“But the Spartoi weren’t Ares, and my mother is now gone,” I pointed out. “If Ares does come through, I won’t have her help.”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re stronger than you know.”
“You think I can defeat the god of war, yet you send a squad of mages to kidnap me?” I looked over at them, and saw that several were now openly watching me, instead of the mass of master vampires. It would have been funny, under other circumstances. Them with their ton of weapons and me with my fuzzy slippers. Only I wasn’t feeling like laughing.
“I think you can defeat him with guidance,” Jonas said. “Which you are not getting here—”
“That’s not your call.”
“I am making it mine, until you are old enough—”
“I’m twenty-four.”
“And I am one hundred and seventy-nine!” he said angrily. “When you are my age—”
“I’m not likely to get to your age.” At this point, I’d settle for seeing my next birthday. “But even if I do, I won’t agree to put the Pythian power under the control of the Circle.”
“As opposed to leaving it in the hands of the vampires? They do nothing that is not self-serving!”
“And this isn’t?” I asked as more and more of the girls gathered around, as if for comfort. “Breaking with the vampires, just when we need them most, pressing your rights beyond anything tradition allows, destroying any chance of Pythian neutrality—”
“There is no neutrality in war!”
“There must be, Jonas. We need the others—all the others. I can’t defeat Ares on my own—neither can you. Rhea’s vision showed you that. If you try to do this alone, prophecy or not, you’ll fail. And then we all fail.”
“I do not intend to do this alone,” he told me. “That is rather the point.” I felt Rhea grab my hand again, felt the girls press close,
felt a surge of power hit me, everything they had, even as his voice said: “Take her.”
I didn’t wait to see the group of mages move, didn’t even wait for the words to finish leaving his lips. I threw out a hand, and with it went everything I had left, and everything my court could give me. I held nothing back—and I still didn’t think it had been enough.
But I couldn’t tell. Because a second later, I was on my knees, retching and half blind from a power loss I couldn’t afford. And hands were grabbing at me, and the room was spinning and Rhea was yelling something I couldn’t hear over the roaring in my ears and the frantic beating of my heart. But through swimming eyes I saw half a dozen master vampires sprawled in the floor in front of the door, having jumped in that one split second—
For men who were no longer there.
Chapter Eight
I woke in a puddle of drool, facedown on a soggy bit of squishiness that I finally identified as one of the sofa pillows. It had little jewels in the embroidery that a fumbling hand told me had left pockmarks all over my left cheek. And a crease in my face from some decorative cording that was definitely not rated for sleeping.
I groaned and tried to sit up, but it didn’t work. And I couldn’t see why, since my hair was in my eyes and my lids were half stuck together. And something was slapping me softly in the face.
Finally, I managed to pry my eyes open enough to realize that it was the sheers that were usually hanging demurely beneath the drapes framing the balcony. And which were now all over the place because the doors were open and the wind was blowing them around. I knew this because it was blowing across me, too.
And the sofa I had apparently passed out on.
And the kid who was asleep on my butt.
And something with hard bits that was wedged up my—
I fumbled around underneath me until I found a stuffed werewolf that had been getting way too personal. And then I pried my body off the sofa and shoved the pillow under the little girl’s face, soft side up. And stepped off the couch.
And froze.
Because my foot had just crunched glass.
It was everywhere.
Everywhere.