“Fucking stars.” Araton stood, shaking his head quickly. “We need to move. Now.”
“Where are we supposed to go?” I almost laughed. “They all know how to get past the spells around our homes.”
“No, we should go after Lux,” Stella said. “If we find him, and we release the souls into the abyss—”
“We can’t release that many souls into the abyss,” Nix said. “The abyss requires balance. And even if it didn’t, Michaelisa necromancer. So is Gabriel, and Selaphiel, and Uriel, and—”
I said, “And they can all travel into the abyss, steal or borrow whatever souls they need to accomplish their goal, and then…”
“And then we’re all fucking fucked,” Drogo grumbled.
I nibbled my lip. “Essentially.”
“I’m with Araton.” Nix stood, struggling with both Mirobhail and Friel in his arms. “For now, we go into hiding. All of us. They won’t hurt the people. They want to rule them. And they wantusdead so that they can.”
“You hide,” Mum snapped. “I would like to find your brother and see if he’s gotten my son’s soul back yet. If he hasn’t, I suppose I’ll find it on my own.”
Stars damn it.
I wasn’t sure if there was any use in arguing, but I wanted to. I wanted to tell her how foolish that was. These men were many things, but never stupid.
If they took Hana and Venark’s bodies two hours ago, and Lux and Rafael hadn’t returned them to us, those bodies were gone. Likely incinerated so that even if we did manage to retain their souls, we wouldn’t be able to resurrect them.
I shuddered.
But if my child had been killed, and I had even the smallest shred of hope that I could bring them back, I would cling to it, just as Mum was doing. And I wouldn’t listen if someone told me it was a mistake.
The pain in Nix’s voice ached my heart. He would never speak to my mum disrespectfully, but he was thinking the same thing I was. “I can’t let my children be next, do gràs. We need to get them somewhere safe.”
“And I mean no harm, do gràs,” Osonia spoke. “You know how much I love my cousin. But if we’re right, if they’re doing what we believe they are, the safest place for us all is in the Land of Light until we develop a plan to get Venark and Hana’s souls back.”
“If there is a chance I can bring my son home—”
“You can’t, Mum.” The tears were like fire in my eyes. “The bodies are gone, even if Lux and Rafael managed to get their souls. The first thing those boys did was burn the bodies. That’s why they took themimmediatelyafter killing them. You know that as well as I do. Please. Just come with us. I can’t lose you too.”
Her expression was rough, grating, until those last three lines. Only then did she soften.
“You’re smarter than that, do gràs,” Neia said. “We have one elder relative remaining, and it’s you.”
“We can’t lose you too,” Larson said. “Come with us.Pleasecome with us.”
Mum’s jaw was still tight. She only held my gaze, not glancing at my cousins, her nieces and nephews. Then she stood. She walked around the table to me and Nix. More aggressively than usual, she pulled my youngest son from my husband’s arms, and then my youngest daughter from mine.
Cozying each of them on her hips, voice like ice, she said, “Let’s get on with it then. Open the damn egress, Nix.”
CHAPTERTWELVE
VÉA
Nix did as Mum told him to.
And no one stayed behind.
It was an odd realization, truly.
The twenty-two of us were some of the most influential, powerful people in the universe. Our abilities ranged from the power to grant immortality, to shapeshifting from man to wolf, to harnessing water, fire, air, earth, and mind, to moving from one side of the world to another in the blink of an eye, to inhuman skills with a bow, to harnessing lightning.
Together, it sounded like we were unstoppable.