Page 75 of Awakening of the Pack

‘That’s not true,’ I said stubbornly. ‘You have me – us. All of us. You have a tribe of Alessandros and we need you. You’re our guardian.’

He shook his head. ‘I’m a guardian without magic. Without my fire magic, my death is a certainty – though not necessarily during the duel, which I may well survive. But if I don’t use the fire magic in the duel then all and sundry will know that I no longer possess my flames.’

‘I’ll call Voltaire,’ I said desperately. ‘Put a stop to it.’ Though how I’d accomplish that feat when Voltaire was gunning for me, I wasn’t sure.

Grandfather shook his head slowly, ‘Even the Red Guard can’t stop it, Luci.’ He spoke my name as if it were spelled with an h, Luchi, a mangling of Lucy and Luciana.

‘Then what’s your plan?’ I asked huffily. ‘You must have one.’

He nodded slowly. ‘Yes. I have.’

‘Well?’ I said impatiently, tapping my toe. ‘What is it?’

He gave me a wry smile. ‘I plan to die.’

‘Let’s call that Plan B,’ Greg suggested.

‘What is Plan A?’ Alessandro asked.

Greg shook his head. ‘I haven’t figured that out yet.’

‘But we will,’ I agreed.

We had to: I was so done with losing my relatives. Losing Grandy Sandy wasn’t an option. I would come up with a Plan A, even if it killed me.

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