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CHAPTER 25

VOLKAN

T he next three days flew by, time swallowed up by a sea of familiar and new faces. The once vast emptiness of this new reality was suddenly filled with individuals all gathered for the same cause.

Unfortunately, that cause would also call our enemies here, like Ra.

Not that we were actively trying to stop them. We knew their presence was inevitable—that they would show up to bargain with the dark ones, to take advantage of us all being in one place—and we hadn’t been keeping our location a secret. Rather the opposite. Still, it concerned me that unlike the dark ones, the old gods could arrive at any point without any warning.

Although, considering we’d spent the last three days fortifying our camp and its location, I didn’t fear how we would fare overall. I just didn’t like the unknown—especially around Nova.

As I looked down on the camp from the top of the valley, I felt a surge of pride. Not because of anything I’d done, but because of everything that Nova had built in such a short amount of time. She didn’t realize it, not fully, but everyone was gathered here because of her. Everyone was waiting for orders from her , and everyone was prepared to go into battle under her direction. The way she fell so easily into leadership would never cease to amaze me.

Of course, the last few days hadn’t been without complications.

When initially setting up our camp, we hadn’t truly grasped how many people would actually show up in support of our cause, so it was smaller than it needed to be. But now that everyone had arrived, we had made adjustments to accommodate everyone and ensured that the northern and southern borders of the camp were well armed—the east and west covered by the natural shape of the valley.

The south was the most important, in my mind. It faced the cliffside that looked out into the vastness of space, so we’d built a wall complete with watch towers and a gate and fortified it with magical wards. It was the only entrance and exit for the camp, which was so large that its creation should’ve been impossible in such a short amount of time, but with the amount of magic users and gods present, the construction had taken place nearly instantaneously under Nova’s orders.

Even the witches were able to help a lot with creating coverage from the entrance of camp further forward into the valley, planting seedlings of trees in the ground and enhancing their growth to maturity within hours. From where I stood in a spotter location overlooking the camp, I could see the placement of archers and long-range magic users along the valley walls, equipment pointed to the north and south in the event of an attack from either direction.

But for all the defenses outside the camp, the inside was even more complicated.

Command tents were placed in the center—that was where we were staying—and around them there were over one hundred support tents and units of fighters ready to move out at a moment’s notice. Toward the north were more specialized individuals like healers, producers of supplies, and gods who were apt at creating weapons.

We were set up for success. I just hoped that we wouldn’t be taken off guard, something that felt unlikely since I could sense every ripple of magic through this damn reality. It was so quiet that it was impossible not to.

Unfortunately, it felt like we couldn’t do more than what we already had because so much of this relied on Nova and the other prophecy holder, Lorcan. Specifically, for Lorcan’s plan to defeat the dark ones to work, she needed to still be able to reach the cosmic beings—even if a full war broke out.

Since we couldn’t truly predict the placement of anyone once the dark ones and the old gods arrived, all we could do was do our best to prepare for every eventuality we could think of.

Of course, there was always the possibility that none of the old gods would show up, so our entire focus could be on the dark ones. Though according to Nova, even if that did happen, the dark ones had foot soldiers that had appeared to Lorcan before. I had no idea how that was fucking possible, but I wouldn’t question someone who interacted with these bastards so often.

“Volkan!” Nour waved at me from down in the valley. “We need you down here for a meeting.”

Shit. I must have been up here longer than I’d thought, something that wasn’t surprising considering I’d been trapped in my thoughts since the day Nova and I formed our bond.

I was the happiest I’d ever been.

I also was somewhat lost on how to handle the woman that I’d been blessed with. I had no idea what she saw in me, but I also wasn’t in the business of questioning that… especially when she whispered such perfect fucking words about loving me, when she let me between her thighs after telling me that she wanted me without reserve. I knew she meant that, but I wasn’t sure I fully knew how to let go of control, especially when I’d hung onto it for so long.

Although my magic seemed far more comfortable with the idea. Already, the chains I’d had on him were rusted and broken, my power wrapped around Nova’s perfectly. I knew without a doubt that she didn’t mind, and the way her magic bent under mine was goddamn intoxicating. It was also worrisome because I never wanted to take advantage of that or hurt her in any way. Probably a difficult feat with near immortality in front of us, but I would fucking try. Just like how I’d try to lay her out every goddamn night to taste her perfect body.

