"The Queen and I have an understanding," Red said. "She doesn't mess with me. I don't mess with her."
"Great," Derek said. "So you and Drake can live in a cave forever."
Sam's shoulders slumped. "At least it's living."
"I want my friends back," said Derek. "There must be some other way."
"Unless you and the Queen are best buds, then we can't change her mind," Sam argued.
"We don't have to change it," said Talon. Everyone stopped and looked at him in the corner. We'd forgotten he was even there. "We just have to replace her."
Red choked out a laugh that sounded terrifying. "Kill the Twilight Bitch? You're even crazier than you look. And you look pretty crazy with those horns."
"Rose, Sam and Derek can fight," said Talon. "Together, you could beat her."
"We'd never get past the Emzara," said Beleth. "And even if we did, she is a powerful Nephilim."
"We're not killing her," said Derek. "We need to talk to her. Work out a deal."
"No." Sam shook her head. "We're freeing Drake. That's the best plan."
"She's right," Beleth said, his body still as untouched water.
Derek paced the room. "I'm not letting you kill yourselves." I could tell his temper was frayed.
"Since when do you back away from a fight?" asked Rose.
"Since it became about more than just me," he said, pausing in his pacing. "Since I've become responsible for others."
"Well, you can't stop us," Sam said. "So please help us."
Derek and Sam both raised their voices, arguing their cases to deaf ears. I tried to send out my magic to calm them, but the tensions had already escalated too much. Before my magic could do any good, Derek stormed out of the house.
Talon stood. "I'll go talk to him. See if I can change his mind."
I was about to argue, to say it should be me who goes, but Sam broke down, tears streaming down her face. Maybe Talon could calm Derek. Right now, Sam needed me.
TWENTY FIVE
Prattle
DEREK
prattle without practice
— William Shakespeare, Othelllo
I KNEW I overreacted as soon as I left the stone house, but I couldn't calm my mind or heart. I needed space. Quiet.
My best friend was in danger, possibly imprisoned for life, and I didn't know the right answer to save him. I wanted—needed—to figure out a way to save my best friend. I couldn't imagine him withering away in prison until his mind snapped. But there had to be a better way to save him then storming a heavily guarded prison and risking the lives of Rose and our friends. The weight of this choice felt like its own kind of prison. How could I risk my wife to save my best friend? But how could I let my best friend die in there?
Inside the cavern life buzzed with activity. People traded food and goods at a small market in the center of their little town. Families passed each other on the stone streets.
I had to get out of here.
I walked until I found a path through the mountain that led to a remote cliff overlooking the forest beyond the city. It looked like no one ever came here. Perfect.
As I stood and let my mind empty of its worry, an eagle landed beside me and turned into Talon.
"I need to be alone," I told the shifter.
"What we think we need and what we actually need are often at odds with each other," he replied.
"I definitely don't need more riddles in my life," I replied.
"You disagree with our plan of destroying the Twilight Queen to save Drake. What would you do if you were in charge?"
"I would try to find a peaceful resolution first. Something that would give Drake and Sam their lives back without starting a war we can't win with the Nephilim."
"And if peaceful talks failed? Then what?"
I sighed. "Then I'd find another way." I turned to look at the old man as something tickled my mind. "Why are you so anxious to go to war? What's your agenda? I have a hard time believing you care so much about Drake that you're willing to die in a fight against a powerful Nephilim army for him."
Talon smiled, his grizzled face distorted with his animal shapes. "Finally, someone asks the right question. You'd make a good leader, Derek. I'm almost sorry for what I'm about to do. Almost."
I felt the danger too late. The pieces fell together in my mind as Talon raised his arms and vines and stone grew from the cliff and wound around my body. I shifted into wolf, growling, fighting, clawing at the magical prison, but the more I struggled, the more it ensnared me.
I shifted back into human, my mind humming with all the threats. "What are you doing, Talon? Why are you doing this?"
It had been him all along. The killings. The deaths. The Beast wasn't a Lycan as we'd all thought. It was more powerful than that. It had magic. It was a powerful Druid. One of the most powerful Druid's I'd ever known of.