Page 127 of The Phoenix
When Chay and Brak high-fived their mates, Kole mumbled something like young and dumb.
Rein’s lips curled, his fangs long, sharp. “You don’t have your full coven. You’re missing an important mage.”
Indigo scratched her head. “I know, boyo. Puzzling. But these were the witches and warlocks I saw in the river. I’m with them. Maybe I’m a sub for number thirteen.”
When she locked eyes with Roark, he didn’t seem pleased. With his gaze flipped to the floor, his mouth stayed shut. A good look for the kinda-shifter. Made him seem like the smart guy in the crowd.
Jarek shook his head vigorously, his braids slapping his jaw as he tramped forward. “This will not happen. Lizette fights at my side where I can protect her. The matter is settled.” He pulled her roughly against his side.
A frigid silence settled over the room. The Firebrand mates frozen in their stand. The Blood Coven flaunting sub-zero determination.
Braelyn rose. She strode to the center of the room where she stretched out a hand for Skyler. The cool-as-a-popsicle blonde joined Brae while offering her palm to Margo. Around the room the mages clasped onto each other until they formed a circle. Lizzy and Fin broke apart, motioning for Indigo to join them. When she linked with the descendants, the floor buckled. It rocked. Not the early stuff. The later, harder, Guns N’ Roses variety. An aggressive, bolder, electric rumble.
Jarek widened his stance to stay upright. Tyr steadied himself with a hand on the wall.
A breeze kicked up at Denim’s feet, rolling outward, expanding in strength and velocity.
Dax crouched, his fangs jutting from his gums, his hair whipping around his face. The tempest blew out the fire shooting from Kole’s fingers. Brak caught a vase in his giant hand before it flew through the air to shatter on the floor.
Indigo drew a deep breath while the energy of the Blood Coven linked their powers, releasing a small taste of their gifts.
Fin’s wolves howled outside the stronghold. Braelyn’s mind-probes shot around the room like arrows. Miller’s shadowy corpses flickered on the walls. Lizzy’s conjured tiger paced in front of the fireplace, and Nico drew the metal blades from his frerons’ sheaths with his magnetic force.
The mates didn’t seem so happy, but then again, they may have been a little afraid the stronghold was about to crumble.
“Did you feel that?” asked Indigo. “That’s the Blood Coven prepping for battle.”
****
“Ballsy demo.” Roark pillowed Indigo’s head on his chest. Despite the tension before tomorrow’s battle, life was good in his witch’s bed at the stronghold on a soft mattress between silky sheets.
“I know. The coven kittens have claws.”
“Their mates’ concerns are valid, Indy. Most of them are untrained warriors.”
“Not you, too, Roark.”
“I confess. I want you safe.”
She lifted a hand, curling her fingers around the nape of his neck and feathering through his hair. “I want the same for you.”
“I shall not die in the battle, Indy. Worry for someone else.”
She propped herself on an elbow, facing him, her braid unbound and her tresses wild. “You can’t be certain.”
He rested on an arm behind his head, sucking in a slow, deep breath. “I am.”
“Bullshit. You don’t know the future. This is a night for honesty, Roark.”
“Honesty, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.” He lifted her chin, gazing into her fascinating eyes.
She arched her brows as she escaped his grasp. “Philosophic shit makes me gag.”
A deep laugh rumbled from his chest. “What secrets are you prepared to share, my witch of many masks?”
“You first.” She rested her cheek on his abdomen.
“Instead of a secret, how about a truth? No matter what, we will have our tomorrows.”