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From within and outside the manor, Iridescents from Germany and France stayed behind, standing guard over the estate.
Frankie with a sword in hand, dropped down from the roof and walked to the drive, steely eyes locked on the taillights as they slowly dimmed, then disappeared.
Through the night, they traveled, headlights cutting a swath through the dark. The next day, hours outside of Whitehorse, they stopped for gas and then with heightened anxiety, finished up the twelve-hour trek into the heart of the Yukon Territory. In the final hours, Torin interrogated the Midewiwins. Fearful of a second failure which could mean hundreds of lives in addition to over four hundred killed in the initial battle, plus sixty mutilated by the Seventh Miigis, he searched for answers, delving deep into the history of the Fire Circle. Larkspur added information from her years of study and while one Midewiwin would agree with her, another would contradict her knowledge.
Torin found himself unnerved, not only due to the inability of the Midewiwins to come to an agreement, but unbidden images of Donja’s battered face and his promise to bring Anna home alive. He suddenly feared his promise might not be realistic. He found himself clenching his fist, his gut like a churning cauldron.
Must save her, Donja would never get over the loss.
The Suburban came to a stop, his thoughts scattered. He got out, sucking the crisp cool air, the temperatures hovering around thirty-five degrees. He leaned on the vehicle, his mind a cacophony of emotions as the many gathered, swords distributed, tension high.
Minutes turned to hours awaiting the arrival of five hundred additional Canadian Iridescents traveling from every corner of the maple leaf country. As they began to arrive in groups of fifty to a hundred, Torin grew increasingly nervous. Six hundred French, led by a red headed Sirun, came in, fifty or more on motorcycles. Torin walked the growing army, confidence bolstered, yet in the back of his mind, the Midewiwins concerned him. He took to the hill and found them tightly huddled, relieved to see that they had finally come to an agreement. He returned to the Suburban and seeing Larkspur sitting atop the hood, smoking a cigarette, approached her.
“Don’t you know that’s bad for your health?” he joked.
“My being here is what’s bad for my health.”
“Are you sure you’re up to this?” Torin asked.
After a moment of indecision, she took a long drag and exhaled. She tossed the cigarette away and slid to her feet. “Yes,” she replied with a note of anxiety in her voice.
Torin spun her and bound her hands behind her back. “You know I’m going to kill him, don’t you?”
“Yes,” she breathed, “but you better take a number and get in line. Antonio’s set on his blood.” She dropped her head.
“You still love him,” Torin whispered, “I can smell your pain.”
“Matters of the heart are not easily dismissed,” she said softly. “I so wanted him to be a better man, prayed that he would be, he’s the father of my son,” she paused catching her breath, “but some things are not meant to be.”
“I feel your pain, God knows I’ve lived it myself and though the need for revenge is eating a hole in my heart, I can truly say I am relieved that it won’t be me.”
“That’s because you’re decent, Torin, you have integrity.”
“Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps I say that only because we both know that Antonio deserves that honor,” he took a deep breath, “but if he fails, I will have no choice.”
“Torin,” she pleaded, you do what you must, but please hear my plea which is not for Garret, but for my son.”
Torin’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know Larkspur, he is…”
“My son, and you promised.
Torin dropped his head.
She moved into his body so close he could feel her breaths. “I can tell you with a straight face that Zaroc never wanted any of this, never wanted power, his only desire in life was to be left alone to live his life with Miguel.”
Torin’s head jerked up. “Miguel?”
“His one true love.”
“I had no idea he was gay.”
“No one did because Garret couldn’t accept it and hid it from the world. He forced Zaroc into this…”
“But he accepted the Seventh Miigis!” Torin interrupted. “The Midewiwins told me the spirit can only enter the body of an adult who is willing, or the body of an Iridescent newborn gasping its last breaths.”
“But Garret forced him with threats of killing Miguel and my poor boy, he was so near death that he succumbed, not only to save his own life, but to protect the one he loves. Would you not do the same?”
“Where is Miguel?”