“A dozen Ra soldiers are on the way,” Calder said, giving the radiophone in his hand a little wave. “They’ll assess the Gaians’ resources and help them plan an attack strategy to coordinate with the Ras’ plans.”
“And will the commanders take orders from a daemon?” she asked.
“We’ll make sure they do,” Quinn said with that composed, unyielding confidence that had won him the job of Head Consul at a relatively young age. Mediation was his job; he would keep the peace between the Gaians and the Ras.
She nodded and started to speak, but a troop of Gaians marched past them from the field toward the end of the grandstand. Every soldier waved or called a greeting to her. She waved back, forcing a smile. The whole damn army somehow knew she was the reason they’d won, and the large scale gratitude she was receiving was a bit overwhelming.
She turned back to her father and uncle. “So everything here is under control?”
“Yes,” Calder said. “We’ll ensure everything stays on track.”
Engine rumbling, a jeep drove across the patchy brown grass of the field and stopped below her spot on the stands. Half a dozen soldiers grinned up at her. The passenger seat of the jeep was empty, waiting for her.
She huffed. “Looks like my ride is ready to go. Twenty-four hours from now, we attack Asphodel. Someone from the Underworld will meet you here in about twelve hours to confirm the final details for the coordinated attacks.”
Calder stepped forward and pulled her into a hug, then passed her to Quinn for his hug.
“Stay safe, Pipes,” Calder said, his voice a little gruff. “And stay close to your friends.”
“I will.”
With one more embrace for both of them, she jumped over the rail and dropped into the passenger seat. They rolled into motion as the soldiers introduced themselves and she gave them directions to the ley line out beyond her former Consulate—a longer drive, but a safer choice than the closer one. As they raced through the streets, she watched the buildings pass by and wondered how much of downtown would still be standing in twenty-four hours … and how many Gaians would die because she had convinced them to join the coming battle.
But the city wouldn’t have survived the daemon conflict anyway and the Gaians would have been wiped out sooner or later. In twenty-four hours, they would all risk everything for the chance to defeat Hades for good.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
It was raining when she came through the ley line into the charred clearing yet again. The sky had just begun to lighten into twilight after the long Underworld night. After activating her signal spell, she spoke briefly with a handful of draconian warriors that flew over to meet her. They’d been assigned to keep watch over the line for anything suspicious and to potentially pick off any surviving stragglers from the defeated Hades army. She was glad they’d been warned she would be coming through; it would have sucked to get blasted by her own side on arrival.
Before she could ask them what they knew about the war preparation, the power of the ley line blipped. Seiya walked out of the line, looking around with Zala perched on her shoulder. Spotting Piper and the other draconians, she hurried over.
Piper blinked in confusion. “Where did you come from?”
“Tenryu opened a new ley line just outside the draconian city so we can move warriors quickly. I’ll show you the way.”
“Oh. I guess that’s good. Where are Ash and Lyre?”
“Back at the city getting things ready. I don’t think either of them have slept since you left.” Seiya smiled briefly before her somber expression took over. “Kiev told us about your plan. Did it work?”
“It did. I arranged everything with Miysis and the Gaians.”
“The Gaians too?” Relief washed over Seiya’s face. “Thank the Moirai. Ash needs to know right away. Let’s go.”
She took Piper’s hand and they approached the ley line. Piper prepared herself for another jump through the Void. Travelling the ley lines was intense, difficult, and dangerous at the best of times. Doing it twice in five minutes was probably pretty stupid, but she didn’t have much choice. Holding tight to Seiya’s hand, she wrapped her mind in protective magic as they stepped into the warm, rushing power of the line.
As they came out of the screaming oblivion of the Void, the world returned in a burst of sights and sensations—mainly the rain pattering on her head and shoulders. Piper sucked in a breath, stumbling from the disorientation. Seiya steadied her before releasing her hand. Piper looked around, surprised to see they were at the bottom of a steep, dangerous-looking cliff.
“We’re about a mile away,” Seiya said. “Zala will carry you.”
