He consulted his watch. “You have three more minutes, and giving up isn’t an option. Keep going. Fire is one of the most important things you can learn to make. Water, fire, food, shelter,” he said, repeating his little lesson.
With a growl, I started rubbing my hands together, faster this time, vampire fast.
“Come on, you little shits!” I screamed at the wood as sparks flew into the kindling and I huffed slowly. A small tendril of smoke started to wind up the stick and excitement thrummed through me.
Yes! Come on, baby!
I blew harder, and then orange flames flared to life below my palms, causing a yelp of pride to rip from my throat. I looked up at Rab with a giant grin to find him scowling at me with crossed arms.
He shrugged. “Well, I’ve done all I can. Hopefully, you make it back.”
Grumpy ass.
The grin fell from my face and I was about to retort when a loud drum beat from the center of town.
Rab sighed, exhaling deeply before opening his palms to me. “The alpha trial has begun.”
I swallowed hard, standing, and we both walked toward the church building to the sound of beating drums.
Whether it was a good time or not, I needed to check in with Sawyer.
‘Sawyer? I’m going to be heading out in a few minutes. Hopefully we can still talk while I’m there, but … just in case … how are things there?’
I felt his anxiety through our bond. ‘Hey, love. Sorry I had to have them take you away like that. Being in the Paladin lands right now is best for you. It’s getting bad here.’
I understood why he had to do what he did even if I didn’t like it. From my short amount of time kidnapped by the vampires, I could see their dark plans for me, and I had no intention of allowing them to do that. Like Sawyer said, we’d be dealing with an entirely different beast altogether.
‘How bad is it there?’
He paused. I could feel him wanting to hide whatever this was from me. ‘Sawyer, how bad?’
‘We’re losing, Demi. At some point, I need to choose between letting all of my men die just to say I tried to fight until the very end, or make the call to get everyone in the bunker and give up. It’s still secret and safe. The witches have shielded it from roaming eyes. Only wolves can see the entrance.’
My heart felt heavy at his words, and the fact that I wasn’t there to help. Knowing that just giving myself up to the vampires could end the attack weighed heavily on me. ‘The Ithaki broke a peace treaty and attacked here last night,’ I told him. ‘They may attack while I’m gone…’
Even though I wasn’t alpha of the Paladins yet, I already felt an enormous responsibility to keep them safe.
‘Tell them they can come to the bunker if things get bad there. I can have some of the witches get them in unnoticed,’ Sawyer said.
That was a very kind offer, one I was going to tell Rab about.
‘I’ll tell them. And … Sawyer?’
‘Yes, my wife?’
My throat constricted then. ‘This is the shittiest honeymoon I’ve ever had.’
He chuckled throatily, and the sound reverberated in my head, making my anxiety ease for a short time. ‘I love your sense of humor as much as your pouty lips.’
I smiled. ‘But seriously, I want to tell you something. It’s not giving up if you chose to save your men. Buildings can be rebuilt, lives can’t be brought back from the dead.’
I felt those words strike true inside of him.
‘I know. I just … my first week as alpha and I’ve let everyone down. Our entire city will be a wasteland by the time this is over.’
I felt his failure, his disappointment, through the bond. He wanted to be a stronger alpha for his people, but he was given a shitty situation and he’d done the best he could with that.
‘If it’s a wasteland, we will rebuild with the Paladins, together, stronger than before, and we will have the defector witches too. We will be a safe haven for magical creatures who have nowhere to go.’
‘You have big ideas, love. I’m just not that optimistic right now as I hide in a carved out dirt hole in the ground and magic bombs go off around me.’
Sadness seeped into my soul. I could feel him dancing with depression. ‘Then I’ll be optimistic for the both of us. Get our people into the bunker, and I’ll meet you there in three days’ time, okay?’
We’d reached the church now and the drums beat wildly, pulling my attention from Sawyer. Hundreds of Paladins were out on the lawn, and pride swelled in my chest when I saw that they were dressed in their finest clothes. They’d dressed up for me.
‘Just give up?’ Sawyer sounded lost, defeated.
‘No. Live to fight another day,’ I told him.
He sighed. ‘You’re right … we can’t win this. We need to regroup. I’ll make the call to get everyone down to the bunker and then instruct Eugene to bring you back to me in three days’ time.’
I smiled. ‘Honeymoon in a bunker sounds kind of romantic.’
I could feel his desperate urge to keep me safe, so strong it was suffocating. ‘Come back to me, Demi.’
‘I promise,’ I assured him, and then let Rab direct me over to the group of people who believed I would be strong enough to keep their magic alive.
As we stepped over to them, I let go of Sawyer and Wolf City and everything we’d just talked about. I trusted that Sawyer could take care of them, because I had my own issues with the Paladins to work out.
The hundreds of Paladin people were bent forward, banging wildly on their drums settled between their legs. The women’s hair were braided neatly, with golden thread tying off the ends. They wore bright orange and red silks and vibrant blues. Small bone ornaments of different animals adorned their wrists. Sage stood behind the crowd, looking on at them in interest as Walsh and Eugene stood even farther back, watching it all with curious expressions. When I finally reached the crowd, the drums boomed one final time before stopping completely.
Small, timid Astra looked like a confident queen as she strode over to me. Her hair was slicked back into a small ponytail at the nape of her neck. It was tied off with a stripe of suede, and at the end hung stained bone beads in black and blue and gold. She’d rubbed some beetroot into her cheeks and on her lips, because they were stained a vibrant and pretty red. She looked beautiful. Wearing a long blue silk sari type of wrap dress, she bowed to me deeply. “Alpha.”
I grinned, knowing now that she wasn’t supposed to call me that until I’d proved myself. That every time she did, it was in a direct defiance to Rab and the haters, showing support for me.
“Priestess.” I bowed back.
When she stood, she straightened and faced the crowd around us. “Today, Demi will begin the alpha trial,” Astra shouted. “Daughter of Running Spirit, granddaughter of Red Moon, she will leave her city ways behind and embrace nature, battle the beast of the Dark Woods, and claim the magic at the sacred cave in order to restore our people and our land!” Cheers of agreement rang out within the crowd.
Wait, battle the beast of the Dark Woods? Nobody said anything about that…
“From now on, she will be known to us as Spirit Moon.” Astra bowed deeply again and my throat pinched with emotion. Running Spirit and Red Moon. She’d given me a name that was a combination of the two men who I never got to meet but had a big part in why I was alive and here.