“Have you heard the news for the day? Were more killed?” I demanded.
“No, there were no further attacks on the humans during the day. I’ve not heard from Knox yet regarding the nightwalkers.”
“What was the final body count from the fires?”
“Over two hundred.”
“What? How is that possible?”
“One of the dorms over at SCAD was torched, and some of the students were trapped in the building.”
I dropped my face into both of my hands and stumbled blindly away from him for a second. The college students of the Savannah College of Art and Design had been instrumental in reconstructing the city to its former glory. Now Aurora was striking at the innocent youth of my city, the protectors of her history. I’d had enough.
We’ll get her. Danaus’s words softly slipped across my brain in a soothing caress. We’ll end this war forever.
Leaving us to face the Daylight Coalition, I grimly reminded him as I dropped my hands. And my father.
“Barrett’s people will keep working on the computers. They will tell us if anyone else has been identified. In the meantime, we’ll leave Savannah and set up a home somewhere else. Maybe it’s time for us both to go back to Europe,” he suggested, surprising me.
“You’re going to come with me?” I asked.
Danaus shook his head and gave a little smirk. “You’re an idiot sometimes. After everything that we’ve been through, do you honestly think that I would leave you now? Just when things are starting to get interesting?”
“I’m so glad I can keep you entertained,” I growled, but there was no real venom in my tone. I was just relieved to find that Danaus would be staying at my side, even if it meant that I and possibly he would need to take on new identities as we started a new life wherever we landed next. “Aren’t you concerned about the coven if we go to Europe?”
“For the most part, you are the coven now, and it appears that Our Liege has his hands full with Ryan,” Danaus replied, brushing off my concerns.
I opened my mouth to voice another concern about Europe, but the words never left my tongue as the front door to the house burst open and slammed against the back wall. I didn’t have time to move from the spot where I was standing when Shelly ran into the house. Her face was red and sweat had collected at her temples, dampening her pretty blond hair. She gasped for air, desperately trying to catch her breath. It appeared as if she had run the entire distance from Cynnia’s secret lair to my house.
“What’s wrong?” I demanded, impatient for her to finally catch her breath.
“Aurora! She’s here!” Shelly exclaimed between gulps of air.
“What do you mean she’s here? There’s no way she would be insane enough to launch an attack at night when the nightwalkers are available for battle,” Danaus said.
“No, she’s here. In Savannah.”
“Where?” I asked in a low, cold voice. This creature had set fire to my home, killed hundreds of humans, nightwalkers, and lycanthropes, and was now threatening to expose our world to the humans. She had to be stopped at last.
Shelly leaned against the doorway with her arms wrapped around her waist. “She’s headed toward Forsyth Park. Cynnia and Rowe have gone to meet her, while Nyx is bringing in Kane and the rest of the animal clan.”
With a stiff nod, I turned my attention to Danaus. “Call Barrett and tell him to bring his people to Forsyth Park. The war ends now.”
Thirty-three
Danaus and I left my car on a quiet, shadow-covered street and walked the last few blocks to Forsyth Park. The massive green area stretched several city blocks, but I knew where Aurora would be: in the center of the empty green expanse, waiting with her army. I had mentally contacted Knox and all the other nightwalkers in the city, ordering them to converge on the park and wait for my signal to attack. All around me, I could sense nightwalkers slowly approaching the park, falling into step behind me as I drew closer. They remained cloaked, little more than soundless shadows in the deepening night. My army was small, numbering less than two dozen after all the deaths that had plagued my city during the past several months. However, we were strong and ready to call an end to the war with the naturi as Cynnia had promised.
As we reached the green space, I noticed two distinct sides lined up against each other with a wide swath of ground separating them. Rowe stood beside Cynnia in the center, and Nyx was next to a pair of large naturi along the far left flank. I could only assume that this was the illustrious animal clan I’d been hearing about. I guesstimated there were more than a hundred of them, adding to the rest of Cynnia’s army lined behind her.
Meanwhile, Aurora had taken up a position on a hill so she could look down on her little sister. By sheer numbers, the two sides looked evenly matched. I knew that I wasn’t looking at the entire naturi race, only those that had answered the call to war by either Aurora or Cynnia. The rest were most likely waiting for a winner to be officially declared.
Pausing before crossing the street to enter the park, I watched as a man walking his dog slowed down and stared into the park. His brow furrowed and he shook his head before hurrying on his way. My eyes followed the direction of his gaze.
“Fuck,” I hissed, now hesitant to enter the park.
“What’s wrong?” Danaus demanded, standing directly beside me.
Aurora and her army aren’t cloaking themselves. They want to fight this battle in the open, in plain view of the humans, I mentally said, blasting the information out to Danaus and all the nightwalkers in the region.
What do we do? Knox inquired, briefly touching my mind. Engaging them will nullify our own cloaking and people will be able to see us. What about the secret?
We made a promise to assist Cynnia, I replied. It’s the only way that we will finally be free of Aurora. Remain cloaked as long as possible, but do not hide from the battle. Aurora’s army must be exterminated.
Danaus touched my arm, bringing my gaze up to his face. What about the coalition? he asked me privately.
I guess they’ll finally get their proof positive that we exist. The only problem is whether they will survive long enough to show the world.
Steeling myself for the fight that loomed ahead, I marched across the street and entered the park and felt the other nightwalkers moving as well, bravely entering. They had to know that many of them weren’t going to survive the fight ahead of them. It was going to be a bloody night, and I was ready for it.
Danaus and I slipped through the crowd of naturi and came to stand behind Cynnia and Rowe. Aurora smirked down at me when I appeared at her sister’s side. My cloak was only effective against those who didn’t use magic, which was a shame. I would have been more than happy to climb the hill unseen and knife the bitch in the back, ending this contest all too quickly.
“I see that you’ve not only chosen to side with your fellow traitors, but also useless mongrels such as these nightwalkers,” Aurora declared disdainfully.
I opened my mouth to throw my own barbs at the naturi queen, but Cynnia spoke up before I could. “I have surrounded myself with those that have the same vision as me. We are looking to pursue a peaceful existence on the earth, coexistence with all the other races rather than running blindly into one war after another. You’re killing off our people when we are at our weakest.”