Page 25 of Claim the Twilight
“Nyx and Quinn will be fine,” Lorenzo said, making soothing circles on my back. “They are powerful women who can make their own decision to come or not.”
Yes…yes, he was right. And if they came, I’d explain the threat and convince them to leave. It would all be fine.
The feeling of dread ebbed, then melted away.
“You’re okay.” Ezekiel said. “Everything will be okay.”
But all the information that I’d accumulated since being in Dracul said otherwise. “How will it be okay? It took a whole white wing army to hold Loviator at bay last time, right? The white wings fought her and couldn’t beat her. There was a stalemate, and that’s why the deal was struck. That’s why the curse was born, right?”
“Correct,” Kaster said tightly.
“So how in the hell is one battalion of white wings and a handful of supernaturals going to stop her now?”
Silence followed my reasoning, but the looks on the men’s faces told me that they’d already considered this line of thinking. So what now? “What do we do?”
“All we can do is try,” Ezekiel said.
We needed more manpower. “What about the Order operatives? We need to get more of them into Dracul.”
“That was the plan,” Ordell said. “There was a training exercise a few days ago, and all blessed operatives were in attendance when the building caught fire. There were no survivors.”
My blood went cold. “Who organized this meeting?” I knew the answer even before he said it.
“Micah.”
The murdering bastard. He’d really planned it all. Now we had no blessed operatives. No one to stand against Loviator and her minions. “What about regular Order operatives? Can’t you bless them?”
Kaster shook his head. “There is a war raging between the white wings. They won’t part with any more power.”
I looked to Lorenzo. “What about the mageri?”
Lorenzo shook his head. “They have their own lockdown protocols.”
“What does that mean?”
“A deal with Faerie for asylum.”
The gates to the fae realm had been closed for centuries, but a few months ago, the threat that had plagued the realm had been dealt with. It looked like the borders were opening again. Just in time for some of the most powerful supernaturals in the city to flee.
Fine, so the mageri were out. “What about the witches from the Isle?”
“They won’t help us,” Lorenzo said. “They have wards ready to go up around the island and their own protection protocols.”
I bit back a growl of frustration. “There must be someone who can help us.”
Ordell, Kaster, and Lorenzo traded glances once again. My scalp pricked. “What aren’t you telling me?” I looked to Ezekiel, who seemed as out of the loop as me.
“Answer her,” Ezekiel demanded.
Ordell was the one to reply. “If we can’t stop Loviator, then we’ll have no choice but to activate Plan B.”
“All right,” Ezekiel bit out, a thin smile on his lips that warned he was losing his patience. “And what is this Plan B?”
“Me,” Hemlock said from the doorway. “I’m Plan B.”
Chapter 11
ORINA
