Winter's War (Her Guardians series Book 4)(11)

“Everyone listen.” I shout, and the crowd of witches, vampires, and wolves turn to look at me. I take a deep breath, knowing I need to say this and then spend time figuring out everything else.

“The demon king has an army; a massive army. I saw them. He has thousands and thousands of soldiers that will kill anything in their way, and they have the weapons to kill us. He won’t stop until we are all dead; witch, vampire, wolf, or angel. It doesn’t matter to him,” I tell them, the fear shining in their eyes as they watch me.

“Isn’t he your grandfather? You brought down the ward and let the dragons in!” a female witch says and steps forward.

“You’re right, he is. He has also killed all my blood relatives other than himself. He has killed because he is insane, and his thirst for power is out of control. I can only say I’m truly sorry for the ward, for letting him take control of my mind and not figuring out he has that power.”

“How do we know you won’t flip and start attacking us?” an older, French vampire asks, watching me with his hand on a sword strapped to his side.

“If you attack her, if anyone attacks my queen, I will personally rip you to pieces,” Jaxson growls out and the vampire looks down. I place my hand on Jaxson’s shoulder and step away from him.

“The demon king can’t come here, and he can only control me when he is close. I understand your fear, I feel it, too. I have family here, and you are my people. I won’t stop until he is back in hell, where he belongs. You may not trust me, or some of you may hate me for everything I’ve done. It doesn’t matter, at the end of the day, war is coming. In war, you will see I side with you. I was human once, but I never felt right. I felt lost and being here is home,” I say, and several of the supernaturals all look at each other.

“Our queen is right, we are at war, and squabbling like children over race is not going to win us a war that will save our children. Save our mates,” Atti shouts into the room and then walk over to my side.

“There has never been a threat like this, there has never been a war like this. We will all die if we don’t work together, our children will die. There isn’t a choice here. We fight or we die. You make your choice and spread the word. Those who want to fight, meet me and the other kings in the training rooms in the morning. Those who don’t or won’t, stay out of our way, or I will kill you, myself,” Wyatt shouts, and his voice echoes around the room as whispers follow. I watch as he walks over to me, sliding his hands over my cheeks and kissing me.

“We will win this for you,” he tells me, and lets go, dropping to his one knee in front of me and bowing his head. Jaxson and Atti mimic his actions, and so do all the other people in the room, each one of them kneeling and bowing their heads. I look over to see Alex standing near the door, her arms crossed, and she winks at me before bowing herself.

“We will win this war, and I will kill the demon king. It’s what I’m destined to do. It’s what my grandmother, my great aunt, her mates, and my parents died for. I will fight for us all,” I say, my words echoing as I leave out the most important part of the prophecy, that someone will die, and I’m going to make sure it’s me. No one else is dying for me.





8





Winter





“What the hell are you wearing?” Alex asks as she walks over to me when everyone walks away other than my mates. She pulls me into a tight hug and I just don’t move except to hold her back. It feels like a long time since I hugged my best friend.

“Other than looking like a weird, goth princess, are you okay?” she whispers to me, the words only meant for me to hear.

“I’m good, just it was like sleeping and having no control. I don’t remember much, and it’s best I don’t,” I tell her quietly, and she lets go. Memories of thousands of dead, demon soldiers, the smell of death, and the demon king’s glowing, red eyes will haunt me for years. I have trouble pushing them out of my mind as I try to focus on my best friend. Alex looks amazing as usual, with her red hair down and wearing some kind of leather leggings that stick to her and a baggy white top that hangs off of one shoulder.

“I have something I need to talk to you about,” she tells me, and I frown wondering what when I see Harris and Katy running into the room, followed by Anna holding baby Marie in her arms. Marie looks so much older, which I know babies grow quick, but it’s still a sight to see. It’s Anna’s haunted eyes that hold my attention as I watch them come closer.

“Winter!” Katy shouts and hugs me. “What on earth are you wearing? I want to say you look good but err . . .,” Katy says as she lets go.

“I know, right? It’s awful, that dress should have burnt in the eighteen hundreds and never made it this far,” Alex says, both of them eying my awful dress up. Hey, it’s not like I disagree with them.

“Win, shit I was worried about you,” Harris says, and he wraps his giant arms around me.

“I’m good,” I say as he moves away.

He nods, “I let you down, My Queen, and–”

“Don’t start that stuff, or I will start feeling guilty, too,” Leigha’s sharp voice comes from behind me, and I turn to see her push her way through my mates, and she gives me a small smile.