“For this,” Rose said. “Go fuck yourself, Ms. Lewis. You have no friends in this church.”
“Are you going to remain in your church, then?” Ms. Lewis asked. “If it’s a question of you not wanting to step foot outside, I understand. Almost every practitioner has some sense of what we represent and what we can bring to bear. Remaining where you are is easier than venturing beyond. We wouldn’t penetrate the barrier around this church, though we have the ability.”
She’s changing the dialogue, Rose thought. Making it so that staying, taking no action, is taking her side, or the Elder Sister’s side. Surrendering.
Rose had to rally others to fight. But now the lawyer was giving people the option of inaction. An option that some were liable to take.
What would Blake do here? He was better with people, but worse with words, form, delicacy. When he’d stood here, back at the beginning, he’d chosen a hard, direct action. Offering to spare others if they agreed to nonviolence. Trying to divide enemy ranks.
Ironic, given what Ms. Lewis was offering now.
“We aren’t going to cave, and we aren’t going to stand by while you do what you’re doing. We talked about it, and we’ve already decided,” Rose said. “You can consider this our declaration of war. This is our town, one we’ve fought for, one many of us fought each other for, and one we’ve bled over. If you think we’re simply going to give it up so you can turn it into some victory for your side or a waypoint for demonkind and diablerie, you’re an imbecile.”
Ms. Lewis blinked very slowly, taking in the words.
Rose was privately proud of her word choice. The imbecile at the end there, it wasn’t a word people heard often, so it had more weight. It attacked Ms. Lewis’ standing more than any ‘fuck you’ or ‘asshole’ could have.
“Those are words you can only say because you stood to lose either way,” Ms. Lewis said. “They lose value when you’ve effectively conscripted these individuals into a war for your own behalf. A war that was heavily influenced by the fact that you allowed a demon you bound to go free. Whatever happens from this point on, I hope they remember that if they’d simply given you to us, it all could have been avoided.”
Going on the offensive. Putting Rose in a position where she had to justify herself.
She didn’t. She let the accusation hang, though she could have explained herself. Blake probably wouldn’t have. He was too much of a scrapper, too intent on surviving, ironically.
He might have lost the war, even as he defended every point.
“Don’t even pretend you guys weren’t maneuvering for Johannes and the Angel all along,” Rose said, her voice hard.
Ms. Lewis smiled a little. “Well. Humanity is on its way out, all the same. If you insist on hurrying it along, I’m sure my group’s, ah, associates don’t mind expediting things. The moment any of you act against us, you can all consider my offer to respect your sanctuary to be null and void. This doesn’t end until we have Rose Thorburn. I would prefer her alive over dead, but dead works.”
She turned to leave.
Rose watched the woman pull the doors wide open, then step out into the darkness and the cold.
She was glad when nobody pulled a trigger or threw a bolt of lightning at her.
“It’s not like that,” Mags said, after the doors had swung shut. “Johannes said humanity was on the up. That we were winning. I think that’s where a lot of his power came from. That he recognized that we were capable or responsible for something greater, and he rode that to success. Enough to be on par with a full family of trained practitioners.”
“I like that,” Rose said. “That’s an idea to hold on to.”
“…Even if I don’t quite like what he was doing to the vestiges in his territory,” Mags said, as an afterthought.
“You know it, then?” Rose asked. “You know your way around his territory?”
Mags nodded. “Been there quite a bit. Part of my duties.”
“I want you to help me, then,” Rose said.
Mags nodded. “Darn straight.”
There was agitation now, restlessness, most were out of their seats. Many weren’t quite listening to the conversation between Rose and Mags. Their focus was on other things.
Self preservation, fear, general concern. The lawyer had strategically dropped hints, enough to scare. She could bypass the barrier, and Rose had very strategically invited her to. If the lawyer hadn’t rescinded her offer to allow them their sanctuary, then Rose might have had to destroy the sanctuary herself.
Complacency was her biggest enemy here. People being still, refusing to act.
“Listen!” Rose said.
She had their attention. Conquest had nothing to do with it. She’d earned it.
“This won’t be pretty, but the faster we do it, the less organized they’ll be! We push out, we push forward, and my hope is to lead a select group straight for Johannes. Hit them hard, pull out all the stops, create a gap we can use, and then default to staying alive. Preserve yourselves, preserve the town, and keep pressure on them. Recognize theatrics for what they are, respect the power of believing you can accomplish something. That matters so much, I can’t articulate it.”
There were some nods.
“I wish I didn’t need to say it, but you should already know that if you attack me, you’ll violate the sanctuary. I have no expectation that they’ll be merciful. If you’re doing it out of hope that they’ll thank you by letting you leave Jacob’s Bell alive, you’re gravely wrong.”
Even veteran practitioners here looked pretty damn scared.
Rose hopped down from the stage to the floor below. “Evan.”
“You know it!” the bird said, as if utterly oblivious to the tension and the danger.
He flew to her shoulder.
Have to strike a balance, Rose thought. Each person I pick is more capability on my side, but one more body. We have to be small if we’re going to be able to slip through.
“Alister?” she asked.
“I know how to ward off demons,” Alister said. “It won’t work against Johannes, but I can protect these people.”
“Me, then,” Ainsley said.
Rose nodded. “Enchantment would go a long way, for detecting trouble, and avoiding it.”
“I can offer my assistance until you’re out of reach,” Sandra said.
But you won’t come with, Rose read between the lines.
There was a look in Sandra’s eyes. Not hate, not anything hostile, but very negative. Almost but not quite pity.
She doesn’t think we’ll make it.
“If my family is willing to work with me,” Sandra said, turning away from Rose, “We can use the coven to strengthen workings, and we can give everyone on our side the benefit of that trouble-detection and the avoidance.”
Her family members began to gather around her. Some more reluctantly than others.
Not working against Rose. That would betray everything they were trying to do, but leaving Rose to deal with and face the brunt of the challenge she’d led them into.
Rose saw one group of younger Duchamps hanging back. It was almost exactly the image Rose had had in her mind when she’d pictured people taking the Elder Sister’s option to surrender. As more joined the larger group, others were drawn in, as if by a growing gravity.