As the dragonet transformed, Piper frowned again at the cliff, not liking the way it leaned over them. “This is an odd place to put the line.”
“Tenryu picked the spot so he could bury the line in an emergency.”
That explained the precarious cliff above. She hurriedly climbed onto the dragon’s back, eager to get away from the spot. Seiya took off, leading the way through the darkness. With the heavy cover of rain clouds, the twilight was darker than it should have been and all Piper could do was hold on to Zala’s back and try not to shiver too violently. Her dragon scale clothing was waterproof, but the rain was still cold.
Zala eventually descended and the looming shape of a mountain became visible. Seiya landed on an unobtrusive ledge, a much smaller one than Tenryu had chosen when arriving at the city, and ducked into a crevice. Zala landed too, almost too big to fit on the ledge. Piper slid off her back and squeezed into the gap after Seiya, leaving Zala to transform and follow them.
Seiya led her through the maze of corridors inside the mountain. The murmur of voices reached them and Seiya pushed through a curtained doorway. In the room beyond, the draconians from Asphodel were scattered around the space, talking quietly. Only Ash, Raum, Kiev, and Mahala were absent.
“Piper!”
A dark-haired blur shot for her, crashing into her middle and hugging her tightly.
“Hey, Raisa,” she gasped, hugging the girl back. “Can’t breathe.”
Raisa let go and stepped away, a huge grin stretching across her face. “You’re back!”
“Yep. And I didn’t even almost die this time.”
Raisa giggled as Ivria and Coby came over to join them, the latter having to first heave herself out of a wooden chair, her hand pressed to her bulging belly. Piper hugged them both.
“Well?” Coby demanded. “Did that Ra prince agree to the plan?”
“He did. And the Gaians will fight too.”
Coby grinned. “Excellent. We shouldn’t have to do all the work.”
She didn’t look too shocked about the news of Gaians agreeing to fight beside daemons, but draconians weren’t overly familiar with Earth politics.
Seiya touched Piper’s shoulder, drawing her attention. “I’ll get Ash.” She lowered her voice. “See if you can convince him to sleep, okay?”
Piper nodded and Seiya strode out, Zala once again riding on her shoulder. She turned back to Coby and Ivria.
“What’s been happening here?” she asked them.
“Oh, well.” Coby shrugged. “They’re all busy bees, rushing all over the place. The warriors are preparing supplies, planning maneuvers, reviewing the maps of Asphodel that Ash and Raum drew up, all that kind of stuff. Everyone else is preparing to move. The elders decided that it wasn’t safe to keep living here regardless of what happens in Asphodel.”
“It looks like they have several emergency shelters prepared,” Ivria said. “They’re splitting into three groups and they’re moving out at sunrise.”
“Which group are you all going with?” Piper asked, her gaze running over the mostly barren room. Netia and little Yana were playing some sort of game in the corner, without even a rug or blanket to sit on. “And why are you all sitting in here instead of helping them get ready?”
“They don’t want our help,” Coby replied with a scowl.
>
Piper stiffened. “What do you mean?”
“We haven’t been able to determine how Samael tracked us through the mountains,” Ivria said quietly. “For all we know, we could lead Hades directly to one of the draconian shelters. We can’t risk it.”
“But they took away all your belongings,” Piper said indignantly, gesturing at the women’s new garb. “How could Samael possibly still track you?”
“We don’t know, but they don’t want to risk it. And to be honest, neither do we.”
Piper stopped herself from looking at Jezel and Sivan, sitting alone in a corner, looking as dire and unpleasant as always.
“So you’ll, what?” she asked. “Just wait here all alone?”
Coby shrugged again. “For now.”
Piper huffed angrily but before she could respond, the curtain to the room swished open as Seiya returned.
Ash strode in after her. He’d left off his black armor and wore his more typical draconian warrior clothing. Her heart leaped at the sight of him and she relaxed, letting go of tension she hadn’t realized she’d been carrying. His eyes, marred by dark circles, flashed over her in a fast, reassuring glance that she was unharmed.