Why was it so hard to accept her words? Maybe because after all the abuse I endured, I never expected to have someone of my own. And Nova was mine. Her heart belonged to others as well, but I owned a part of Nova that no one else would ever touch.

I would do anything to protect it, to protect her, even if that meant dying. Even if it meant never seeing another one of her brilliant smiles. If I died with the knowledge that she was safe, I would be happy. I loved the woman who had broken me from my mental, emotional, and even physical prison—slaughtering the god who had kept me prisoner for so long.

I would give Nova anything and everything without question.

“Volkan,” someone said in greeting, bringing my thoughts to the present. The camp was filled with an overwhelming amount of magic, and on the ground level, I could see each banner from realms and kingdoms alike. All three Fae realm kingdoms, the Kingdom of Night from the Elven realm, the Dreki realm, all five Demonic kingdoms, all of the god sectors, and even the Druid realm—which I had heard was extinct—and that was just to name a few. There were hundreds of banners and uniforms of all different colors filling the space, all united under one purpose: to follow the two prophecy holders into battle in their effort to save our universe.

There had only been two individuals who hadn’t shown up, although most of their husbands had.

Nova had been disappointed but understanding that Vegas hadn’t come to the battlefield, instead choosing to stay with their daughter and Bandit, who’d opened up a pocket dimension to keep Vegas and their daughter safe. I didn’t blame them in the least for making the choice, but I knew Nova had been looking forward to Vegas’s opinion since both her and Gray had been part of their own war only a year or so ago.

Luckily, her husbands were happy to be proxies and made an effort to relay that information to all of us. They also had almost killed at least three individuals because of ‘misunderstandings.’

The second individual was one I’d yet to meet—Queen Maya. Lorcan had traveled to find her, to gather her and the Dreki realm’s support. While the Queen herself hadn’t shown up, her mates had brought several units of soldiers, all of whom could shift into gigantic dragons that even now soared through the skies.

“Hey. I’m coming with you.” My sister suddenly appeared next to me as I tried to catch up with Nour, and I offered her a small head nod. We happened to be passing the Titans’ sector as we spoke, and my father gave us a short wave of greeting. I gave an amicable smile back but kept walking.

“How are the witches?” I asked my sister. I hadn’t seen much of her since arriving in camp, but I knew she had been heavily focused on teaching the witches from Earth realm to be combat ready, alongside Isis.

“Good. Most of them will be support—creating healing supplies and working the medical center—but some of them will be in combat. I’m proud of them for stepping up, especially since they’re all so new to this.”

They were. So was Nova, if we were being honest.

When you weren’t trained to kill your entire life, being thrown onto the battlefield surely felt off-putting.

“I’m still surprised to hear you visited them personally.”

“Well, once I knew that Nova was important, I figured understanding the coven she grew up in would give us insight into who she was. I should have known, though, that she would be vastly different,” Hecate mused. “But I’m glad they are part of this moment. The release of Earth’s magic has affected their kind the most.”

Our walk continued in comfortable silence until we reached Nour, who had paused to wait for us. Hecate walked ahead, but I hung back a moment to ask, “Why the sudden meeting?”

“I had a vision. A few of the gods have confirmed having similar ones. Our time has run out.”

I felt like we still needed more time.

Offering a sharp nod of understanding, I was unsurprised to find the outside of the command tent crowded with people. Our personal accommodations were nearby, close to the other prophecy holder’s, but this one was purely reserved for meetings. I moved past many of the individuals gathered as I made my way toward where Nova and Lorcan were talking, both of them seemingly amused by something. The room was filled with magic so intense that I’d get a headache before long, but it was unavoidable.

Both women in the center of the room were maxed out on power, and Nova’s was on high alert to protect us from Lorcan’s influence as a siren. It had wrapped itself protectively around not only us, but anyone who was in any way connected to Nova. I had no idea how a siren’s magic worked, but apparently it could be pretty devastating. I’d overheard Lorcan telling Nova something to the effect of ‘she didn’t want people fighting because she wanted them to fight,’ so I had to assume it worked along those lines.

“Alright!” Nova called out, gathering the attention of the crowd. “If we’re all ready, let’s talk about the game plan.”

