Stephanie returned to the castle after her second Humans Anonymous meeting feeling better, if not about her circumstances, then about being able to talk to people who seemed to relate to her. Gabriel had terrified her at first, and still did sometimes, but was genuinely a good person with a dry sense of humor that bordered on morbid, befitting of his role as Death. Deidre had become more and more comfortable with her position as the queen of Hell, to the point she no longer hid her fangs when she laughed. Her grounded view of the world of Immortals and deities, and their tangled relationships, aided Stephanie when she felt overwhelmed.
If someone had survived becoming the Dark One’s mate, then Stephanie could bear Fate’s absence a little longer.
As for Karma … Stephanie sensed the volatile sister of Fate was more of a mess than usual. Stephanie pitied Deidre but was flat out horrified that Karma and Wynn were mates. Karma was crazy, yes, but innocent and believed she was doing good when she balanced people. Stephanie would have pitied anyone stuck with Wynn, but Karma was naïve, whereas another Immortal woman or goddess would have been able to play his game.
The portal fizzled behind Stephanie, reminding her Wynn was completely in control of her life. She sat on her bed, pensive, wondering if the discovery of Wynn’s mate was information she could somehow use against him.
He’d find a way to manipulate someone with the information, but she drew a blank. Everyone had warned her against directly challenging Wynn. Even if she could figure out what to do with the secret, she didn’t know how to wield it against him.
The sudden, loud beating at her door jarred her out of her thoughts.
Trayern crossed to open it, spinning a dagger in one hand. He wrenched the door open, ready to murder anyone present who wasn’t supposed to be.
The Immortal guard at the door stepped back, startled.
Stephanie hurried to the door and pushed the demon out of her way. He hovered, though, ready to pounce.
“What is it?” she asked the guard, whose gaze was on the demon.
“Demon incursion reported in Eastern Europe,” he reported.
“Okay. And?”
“Lord Wynn is unavailable. You are the only Council member present outside the dungeon authorized to address the issue.”
“What do you mean he’s unavailable?” she asked.
The Immortal guard shrugged. “That was all we were told.”
“What do you need from me?” she asked.
“You must come to the war chamber.” The Immortal guard started away quickly.
We have a war chamber? Stephanie followed. How could Wynn possibly be unavailable? For all her misgivings about him, she had to admit his duty was his life, and he never failed to do what he was supposed to.
The Immortal guard led her to the second floor. The first floor was made up of public halls and chambers, and the second floor was made up of official halls, conference rooms, and offices, to include Wynn’s study. The guard led her to a wing she hadn’t explored and into a conference room where six officers stood over a table whose top consisted of large computer screens. She’d been learning the ranks of the guards. The men in front of her consisted of the Immortal equivalent of a colonel, three majors and two aide de camps, whose uniforms bore a blue stripe. Dozens of lower ranking men and women filled the room. It was crowded and stuffy.
Everyone looked up when she entered, their focus shifting from her to the demon at her heels.
No one mentioned Trayern’s presence. Stephanie went to the table, where the feeds of several cameras were playing alongside computer simulations and a series of other monitors filled with information she didn’t understand.
One of the aides de camp swiped the screen in front of her and pointed.
“The incursion occurred here twenty minutes ago. Fifty demons, moving north.”
She studied the footage and map.
“How do you want to handle it?” he asked.
“Excuse me?” she replied.
“Our forces have been depleted by the events of the past two years. We can pull in soldiers from the other continents to address the incursion.”
“Okay. Then do that,” she said.
The military leaders exchanged looks.
“If you pull them from one continent to another, then the incursion moves to where there are no soldiers.” Trayern spoke when no one else did. “It’s a basic demon maneuver.”
“We believe this to be a distraction, albeit a very bloody one,” one of the officers said. “It’s likely they want to be in one of the places we pull soldiers from.”
“And you want me to figure that out?” she asked, baffled.
“You are the only Council member available.”
Fuck. That didn’t mean she had any idea what she was doing!
“Show me again,” Stephanie said, mind racing as she tried to understand what to do and how.
The aide de camp walked her through the incursion, direction of the attacks, body count, the guard’s numbers and locations, and a slew of other details that overwhelmed her.
When he was done, he stepped back and waited. “Fourteen humans reported dead.”
The others were silent as well.
Stephanie stared at the scenes and information scrolling over the monitors. All she could think about was her best friend Olivia, who had been slaughtered in front of her by demons. There were fourteen Olivia’s lying dead or dying in the streets and alleys in Europe. With each minute that passed, the number increased. A hundred people would be dead within fifteen minutes.
“Child’s play,” Trayern muttered from his position leaning against the wall.
“Do you even know what’s happening?” she snapped.
“I’m one of Darkyn’s strategists.”
“Twenty-three dead,” the captain said soberly.
Stephanie didn’t have time to ask Trayern anything else. She’d learned he was more than a sadistic killer driven by blood with no mind of his own, but she’d never bothered to ask him what exactly he did in Hell.
“We need a decision,” the colonel said.
