Page 13 of A Dawn Of Blood

My gaze darts to de Groot. It’s only then that I register the fact that she’s wearing her usual black robe and cloak, the only one not in uniform so far. I look at Nuala again. “Poetic, I like it. And yes, I’ll gladly join as the lowest of the low, as long as I can help.”

This seems to surprise both Nuala and Dryden.

“Alright,” she finally says, “I guess I have no objections then.”

“What about Raven and Professor MacArthur?” Alaric demands.

Nuala lets out an annoyed sigh. “You’re officially all members of the Resistance.”

“What do you mean?” Alaric protests. “It’s not official until we have the initiation party.”

“What about orientation?” I cut in. “I’m more interested in one of those.”

I think I see the anger in Dryden’s eyes turn into suspicion. Then he smirks. “We’re holding a meeting first thing tomorrow morning, to prepare for the next mission.”

I hold his gaze and smile. “Great, we’ll be there.”

Chapter 9

The next morning, I leave the Main Hall where they’ve set up a temporary bed for me — just until they ward the rooms for us newcomers.

Determined to find a way to help, I head straight for the meeting. The plan is to start by asking questions about the Resistance and go from there.

When I arrive, despite being early, I find everyone waiting for me, Nuala sitting at the head of a large round table with a blackboard behind her back. While I myself am feeling eager, Finn’s attention seems to be wholly on me, Lorcan is glancing at his daughter apprehensively, Dryden is observing me suspiciously, and de Groot seems downright bored. Alaric, Raven, Jaeger and Nuala, they’re… just tense.

As soon as I get settled in, she clears her throat and glances around the room. “I’ll need you all to bear with me for a bit,” she tells the senior Embers. “We have newcomers here so we’ll be going through the information you already know.”

She turns her focus onto me. “Now, as far as I could gather, Aurora—”

“I’d prefer it if you’d call me Anna,” I interrupt with a smile.

“Anna,” she repeats with a somber nod. “You… you haven’t been with us in a while.”

“I left this timeline around two years after Baldur rose again.”

“Alright, so…” She gets up and pulls a world map over the blackboard. “The parts in green are what we call the Free World. It’s all areas he hasn’t managed to conquer yet.”

I frown. It’s just a few parts of South Africa, North America and Asia.

“And the parts in red,” Nuala continues with bitterness in her voice, “we call those the Enslaved World. It’s occupied and highly controlled through patrols, curfews and free use of Mind Magic. Shifters are practically all imprisoned by now, faes are being coerced into serving the Emperor and vampires aren’t objecting because it’s all serving them very well. No one is rebelling, simply because the regime is too strict and the army too powerful.”

With that, she takes her seat again, leaving me to stare at the map in dumbfounded silence. So much of the world he has in his grip already. “Is that why there are only six of you here?” I ask in a near whisper. “Is it some kind of cell-structure you’re organized in, to avoid being wiped from the face of the earth?”

Nuala exchanges a surprised glance with Dryden. “Yes. Within this particular cell, I’m the leader, Dryden is my right hand and our magical artifact man, Jaeger our tactics, intelligence and supply woman.”

“We’re generally the ones going on missions,” Jaeger says, “Finn, Sieger and de Groot will always be the ones staying behind.”

I raise my eyebrows in a silent question.

“Finn is our housekeeper,” she starts explaining. “Sieger is new. We’re giving him time to become valuable within Baldur’s army, and we can’t allow his cover to be blown by the enemy finding him anywhere near us. ”

“What about you?” I ask as I turn to de Groot.

She quirks an eyebrow, but it’s Jaeger who replies. “De Groot is the most powerful Mind Magic wielder among us. She’s the only one with information about the other cells and their members.”

I glance between the two of them, frowning because of this unusual change in Jaeger’s tone. Or maybe it was just my imagination?

I dismiss it all. “Ifthat’show things are these days,” I start as I lock eyes with Nuala again, “how did you survive this long?”

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