to Earth you can come and sta
y in The Shade sometimes, with us. Like on vacation or something.”
“Really?” Her face lit up, and she beamed at me.
“Well, yeah. Don’t get too excited. I’d have to check with my mom, and all the other GASP members. We don’t just let anyone in… but maybe if you’re lucky.”
My reply hadn’t dampened her spirits, and she leapt off the bay.
“I think I’d make a really good fighter,” she announced. “I was thinking after this I might join the army. Maybe eventually become a marine!”
“A marine? You’re too young to join the army,” I retorted.
“One day I will,” she corrected herself. “But before that I can train at GASP headquarters. That will definitely get me in.”
I turned back to my crossbow. I didn’t know why she was so desperate to go to war—not that there had been any recent human wars anyway. I couldn’t imagine human wars were as clear-cut as supernatural battles. At least we always knew we were helping someone.
“Is Jenney staying here with you?” Julian asked.
“I don’t know.” Yelena shrugged. “Maybe? I don’t know how else all the kids are going to look after themselves. What if you all die? We’ll be stuck here forever, wandering the castle like ghosts.”
“Yelena!” I exclaimed. “Can you not say stuff like that? We’re not all going to die—right, Julian?”
“We don’t know that,” he replied somberly.
It wasn’t what I wanted to hear. Of course we weren’t going to die—our parents were here! They’d never let anyone hurt us. Julian was being dramatic.
“Boys?”
My mom and grandpa peered around the door to our room.
“Hey.” I waved lamely in greeting and put the crossbow down before they could yell at me for playing with weapons indoors.
They walked in, followed by Ashley. I could tell by their expressions that they had something serious to discuss—but the appearance of my grandpa threw me. What with him always saving the world and stuff, I rarely got to spend much time with him. To be honest, he kind of scared me. Julian eyed them warily, smiling weakly at his mom.
Are we in trouble?
“We’ve got something we want to discuss with you,” my mom began. “Why don’t you all sit down? Julian, do you want to put the sword away?”
He hurriedly shoved it on the bed, and we all gathered on the sofa. Yelena stayed put.
“You too, Yelena,” my mom said, smiling at her.
She shoved herself between me and Julian, trying her best to look serious and attentive.
Teacher’s pet.
“We know how eager you are to join us at the cove”—my mom smiled at me—“but there’s another mission that needs to be taken care of. We believe the jinni who bound the entity in the stones is still somewhere in Nevertide. We need them to be found and brought forward to help us end this.”
“It’s imperative that they are found,” my grandfather added. “Our success in this battle may well depend on it—if we fail, you’ll be our only hope.”
“You want us to find the jinni?” I asked, making sure I was understanding this correctly.
“You’re the only ones we would trust,” my grandfather confirmed. He gazed at me, his expression serious and hopeful.
“Do you think they’d be willing to help, even if we found them? They haven’t come forward—but they must know what’s going on?”
“That’s a good point, Benedict, but we’re hoping that you’ll find a way to persuade them,” he replied.
I nodded, swelling with pride. I’d never been asked to go on a special mission before—and to be asked by my grandfather, Derek Novak himself, made my toes curl. I’d always been a tiny bit jealous of my uncle, Benjamin. He was a natural leader—always kept his cool, fought amazingly well and always seemed to be making big decisions with my grandpa. I hoped one day that would be me—and maybe if I did well on this mission, my grandpa might trust me with more.
“And me?” Yelena asked quietly. “Am I going?”
“Yes, we hoped you would,” my mom replied.
What?
Clearly I’d missed that bit when they were explaining what we had to do. Why was Yelena coming? She was a civilian—what help would she be? I looked across at Julian.
Can you believe this? I asked silently, with a pointed eyebrow raise. He just shrugged, turning his attention back to the adults.
“So, get your stuff together, we’ll help you pack camping equipment—we brought our packs with us, so you can take those,” Ashley explained, “and you’ll be joined by Ridan, Horatio and Aisha and a few of the half-Hawk brothers.”
More people?
“But we’ll be in charge of the mission, right?” I asked.
“You’re in charge, Benedict.” My grandpa turned to me, a small smile creeping across his lips. “The rest know that. You’ll call the shots—but remember that a good leader always listens.”
“I’ll remember,” I vowed.
“You’ll march out with us,” my mom told us, “and then go in the opposite direction of the cove. Tejus will tell you where he thinks you ought to head.”
