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Katana’s eyes widened. “Valeen,” she whispered. “The demon princes will come for you too?”

“I know. I have attracted many enemies since you’ve been gone.”

“Which is why it’s imperative that she get her immortality. Varlett, the demon princes, even the council won’t matter if we get that first. They won’t be able to kill her. She has the only weapon.”

That wasn’t true though. “You’re forgetting who is in the dungeons.”

“Oh, right.” Presco pushed his round glasses up. “Synick. I think you should kill him. If the demon princes didn’t get him to reveal its location, I doubt you or even Hel will get him to confess.”

“But if we get that weapon, Presco, no one will dare stand up to us. We will have both of the immortal weapons.”

“And if he gets free, you have a massive problem.”

All Mother, she didn’t even want to consider the possibility of him getting free. Right now, no one but them knew he was even alive again. She turned to Katana, “What do you think?”

She brushed her hair behind her rounded ears. “Well, you know I am not one for killing but in this case, I might make an exception. But I also do not want Synick to be in possession of one of the immortal weapons even in the underrealm. As we have seen there is a chance he could come back. The demons would use torture. There are non-violent ways to get people to talk.”

“What are you suggesting?” Presco asked.

“I am not suggesting anything. I am only saying that sometimes you get more bees with honey. If he has been in the underrealm I would wager he has not been shown kindness for a long time.”

“Be nice to him?” Valeen scrunched her nose. That prick didn’t deserve kindness from any of them, least of all her or Katana.

“Oh,” she put a hand to her chest and almost laughed, “Not me or you. His nephews.” She gave a sly smile. “That is how he thinks of Hel and Thane. Hewantsto trust them.”

“It would probably take months,” Valeen mused.

“The time will pass anyway. And keep in mind, he does not want to go back to the underrealm, Valeen.”

It was worth a try. Now the question was, which of his nephews would be best to get him to talk?

“Another thing I need your brilliant mind for Presco, is how do you think we can go about placing a wall around Palenor like at House of Night.”

“That took us a very long time to create,” he bemused. “And with the size of Palenor we would need a powerful anchor, and it would take a significant amount of magic.” She could already seehis mind flipping through possibilities and his expression grew less hopeful.

“I know. Even if we can’t protect the entirety of Palenor, at least the Valley of the Sun. We can shelter most of the elves here and this is where the council would attack.”

“I don’t wish to doubt you, Valeen, but with only one moon, you being mortal, and without a structure like your moonstone castle it won’t be as strong. There would likely be weak points. We need to be prepared for that.”

She didn’t expect a miracle, but she did have faith in her ability. “Something is better than nothing. The force they will bring will be…”devastating otherwise.

Katana sat slightly forward, bouncing one of her legs. “You built a magical wall around your territory? When?”

Tapping her fingers along her thigh, she debated on whether or not she should say. “After you died. I didn’t trust anyone. Atlanta didn’t believe me and Synick was still alive. I shut everyone out.”

Her lavender eyes widened but she nodded. “I see. I am sorry you had to do that.”

“The important thing is you’re here now. That doesn’t matter anymore.”

Presco leaned his elbow on the armrest and placed his chin in his palm. “How are you dealing with all this? The council, losing House of Night, and reconciling with Hel?”

The last words ordering her death and punishment came to mind now, “The council has decided you are henceforth stripped of your immortality, where it will be bound, and you will be mortal. Where you will live and die again and again until we decide enough is enough. May the All Mother and the Maker have mercy on you.”

Enough was never enough for Pricilla, the sly rodent-faced bitch, who made that order. Valeen stared out the window at thebranches of a lilac tree swaying in a rainy breeze. Dark storm clouds hung over the city. “I’m fine, Presco.”

“You don’t have to be strong all the time. It’s alright to feel.”

Katana reached over and placed her hand on top of Valeen’s. “He is right, you know. You have been through so much. We are family. You can tell us anything.”