“I don’t know,” she replied, unable to make sense of the pictures and information flashing across the screens. “Isn’t it your job to recommend a course of action?”
“Forty dead,” the aide de camp said.
Stephanie froze. How the fuck was she ever going to replace Wynn, if she couldn’t deal with the most basic reason that the Immortals existed in the human world? Had Karma misunderstood Wynn? Surely he wouldn’t leave the Immortals in the hands of someone who couldn’t perform their primary duty!
“Enough,” Wynn’s calm voice said from the doorway.
Stephanie faced him, relieved he was present.
“We’ll do this again later this week,” he told the others. “Leave the information up.”
The six officers filed out of the war chamber, followed by the other members of the
Immortal guard.
“I don’t understand,” Stephanie said, watching them leave.
“Simulation,” Trayern supplied. “This attack occurred nine months ago.”
“Correct,” Wynn said and joined her at the table.
Trayern pushed Wynn aside to stand between them.
“You wanted me to fail,” she said.
“I wanted you to see what another part of our duties consists of and why it’s critical for us to maintain order and unity within the society,” Wynn said. “Rhyn handled this situation.”
She shook her head. “This kind of thing is new to me,” she said. “I can’t even begin to understand what to do.”
“It takes practice,” Wynn said. “Strategy can be learned.” He tapped one screen and brought up the map of the world, complete with red dots showing where the Immortals were located and blue ones for the demon incursion. “In the meantime, you have two choices. You either guess and hope you’re right, or you bring in an advisor. Kris and Rhyn are both proficient at repelling demon attacks, though their differences are great in this area as in most other areas.”
“What was really going on here?” She motioned to the table.
“Darkyn was after someone in the western hemisphere. Explain it, demon,” Wynn ordered Trayern.
“Darkyn collects special souls for our Army of Souls. The most depraved of them,” the demon replied. “He was after a dictator who recently died in South America.”
“The incursion was supposed to draw our people away from the dictator,” Wynn said, pointing.
“How can all this be for one soul?” she demanded.
“That one soul could be responsible for tens of thousands of deaths one day,” Wynn answered. “If his army doesn’t work out, Darkyn can still resurrect the soul and set it loose on the world. This dictator murdered a million of his own people. He’s not the kind of soul you want Darkyn to obtain.”
“He wants you to lead his army,” Trayern said to Wynn.
“I would hope he knows better by now.”
No part of Stephanie doubted Wynn would become a terrifying and effective leader of an army set on murder. Had he been born without his sense of duty, he’d probably be running Hell.
“I planned this one,” Trayern said. He indicated three points on the map. “We had incursions in these places to draw out the Immortals then sent two demons here to take the soul.”
“Did it work?” Stephanie asked uneasily.
“No,” Trayern growled. “We didn’t know Death was sending in his assassins to help the Immortals. We successfully drew out the Immortals, but the death dealers beat us to the soul.”
Stephanie absorbed the information. “You expect me to understand how to wage war?” she asked Wynn.
“In time, yes,” he replied. “It’s another of our duties.”
“I failed this test miserably.”
“You did,” he confirmed. “But I expected you to.”
“Thanks for the leap of faith, daddy,” she shot back sarcastically. “How should I have known what to do?”
“That wasn’t the purpose of this test. I’d expect you to rely on one of your brothers to guide you for the first century or two,” he answered. “The lesson here is twofold. First, we often must determine how many human lives are saved or lost at the hands of demons.”
Stephanie felt ill. If this had been real, she would have hesitated, and dozens of humans would have paid the ultimate price. The memory of Olivia’s murder replayed in her thoughts. She was able to prevent anyone else from dying like her friend did – if she could function upon being told demons were terrorizing the world.
“Second, sometimes human lives must be sacrificed for the sake of the greater cause,” Wynn said.
“How can you say that?” she asked in a hushed voice.
“You will have to choose who lives and dies. We don’t have the resources to save everyone.”
Was this why Wynn was cold and detached? Or had he excelled at this duty because he was already a raging sociopath capable of viewing human lives as disposable?
“How many humans died that night?” Wynn asked Trayern.
“Ninety four,” the demon answered without hesitation.
“We sacrificed ninety-four souls in order to position ourselves to protect the one that counted,” Wynn said.
Stephanie searched his features. “You want me to be able to make a decision like that?”
“I want you to be able to understand the greater good, unlike your brothers,” he replied. “Rhyn played it safe and called in a favor, which ensured fewer humans died and the soul didn’t make it to Darkyn. Kris would’ve abandoned the humans in Europe and gone after the dictator’s soul first. Rhyn’s decision cost ninety-four humans. Kris’ would’ve cost hundreds – but he, too, would’ve claimed the soul.”
Stephanie absorbed the new information about her brothers. They were both competent, and they both would’ve chosen a different strategy to deal with the incursion. Rhyn’s decision, and Kris’ potential decision, fit into the profiles she’d created for both brothers.
“Each method has a potential use down the road, though I’d advise you to assess who you listen to carefully. You can’t walk away from the consequences of your decisions.”