I nodded, glad that we’d be traveling out with the rest of the army. It would be more exciting that way—I couldn’t wait to see GASP all armed to the teeth and ready for a fight.
The adults left the room soon after. As soon as the door shut, I turned to Julian in excitement.
“Our own mission!” I exclaimed, raising my hand for a high-five. Julian rolled his eyes and yanked my hand down.
“Don’t you get it?” he whispered, dragging me away from Yelena, who was now busy rifling through the drawers for spare clothes to take on the trip.
“Get what?” I asked, genuinely confused. Why wasn’t he happy about this? I’d thought Julian would be over the moon, like I was.
“This is like, like a pity mission so that we stay out of harm’s way—that’s why they’re letting Yelena in on it!”
I frowned at him. “What do you mean? What about Horatio and Aisha? And the Hawks? The half-Hawk brothers, Field, Blue – they’re awesome. They would have needed all of them for the fight.”
“To look after us!”
I fell silent, thinking about what Julian was saying. I knew without a doubt that finding the jinni (or jinn) was important—if it or they were still in Nevertide, which was possible, then it was worth looking for them. Yes, it would be less dangerous than going into battle, but did that matter? If the outcome was so important? I guessed more than anything Julian’s pride was hurt, because I knew he’d actually prefer us to stay out of harm’s way.
I looked over at Yelena, her red head buried in one of the drawers as she threw out moth-eaten blankets. I thought about her wielding a sword, fighting the black gloom that had overshadowed the palace—coming face to face with the dark power of the entity that had totally obliterated every part of what was me when I was under its possession.
If this was a way that Yelena didn’t have to do that stuff, didn’t have to be near it, then maybe that was a good enough reason to do this.
“Yeah, well, I don’t care,” I replied. “I think our mission’s cool. And Yelena can be helpful—she’s going to be in the marines.”
“Whatever.” Julian sighed, going over to the bed to pick up his sword.
I glanced over at Yelena to see her beaming at me.
Huh.
Ash
I paced the grounds of the palace, watching the sentry and GASP armies preparing for battle. It wasn’t yet dawn, and we would be marching out before first light. The witches were making last-minute checks of swords, daggers and any other weaponry, ensuring that all equipment was infused with the immortal waters. The guards were grim-faced, the atmosphere subdued. If it had been our first battle, I imagined things would be different—but all these men had witnessed what happened at the cove. They had all seen the shadows that crawled up the barrier, all heard the whispering. No one was under any illusions about the danger
we were about to face.
“Emperor.” One of the guards stepped in front of me, bowing low. “The commander requested that you take additional weaponry into battle along with the Hellswan sword.”
I nodded. “Fine. Another broadsword then, and a short blade.”
The guard nodded, and went to do my bidding. It was strange having other sentries do as I asked—ministers and guards. I never wanted to get used to it. I would never abuse my power, but at times like this, when my brain was throbbing from battle strategy, worry and fear, it was a relief not to have to think about the million other small things.
We would be leaving for the cove shortly, and I still felt that we were unprepared. Many were still waiting to get their weapons spelled. Tejus and Derek were still deliberating about how they would divide the armies for maximum effect. I had left the strategizing to the two of them—I knew it wasn’t where my strengths lay, and that was fine with me. I was just glad I had Tejus by my side. He was a born warrior. His coldness and stoic tendencies made him an ideal commander, willing to make the hard decisions that the rest of us couldn’t.
“Have you seen Ruby?” I asked Hazel as I caught her walking past, her arms piled so high with the strange black packs that GASP had brought with them, she couldn’t see over them.
“I think she’s in the kids’ room—or she was. You want me to send her your way if I see her?”
“Thanks, Hazel.”
She walked on, narrowly avoiding tripping over one of the tent pegs.
“Use True Sight!” I yelled after her.
“Got it!” she called back. Hazel’s hunger seemed to be under control, and I was glad for her. Syphoning off the vampires and other supernatural creatures certainly made a difference – their energy levels were astonishing.
I decided to look for Ruby myself, and started to walk back toward the castle. The entrance was empty—most of the ministers and guards were outside, and the rest of GASP with them. I checked the kids’ room, but only saw the children, sitting around reading and playing with wooden swords, ironically. There were a few villagers around, but no Ruby. I came back out and headed upstairs to the sleeping quarters.