Circle of Shadows (Circle of Shadows, #1)(109)

They were.

“Long live Emperor Gin, ruler of all Kichona!” they chanted.

Sora snapped out of her horrified stupor. She whirled to Renegade and the three other councilmembers who’d come to the front line. “The empress! She was in Rose Palace when it collapsed. We have to save her.”

“If she was in the palace, she’s probably dead,” Renegade said.

Sora shook her head, aghast. “But there’s a chance she’s alive.”

Scythe stepped forward. “If Prince Gin wanted her dead, then she’s already dead. If he wanted to keep her alive, then he will for some time. He won’t have spared her life just to kill her right away. Either way, it would do the kingdom harm if we tried to attack them now. The ryuu have their powers back, and we can’t lead the taigas straight to Prince Gin. He’ll use his magicked charm to convert most of us, even if we try to resist.”

“So we just retreat?” Sora looked from the councilmembers to the castle and back again. She couldn’t believe what they were saying. Beneath her, Daemon’s muscles tensed, and he sparked brighter blue.

Bullfrog, the councilmember who had arrested and drugged her earlier, approached them. “Spirit, I didn’t listen to you before, and I was wrong. I’m sorry. But now we’re operating on the advice you gave us—the taigas cannot win against the ryuu when they have the full force of their magic. Therefore, we have to retreat, temporarily, to regroup.”

“And do what?” she asked.

“Learn to see the world in a new way,” he said, looking directly at Daemon’s wolf form. “There is magic we never thought possible. We need to understand it and harness it. Only then will we have a chance.”

“But we’re not giving up,” Sora said, beginning to understand.

“We are not giving up,” Renegade confirmed.

Sora looked forlornly at the castle. She had left the empress up there, unprotected, and now the empress might be dead. Prince Gin had claimed the throne, and soon he would declare war on their neighboring kingdoms. And whatever she had managed to mend with Hana during their time together was now ruined, shattered like rose crystal.

“You did the best you could, Spirit,” Bullfrog said softly, the usual croak in his voice barely audible. “You did better than the rest of us. It’s time for us to catch up. Don’t worry. The Society has protected Kichona for a millennium. You don’t get that far without adapting and learning new tricks.”

“I was naive to think we could beat the Dragon Prince that easily,” Sora said.

“No,” Daemon said. “You weren’t naive. You were optimistic and daring, and that’s exactly what the Society needed. Without you, we’d all be conscripted to Prince Gin’s army already.”

“But instead, you’re a magic wolf,” she said glumly.

Daemon laughed, though, and it shook his shoulders and almost knocked Sora off his back. She had to grab a handful of fur so she didn’t slide off. “Don’t get me wrong,” he said, “I’d like to figure out sooner rather than later how to change back into human form, but I’m not all that upset.”

“You’re not?”

“No. I’ve finally got magic now.”

That made Sora smile. A little.

Meanwhile, Renegade turned to the taigas behind them and shouted, “Retreat!”

The army turned and began marching. They would have to leave the Imperial City. Until they came up with a stronger plan, it wouldn’t be safe to stay so close to Prince Gin and his ryuu.

Not all the taigas retreated, though. From the far end of the army, Fairy and Broomstick pushed their way up the road to Sora and Daemon.

“Spirit, are you okay?” Fairy asked, shoving aside the last of the taigas, despite their appalled scowls that she would blatantly ignore the councilmembers’ orders to retreat. “We thought you were going to die when you and Virtuoso fell off the Citadel’s wall. And, Wolf, you’re . . . a wolf.”

Daemon laughed so deeply, it vibrated through his body and through Sora’s. She held more tightly to his fur.

“What, exactly, happened?” Broomstick asked.

“I think he’s the missing wolf from the sky,” Sora said.

Fairy ran her fingers through the fur behind Daemon’s ears. “A demigod, huh? Sexy.”

He leaned into her touch and growled in a content, low rumble.

Sora flinched. But then she reminded herself that she didn’t have a claim on Daemon, not like that. And she never would. They were geminas.

Because of that, she tried to act like everything between them was the same as it had always been, though it felt like wading upriver in a storm. “Wow,” Sora said, rolling her eyes affectionately at Fairy. “You’re still a flirt, even in the middle of a war.”

“It’s evidence of good character that I’m consistent,” she said.

Daemon nudged Fairy playfully with his nose.

Sora looked away. She had to think about something else. “Come on, we should probably catch up with the rest of the taigas.”

But then a voice boomed from the top of the hill. “Did you think it would be that easy to walk away from me?”

“Prince Gin.” Sora paled.

Suddenly, the road beneath them roiled and broke open. It roared as more spears of bloodstone shot out of the ground, like thousands of dragon talons. One of the claws knocked Daemon into the air. Sora screamed and clung to his back.