“Hello, is anyone listening to me? Don’t make me use my sexy mojo to make you pay me attention,” Dice says, causing both of us to look over at him in exasperation.
“Fix. Me,” he goes on, then gestures to himself. “Then you can focus on the fate of the universe. Hashtag, priorities.”
“Did she give you a vagina with that transformation?” I ask him seriously. “Because I swear you sound like a human teenager on their period.”
He turns a wonky shade of red, and Kya’s lips twitch as we both return our attention to the page.
“Cactuses and pricks,” Dice sputters, then stalks out, digging a wedgie out on his way that simply returns, because Polly is diabolical.
Kya sneezes, and I frown over at her.
“Since when do immortals have allergies?” I ask when she sneezes again.
Her brow furrows, and we both wait to see if she’s done.
“That was…weird,” she agrees, shaking her head. “By the way, Chaz told me Sierra and Deke left.”
“They’re going into lycan country to see if they can rally more soldiers. Sierra wants justice for Amy more than anything right now, so Dad let her go.”
“Understandable,” she says quietly.
We lapse into awkward silence after that, until Dice shrieks from upstairs.
“Anyway, why Lokies? I still don’t get it.”
I point at the portal design on the page, something that would have come in handy before we went after Hannah the first time.
“This looks damn close to what was used to summon the dragonites. What’s the word on them, anyway?”
“They refuse to help in the fight when it comes because getting involved in our conflicts apparently led to the first war where they killed everybody and started burning the world down,” she tells me.
“Got it,” I sigh, going back to the page. “I guess we’ll have to explain to them how this is going to really work when we get finished dealing with Hannah.”
“What do you mean how this is really going to work?” she asks, and I pause as I look up.
“You don’t think we’re going to allow them to exist outside our laws, do you? That will lead to rebellions and everyone splitting into species-specific factions again, and my mother is the reason that finally stopped. The night stalkers sat at the top, and it was bloody for witches everywhere—dark and light users. Light users and dark users were trapped in a never-ending war that picked up when someone crossed a territorial boundary. Wolves tore apart anything that encroached their territory. Lycans shredded humans at their will, and the bitten fey could turn anyone they wanted without recourse.”
She blinks at me, and I remind myself she grew up in a prison, unaware of any existence outside the walls.
“What?” I prompt.
“Alyssa plans to live separately. Chaz told me about her decision this morning.”
“Mom is just drained and has no fight in her right now. She’ll change her mind after the baby is born and her fight is back. How’s Karma doing?”
“Better,” she says, looking away.
“What?” I groan.
She glances back at me, then checks the room before facing me again. “When Karma and I joined, I think it did something to the baby.”
“What do you mean?”
“You didn’t feel how strong we were together.” She glances around nervously once again, then her eyes meet mine as she adds, “We woke Dice from the dead.”
My heart thumps quickly in my chest as the first sprout of hope pops up.
“Can you do the same thing for Slade if he dies?” I ask her quietly, and she glares at me.