"If we can," Jay said. When Erin glared at him, he met her stare defiantly. "It's the truth, and you know it."
"Damn, damn, damn," muttered Rowan softly, running his hand back through his hair and massaging his neck.
"There's more," Angie said.
"That wasn't enough?" Jay asked.
"They have prisoners. Women and children."
From the expressions on their faces, this pleased no one. "Prisoners?" Rowan asked, articulating the word as if it made no sense. "Women and children?"
"It was creepy," Erin said. "Especially the mage. Really creepy. I know how stupid this sounds, but he smelled … bad."
"It isn't stupid," Tec said. "The mage you saw was Tzitzime, a blood mage. Their sacrificial magic turns their souls black. You smelled the foulness."
"What are they going to do to those people?" Angie asked.
"Do? They're going to kill them, ritually sacrifice them, cut their hearts out, and gain more power."
Angie's jaw dropped. "What ... what do you mean?"
Tec's eyes locked on hers. "The dragons, the Twin Deaths—Itzpapalotl and Tezcatlipoca—taught their Tzitzime worshipers sacrificial blood magic. The more people they sacrifice, the more power they gain. This is how Rayan Zar Davi has lived as long as she has."
To her horror, what he described sounded far too much like what she did as a source mage—absorb the life force of others and convert it into mana to cast powerful spells. No, that wasn’t entirely true. She wasn’t taking anyone’s life force, the Shade King, the powerful supernatural entity she shared her body with, had taken those lives, not her. Never her. She was merely the conduit for its magic, not faultless certainly, but not responsible either.
She felt like throwing up but turned to Rowan. "We need to do something."
"Angie," Rowan said softly, misery in his eyes. "We're in enemy territory. We can't help everyone. There's an entire platoon as well as a blood mage in that church now. It's too much."
She jumped to her feet, her emotions surging. "You're a family of werewolf super soldiers." They were all staring at her now as if she had lost her shit, but she kept going, couldn't stop now. Her mind kept going back to what Tec had said about the Tzitzime sacrificing those people. "Helping women and children, that should be enough of a reason, but if you need more, think about this: They have everything we need in that church: weapons, supplies, horses. We need to hit them—tonight!"
"She's right," Erin said, standing in support and staring down Rowan. "We didn't listen to her when the chupacabras went after Tavi. Let's not make that same mistake. I vote yes."
"This isn't a democracy, sis," Rowan said. "I didn't ask you for your vote. We're just talking right now is all."
Casey spat, but some of the spittle missed and ran into his thick beard. "Well, more enemy means I get to do more fighting, so there's that."
"Jesus, people," Rowan said, glaring at Erin and Angie, mostly Erin ... maybe a little bit at Casey. "We're werewolves, but we’re not invulnerable, and even for us, an entire platoon is a lot—and there's that Tzitzime mage."
"I'll deal with the mage," Angie said defiantly.
"I'll help," offered Tavi. "Two against one is pretty good odds, even if they know different magic."
"Three against one," Wyn Renna said. "And the Tzitzime are not the only ones who know more spells. We elves are not helpless."
Rowan shifted his weight, crossing his arms and leaning back as he considered the others. "Well ... three against one is the kind of odds I like. Only chumps fight fair."
"There's more," said Angie. "There's a radio in that church. I saw the high-frequency antenna. Maybe we can call someone for help."
Casey snorted. "Who'd come? Not the Commonwealth, not after we burned their helicopters. And last I heard, the Nortenos don't have no helicopters."
"I doubt they'd be able to help us even if they did," said Tec, "not while they're facing an invading Aztalan army."
"My mother," Wyn Renna said with conviction.
They all stared at her. "What about your mother?" Rowan asked. "Elves don't use technology, not airplanes at any rate."
"Don't presume," Wyn Renna said. "If I can contact my mother, I can get help."
"How?" Rowan asked.
Wyn Renna glanced at Tavi before answering. "There's a frequency I can use that's always monitored in her palace on Coronado Island. It's how I used to pass information from the Brujas compound in Canyon City."
Tavi glared at her, shaking her head. "You mean all those times you volunteered for the radio watch at night, all those times you said you couldn't sleep, you were really transmitting information to your mother, spying on us?"
Wyn Renna didn't argue; it was all true. Wyn Renna had been an elven spy, and nothing was going to change that for Tavi—especially considering how Tavi had hero-worshipped the woman for years when she thought she was Constance Morgan. Angie understood Tavi's anger, but Wyn Renna and the elves weren't the enemy. Tavi was going to have to accept that.
"Okay," said Rowan thoughtfully. "That kind of changes things." He looked about at the others, waiting until they were all paying attention. "We have a choice to make, people. My responsibility is to my family, not those civilians. I don't like hearing about executions and sacrifices any more than any of you, but we're a long way from friends. Right now, the enemy doesn't know where we are, or at least not exactly where we are. We hit that church and they will."
"That's not going to last," Erin said. "And you know it. They're already hunting us, and besides, no one goes a thousand kilometers without getting seen by the locals, not even us."
"She's right," Jay said. "It's a wonder we've hidden as long as we have."
"Agreed," said Rowan. "But if we light up that church, it'll be like kicking a hornet's nest."
"Fuck it," said Casey. "Kick away."
"Wait," Rowan said tersely, glaring at Casey. "You'll get your vote."
Casey looked down at his feet as if he had just been scolded. Casey was much larger than Rowan but always deferred to the older man. Hell, Angie was pretty sure that Rowan frightened Casey.
"So we are voting?" Erin asked, watching Rowan with a look of incredulity in her eyes. "What happened to ‘this is not a democracy, sis’?" She lowered her voice in a gruff imitation of Rowan.
"This isn't about the family. And I don’t sound like that." Rowan sighed and looked to the others. "This needs to be a group decision, but it has to be unanimous. It's all of us or none of us. Now, I'm willing to give it a go, but if it goes bad, we'll be in the shit. So, what do you all want to do?"
"I'm in," said Angie.
"Me too," said Erin.
Casey raised his hand. "Here's me voting to kick some Aztalan ass."
"Agreed," said Tavi. "I have to get home. My people are dying, and I can't spend a month walking back."