“About the same.”
“Take them,” I tell him. “Guide them to the town. Take them and put out the fires. Send a few to Dark Village to protect it and cast a barrier to keep Wyatt out of those areas. Talk to the vampires in charge of the city. Make sure they know that I’m still king and that they’re going to have to answer for terrorizing my citizens and failing to protect them from the demons.”
“And you?” The wizard asks, raising an eyebrow.
I turn to Rose and I smile.
“The fairy and I are going to storm the castle.”
Luther sighs, but nods. Then he hands me his magical book.
“You’re going to need this,” he says. “Mark my words.”
Chapter 14
Rose
Magic isn’t so hard to read, apparently, once you know how. That’s what this really comes down to. Luther’s book was impossible to understand before. I couldn’t even see the careful handwriting on the inside pages, but he gives Edward and me the incantation to read the leather book. We whisper the spell, which reveals the words to us. Then Luther issues some protective spells to keep us safe on our journey. I’m not sure how well they’re going to work or how much protection they’re going to offer.
We are essentially walking into the lion’s den, but right now, it doesn’t feel like we have a choice.
Right now, it doesn’t seem like anything is ever going to be okay again unless we do this. Together, we can stop Wyatt. We can end his very short reign of terror and we can keep the damage to a minimum. Together.
But we have to go now.
There’s no looking back. No stopping. No second-guessing. That’s the problem with being in a situation like this. If we second-guess anything, then people will die. I don’t want to be responsible for that. I don’t want to be the reason that the world falls apart. If it means sacrificing myself on the day after I finally offered myself up as a mate to someone, then so be it. At least I’ll die knowing that I was worshipped, body and soul, even if it was just for one night.
We start walking, and I try to clear my head. It’s important to stay focused during this time. I know that. I understand it. Any anxiety I might be feeling needs to be pushed down. It needs to vanish. I don’t have the time or the energy to worry about anything right now except for our mission: futile as it might be.
Edward might be the king, but something tells me that Wyatt has thought of everything.
We’re walking in blind, but he’s going to be prepared for us.
“Wyatt has an amulet,” I tell Edward as we stride toward the castle in unison. “That means mine is basically useless against him,” I say. If he uses his own amulet, he’s going to see me. No matter where I am, he’ll notice me. Unless I can manage to sneak up behind him, that is. Wyatt is tricky, but even an amulet won’t let him see what’s behind his back.
“Only against him, though. Other creatures won’t be able to see you,” Edward says. “You’ll still want to use it.”
“What other creatures? How many do you think he has? Do you think he’s even actually in the castle?” My mind seems to be working in overdrive now. I hate that. I hate how there are so many different thoughts screaming through my mind when I should really be focused on just one thing: getting to the castle.
“Yeah,” Edward tells me, slinking along a wall. He peers around the edge and motions for me to follow him. We’re darting through the town like a couple of teenagers who are sneaking around after curfew, but I suppose that’s basically what we are right now. We’re not supposed to be here. We’re not supposed to be wandering around Dark Falls like we own the place. We’re supposed to be dead or locked in the dungeon, but we’ve moved past all of that.
“What kind of creatures?” I ask.
“Demons, for one,” Edward says.
I scurry across an alley and duck into a doorway as someone pushes a cart past. They pay no attention to the couple in the doorway, which is good because both Edward and I can go for a little privacy right about now.
“You think he has demons?”
“It explains a lot.”
“You think he’s the one who’s been setting them free,” I say.
“I do.”
“But why demons?”
“They’re dumb and easy to control,” Edward says. “It wouldn’t take much bribery to get them to do what he wants. Besides, keeping the potion from people is enough to scare everyone. When people are scared, they’re better at following orders.”