Page 14 of Kiss of Magic

Kam sighed unhappily.

“I wish there was another way, my queen. But what choice do we have?”

Ren saw the worry etched into her husband’s face. She put her arms about him.

“We’ll fix this, my love. Whatever it takes. The demons will never invade our world again.”

Kam allowed himself to rest against her for a brief moment, taking comfort from her quiet certainty. Ren had always been the strong one. Whereas he was the pragmatist. Wearily, he raised his head.

“Nevertheless, I think we need to plan for the worst-case scenario.”

“What do you mean?”

“If the demonicus spirits escape, we’ll have two jobs. One, to fight. And two, to protect those who can’t. We dare not keep this a secret anymore. We have to start making contingency plans.”

“But there’ll be panic. People will be terrified. And what if we locate the key? We could lock the seal before anyone finds out.”

“And what if we don’t?” Kam cupped his wife’s face. “I know you care deeply about Nush’aldaam. But we have to tell them what’s going on. Prepare people to fight, ready our defence strategies. And find safe places for children and the elderly in case the demons get free.”

Ren nodded reluctantly. She knew what he said made sense, even though by revealing the looming danger they risked chaos in the streets.

“My father can help,” she said. “I know he’s persona non grata around here, but Valkar Castle was built to withstand the demons. We can offer sanctuary to families.”

“Elumina too. It was built at the same time. In fact anything built in the old days was fortified, we can use them all.”

“I’ll organise a meeting,” Ren said briskly. “We should alert the regional leaders before we go public, hash out a strategy. I’ll include Feyir’s regent Aelah too. She’s a warrior at heart, she may have some ideas.”

Kam kissed her gratefully, glad she was by his side.

The witches changed shift, the five behind stepping forward onto the pentagram as the five in front vacated. There was a brief moment when ten voices were chanting the words in unison, and then the changeover was complete.

The witches coming off shift sagged with tiredness, backs hurting and feet aching from standing motionless for three hours. Ren rushed over, passing them water and honey for theirparched throats. Servants helped them out of the Seal Room to their quarters where they’d rest and recover. They had twelve hours until their next shift.

Ruth lagged behind.

“Your Majesties,” she said, bowing stiffly. Ren motioned her up.

“You don’t need to bow to us,” she said. “If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have known the seal was failing till it was too late.”

The witch looked troubled.

“It’s getting harder to keep it closed,” she said. “The change is infinitesimal, but it’s there. We can all feel it. The crack is widening, despite our best efforts.”

Ren felt a chill settle round her heart but she tried to stay positive.

“We’re close to locating the key,” she said. “In a couple of days, this could all be over.”

Ruth wasn’t convinced.

“The key is a very powerful witch, your majesty. If she doesn’t want to be found, she won’t be.”

“Surely she knows what’s at stake?”

“Of course. But it takes a particular kind of bravery to give your life for the greater good. Especially for a world you’ve never lived in, people you’ve never seen. We’re asking her to make the ultimate sacrifice and she doesn’t even know us.”

“Is there no other way? Maybe she’d be persuaded to help us if it didn’t mean her life.”

“I don’t think so. Not according to Lenore.” Lenore was the head of the Angelus Coven, one of the oldest witches alive.

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