Witch's Pyre (Worldwalker 3)

She saw the army that Lillian had assembled. Men, women, and a menagerie of tame Woven were already on the move, and they were moving fast. Lillian climbed on the back of a greater drake and vaulted into the air. Lily could see its iridescent wings churning the wind and its talons raking the sky. She was like a warmonger witch from a bygone era, and she was going not to fight, but to completely eradicate her enemy. Lillian didn’t say it, but Lily got the sense that she considered all of the people of Bower City the enemy. Lily was suddenly afraid for Toshi, his sister, his aging father, and his sick mother. Lily thought of the two children who’d stared at her with their mouths open.

Lillian, I’m going to exterminate the Hive, but the people of Bower City have no knowledge of Grace’s control over them and over all the wild Woven. They’re innocent.

Lily waited, but Lillian had blocked her out.

“Lily? Are you okay?” Rowan asked.

She startled and looked down at herself, but saw no burns. She was unscathed by the fire. Rowan saw what Lily was doing and shook his head.

“I’m not talking about your body,” he said.

Lily looked at him. The only Rowan. He had no copy. If he died, that was it. She’d never seen him as fragile before, and the thought that anyone could go from life to death with one sharp tug made her desperate. It could happen to him.

Did you do that on purpose? she asked Lillian. Make it so I only had one of him? But she didn’t get an answer. She didn’t need one. There had only ever been one Rowan for both of them.

“Lillian is marching her army to Bower City,” Lily told him. “She’s emptied Walltop, the city guard, and claimed tens of thousands more from the other Thirteen Cities. She means to take the west.”

Rowan nodded like he’d expected as much. “Alaric will see her army on the move. If he finds out about Bower City he’ll want to take it for himself.”

“He probably already knows,” Caleb said. “You can’t keep a secret like that once you’ve mustered an army. Lillian’s not marching west to fight nothing.”

“What about the other Covens?” Tristan asked. “Richmond, Exeter, New York . . . they’ll all want a piece of what the west has got.”

“The other Covens will wait and see what happens to Lillian,” Rowan said. “If she kills herself and her army trying to get there, they’ll set their sights on Salem. Nina, who’s Lillian’s second right now, won’t be able to hold as Salem Witch. She isn’t a firewalker.”

“I remember Nina,” Lily said, her eyes narrowing. Nina had straddled Rowan in the nightclub where Elias had died. Lily had wanted to punch her then, and as she recalled Nina throwing a leg over Rowan’s lap and rubbing her hands all over his chest, she still wanted to punch her now.

Rowan turned to Lily, unaware of her flare of jealousy. “Does Lillian know that Grace controls the Woven?”

“She knows everything that we know,” Lily said. “She’s going west to end the Woven, once and for all.”

And she means to kill Grace, no matter how many have to die in the process, she added in mindspeak for only Rowan to hear.

Rowan nodded. I don’t blame her. Juliet was all she had left.

Lily winced at Juliet’s name, and quickly stuffed down her anguish. Later, she told herself. I’ll cry later.

“Even with all her claimed, Lillian can’t stand against the Hive,” Rowan said aloud.

Caleb nodded in agreement. “The Hive is a million strong,” he said soberly.

“Would she tell the other Covens about Grace and the Woven? Maybe get them to help?” Breakfast asked.

“I don’t know,” Lily said. “I don’t know if they’d be willing to take the risk like Lillian would. They’re pretty safe where they are.”

“Yeah,” Caleb chuffed. “Witches have no reason to want to get rid of the Woven. They do just fine ruling their cities behind their walls.”

“Can Alaric help Lillian?” Una asked. Caleb, Tristan, and Rowan stared at her disbelievingly. “No, seriously, guys. Lillian has her personal crusade against the Woven—fine—but the people who really need to get rid of the Woven are the Outlanders. If Alaric knew that Grace made them, and still controls them, why wouldn’t he want to fight her?” Una’s voice flared with indignation. “She’s an Outlander who’s been killing Outlanders for almost two centuries. Alaric should want to kick the ever-loving piss out of her when he finds out.”

“It’s not Alaric’s decision,” Lily said coldly. “It’s mine. That’s my army he’s pretending to lead. They’re my claimed.” Everyone went silent. Lily scrubbed her hands over her face and sat down on the ground. “And they’re on the other side of the continent.”

“And in another world,” Breakfast reminded her.

“Oh, the worldjumping bit is easy for Lily now,” Una said. “Look at her.”

Lily was so spent her muscles were twitching, but she wasn’t on the verge of death. “I wouldn’t say easy,” Lily grumbled.

“Why can’t you worldjump us back east?” Tristan asked.