Rhea was roused early the next morning by a messenger at her door and she answered glowing with darkness.

"What."

The messenger looked at her with terror in his eyes and gestured down the hall. "High Council."

"Now?"

"She only told me to bring you."

Rhea closed her eyes and took a deep breath, forcing back a prickle of annoyance. "Alright."

They threaded the hall together, but the messenger turned away from the council hall. Rhea said nothing, but her raised eyebrow was question enough.

"It's not a formal meeting," he explained.

"Nothing ever is." Rhea sighed and rolled her eyes when he stopped in front of Sara's bedroom doors. "but this is just ridiculous."

The messenger stopped a few feet from the door with the grace of a man walking into a wall and the confusion of one who couldn't see the wall in the first place. Rhea stepped through the wards as if they weren't there and nodded her thanks to the man as he turned back the way they had come.

The first thing Rhea saw when she entered the room was the tell-tale shimmer of wards coating the entire room. For a moment, the sight took her breath away. The only way to cause such an iridescent glow was to layer ward after ward on top of one another, and judging from the depth of the shimmer, Sara had thrown up almost every ward she knew.

Rhea took a seat beside Violet and gestured to Sara. "What's going on?"

Rhea was, by nature, a creature of the night in a way that Violet simply wasn't. Rhea was annoyed and cranky, but she didn't look as exhausted as Violet by a long shot.

"Sara," Violet spat out their friend's name, "wants to go on offense. Apparently she's lost her mind."

"I explained it to you," Sara sounded as tired as Violet.

"Explain it to me," Rhea leaned against the door frame and let her scepticism show.

"You'll never listen."

"Because I'm not tactically suicidal, but try me anyways."

"I don't want him any closer," Sara said, "Because he's a threat to us, our people and every village along the way." Violet made a please elaborate gesture with her hand and Sara glared.

"She's also worried about you," Violet filled in harshly. "Because you're more demon these days than you are human. And don't try to lie about it because I've been in your head. She doesn't want him to get closer because it will push you closer to the edge, and eventually over it if we don't do something."

"You shouldn't have to teach people to fight you," Sara spoke over Violet's tirade diplomatically, but Rhea could see the truth in her eyes. "It's not fair to them, but it's also unfair to you after everything you've given them. You shouldn't be training them to kill you."

"You can't let the reality of what I am push you into doing something stupid." Rhea tried to calm Sara with her voice but her heart was pounding at what she saw when she looked at Sara. This meeting was a courtesy and nothing more. They weren't here to make a decision – the decision had already been made.

"We're going to do it," Sara said, "But we need you to be in the know."

"No. I'm coming with you."

"And what about the…" Sara's broad hand gesture could have meant anything but Rhea knew it meant "what about your demon blood?"

"I can handle it."

"Can you?" Violet asked harshly. "Can you really convince us that if you're facing a group of demons, with only us behind you, that you'll fight on our side?"

"I'm not letting you march towards your deaths without me."

"Someone needs to stay here." Sara reminded her. "Someone needs to lead - to make it seem like nothing is wrong."

"And why can't that person be you? You're their leader."

"Not like you are."

"No." Rhea said. "If I'm their leader in the way you say I am, I can't sit by and allow a fight to go on without me. That's not my style."

"Then who's going to stay here, hmm? Not me, not you, not Vi…who else do you trust enough to lead this mess with everyone we know fighting alongside us."

"We'll leave some people behind, let them do it for us."

"And you would take someone you trust enough to lead in our stead away from our offensive team?"

"Rather than stay behind myself? Absolutely."

"Then who do you propose we leave behind?" Sara challenged. "We can spare a couple people who've fought with us before – people in a position to know what's going on, people we trust – but that won't be enough."

"Your team." Rhea didn't miss a beat and caught Sara off guard.

"Not a chance. We need them with us."

"We don't. Not by a long shot. They don't know what they're doing and they would only slow us down."

"Leaving them would also save you the emotional trauma of seeing them torn to pieces by demons," Violet added. "But that's just a thought."

"No. They come with us. They have merit."

"Merit beyond that they're the only people you seem to trust these days?" Rhea's eyes flashed. "Because that's going to get us killed."

Sara made a face as she considered, and softened as she gave. "At least some of them have to come with us."

"Nick and Catherine." Violet said. "They're the best."

"Warrick's good."

"Compared to the host of warriors you have at your disposal? Not even."

"Gil, then."

"He's a liability."

"He's coming." Sara's voice echoed with the double-timbre of a leader – it was an order and she wanted that to be very clear.

"Nick, Gil and Catherine, then. They're the only ones you get." Rhea said. "I choose the rest."

Sara's mouth opened as if she was going to protest, but she shut it with a snap when she saw the resolve in Rhea's eyes. "Fine." She sighed. "Agreed."

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Victoria hadn't fought in a long time – not with magic, not with swords, not with her hands – so being summoned to join an offensive party was a surprise. She was lined up between Rain, who was present at Violet's insistence, and Akona, who was present at Rhea's. As far as she could see down the line on either side of her, warriors were checking their weapons and mages were throwing glowing coloured sparks from their fingers in practice.

According to Rhea, Victoria was only there for Sara's peace of mind. Victoria's mother hadn't always been astonishingly attentive, but she worried when they were apart. Fighting, Rhea said, while worrying that Victoria wasn't sufficiently protected by the personnel left behind in the manor, would only distract Sara and keep her from fighting her best fight.

"Everyone try and familiarize yourself with your fellow fighters," Rhea yelled over the roar of murmuring voices. "I don't want anyone on our side caught in friendly crossfire, so be attentive and know your allies."

The crowd mixed, turning from a neat line to a writhing mass of weapons and limbs and introductions. Victoria, caught in the middle of it all, could barely see her hand in front of her face – if she could have moved her arm, that is.

"Hey," a face appeared in front of hers almost out of nowhere. The girl it belonged to couldn't have been more than a few years older than Victoria herself, but her build and the way she held herself gave away that she was much, much more experienced in a fight than Victoria could ever hope to be. She had red-brown hair that shone in the sun and eyes a perfect mix of grey and aqua – a mage as well as a fighter. "You're the mortal girl, right?"

"No," Victoria narrowed her eyes and let her power shine through them. "I just live there, and that's not my choice."

"Hey," the girl held up her hands in surrender. "No harm, no foul. I didn't mean it like it sounded. Hey, what wave are you?" Rhea had divided the attack into three waves, each one containing fighters of various disciplines and skill levels.

"Two."

"Hey, me too." The girl smiled. She patted the hilt of the sword strapped to her back. "You a swordswoman? Archer?"

"Just mage," Victoria replied with an edge.

"No need to get testy. I'm just trying to figure out who and what we have on our side. See that guy over there?" She pointed out a tall man, at least six foot five, with dark hair and a bow slung across his back. "Atanase: best archer we have in the fighting ranks. He's a good one to have. Including me we have four swordsmen, two archers, a shape shifter and now you. I bet we get a couple more mages and some hand to hand folks. All things considered, we're pretty well of."

"Great." Victoria deadpanned. "So we die slower."

"The goal would presumably be not to die at all, but I'll cut you a break." The girl smiled again.

"Who are you?" Victoria had never seen the girl before and, though she didn't usually experience bouts of classism, was starting to wonder where a common warrior got off being so familiar with the leader's daughter.

"Oh." The girl's eyes crinkled in amusement. "I guess we haven't really met before, have we?"

"No."

"Sorry. Well, I know you – everyone does – but I'm Juliet. Sara's daughter."