TENN
“You can’t do this,” Tenn growled. He and Jarrett stood farther off from the rest of the camp. Cassandra and Mara conferred with the twins, and Kianna and Aidan kept to themselves, apart from the rest but under close watch.
“Do what?” Jarrett said. “Try to save the world?”
“No. Barge in here and take over like this. This isn’t your—”
“Not my fight? The world is ending, Tenn. And not in that hypothetical, far-off street prophet sort of way. People know. I don’t know how, but they know that the Dark Lady is back. There’s rioting in the streets, Tenn. Half of Outer Chicago is on fire and the other half is abandoned. We have reports from every single Guild and Outpost in our network that the Dark Lady’s forces are rallying. She’s back, Tenn. She’s back because you couldn’t do your duty.”
“My duty was never to kill him.”
“Then what was it? Because it sure as hell looks like you’ve done nothing but help him kill us all.”
Tenn went silent. He looked to Aidan, the perpetual question, the wild card. Aidan had apologized. But even thinking that seemed ridiculous. How could you just apologize for murdering hundreds and damning thousands more? What was repentance when you ended civilization?
“Why are you here?” Tenn asked.
He stared at his commander, at his lover, felt the distance between them like a punch to the gut. Even now, even after everything Jarrett had done, after all the lies, all the betrayal, he wanted to touch him. Wanted Jarrett to hold him like the first night in Outer Chicago, to make him feel safe and cared for. Was that a lie, too? Was that a past he could ever resurrect?
“The Dark Lady has rallied, and we need to rally, too. We know the Clans of the Witches are connected, just as we knew that you would be able to find them.” Jarrett did reach out then, and his voice softened as he touched Tenn’s forearm. “And you, I could find anywhere.”
“So you were using me,” Tenn said, wrenching his hand back.
“If you want to look at it that way.” His voice was still soft, still hurting. “I prefer to think of it as caring enough to keep track of you.”
“Is that why you locked me in the dungeon?”
Jarrett swallowed.
“You already know why I did that. And it sounds like if you had stayed, we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in now.”
Tenn wished he could argue, but Jarrett was right.
Aidan might have been the one helping the Dark Lady, but he was the one who opened the door for Aidan to step through. Water sloshed in his gut, heavy with regret. If not for Tenn, Aidan never would have gotten the Violet Sage, never would have gotten access to Maya.
Maya...
“I know how to attune to it,” Tenn whispered. “Maya. She showed me the runes.”
“And you remember them?”
He nodded. Jarrett looked to Cassandra.
“Then maybe we still have a chance.”
High above, the sky darkened with storms.
It was decided within the hour they couldn’t stay there. The Witches harbored not only fighters, but children and elderly. If Aidan was being hunted—and there was no doubt he was—they needed to take the battle somewhere else. Somewhere they could fight on their own terms.
And that meant going back to Outer Chicago.
Not many Witches could fight. At least, not as many as Tenn had hoped, and a few had opted to remain and protect those who stayed behind. Still, a dozen or so had joined in, and that was more than they had before. He taught the runes of travel to a few of them, those who knew the locations of the other Clans, and watched as they vanished into thin air.
Hopefully, it would be enough. Hopefully, they would be able to bring more Witches to the cause.
Tenn drew the runes of travel into the frozen dirt at the Witches’ feet, runes he had extracted and distilled, runes that would allow anyone to travel, regardless of the Sphere they attuned to. Just like those that led him to the Violet Sage, he traced a location amongst them, leading them straight to Outer Chicago.
He looked around at their camp. Mara stood at the front, Fire a low burn in her chest. He knew leaving her Clan felt like heresy, but that seemed to be the theme for everyone’s life now.
The only way forward was through betrayal.
He forced himself not to look at Jarrett or Aidan. Forced himself to stay focused. He reached through Earth and twined it through the runes, felt as the others around him did so, as well. In a far corner of his mind, he knew the Dark Lady or any lower necromancer could storm in and use these runes to follow them straight back to the Guild. A veritable bread crumb trail.
But that was also the point.
Jarrett hadn’t been exaggerating.
Outer Chicago was in chaos.
Tenn hadn’t bothered teleporting outside the gates—according to Jarrett, the defenses had been down for hours, and the shield that protected Outer Chicago from the outside world had fallen as the mages that upheld it sought instead to put out the fires inside the city. There was no use protecting an ash heap.
Cassandra led the Witches into the Guild, introducing them to other Hunters and showing them their rooms—though it seemed unlikely those rooms would ever get used. Jarrett hung back, pulled Tenn to the side.
“I’m leaving him in your care,” he said, nodding to Aidan.
“You aren’t going to lock him up?” Tenn asked. “You still have that sigil.”
Jarrett stared at Aidan and Kianna, doubt in his eyes.
“I’m going to trust you,” he said. “Besides, locking you away didn’t do anything, and I have a feeling he’s wilier than you are.”
He smiled. Tenn didn’t know if he was trying to make a joke or an insult. The smile slipped.
“If we get out of this,” Jarrett said, “I want... I want us to try again. Start over. Not as Tenn and Jarrett, but as ourselves. Not Hunters. Just humans. Would you...you want to try that?”
A few days ago, Tenn would have jumped on the offer. But now, he didn’t know what he wanted, least of all from Jarrett.
“We’ll talk when it’s over.”
Jarrett inhaled like he wanted to say more. Instead, he nodded and headed back into the Guild to rally the army.
Tenn watched him go. It felt like losing him all over again, but this time, it didn’t hurt as much as he thought it should. We’ll talk when it’s over. He doubted it would ever be over. He doubted that was a future he could hope for.
Dreya’s hand on his shoulder forced him back to reality. He turned. She and the others stood, silent, in the foyer of the Guild, waiting for him to make a move. Once more, he was in command. Once more, he was entirely unsuited for the job.
“Tenn,” Dreya said. “We must hurry.”
Outside, the storm clouds Tenn had thought were only above the Witches’ camp had followed. Lightning streaked through the sky and winds howled, casting sprays of ashes up into the darkness from where the fires hadn’t quite been put out. Tenn stared at the wide boulevard leading to the Guild. Only weeks ago, he had walked up there for the first time, past Caius and his converts and all those who wanted Hunters dead.
Now, this was where they would have the last stand.
Water quivered in his stomach; he felt the wrongness seeping through the world, the plague of the Dark Lady strengthening and spreading. It wouldn’t take long to reach here, and they had to be ready when it did.
Tenn nodded.
“Let’s go.”