Page 30 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Seven

Alex gulps and raises his hand. “Actually, mine was refundable.” Nobody laughs, but Ethan and Mason moan out loud like he’s the most annoying person in the world, which he is. “Okay, no jokes. Sorry, I thought we were Vikings. Anyway, since I have the blood of Ra…” Nobody says anything. “Wow, still no applause? Okay, right then. I can try, but that won’t help our current situation.”

I hang my head. “We should at least retrieve his body. We owe him that.”

Mason’s quiet.

All of us wait for someone to say something, but then he walks over to Genesis and grabs her by the shoulders. “You’re the beginning. So was Lilith. Your namemeansbeginning. Therefore, I’m going to ask you for a favor.”

“Anything,” Genesis says.

Ethan starts to move, but I grab him by the arm and hold him back. “Let her.”

“She could die.”

“We all could.” I turn to him. “But as one of my oldest friends, I need you to listen. I need you to stay calm. We all need your help. We’ve fought wars. We’ve razed cities. We’ve protected humans for this long. Let this one do what we can’t.”

Ethan turns away from me, his green eyes blazing. “If I lose what I love, I lose it all.”

“Losing”—I put a hand on his shoulder—“is part of life. No immortal can escape it. And even if you could, escaping pain is like ignoring what teaches us to stand back up and fight. Look at it differently. Losing us, all of us in this room, to save the world.” My past comes back to haunt me. “You have to ask yourself, how many could you save? How many? One? Two? Three? How many is enough? If we all sacrifice ourselves, would it be worth it to save ten?”

“Yes,” he chokes out.

“How about nine?”

“Yes.” He starts crying silently next to me.

“Ethan, what if we sacrificed all to save one?”

He leans against my shoulder and looks up, green eyes clear. “Yes, Cassius. Yes.”

“And that”—I nod—”is why we were put here as the Immortal Council. That is why we exist. Because if we can save just one, we have done the job given to us.”

“Okay.” His nostrils flare, and I know he’s annoyed, upset, and frustrated with me. But the rest fall silent, watching our interaction, knowing I’m not wrong.

When my father gave me his power and sacrificed his ability to be an Archangel, when the Creator gave us all the gifts we have and created races within the world…

I realized it would come to this one day.

Will you sacrifice the few to save the many?

Will you sacrifice everything you know and love?

Will you fall on your own sword?

Humans tend to be selfish. Immortals are no different.

I walk toward Genesis and hold out my hand. “Show me what you saw and tell me how I can help.”

Mason relaxes next to me and touches my shoulder. “How we canallhelp.”

Genesis grips my hand tightly. “Watch, son of the Watchers.” Her eyes blaze green before a vision appears.

I see blood.

Danu.

Lilith.

A star falling.

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