“Now attach the next piece,” Greta instructed.
My fingers wrapped around the base of the sword. Now it vibrated so forcefully, I very nearly dropped it. With great care, I brought the base and the hilt together, binding them where they had been ripped apart. Greta’s wands waved around my hands, and a burst of blue shot from my weapon. The pieces shook harder, warming as Greta sent another wave of the Liv through their core. They heated up as the vibration moved from the weapon to my cuff and up through my shoulder armor.
“Greta!” I cried. “What’s happening?”
“Just hold on, Allie,” Greta urged. The heat intensified, my armor acting as a conductor that held the burning energy tight against my skin. It jumped from my armor to my necklace, then pulsed up and down my centers like a pinball.
“It hurts!” I yelled.
Tore growled beside me.
“It’s nearly over, Allie. Just one more minute.” Greta’s wands moved faster.
“Argh!” I screamed. And with my yell, the heat dissipated. The weapon in my hand stopped vibrating, dropping to room temperature with one last flash of blue. Greta stepped back as a final shot of power knocked into my chest, taking my breath away. The pieces had fused together. And, just as important, they had fused to me.
My boys studied me from their positions around the barn. “I’m okay,” I assured them. “It just hurt like a mother.”
“Sounded like it,” Bodie offered from the doorway. “Sorry, Allie.”
I shrugged. “I can handle it.”
And I could. I stood calmly in the center of the complex, surrounded by the team that would help me end Nott and her Night War. Power coursed through the left side of my body, pulsing from Gud Morder to my armor and back again. And strength filled me from the right, where Tore’s warm fingers intertwined with mine. Our eyes locked, and I knew his determination matched my own. Bodie, Mack, Johann, and Greta stood around us, fierce devotion pouring from their energy centers. I nodded at each of them in turn. We were in this together. And we would end this, no matter what it cost us.
I shot my favorite protector a wink, raised my weapon in the air, and declared war.
“Look out, Nott. We’re coming for you.”