“What are you saying? Assassination? Just sneak in there before the war even starts and kill Selene?”
Violet nodded, her thin arms crossed over her chest. Baladar had said not to be like the Red Queen, be more like a mother protecting her children. The Red Queen would go for the all-out war, killing those who stood against her, making sure no one dared to ever stand against her again. But maybe Violet was right. I didn’t want to punish my people for siding with Selene or being too scared to speak up. I really just wanted that crazy bitch out of power so I could protect my people from the real threat, the winter fae.
“Assassination…” I let the word roll off my tongue. Kill Selene and Sabina, fire the council, and let the people decide. I could rule them again or they could choose to call another Summit. Let the new heir lead them and I would step down. Maybe it was time the wolves did something a little different. Maybe the leader should be the one chosen by the people, not by an ancient law that didn’t even make sense.
I stood straighter, taking in the full map of the boroughs before me. “Violet is right … I think we should take Selene out before the war begins.” I stabbed my finger down on the Manhattan vortex. It was time for all of my mecca chess training and battle strategy. “She’ll most likely be here somewhere, but it’s going to be very hard to find her. The Red Queen used to have a battle strategy of having Sabina spell a few decoys to look like her, so we can assume Selene would do the same. It’s something I would do as well. I need to know which is the real one – I’ll only have one chance. If she knows I’m coming, she’ll go into hiding. So we need a plan. It has to be the best plan we have ever created, and we have five hours to do it all!”
I expected them to freeze or freak out and tell me it couldn’t be done, but no one did that. Instead they stepped up, they acted like leaders, and we worked out how to take the wolf queen down.
Kian, who had been looking quite thoughtful, finally said: “You need to figure out how to tap into your Tuatha side. They have powers above and beyond the shifters. And you are something I have never seen before.”
Thanks, buddy.
“You have a dual heritage,” Kade said. “Shifters might have been born of human and fae, but you’re the first shifter to be born of fae and shifter. And your mother and father are both heirs. This gives you an unprecedented tie to the mecca. You’re ten times more powerful than Selene. We just need to work out how to utilize this.”
“What sort of things can the winter queen do?” I was looking at Kian. He was our fae expert now. “Besides the ice breath.”
He took a second to think. “She can freeze someone’s power. She can force mecca back into an individual and kill them that way. She can control the will of those weaker. She can influence minds. She can open portals anywhere there is a mecca stone and step through—”
I threw a hand up, interrupting him mid-flow. “She can open a portal to a mecca stone? Like a vortex?”
Kian nodded. “Yes, she is one of the only fae leaders who can do this … it was inherited by her son.”
“Which explains how I can do it too. I thought it was a glitch that the portal opened into the fae lands for us, but clearly not.”
Kade said, “If you manage to open a vortex into that mecca stone room, then what will you do?”
“I will send the mecca back to the fae. Selene will feel the loss of power. She’ll know it’s me, then she will come for me.” I turned to Violet. “I might need your help seeing and guiding the power.”
Violet nodded. “It’s not a full moon, so I might not be able to completely share my power with you, but I’ll do what I can.”
It would have to be good enough. I would figure it out somehow.
Kade clenched his fists on the side of the table. “How do you know Selene won’t bring her entire army?”
My eyes had been locked on the map, on my territories. I looked up to answer him. “I don’t think she will. Selene knows I’m the one weakness in her plans. She knows the people are not fully on her side. This is personal for her. She’s going to try and take me out alone. Prove she is stronger. Her ego will get the best of her.”
Violet backed me up. “Selene and Arianna have been locked in a power struggle for many years, one which Ari almost always beats her at. Taking the crown was the first time Selene ever came out on top. She’ll do everything in her power to make sure she not only keeps the crown, but is the hero to the people. She’ll attempt to kill Arianna herself, I’m sure of it.”
“I will be there too,” Kade said. “You, me, and Violet. All of us will be needed to shift the power back to the Otherworld.”
And me, Finn said in my mind, his voice firm.
I looked down at him, shaking my head and speaking out loud. “The familiars should stay behind. We need to sneak in and out, and three of us is already turning into a crowd.”
How about if we wait for you at Baladar’s? Then we will be nearby if you need us.
That I could live with, so I gave him and the eagle a single nod. “Waiting at Baladar’s is a great plan.”
I definitely looked like a crazy person talking to myself, but everyone around me understood. It wasn’t the first time Finn and I had carried on a conversation like that. I felt some sense of relief that a plan was set into motion. A plan which would hopefully have minimal casualties. Selene did not count. She had started all of this after all.
Please let this work. We had already lost too many shifters in this pointless bear versus wolf life we lived. It didn’t even make any logical sense. We were all the same, pretty much.
Annette and Gerald moved to the door then. “We will still ready the bears,” the war councilman said. “I have the rest of the council members arranging our warriors at the vortexes, in case you aren’t successful. Not that I’m worried.” He gave me a wink. “Good luck, sir.” That was for Kade, and then they were gone.
The others followed soon after, Kade the last to leave. “I’ll check in with my people and be right back. Meet you at the door,” he said as he pressed his lips to my forehead, before striding from the room.
I stayed behind with Finn to study the board for a few more minutes. Violet got halfway out before doubling back to my side. I was surprised as her hand wrapped tightly around my forearm. She never usually touched me like this, with such a firm grip.
“Sabina is mine.” Her voice was fierce and growly.
I took a moment to really see her. We had been running or fighting since the moment we’d found her in the Otherworld. I’d had no chance to really look at my best friend. Her suffering was written across every part of her face. Her pale eyes were dull, with dark circles beneath them. Her skin looked washed out, less of the vibrant glow than she normally wore. Even the leather outfit, so unlike her normal clothes, made her seem small and vulnerable.