“Maybe.”
“They’re going to need you,” Easton said. “I’m an Earth Wielder as well, and I can help, but Lyric is right, we need reliable sources from each of the sectors.”
“There’s another Earth Wielder we could use,” I said, and everyone looked at me. “What about Slavik?”
Easton’s eyes narrowed, and Rhodes snorted before he spoke. “The Earth pirate? You want to use the Earth pirate as a symbol?”
“No, not as a symbol, as a warrior.” I paused. “Don’t look at me like that,” I said to Easton and the others. “We’re running out of lords and ladies,” I said bitterly. “We don’t have the crystals anymore. The Gray can come at us at any time, and if we have to use the Underkings and queens and everyone else who has been shunned by those too hungry for power, then so be it.”
I knew I was talking to the same people that I was admonishing, but I didn’t care. Not right then.
“Slavik has power, and the Underkings follow him. Plus, he protects those under his care.”
The Underkings were the men and women who worked the underworld of the realm yet still knelt for the king or queen of the kingdoms.
“And his second almost killed you,” Rhodes said.
“Yes, and that man is dead. There have to be others out there who can help us. We’ve already said that the courts don’t truly exist anymore. The kingdoms aren’t separate. Let’s go and find those who have been rebuffed in the past. Those who aren’t evil but toe the line of what is good.”
“It could work,” Rosamond said, her eyes glassy. She was in the middle of a vision, and Rhodes and Emory sat on either side of her, holding her steady.
“If we go to each of the forgotten factions’ leaders, we could formulate a plan.”
“That’s good,” I said, my palms damp. “We need everybody we can get. There are Creed and League warriors that want to be on our side. While they fought for the wrong kings, they never wanted to back true evil. There have to be others out there in hiding that could help. Those who have been forgotten and buried beneath statutes and the kings and queens that didn’t see them.”
“Our uncle hurt a lot of people,” Rhodes said.
I couldn’t deny that. “Yes. And there must be other Wielders who hid from him.”
Rhodes nodded. “Perhaps. If there are, we’ll find them.”
“My mother never went after Slavik,” Easton said, his voice harsh. “She knew, just like I did, that he would be useful.”
I went to him then, not caring that the others were looking at me. I put my hands on his chest, rose to my tiptoes, and kissed his chin. “You were fighting to save your people from The Gray, and battling against Lore. We all understand that. And Slavik isn’t the most law-abiding citizen.”
“And yet you want to use him in your war.” Easton’s brows rose, and I wanted to both knock and kiss the expression off his face.
“Don’t get snippy. And it’s not just my war. The Gray started this. But we’re going to finish it. However, we need everybody. Even those who are a little sketchy when it comes to the right side of the law.”
“That doesn’t seem like something a Spirit Priestess should say,” Easton said softly, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “I like it.”
“Well, I’m the first Spirit Priestess, so I guess I should forge my own way.”
The others around us mumbled and talked plans. And that was good. The things I’d said had gotten them thinking.
But I was so exhausted. I just needed time to breathe.
The real battles were still coming. Not just in this room, but also in the world where The Gray could get to us. Where innocents might die if we weren’t strong enough.
As I leaned into Easton, I breathed in his scent and tried to calm myself.
We could make this work. We would fight.
But first, we needed a plan.
Chapter Nine
Easton
I shut the door firmly behind us and rested my forehead against the cool wood for a moment to catch my breath.
As small hands touched the place between my shoulder blades, I smiled, knowing exactly who it was, especially since I had just locked her in the room with me.
“Are you okay?” Lyric asked from behind me. I turned, pulling her in to hold her close without replying.
I wasn’t sure how I could answer that question. How could I be okay? The shattered realm surrounding us screamed, people were dying, and we didn’t have clear answers yet. The Gray was pure smoke, sliding between our fingertips. We had to find him. Somehow.
Everybody still fought amongst themselves and with those on the other side of the line, and there wasn’t a clear way to rally the troops and the civilians to explain that we would find a way to make everything work.
And because of that, I worried.
So, no, I wasn’t okay. But I wasn’t going to tell her that.
I pulled away slightly and looked down at her face.
Maybe she was the person I needed to tell.
“I’m as okay as I’m going to be,” I finally said, looking down at the eyes I would never get enough of.
I slid my hands through her hair and scowled at the length of it.
“Why are you growling at me like that? Is my hair that horrible this length?” Lyric asked, self-consciousness in her voice. She pulled back slightly, running her hands over her now shorter blond hair.
I could have kicked myself. Instead, I leaned down to kiss her hard on the mouth.
“I’m scowling because I remembered that a sword was so close to your neck that it slid through your hair and cut it. If this were a hairstyle you picked on your own, that would be one thing. But the fact that a weapon did this during the heat of battle makes me want to hit something.”
“Well, I don’t mind the hair that much anymore.” Lyric slipped her hands through her shorn locks, and I leaned forward and kissed her on her nose, her forehead, then her lips again, my hands following hers through her hair.
“I love the way it looks on you. And hopefully, the next time you get a haircut, it’ll be of your choosing.”
“That sounds like a plan to me,” she said, searching my face.
“I would ask what’s bothering you, but I feel like it’s so much.”
“You’re right, it is a lot,” I said finally, running my hands over her hair again. My uncle might have healed her, but I could still see the bruises and the cuts. I wanted to find The Gray and everyone who worked for him and hurt them. I wanted to take them away from this world. But there was nothing I could do. At least, not yet. But when the time came, they would scream for what they had done to her.
That might make me a tyrant—though some already thought I was—but I didn’t care.
They had hurt her, and they would beg for mercy.
“I’m just happy you’re here. That they found you.”
“I think Braelynn and I would have made it back here no matter what eventually, but we were tired. And after fighting the League once we returned to this realm, it was a lot.”
My hands fisted on either side of her hips, and I leaned forward, resting my forehead against hers.