Page 160 of Last Gift: Supernatural Battle

Basilia hummed. “What about if you painted your Luther claws? Would that be there when you shifted to your wolf form again?”

Delta lifted a shoulder. “No idea on that.”

Basilia fixed her eyes on the Luther queen.

Andie shook her head. “I can see what you’re going to ask, and the answer is no—you can’t paint my claws.”

I pursed my lips. “I’d be interested in that too.”

Andie glanced between me and Basilia. “Really? Demons are nearly upon us, and this is what you want to talk about?”

Basilia clasped her hands together. “If we make it through this alive, we’ll paint your Luther claws.”

I grinned. “Just because you make a begging gesture with your hands, doesn’t mean your words can still be a demand. You need both to pull off a good beg.”

“Billionaires aren’t good at begging,” she answered. “It’s a flaw.”

Andie groaned, then glared at me. “I would’ve expected this from Basilia, not you.”

“That’s a yes,” Basilia said in satisfaction.

“Not a yes,” Andie countered.

I wanted to paint the claws of a wolf. Was that not something most people would want to do? “We should always try to further the knowledge of our races.”

“Uh-huh,” she replied. “The possible permanence of nail polish application between shifts is right up there.”

I winked at her, then couldn’t help laughing at Basilia’s wide smirk.

The princess knew exactly what she was doing. If we won this battle, Andie’s wolf was getting a mani-pedi.

“High Esteemed Tempest.”

I turned and blinked at the woman there. Well, this is a surprise. “High Esteemed Rjuc. We weren’t expecting you.”

She squared her shoulders and seemed determined not to look at the supernaturals either side of me. “I had a change of heart. I recognized an area for growth within myself and saw that only my narrow-mindedness was stopping me from doing what I knew to be right in my heart. I’m here now, with twenty of my magus. We’re ready to fight.”

Only one other high esteemed was here—High Esteemed Mydnigh. That Rjuc came personally was pretty massive, and even more massive was that she appeared to have challenged her anti-other-supernatural thoughts. “We’re happy to have you.”

I studied the threads around her. “You will be best placed with Sven and Rooke in the west tunnels. Please arrange your magus into groups of all four affinities. Stand to the back when the fighting breaks out and watch how our magus engage first. The magic is not complicated, just methodical, and the fighting strategy should be clear.” I summoned a glowing ball. “Please follow this to Sven, and I’ll send him a message to expect you. We’re expecting the attack in a few minutes.”

Rjuc tilted her head. “How do you know when the demons will attack?”

I arched a brow. “If we’re both still here after, then I look forward to telling you. Over a very strong drink.”

Her lips curved. “The only kind I drink. Keep safe, High Esteemed. You are our future.”

The breeding mare. Huxley once wrote as much in one of his fucking notebooks, and the words were proving sadly true of how foreign covens—and maybe my own—viewed me. I was the ovaries, the eggs, and the tubes. My grandmother would’ve cackled herself to death at what my life had come to.

“Already you inspire change.” A chilling voice rose.

I glanced back to find the Vissimo king himself had joined us. I’d met all of Kyros’s siblings over the last week, but the king had never joined our training sessions. The threads around him were still curled tight around his enormous Egyptian god frame, and even if I hadn’t had access to the quipu, my instincts would have told me this supernatural needed no designation. He’d fight how and where he liked and would be better for it. He’d even fight in his sarong.

“King Julius,” I said, dipping my head. “Will Queen Titania join us?”

“Before a warrior, my queen is a mother. She is needed in this respect, and so remains in my territory.”

Kyros glanced at Basilia, who scoffed, “I’m not staying at home, Kyros. Just try it.”

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