Page 118 of Beasts of Briar
Leoni grabbed my arm and led me toward the balcony as we let Driscoll and Aron have their moment.
“We’re not going to be able to pull any of this off if we don’t find out how to get rid of the gods’ powers,” Leoni said. “You have to try and get into Khalasa’s mind again. We have to figure this out.”
She was right, but I didn’t know how. I wasn’t a match for Khalasa. She’d had thousands of years to hone her magic. I’d had sixty. There was no comparing us. I was strong, yes. I was determined. But I wasn’t well-matched with her. Unless I could somehow find a weakness.
I glanced back at my father’s journal entries.
“I’m going to leave within the next few hours,” Leoni said. “Get to Neverland. See how many of the boys will fight with us. Do you think your father will be strong enough to use his shadow magic? To get the other leaders? Will you be able to prepare them? Gabrielle will come. I know she will. So will Poppy and Liliath. I’m sure Seraphina will come, too, and with the dragons. All of them will want to fight this with us.” She put a hand on my arm. “We’re not alone.”
I was starting to realize that more than ever.
“I’ll reach out to them. I’ll prepare my father. We’ll get them here. And then we’ll come up with a plan.”
“Good,” Leoni said, swallowing. “Then let’s not waste any more time.”
We turned, Driscoll and Aron still making out.
“I don’t know what they’re going to do.” Leoni gestured to them. “Just make sure they’re being useful.”
With that she strode around them and out of view. I picked up my father’s journal, flipping through the pages. Time to see how much my magic had really worked on my father.
Chapter Sixty-Six
BELLAMY
We’d done it. We’d managed to bring together all the leaders of the courts together as well as rally the boys of Neverland to come fight for us. Everyone had been here for five long days as we prepared for the final battle. It turned out my father hadn’t needed to use his shadow magic. Once I’d contacted Seraphina, she said we could count on the dragons to bring all the leaders to us, although she warned me the dragons would not fight this battle. They’d spent too long entrenched in wars with the elementals of the fire court and would not enter another war.
Three days after I’d spoken with the queen of the fire court, the dragons had come bearing all the rulers.
Three days of me trying to get into Khalasa’s mind, but she’d put up some impenetrable wall. I didn’t know where she was, when she was coming, and every time I tried to enter Kairoth’s mind, it was blank, which made me sick with worry.
Everyone stayed in the castle, Jerome, Wesley, and Goji working hard to accommodate all the new guests. The pixieswouldn’t fight with us, and I understood why. Every time they used their magic, it drained away their life force. Fighting the gods would take an immense amount of magic, could potentially kill off their entire species.
It was strange, but I’d never seen Wesley and Jerome happier. They finally got to populate the castle again, and even with the impending end of the world, they were in their element.
Wesley moved around the library where we currently all sat, carrying a tray with tartlets and mini pies. Jerome flitted from table to table, talking and laughing with his guests.
“These gods all have weaknesses,” Maverick was saying from next to me as I frantically knitted the sleeve of the final sweater.
Aron had insisted we bring Maverick and Emory here, two of the top historians on the continent, and I’d agreed. They’d been in the Wilds with Driscoll, and I knew they were both smart and passionate about history. If anyone could help me better understand Khalasa and her weaknesses, it would be them.
Across the room, Princess Gabrielle and her pirate lord stood with Leoni, talking in hushed tones. Queen Liliath and King Penn of the earth court sat at a table with Queen Poppy and King Lochlan of the sky court, books spread out between them all as they read. Queen Seraphina and her consort, Madden, stood on the balcony, one of the dragons standing by them.
In the courtyard below, yells and the clanging of swords rang out, the boys practicing their fighting skills. The pirate lord had been working with them all morning.
Driscoll had been right. They’d all eagerly come, ready to fight a battle against the gods. I could hardly believe all these people had been so willing to do this. To fight along with us. My swans rested by the window, sunlight streaming down onto them as they slept.
I’d hardly had a moment to breathe in the last five days, spending all my waking time visiting the leaders in their dreams,explaining the long, sordid situation to them. Not to mention caring for my father, getting him to use his shadow magic and bring all these people to us.
It had been a lot. Too much. I hadn’t had a moment to spare and finish that final sweater, and guilt gnawed at me now, at how I’d neglected my brothers while dealing with all of this. Now I was almost finished. So close to being done.
“Bellamy?” Emory asked, her white-blond brows drawing together. “Did you hear anything we just said?”
My gaze snapped to her ice-blue eyes. Maverick rubbed her neck gently, and the movement pricked at my heart, making me think about Kairoth, how he was currently imprisoned by Khalasa.
I shook my head.“Sorry. Distracted.”I pointed to the sweater.
Emory’s gaze softened. “You need to rest. We can talk more later. You look exhausted.”