Lyre came in behind him, also dressed in the same black gear. She wouldn’t have thought the incubus could look menacing, but a little thrill of intimidation ran down her spine. His face was too still and cold, hard and unyielding as though his skin had become armor itself.
Then a welcoming smile curved his lips and he was once again the incubus she knew.
The three of them walked straight to Piper. With difficulty, she restrained herself from jumping into Ash’s arms. Zwi appeared on his shoulder—she must have been hanging on his back—and hopped over to Piper’s shoulder, nuzzling her cheek affectionately. Piper stroked the dragonet’s mane.
“Seiya said you convinced him,” Ash said without preamble. She might have been offended by his lack of a greeting if she hadn’t known just how important the answer was.
“I did. It took some talking, but he agreed to it with a few conditions. Miysis doesn’t have enough troops on Earth, but he and the Gaians will be coordinating a simultaneous attack on the Hades troops surrounding the embassy. Miysis is confident they can trap and destroy the army.
“The Gaians?” Lyre said incredulously. “You have been busy.”
“Can we trust the Gaians?” Ash asked. “Can they actually work together?”
“My father and Uncle Calder are overseeing everything to make sure both sides stay on track.”
“Okay,” he said. “We’re on schedule. The evacuation starts at sunup and we’ll be ready to leave for Asphodel by the eclipse.”
Seiya gave Piper a meaningful look. Ah, right. Convincing Ash he needed to sleep for his own good would be as effective as telling a boulder to move, but if she needed to rest … All she had to do was think about sleep to bring on a long yawn. Zwi’s jaws opened in her own sympathetic yawn, flashing her tiny pointed teeth to the whole room.
“Ugh, I’m exhausted,” Piper said, not having to feign the fatigue in her voice; she’d gotten a bit of sleep at the church but it hadn’t been restful. “Is there somewhere quiet I can lie down?”
“Of course,” Ash said, scooping Zwi onto his shoulder before putting his hand on the small of her back. “There are some rooms this way.”
He guided her out into the corridor, Seiya and Lyre following. Just before the curtain swung shut behind them, Raisa waved a sad goodbye, standing forlornly in the barren stone room. Piper came to an abrupt stop, her anger over the draconians’ segregation sweeping back in.
She turned to Lyre. “Is it possible to put a tracking spell inside a person?”
“Not that I know of,” he said, surprised by the unexpected question. “I checked them all just in case. I can’t detect anything from any of them. I even checked the dragonets. The spell is either very subtle, or it’s embedded somewhere we haven’t thought of, or both.”
“They took everything, our weapons and clothes.” Seiya folded her arms, her hands gripping her upper arms tightly. “I can’t begin to guess how Samael did it.”
“Everything,” Piper mumbled, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples with her fingertips.
Ash pressed gently on her back, encouraging her to resume walking. “You need sleep, Piper.”
Her eyes flew open. “Not everything.”
She pulled away from him and pushed back through the curtain. The others looked around in surprise as she strode in. She walked past them to where Netia and Yana sat playing. Yana looked up with one wide eye, the other covered with a patch, and hugged her little toy dragonet to her chest. Piper dropped into a crouch in front of the girl.
“Yana,” she said gently. “Can I see your dragonet?”
Yana clutched the toy harder.
“Please, Yana?”
Ivria knelt beside her daughter and put an arm around her, smiling through her terse expression. “Piper won’t hurt Lala. She promises.”
“I promise not to hurt Lala,” Piper said solemnly.
With a quivering lower lip, the girl reluctantly held out her toy. Piper took it and stood. Ash, Seiya, and Lyre stood behind her, all three equally grim.
Piper held out the toy to Lyre. “Did you check this?”
“No,” he said hoarsely. “I didn’t even think …”
He took the toy and turned it over in his hands, his eyes darkening to black in an instant. The little wings flopped this way and that as he slowly rotated it. He pulled a small dagger from a sheath up his sleeve and slit a seam in the toy’s belly.
