Chapter 40

40

Ploys were first, of course.

Nothing like a good ploy to lure a demon king in the door. Unlike Fertim or Vero, the demon king wouldn’t be alert to such things in the same way the magus in the coven had come to expect ploys in the day prior to game day and the game day itself.

Wild entered the advisory chamber. “The sense-blocking barriers are down.”

“Good,” I murmured, my gaze inward on the threads.

The first ploy offered by the combined Vero and Fertim members of the previous ploy teams had been to mimic the decay of our defenses against the demons. We wanted to lure the supernaturals in. We needed them on our turf and in our trap. They couldn’t know that was the case.

They had to believe we were weakened and ripe for defeat.

“The apothecaries are working their magic on the sentries to ulcerate their skin now the demons will be able to hear and see us.”

Also good. Our sentries would appear to crumble under the effects of the demon king’s magic until we were forced to leave the outside defenseless and open to their occupation.

The two ploys were one of any number the coven ploy team had come up with. I didn’t need to see a list of the ploys they developed. As they settled on a new one, the threads in my mind changed.

I’d largely been rendered incapacitated by the constant change across the strategy, defense, attack, and ploys teams. All I could do was sit in one spot and study the flow of alterations to our future to catch any that didn’t help our cause, to leave the ones that didn’t hinder us, and to pick up on any ideas that would strengthen our success.

The advisors were now acting as my personal assistants.

“Tell Sage to nix the collapsing cave idea,” I murmured.

A crackle of magic, and then Barrow was repeating the message through the head portal he’d opened. They’d done it so many times, I didn’t need to look anymore.

Sage replied, “Thank you.”

The portal closed.

“The portal in your old quarters is being decayed at a slower rate,” Wild said. “The sense barriers are all still operational.”

And they had to remain so until we were as ready as possible.

The size of the task was impossible to prepare for, really. If we’d had months, then I could have assured success. The two days remaining to us could be counted in hours, however, and that lack of time had the power to collapse our stack of cards.

I tracked the bouncing, weaving, jerking threads as I sensed a sudden shift.

“What is it?” Wild asked.

The threads were withering. Some of them. My brow cleared. “The coven is honing ideas now and focusing on those that will help us.”

It was a good sign, and I rolled my head and shoulders to ease the aching there.

“You need rest,” Wild said, kneading my neck and shoulders.

I did. “I will, but first I need to speak with the supernaturals.”

Without them, we wouldn’t win, and they hadn’t been in contact since Wild’s collapse and witnessing the state of the coven.

“If you’d like to use this as a chance to rest and eat, then please do so,” I told the advisors. “Otherwise, you’re welcome to remain.”

This coven wasn’t under my rule.

Winona and Varden left, while the others remained.

I stood and walked around the table a few times to loosen my legs and body. Wild sent me soothing magic that washed over my frame and cleared the cobwebs from my mind if not the other threads.

Sending through a burst of magic, I dialed two supernaturals.

Two rings. “Hello? Tempest?” Andie answered. “Are you okay?”

Seven rings and Basilia’s voice filled my head. “Love that song. What’s up demon-witch?”

I shook my head, unable to stop the smile curving my lips. They’d answered, and that meant a lot. “I’m fine, Andie, thank you. Hi, Princess Basilia.” I blew out a breath. “I’d like to speak face-to-face to you both, to Kyros and Sascha and King Julius too. May I open a portal? I am happy to meet in one of your territories if you’d prefer?”

“How about ours?” Andie said. “The pack is out for a run. Will King Julius mind?”

Basilia shouted, “Hey, Julius! You okay to meet Tempest in the Luther packlands?” There was a pause. “Kyros, it’s fine. How else was I meant to ask?”

I wondered if Andie’s brows were raised too.

“You live, demon-magus.” The cold voice echoed down the line. The voice was arctic-frost cold, not just spine-chilling, so I could conclude that King Julius was on the other end, not his son.

“For now,” I replied. “I’d like the opportunity to explain what I am and what it means.”

“It means that, as with Vissimo and Luthers, you have been granted the ability to mate through the union of our race with a slice of demonkind. While our races completed this process millennia ago, you are the first we have witnessed in recent ages.”

I stared at the stone wall before me. Well, shit. “That is what we’ve put together. You… that’s a thing across the supernatural board then?”

