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Right where he wanted them.

That heavy cloud had settled over me once more, my mind slow and thick as fog.

It was up to Demos to tell his aunt of Regner’s true plans. And as usual, he didn’t hesitate. Didn’t put off the task. Didn’t even attempt to truly soften the blow. Because that wasn’t who Demos was.

And still, sorrow darkened his eyes when Telean turned white. She swayed, and he caught her hand, leadingher to a chair in her room.

“Of course,” she said, and her voice was drained of life. “Of course, he would kill the most vulnerable of us first. So that the rest of us lose all hope.”

Standing next to the window, Gwynara was pale. “All those children…”

“Map,” Demos said.

Gwynara opened Telean’s door, calling to Brinlor. He appeared back with a map in his hand, and together, we helped him roll it out on the low table.

“When we traveled toward the mine, Regner’s regiments were here, here, and here.” Demos stabbed his finger into several spots within Eprotha. “They’ve moved locations since Lorian went on his killing spree when Prisca was taken, but I could never understand why Regner was gathering his soldiers in central Eprotha.”

I nodded. “When we traveled back to meet Telean, there were no signs of those regiments.”

“Yes,” Demos said. “If he’d moved them south, our scouts would have noticed them. Not to mention, Rekja would have sent messages, begging for aid. But instead, Regner pulled his soldiersoutof Gromalia.”

“Our own army was marching north to meet up with Rekja’s regiment,” I pointed out. “Perhaps Regner was unprepared.”

Demos shook his head. “We have twenty thousand soldiers in Gromalia at most. A third of them are fae, but Regner would have made allowances for that with his stolen magic.”

“He knew we were moving our armies into position in Gromalia,” I said.

“Yes. And his spiders are everywhere. Regner had to know Conreth would also be joining our armies. Not to mention Daharak’s fleet moving south…” Demos’s voice turned cold with rage. “He’s only sending some of his foot soldiers to the Asric Pass. The rest of them will be moving northwest toward the Normathe Mountains. Thousands of his soldiers will take the fucking Normathe pass and prevent our people from using the hybrid tunnel to Lyrinore. Our people will have nowhere to go.”

My lungs seized, and the room seemed to recede, until the map was all I could see.

“We need to move our army,” Telean said. She sounded as if she’d aged ten years. My heart ached.

I studied the map as I held my side down. “Where to? If we’re moving the hybrids through the Asric Pass, they’ll end up on the western side of the continent. Prisca thinks Regner will attack from the Sleeping Sea, which means our people will be pinned down between his ships and his army marching from the east through the pass. If our army marches in behind them, we can kill Regner’s soldiers at the back of his lines, but our people will still be slaughtered.”

Demos just nodded. His eyes darted over the map.

“We order them to travel through Eprotha and over the Normathe Mountains before Regner’s army can take it,” Demos said.

“Are you out of your mind?” His words brought Telean back to life. “They can’t march through the middle of Eprotha.”

“Why not?” Demos stabbed his finger into the middle of the human kingdom. “As we’ve just seen, Regner’sregiments are now nowhere to be found.”

“Because they’re going to be traveling through the Normathe Pass,” I said, staring at him.

“They are. But I think we can beat them there.”

“How?”

“It takes time to move fifty thousand human soldiers. They need to rest more often and for longer than the hybrids and fae. Regner already has a problem with morale. And we’re going to slow them down much more. It’s time to send a message to Natan.”

My heart raced. “He wanted to slow down the army, but he also wanted to use his people during battle. To create chaos in Regner’s lines…”

I let my voice trail off. I didn’t need to say the next part of my sentence. That if Natan’s people were successful, they would likely be caught and killed long before we faced Regner.

“If we don’t slow down that army, there won’t be a battle. There will only be a slaughter. Natan’s people have already been spreading misinformation, inciting infighting, and disrupting communications. Now, they’ll begin sabotaging equipment, tampering with supplies, and targeting generals.”

A slick sweat broke out on the back of my neck. If they were caught, they were dead. And yet, if their tactics could buy us even a few hours to get our army to the Normathe Pass first…