“Jess!” Mischa shouted at me again, and I could feel our bond kicking in.
I reached out and took her hand and a blast of energy rocked through me. Our barriers were no use today. Neither of us had the control to maintain them. I could feel what was going on inside of her – Larky was wielding a ton of power against the marked. He was so much stronger than the last time I’d been with him in Faerie.
Mischa was connected to thousands of marked, so many consciousnesses crowding her mind, invisible but tangible ties between all of them. I sensed I was connected to this group as well, but not in the same way my sister was. Maybe it was my dragon that kept me separated, protected my mind from the control.
“You have to go, Jess, you have to end this. Otherwise all the entire supernatural races will be like us … just … puppets to his madness … controlled … weak and without identity.
I shook my head as I tried to fight against the power he held over my sister. She was strong … holy shit. I’d doubted her when she’d shown so much weakness in the sanctuary, but to feel her fighting him now, locking him out of her mind, keeping him from the knowledge of both of our children, it was damn impressive.
I hugged her hard before breaking our connection. Immediately the tightness in my chest eased and I was finally able to breathe again, back in my own head and with just my two beasts’ energy to deal with.
“I’ll be back for you, Misch, I promise. Just keep fighting. Don’t let him take any more from you.”
She nodded, her head dropping and back arching as she continued to battle the call. Her breathing sounded labored and I worried about how bad this might be for her child. If only she’d told someone about being pregnant, they might have been able to help her deal with this. We should have gotten her away, whether she wanted to leave or not. It was crazy for her to be here when we knew the king was coming.
I guess it didn’t really matter. If we lost today, there would be no one left to fight him. He would have all the control he needed; every single marked would follow him. Mischa and every supe were putting their faith into us. Into me. I was the last chance for all of them. It was time to do this.
I glanced back for one moment as I closed the door. The shadow dragon was rising from Mischa, her marked powers bursting from her. Shit, I hoped this room was strong enough to hold her. I double-checked the lock and took off.
Once the key was again in my pocket, I found my hand tightly grasping the necklace sitting flush against my skin. I used its cool surface to center myself and my thoughts. My mind was doing very strange things, moving at a million miles an hour, rushing through a multitude of thoughts and worries, and yet it was also calm.
I was ready to end this.
I reached for my wolf and dragon, drawing on their ancient strength and energy. The sense of calm increased and the flood of thoughts drifted away. Even the unnatural pain across my lower back eased, and flashes of light started winding across my vision as I ran through the center of town, past the fountain and houses of Stratford to the forest. I could feel my pack. Their energy was a strong beacon to me.
I rounded out the edge of the town, and followed the mass of trees to the shimmery wall of magic which protected the town. A few yards ahead stood our army, right at the barrier, waiting for it to fall.
Louis had gathered quite a few extras. There were at least three hundred of us now, maybe even more. It was hard to tell with so many of them in scattered groups. I could sense Braxton and the other Compasses to the left of the main gathering. Flashes of the Four’s stark hair intermingled with my boys. Those eight were lined up together, and around them stood a crap-ton of energy, enough to have my senses on full alert. Powerful sorcerers. Not quite Louis’ level individually, but together they were intense.
As I got closer, my footsteps silent on the grassed path, I counted exactly how many sorcerers were helping out my boys. Twenty. Twenty almost-Louis levels of power.
We might actually stand a chance of holding this shit down long enough for me to kill Larky. My fist clenched on the necklace again; it was my lifeline right now, our one hope of breaking the links to the marked and leaving him vulnerable enough to kill.
Braxton’s eyes were on me, his body angled in my direction. I almost stumbled when I realized he was joined to his brothers. A wash of power surrounded them, the visible connection flickering. Braxton was in that massive state of a fusion shift, his scales scattered down his cheeks and arms, which I found immensely badass and kinda sexy.
Everything about my man was sexy.
Focus, Jessa! Now was not the time to go all hormonal chick, even if Braxton was like twice the size everywhere. And I mean everywhere.
His arms were waiting for me, and as I touched him the bond between us flared to life. The Compass’ energy stunned me. I was unable to move or speak, locked on to the massive overload of my quads – so much more power than I’d ever expected they held within themselves. I couldn’t understand how it was even possible.
Braxton released me and I was finally able to breathe again. I blinked rapidly as I took the four of them in, and the other Four, who still looked like baby stealing fuckwits to me.
Questions burned across my mind: “How is it that you eight are the only quads in the supernatural world? How are you special? How can you even possess pure souls of each race when your parents are hybrids?”
I figured the other Four were the same, but it was still a guess because I didn’t really know anything about them.
I was surprised when one of the Craiz men answered. “For a set of supernatural quads to be produced, there must be the perfect blend of the four races in the parents. The odds of two parents containing the four races actually meeting and producing young … almost no chance. That’s why there are so few of us.”