Embracing Winter (Lords of Discord 4)

“Apparently there’s a prophecy floating around about the demise of the Variks,” Winter continued.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Rafe demanded. “A prophecy? What utter nonsense!”

“This coming from the man who is friends with a so-called witch,” Winter mocked.

Rafe sat up and pointed one long finger at his brother. “Keep Zelda out of this. She is a very powerful witch.”

“Well, I have a feeling Zelda is the one who has put herself in the middle of this. I heard her name mentioned several times as I was sneaking about. I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I think it’s very possible she’s the witch who has graced Damon and his followers with this prophecy.”

Rafe’s mouth fell open, but no sound came out as his eyes jerked over to Aiden in stunned silence. Winter turned to their father as well.

“Would your friend hand out such nonsense about our clan and not tell you?” Winter snapped.

“I honestly don’t know,” Aiden replied softly, and Winter hated the stunned, lost quality to his voice.

“Are there a lot of witches out there who are as powerful as Zelda? Could it have been another witch? Someone we don’t know.” Winter pressed.

“Possibly. I’ll admit Zelda is the only witch that I know,” Aiden said.

Winter looked over at Rafe, and his brother shrugged. “It’s by sheer luck that I even know Zelda. I know of no others.”

“I’ll try to get in contact with Zelda, see if she’s heard anything about this prophecy,” Aiden said.

“What about the prophecy? Do you know what it says exactly?” Bel inquired.

Winter shook his head. “I haven’t gotten the exact wording yet. All I know is, a witch is supposed to bring the downfall of the Variks. A witch holds the key to changing our world.”

“Well, isn’t that delightfully vague?” Rafe complained, throwing his arms up in the air.

“True, but it apparently was enough for Damon and his minions to act. There’s a witch being held by Damon.”

Silence claimed the room. It had been easier to brush the idea of a prophecy off as nonsense until that moment. Even if the prophecy was true, there was no proof that this witch held the key to the fall of the Variks. But a captured witch definitely made it all the more real.

“My plan is to sneak into Damon’s compound and reach the witch. I’ll either kidnap her so we can get to the root of this prophecy insanity or kill her on the spot.”

“Absolutely not!” Marcus shouted first, launching to his feet.

The other brothers joined in with their shouts a heartbeat later, just as Winter had predicted. Winter didn’t actually blame them. It was an insanely dangerous mission, but he had the best odds of succeeding.

While his brothers yelled over each other, Winter turned his gaze over to Aiden, who was watching him with a growing sadness in his eyes. He didn’t like Winter’s proposal any better than Marcus, but at least he recognized that Winter was their only real chance of getting close to this witch.

“He’s the only one who can get in and out of Damon’s undetected,” Aiden said carefully.

The others fell silent for only a couple of seconds. Marcus was the first to start growling.

“There has to be another way!”

“What if Winter takes me with him?” Bel suggested. “I’ve gone with him to the other side.”

“No!” River shouted. He grabbed Bel’s arm, his eyes wide and frantic. The wolf had already suffered through being disconnected from his mate once before. River and Wyatt had described it as feeling like Bel had died. Winter couldn’t imagine they’d be in a rush to experience it again so soon.

Winter shook his head. “I can’t. It’s far too draining, and I would need to do this for an extended period of time. It’s easy enough for me to manage alone, but not with you there. Plus, what if I can manage to kidnap her? I know I can’t hold the three of us there.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Rafe declared.

“It’s more dangerous if we don’t strike against this prophecy and witch while we can,” Winter countered. “If I go alone and succeed, it will leave them scrambling and confused. If all of the Variks go, we’re declaring war.”

“Damon has already declared war on the Variks!”

Aiden was shaking his head. “Not yet. There have been zero attacks on our clan, and I’m hoping to stretch that period for as long as possible. Winter’s suggestion helps to remove one more advantage from their arsenal. And if Damon’s allies know of this prophecy and we steal away the witch…”

“He could lose allies,” Marcus finished.

“Winter has to go,” Bel added, sounding haunted by the idea.

He tried to smile at his brother, wishing he could ease the scientist’s fears. “Just a quick in and out, Bel. I’ve done this more times than I can even count. Damon and his men will never know I was there.”