Page 62 of Till Death

“I need to check in with the others but I really am glad you’re here.” I shot Simon a final smile before walking away.

When I rejoined the others, Sean was pacing the room and speaking in a low undertone. “The numbers of Halflings are down but we need a break before we go on further. Can we recall everyone and get them here to regroup?”

Arianna drew an invisible map in the air with her hand and a flurry of magic had the map solidifying as I watched. “We have people placed around the outskirts of Fairport. It would be easy to get Groups B and C back, but we need a larger location than this to accommodate all of us.”

“We’re the safest here,” Wyatt argued.

“We’re going to need a bigger boat.”

I thought I’d kept the comment under my breath but Wyatt heard me. He turned toward me with a frown. “There’s the lady of the hour.”

Maybe one of these days I’d get used to being the center of attention, but I didn’t think so. Not really. I hated this crap.

“We’re running out of time. Who knows how long this lull is going to last,” Arianna interrupted, though at least she smiled at me. “We’ve taken out how many sin demons now?”

At least good news travels fast. “Four,” I offered.

“Which means we only have three left. Three, we can handle. Once the big guys are taken off the board, we can worry about the rest of the little peons later. It’s no big deal.”

Tamara and Marla stood crowded around Arianna but offered little in terms of strategy.

“I’m just not sure if the vamps and those damn dogs are going to be okay with being clustered together.” Wyatt shrugged. “They have a long history of not getting along. A common enemy is one thing. A meeting where they have to be civil is another.”

Sean stepped forward. “Dad, come on. They’ve had our backs this entire time. The least we can do is extend the invitation. Regroup, Re-evaluate. You know. We should try now that Jade is back. Maybe they’ll be inclined to listen.”

“Sean-e-boy, you have a heart of gold,” Arianna called out.

It was good to see those two getting along. In fact, everyone was doing a fine job of it so far. Probably better than they would have if I’d been here with them the whole time. I wasn’t a leader.

No one seemed excited about the small lull. No one except Simon, who stood off by himself, probably lost in his own thoughts. He’d come here to tell me about the balance shifting.

Should I tell the others what I’d learned, too?

It seemed unfair to keep the information from them.

I held up a hand to stop the stream of talking around me and call for attention.

“I’ve got news. Not everyone was excited about me going back down to Hell, but I did find out something interesting.”

“What?” Arianna asked eagerly. “Did you figure out a way to kill these fuckers once and for all?”

Marla gaped at her niece for the foul language.

No one came to my side this time. I stood alone, staring out at my group of friends feeling more than my fair share of shame for putting them through all of this. “This isn’t going to be easy to say, and more than likely you’re going to think I’m crazy.”

“Out with it, Jade,” Lawrence urged.

“Well…” This wasn’t going to be easy. “I had a nice long talk with Amon.”

Wyatt’s eyes bugged. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I wish I was. He told me some pretty interesting things. Such as the fact that he’s a shapeshifter.” Start with the easiest revelation first.

I glanced over to Eli. He said nothing. He didn’t need to; he slowly inclined his head in a clear message to continue.

“I also learned that Hank and Amon are brothers. And this whole Armageddon thing started because Hank wanted control of all the realms,” I said.

There, I did it.

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