“We’re going to remind him why people are scared of vampires and what they can do to their enemies!”
The vampires respond eagerly, hungry for battle.
“And we’re going to show him what a super pack of shifters looks like!”
The shifters all howl like wolves.
I shoot my fist up into the air. “Let’s get him!”
Everyone roars at me in response.
The various fae standing ready at the back of the crowd open up portals to the coordinates I gave them. Everyone falls into formation, and we march through the portals in our organized groups.
I’m in charge of the fae so we’re all together, with the shifters in a line at the front to lead the most ferocious, feral charge. The vampires flank us on either side to form a kind of protective wall, since they’re more resilient than we are, with Malcolm leading one half and Jarrett leading another.
Fear grips me as we head out, although I try to hide it. I still haven’t told my mates about my vision. And now it looks like it’s really coming true. I’m going to be leading an army of fae. But in my vision I’m alone, without my mates, and I’m terrified of what that means for their safety. Does something happen to them in this battle? Are they going to be struck down? I don’t know if I can survive losing them.
We emerge a bit away from the waterfront that leads to the island, near where we landed the first time when it was just me and my mates. But unlike before, there’s nothing of the warm, lush plant life that we saw around, or the warm fine grains of sand beneath our feet.
Instead, everything is dark and black and turned to dust.
Everyone stares around us for a moment. I swallow. Roanac’s evil and power have reached all the way over here and was draining the life out of the plant life. The plants are all black and the sand is now an eerie white, making it seem like the world is in monochrome.
“Okay, everyone,” I announce. “We learned from last time. The shades got to us under the water, which means that the barrier stopping us from getting there is only limited to over the water. Swimming underneath would be too difficult for the vampire and shifters, so we’ll have to portal you there once we get to the island after us fae phase through the water.”
It’s risky because it leaves us without our two allies and more vulnerable to attack, but if we move quickly enough, it’ll give us the element of surprise against Roanac’s forces. He’ll expect only the fae, and not the other two armies. The shifters can be sent through a portal in front of us, and the vampires on either side, as planned.
“You ready?” I ask the fae.
Through our connection, I can feel the ripple of agreement. They’re as ready as they’ll ever be.
I turn to North, whose face is tight. He can’t phase so he won’t be coming with us. Instead, he’ll be going in with the shifters when we portal them there. I know he’s nervous about not being with us. I would be, too, if I were him.
“We’re going to be okay,” I promise him. My heart swells with how proud of him I am and how far he’s come. “We’ll see you soon.”
I reach up to take his face in my hands and kiss him, then my hands go right through his face.
Behind me, I can hear Cain inhale sharply. Raven’s too quiet to let his emotion show vocally, but I can see him out of the corner of my eye, a slack-jawed expression of shock on his face.
“North,” I whisper, moving my hands back and forth through his body. His phased-out, incorporeal body. “You did it!”
North seems about as shocked as we are. He looks down at himself, and then back up at us.
“What changed?” Cain asks.
North swallows. “I just didn’t want to be separated. I couldn’t let you three go in alone.”
His determination to go with us must have at last overcome his mental block. “You’d better become solid again,” I inform him.
“Why?”
“So I can hug you.”
North laughs.
CHAPTER19
With that bit of positivity buoying me up, we start our plan of attack on Roanac. We all go incorporeal and dive underneath the surface of the water. I’ve never done anything like this before. I use my ability to phase to move through walls and things like that, never to put myself in a situation where if I go solid I’ll die.