“Stop it.” She dropped onto the bed. Emotional and physical fatigue, along with a night in a car, caught up to her. She was bruised, achy. Achier in her heart than in her body.
She tried to recall Mon’s fairy tale, how Garnet had gone on after the Dragon Prince died. Sleep claimed her as the final battle played out in her mind. A sound scratched at the outer edge of her dreams.
Probably nothing. Or Fergus. She sank back into sleep.
The Book of the Hidden
Garnet and her army bided their time, gathering intelligence on the comings and goings of the Shadows and where they had stationed guards. Her heart ached at learning how many of her people had died, how many were now slaves to the Shadows. Thinking of her slain husband and Opal, her fury grew.
More refugees joined them. Their army gathered, timing their attack for the end of the guards’ shift, when they would be the most tired, but before the new shift arrived. Each troop brought their particular skills to battle as they rushed forward. The Deuces pounded the Shadows with fiery orbs. She’d told the Dragons how the prince had defeated the Shadows when he had rescued her. She fought, too, cutting down monster after monster as she remembered how they had killed her parents. The battle raged for hours, and eventually they brought down the Shadows and their ruler.
In the aftermath, she was heralded as a savior, more beloved than any queen. She helped clean the rubble, restoring her castle and the kingdom to a semblance of its former beauty.
A fortnight later, she stood at the Great Room’s window, looking out at her lands. A dove alighted on her finger, rubbing its head against her palm. She knew all would be well.
Until the next battle…
Chapter 18
Purcell held Magda as she sobbed in his arms. She’d collapsed the moment he’d opened his door, and he’d barely managed to guide her to the living room. Her broken report about what had happened at the lab was slowly seeping into his brain. First, how this would set them back. Second, that Darren was dead. And Purcell had never once thanked him for his work, praised him for his accomplishments. Guilt lanced his grief.
“You should have alerted me when you knew Cyntag and Ruby were outside your house. I could have helped.”
Magda loosened her grip on him and sat up straight on the couch. “I told Darren we should let you know, but he wanted to handle it himself. He always felt inadequate. I probably didn’t help, comparing him to Justin years ago. To you. I think he needed to prove himself. But Darren doesn’t have the magick you do. He did his best, but in the end, it wasn’t enough. My fighting skills are a bit rusty, I’m afraid. I wasn’t enough either.”
“You destroyed the lab.”
“I couldn’t defeat them, nor could I run off and leave them there to take evidence. I felt it was the only solution, and I thought it would kill them.” She let out a ragged sigh. “But they escaped.”
Purcell nodded. “I suppose it was the best decision in the end. But Justin’s early prototype was there.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t see it or I would have grabbed it. I assumed it was here.”
“No, I only have his second, smaller prototype.” The only two things that Justin wasn’t able to get his hands on that fateful night. Early attempts, they didn’t pull in Deus Vis but did hold minute amounts of it. Darren had been using them to re-create Justin’s work. “I’m glad I didn’t give into Darren’s whining about leaving the actual reactor at the lab.”
“He was angry that you wouldn’t let him keep it, seeing it as proof that you didn’t trust him. But you would have been proud of him. He fought well. And he hid your involvement, taking responsibility for everything.”
Purcell rubbed his fingers across his lips as he considered that. “So Ruby and Cyntag might think they’ve thwarted me and destroyed everything.” Maybe his son was smarter than he’d given him credit for.
“Ruby knows that Cyntag killed her parents. I was so hoping to break that news to her, since I couldn’t believe she would work with him if she knew. She’s angry at him over it though. Her eyes flamed when I mentioned it.”
Purcell ran his fingers down his beard. “A wedge between them may give us an opening. If we get rid of her, he may back down.”
She twined her fingers in her hair, her mouth stretching into a frown. “He won’t. I could see his devotion to her. He’ll come after us even harder.” She stared at nothing for a few moments before focusing on him again. “But revenge won’t be his only motivator. Thanks to Brom, they must know the consequences of our success.”