Yana screamed, hysterical sobs overtaking her. Ivria clutched her daughter, her eyes locked on Lyre. He dug his fingers into the belly of the toy, then pulled them out. Between his finger and thumb, he held up a marble-sized steel pellet.
The draconians were utterly silent, all of them staring at the pellet.
“He used the child,” Lyre snarled. “Who would think to check a child’s toy?”
His hand clenched around the steel marble. He held the toy out to Ivria. “It’s clean now.”
She accepted it, her eyes shining with a film of tears as she held her daughter.
Coby gripped Ivria’s shoulder. “You couldn’t have known,” she whispered. “It’s not your fault. It isn’t Yana’s fault either.”
“It’s Samael,” Seiya said fiercely. “He’s the one to blame for everything, and we will make him pay.”
Ivria nodded mutely. Yana continued to cry as though she’d just watched a real dragonet get disemboweled in front of her. Lyre cast a guilty look at the distraught girl and backed up toward the door. With an apologetic wave, Piper followed.
Out in the corridor with Ash and Seiya, she looked at Lyre. “Can you destroy the spell?”
“I could, but I was thinking of giving it to Tiran and letting him fly it out into the middle of nowhere.”
“Oh. Yes, that would be better.” One more little diversion for Samael.
He pocketed the spell. “For now, weren’t you going to get some rest?”
“Right, yeah. Which way, Ash?”
He led them a dozen paces down the corridor, then made a left turn into a short hall lined with wooden doors. They were rough and kind of ugly, but more substantial than curtains. He pushed open a door to reveal a cot and blanket inside the tiny room.
“You can sleep here,” he said. “I’ll send someone with some food for you.”
“I have more to tell you about the Ras and stuff,” she said. “You should stay with me for a bit.”
He frowned. “But—”
“We can hold the fort,” Lyre said, wisely not mentioning the word “sleep.” “And I’ll get them to bring you both some food. You haven’t eaten in a while.”
“I can—”
Seiya stepped closer and put her hands on his back, pushing him through the door and into the room with Piper.
“Just relax, Ash,” she told her brother as she grabbed the door
. “They don’t need you for the evacuation and that’s all everyone will be focused on for a while.”
“For a while?” he repeated. “I’m not—”
“We’ll see you in a bit,” his sister said firmly and pulled the door shut in his face.
“Hey,” he began in annoyance, reaching for the door.
Piper grabbed his wrist and spun him around to face her. She hooked her other hand over the back of his neck and stood on her tiptoes to press her mouth against his. He abandoned his attempt for the door and wrapped his arms around her, returning the kiss with interest.
When he lifted his head, he gave her a suspicious look. “I’m starting to think I’m being manipulated.”
“Maybe a little,” she said with a smile. “I missed you and I’m exhausted, but I can’t sleep knowing you’re out there running yourself into the ground.”
He sighed. “I don’t have time to sleep.”
“Well, at least sit with me for a bit.”
She took his arm and led him toward the cot. After pushing him down to sit on the blankets, she unbuckled her myriad of weapons and stacked them into the corner. Then she sat beside him and curled up against his side. As he put his arms around her, she relaxed even more, closing her eyes as she inhaled his scent.
“Tell me what happened on Earth,” he said.
She told him everything, from her conversation with her father all the way up to the battle with the Gaians. He listened without comment until she was finished, then drew her even closer.
“When Kiev came back and told us what you were planning, I couldn’t imagine it succeeding.” He ran a hand over her hair. “I can’t believe you did it. You’ve shifted the odds in our favor more than I thought possible.”
“I just wish I could help in Asphodel,” she mumbled, heat rising in her cheeks. “Without the Sahar, I’m not much use. I’m getting pretty good with my magic, but I run out way before a draconian does.”
“You’ve already made all the difference.”
She leaned back so she could meet his eyes. “Do you really think you can win? That you and the draconians can destroy Asphodel and Chrysalis?”