Leaning against one of the tent posts, I watched as my αγαπο?λα μου spoke confidently and with determination, in a way that put everyone around her at ease. Any fears that Nova had about this war were either gone or expertly hidden. She looked supremely relaxed and focused.

I wished the same could be said about the rest of our group. Killing may have come easy to most of us, but at the end of the day, Nova’s safety came first and foremost. But as Ramsey had mentioned from the beginning— there was no stopping this or her. Nova had a destiny. It just wasn’t the destiny Set—or Ramsey, in his employ—had assumed. Regardless, we would fight like hell at her side until we could declare confidently that our universe was safe.

“Nour and a few other gods have had visions that come tomorrow, the dark ones will arrive. The old gods will arrive shortly before, hoping to steal our magic and offer it as a sacrifice to the dark ones in exchange for their lives.” Nova shook her head as if the idea was silly. “Yes, that is as ridiculous as it sounds. With that being said, it means it’s all hands on deck, and we should prepare for a full-scale invasion and attack.”

The way she said it almost had me smiling, as if launching a full-scale war was an everyday occurrence for her. Or maybe it was that simple for Nova because she was so naturally good at it.

“I’ll be on the front lines with all of you. Lorcan will need to get to wherever the dark ones appear, so she’ll have a unit around her to ensure that happens,” Nova continued.

“Just in case they arrive early, we’ll have people on watch all night, so try to get some rest,” Lorcan added.

“What type of offense should we expect from the dark ones’ ground soldiers?” a voice asked from the crowd—Queen Gray, I believed.

Nova looked to Lorcan for an answer. “These creatures are what I believe to be a version or apparition of the dark ones; they can multiply rapidly and change their forms instantly. In a vacuum they would be unstoppable, but our goal isn’t to destroy all of them. Like the gods, our goal is to hold them off while I take care of the bigger problem. Once they are down, the ground forces will cease to exist.

“For those who don’t understand how my magic works, it will be hard to explain this next part. In order to destroy the dark ones, I’ve created a piece of music that I will play. I know how it sounds, but I have no idea how it’ll sound to all of you or how it’ll affect you. It may encourage you to fight more, or it might possibly do the opposite…”

“Which is why if anything goes wrong, we’ll place a ward around the battlefield,” King Desmond said, finishing her sentence as she stared off in the distance, lost in thought. “It won’t bar entrance or exit, so no one will be trapped within battle without retreat, but while under the protection of the ward, we can avoid anyone falling under the influence of the music.”

“A nd we know for a fact that the old gods plan to arrive?” an unfamiliar voice spoke up. Her armor was marked with the druid sigil, and she had a crown on her head. She must be the druid queen I’d heard about that had come into power only six years ago.

“Yes,” Nova said, her tone conveying her supreme annoyance. “Believe me, Ra and the other assholes won’t be able to ignore this. But don’t worry about the big guys, worry instead about all the creatures and soldiers they bring with them. Mark my words, we may have convinced many from the God realm to join us, but there will be lines of descendants—some of whom you may know—who have sworn their lives to those older gods. They will fight for them. I wish we could avoid the bloodshed, but we’re far beyond that point.”

After a long pause, Nova asked, “Any more questions?” When no one responded, she nodded. “Perfect. Alright, everyone eat a good dinner and get some rest—tomorrow we save the world.”

“No pressure,” Lorcan mused. Nova found that amusing, and I took a long moment to just look at my woman before making my way across the tent as everyone else filed out.

Nova immediately turned to look at me, breaking away from her conversation. My chest squeezed in pain at her perfection. “Hey, you. I’m glad you made it back. I didn’t know where you went.”

“I was up at one of the spotter points,” I explained. “You did amazing.”

Nova leaned into me, resting her head against my chest. “I feel ready, Volkan. I feel good…I just hope it’s not my ego or overconfidence.”

“I think we will have no problem with the war. It’s the unknown factors that come with the dark ones that are more troubling,” I leveled quietly.

“We’ve been thrown everything in the book the past few months,” Nova said with a tight smile. “They can’t have anything that crazy up their sleeve, right?”

I couldn’t bring myself to say out loud that this battle was going to be different than anything any of us had experienced—but something told me that Nova already knew that anyway.