More people?
“But we’ll be in charge of the mission, right?” I asked.
“You’re in charge, Benedict.” My grandpa turned to me, a small smile creeping across his lips. “The rest know that. You’ll call the shots—but remember that a good leader always listens.”
“I’ll remember,” I vowed.
“You’ll march out with us,” my mom told us, “and then go in the opposite direction of the cove. Tejus will tell you where he thinks you ought to head.”
I nodded, glad that we’d be traveling out with the rest of the army. It would be more exciting that way—I couldn’t wait to see GASP all armed to the teeth and ready for a fight.
The adults left the room soon after. As soon as the door shut, I turned to Julian in excitement.
“Our own mission!” I exclaimed, raising my hand for a high-five. Julian rolled his eyes and yanked my hand down.
“Don’t you get it?” he whispered, dragging me away from Yelena, who was now busy rifling through the drawers for spare clothes to take on the trip.
“Get what?” I asked, genuinely confused. Why wasn’t he happy about this? I’d thought Julian would be over the moon, like I was.
“This is like, like a pity mission so that we stay out of harm’s way—that’s why they’re letting Yelena in on it!”
I frowned at him. “What do you mean? What about Horatio and Aisha? And the Hawks? The half-Hawk brothers, Field, Blue – they’re awesome. They would have needed all of them for the fight.”
“To look after us!”
I fell silent, thinking about what Julian was saying. I knew without a doubt that finding the jinni (or jinn) was important—if it or they were still in Nevertide, which was possible, then it was worth looking for them. Yes, it would be less dangerous than going into battle, but did that matter? If the outcome was so important? I guessed more than anything Julian’s pride was hurt, because I knew he’d actually prefer us to stay out of harm’s way.
I looked over at Yelena, her red head buried in one of the drawers as she threw out moth-eaten blankets. I thought about her wielding a sword, fighting the black gloom that had overshadowed the palace—coming face to face with the dark power of the entity that had totally obliterated every part of what was me when I was under its possession.
If this was a way that Yelena didn’t have to do that stuff, didn’t have to be near it, then maybe that was a good enough reason to do this.
“Yeah, well, I don’t care,” I replied. “I think our mission’s cool. And Yelena can be helpful—she’s going to be in the marines.”
“Whatever.” Julian sighed, going over to the bed to pick up his sword.
I glanced over at Yelena to see her beaming at me.
Huh.
Ash
I paced the grounds of the palace, watching the sentry and GASP armies preparing for battle. It wasn’t yet dawn, and we would be marching out before first light. The witches were making last-minute checks of swords, daggers and any other weaponry, ensuring that all equipment was infused with the immortal waters. The guards were grim-faced, the atmosphere subdued. If it had been our first battle, I imagined things would be different—but all these men had witnessed what happened at the cove. They had all seen the shadows that crawled up the barrier, all heard the whispering. No one was under any illusions about the danger we were about to face.
“Emperor.” One of the guards stepped in front of me, bowing low. “The commander requested that you take additional weaponry into battle along with the Hellswan sword.”
I nodded. “Fine. Another broadsword then, and a short blade.”
The guard nodded, and went to do my bidding. It was strange having other sentries do as I asked—ministers and guards. I never wanted to get used to it. I would never abuse my power, but at times like this, when my brain was throbbing from battle strategy, worry and fear, it was a relief not to have to think about the million other small things.
We would be leaving for the cove shortly, and I still felt that we were unprepared. Many were still waiting to get their weapons spelled. Tejus and Derek were still deliberating about how they would divide the armies for maximum effect. I had left the strategizing to the two of them—I knew it wasn’t where my strengths lay, and that was fine with me. I was just glad I had Tejus by my side. He was a born warrior. His coldness and stoic tendencies made him an ideal commander, willing to make the hard decisions that the rest of us couldn’t.
“Have you seen Ruby?” I asked Hazel as I caught her walking past, her arms piled so high with the strange black packs that GASP had brought with them, she couldn’t see over them.