Page 152 of Last Gift: Supernatural Battle

I rested a hand on his thigh. “Help me up.”

“Can you stay standing?”

Considering the only place to sit was the authority that I couldn’t sit on unless invited to do so… yes, I could stand. “They’re manageable for the time being.”

I could see the faces of the coven through the lattice.

“Wild’s right,” I told them. “The Mother, Ryzika, and my ancestors have gifted me something that may see us survive the battle in three days.”

Three days. I saw the two words passed around.

“How do I know?” I voiced their obvious question. “Because it turns out that I am able to see my quipu in a way that’s entirely new to me.” I tapped my temple. “The pathways and patterns that were evident to me on the quipu that Frond ordered four of the magus in this room to burn.” I paused. “And yes, I know who each of you is.”

The four magus had been part of Frond’s group. Two intended to leave the coven and had filled in a transfer application. The other two were horrified at how they’d been taken in by Frond.

“That quipu is now available to me in a way that can’t be burned,” I told the coven. “The scale of the quipu is unlike anything I’d ever created physically. With it, as with how I used the quipu in Caves, I am able to see the best path to our success.”

My words weren’t registering with everyone. Some couldn’t tear their focus off my black scales and the wisps of black smoke escaping me now and then. They couldn’t see past these demon attributes for now. Maybe they never would.

“I have not come to claim the authority,” I said. “My words to you four days ago hold true on that front. I come to freely offer this pathway to my coven so that we may live. Because I am part of this coven in my heart. I would be bereft without you. I would be bereft to lose the place I know as home. I will do everything in my power to protect it whether on the authority or not… if you chose to let me do so.”

The coven members looked at each other.

Winona spoke, “Many of you are angry. You have the right to feel that way. I urge you to not react in anger now by shunning this offer. We have trained to fight the demons. As of yet, other covens have not rescinded their support. We have formed weapons to defend ourselves too. We are not powerless now, just as we were never powerless in Caves.” She glanced at me. “And yet with this power, Tempest was able to end a three-hundred-year-old game in less than three months. You can feel anger while also making a choice that aids the survival of our family.”

Would I trust someone who’d concealed such a truth from me? Would I follow their magic blindly in this moment?

Only if I were desperate enough, and only then because I’d seen it work.

There were a few nods.

Delta called, “A show of those who would like to accept Tempest’s offer, please.”

Fingertips glowed blue and red throughout the eating chamber. Those of the advisors behind me shined blue. Wild’s did too.

The wave of blue appeared in large patches throughout the coven. Together, those patches formed over half. Two-thirds even.

Two-thirds of the magus here were desperate enough to accept my offer. The rest thought trusting me was the epitome of stupid.

Varden limped forward. “The majority have voted to accept Tempest’s offer. Regarding the choice of leadership in this coven, I suggest we put that aside for now. That is not the real threat, and if we focus on that, then three days shall see us wiped away.” His sweeping scan of the coven was severe. “Might I remind those who voted against accepting Tempest’s guidance that they are part of a coven and therefore will abide by the decision of the coven. We will have no more individuals acting as Frond did. Not only will this not be tolerated, that person will be treated as the danger they are. We, all of us, are weary after the last few days of upheaval. Find peace or silence however you can while we fight for our lives.”

He dipped his head. “For what it’s worth, Tempest, I am very glad you’ve chosen to keep fighting for us. Tell us, how do we defeat the demon king?”

How was a big fucking question that would take time for me to filter through and explore. I may not even have time to fully understand every segment of what could happen before the demon king’s smoke encompassed us.

I did know the setting and how it would begin.

The threads had been flashing the answer like a damn neon sign since I woke.

A touch of amusement found me. Because the answer had stared me in the face for weeks. Hadn’t I resolved to always listen? Hadn’t I worried at the issue of how to resume Caves without strengthening division and the food source for the demons’ power?

I’d always looked at Caves as magus versus magus.

I’d never turned the puzzle around in my hands and seen the other face of it.

That Caves could be magus versus demon.

That we’d been in the perfect training for three hundred years already. That no one knew our home like us, and that no one had more incentive to protect it or the knowledge and real-life practice in doing so.

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