“Demons had to be useful for something,” he answered in a bored tone. “Rootstock sums up the extent of that use.”

I mean, being in possession of a demon of my own, I knew there was more to them in general than rootstock. Otherwise, the king’s thoughts replicated my own. “I expected more anger from you.”

“I am angrier that you wish me to travel to a place that reeks of dog. Yet I am curious, and that is a rarity for me now. I will meet you in this place through a portal of your making. Do it now, Magus Queen. Our time runs out.”

It did. Was he aware just how much?

I opened a portal for him that would lead to the pack lands in Deception Valley. I opened another for me. Wild came to stand beside me. “Anyone else?” I asked the remaining advisors.

Delta and Ruby both stood, while Barrow and Opal shook their heads.

The ones who least trusted me were coming along to make sure I didn’t do anything to harm the coven. I was glad for their witness. I felt awkward dealing with the other rulers when I wasn’t one myself now. If the rulers would speak with anyone else, I would’ve been happy to stay in the background and focus on my thread children.

I stepped through into the green oasis dotted with simple cabins and huts and surrounded by thick, lush trees.

I inhaled deeply, hearing Wild, Delta, and Ruby do the same. This territory was far closer to what I envisioned as a comfortable home than the king’s mansion.

Sascha and Andie were greeting King Julius, Prince Kyros, and Princess Basilia. Andie stepped forward to hug me after.

“Your question the other day makes more sense now,” she said quietly. “Sounds like you were struggling with a secret identity of your own.”

My chest squeezed. “I feel better now the truth is out.”

She nodded. “How have they taken it? Are you leading them?”

The Vissimo turned to listen. Delta and Ruby did too.

“I will only accept the authority, the seat of leadership, if they invite me to it. For now, I have offered my magic freely as we figure out the best strategy against the demon king.”

Wild spoke from beside me, “You should all be aware that the demon king’s red smoke is slowly working toward our cave systems. Tempest’s demon and the archives of Clan Sundulus have confirmed this happens prior to attack.”

“He will attack tomorrow night,” I informed them.

Basilia’s brows shot up. “Convenient for him to give you a time and date.”

Sascha grinned.

King Julius’s eyes narrowed on me. “What has happened to you? There is something in the air.” He traced a thread from me to himself, then blinked. “I can almost feel something. It is there and not.”

Shit, he could feel the threads? Exactly what powers did this Vissimo have? He was sensing my magic. “That’s the reason Wild passed out and we were out for the three days following. There’s been a development in my magic that will give us the best chance against the demon king.” I was getting ahead of myself. “That is unless you’ve changed your mind about the alliance between us.”

The king strode toward the largest building in the area, a wide and open hut that appeared to be a gathering area of sorts. “If you are alive, Magus Queen, then you are the ruler of your kind, whether invited to the position or not. The alliance remains. And now you must tell us all so we may prepare for the battle ahead.”

Delta and Ruby exchanged a glance but didn’t refute his words.

I moved to follow him behind the others, and my mind drifted to the threads surrounding us.

Wild caught me under the arm as I stumbled, my sights set on the mammoth links connecting me and Wild with Sascha and Andie, and then with Kyros and Basilia too. We were chained together, bonded in a way that didn’t register on a magus-bond level. With my extra sight, I could see the connection so clearly. My mouth dried as I looked beyond the happily chatting group to the king who stood in the mouth of the hut ahead. His cool eyes burned into me, and he dipped his head that nearly brushed the top of the hut.

That’s what he’d seen that day we were all together. The six of us shared a fate. That was as close to an explanation as I could come up with on the spot.

But while the six of us were linked, King Julius didn’t share our fate. Neither did Delta and Ruby. The threads of the two female magus floated happily off in the direction of our coven, a couple of threads tying them to Wild and me. The king’s threads curled tightly around him, however, and I had no clue what to make of that.

King Julius’s lips curved, and he dipped his head a second time before walking inside the hut and out of sight.

I may have been gifted this mental version of a quipu, but it occurred to me that the Vissimo king was ancient and that life or experience or perhaps the higher forces we’d once spoken of might have given him a version of sight too.

One he’d peered through when considering the six of us.

One he’d had far longer to practice using.