She was already leaning towards asking Rhyn for help, but couldn’t help wondering if there would come a time when Kris’ scorched earth tactics would be warranted. Wynn wouldn’t teach her something she didn’t need to know, and he’d never advocate she take advice from one of her brothers, if he didn’t believe she’d absolutely need the help.
The only reason she could foresee for advising her to trust her brothers, instead of relying on him, was what Karma had said. Wynn wasn’t just planning on turning over the Council; he was planning on doing it soon.
“There’s flexibility in how things are handled,” Stephanie murmured. “This could’ve gone another way, too, right, depending on who was in charge?”
“Strategy in any circumstance is about adapting and often reflects the personality of the person making the decisions,” Wynn responded.
Her focus went to the map again. “If this one soul had been taken by Darkyn, many more than ninety-four people would’ve died.”
“Tens, maybe hundreds of thousands,” Wynn stated. “It may not have happened for a century or two, depending on what Darkyn’s plans are. But it would have happened.”
“In the meantime, ninety-four people died.” She understood his point and the stakes but couldn’t quite grasp condemning humans to death in any circumstance.
“Rhyn played this as safe as he could have, given our numbers. The demons took a calculated risk and would’ve succeeded if Rhyn hesitated.”
“It’s not just about stopping demons. It’s political.”
“It’s an ongoing chess game,” Wynn confirmed. “This war started after the first breach between Hell and the human plane. You will often have to look at the long term and decide based on the eventual cost of lives instead of what’s happening today.”
“The real lesson here is that sometimes there is no real choice about losing lives.”
“The faster you learn strategy, the more lives you can save,” Wynn said. “Politics and battle aren’t that much different from one another. If you can understand your opponent, what he wants, the tools he has at his disposal, and his preferred method to obtain his goals, you can prevent a demon incursion or manipulate someone into providing you with something you need. It also helps to understand the mindset of your opponent and what his motivation is. Darkyn does nothing without a reason.”
“How could this whole situation have been avoided?” she asked, unable to accept the idea of sacrificing anyone.
“Perfect question,” Wynn said with a rare smile and even rarer compliment. “To prevent something like this, you learn to understand others and position them so that you can predict with some accuracy what they will do. Instead of reacting to their actions, you prevent them.”
“I’ve never been good at manipulating,” she murmured.
“If you could’ve saved ninety-four lives, would you feel compelled to learn?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good. Remember you need to evolve in order to save lives.”
Stephanie fell quiet, thoughtful. Was agreeing to Wynn’s methods a slippery slope into becoming a menace like him?
I’ll never be like him, she vowed silently. What if she used her skills to help people instead of torment or rule them? The tools were only as good or bad as those who wielded them. Wynn used a hammer to smash others. She could use it to build a house to shelter people.
For weeks, Stephanie had been trying to figure out a means to winning her soul back from Deidre, who safeguarded it in Hell, and saving her people. Whether she felt remotely prepared for the responsibility, she had seen the damage Wynn was capable of. She could be different. She could protect humans and Immortals alike. Becoming the head of the Council would give her the power and position she needed to help her mate – as well as prevent the destiny he foresaw.
Being in charge also meant she had to accept the fact she couldn’t save everyone.
At the moment, she didn’t know if that was possible.
Andre and Fate had both claimed she was the only one who could bring her family together. Stephanie felt as if she were at the mercy of a sea storm and not like someone capable of uniting her brothers or healing a community scarred from years of her family’s rule.
Further, Fate had revealed to her that she was the only chance the society had of surviving, and therefore, the only hope humanity had against demons. She owed it to everyone to step up and try.
“How do you learn this kind of strategy and manipulation?” she asked.
“Time and practice. Watching others is helpful. Fortunately, you’re connected to two of the greatest strategists in existence,” Wynn replied. “In addition, Trayern is masterful in his own right, trained by Darkyn himself. If you want to know how demons act and react, and what motivates their leadership, you could start with him.”
Trayern was listening intently. “I’m not here to teach her anything,” he said.
“I respect your position,” Wynn said. “Darkyn must trust you a great deal after the incident at the lake.”
The demon growled.
Wynn smiled. “Start tomorrow.” He left the war chamber.
Stephanie studied the demon.
Darkyn can’t find out about the lake. The demon’s fear popped up in her mind.
She smiled. “Checkmate, asshole.”
“Don’t piss me off, half-breed,” Trayern warned.
Trayern possessed some patience but no empathy. Stephanie doubted he’d teach her strategy over a civilized game of chess.
She looked around the war chamber. No part of her was confident in her ability to handle a demon incursion. She’d need her brothers or Wynn. Was there any scenario where all of them could co-exist without the infighting characterizing the dysfunctional family she’d recently discovered? They had the potential and power to be good, to do good. She had to tap into that somehow and bring them together. Too much was at stake for them to fight.
She lingered, observing the information presented in a fashion as overwhelming to her as the numbers Kiki had no problem adjusting.
She could learn to deal with the concept of not being able to save people, or learn to prevent these kinds of events from occurring. At the moment, she had no idea which was harder, because both seemed to be nearly impossible based on what little she knew of how to do either.