But it was a turn, wasn’t it? The power coming back, the things that I could do so similar to the visions, so close to the picture of fire. Inferno.
“It has to be,” I said. “This must be it.”
It was over. Eighteen years of living under a prophecy, and we were about to break free, to fulfill a destiny that was set forth thousands of years ago. Everything we’d lost, everything that had been taken from us, was for this. She took my hands and smiled, and it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen on her, finally, completely free of worry and stress. It was nothing but relief, and freedom. Because it was over.
And then a piercing ache tore through my chest as a vision began. “No,” I whispered, my hands squeezing hers too tight. Her face was awash with blood and fire as Morgan’s men tore through the city.
“Brianna,” Emily cried, tightening her hands, pulling me back. I opened my eyes, but whatever she saw there frightened her more than my words ever could have. She was on her feet, ready to fight. To protect us.
The door burst open and Aern was running in, Logan on his feet, the room seeming to spin around us. I closed my eyes tight, pressed my palms against my temples. Focused.
“He’s coming,” Aern said, and the image of Morgan—dark suit and malicious smile as he walked into the Council’s main hall—swam in my vision. We only had minutes. They were all there, Seth, Kara, Wesley, they’d not gotten free from the building before the warning came, before Morgan had decided to make his move.
“They can’t fight him,” I said, gaze going to Aern. “Stop them.”
A quick nod answered my warning, and I realized there were other men, waiting for Aern’s instruction. He barked an order and a wiry man with dark blue eyes disappeared, the beat of his steps dissolving into the hallway. Two more stood there, armed and ready.
“He’ll approach at the west entrance,” I said. “If they try to stop him,” my eyes cut to Logan, to Emily, “he’s got explosives. Fire.” The sway.
Aern’s gaze was unflinching. “And if we let him come?”
I bit my lip, took Emily’s hand. “I just need to find it. The one last piece.”
He nodded. “The walls are stronger in the central rooms. We should wait there.” My pulse skipped, the tempo giving me strength I knew I didn’t have. He was taking us to the main hall, the one from my vision. This was it.
The four of us moved through the corridor, Aern’s men rushing forward and behind, packs of soldiers that could do nothing to prevent this attack, and I held Emily’s hand, searching for the link that would free her power. Aern would delay things as long as possible, I knew that. He’d do whatever it would take to give us that time.
But if it didn’t work, it was Emily that would pay the price.
Logan’s hand went to his ear, the small device back in place. “He’s on Langhorn, cutting over to Thompson. There’s a group moving in from the east as well, and three more waiting for the go-ahead.”
“How many?” Emily asked, steeling herself for what was about to come, for the numbers we’d be facing.
Logan looked at her, jaw tight, and it was answer enough.
Too many.
The men in front of us turned, a dark mass of cargo pants and business suits. No one had expected this, not yet. They only needed a little more time; they weren’t ready. We weren’t ready.
I glanced up and the vaulted ceiling seemed too far away, the crossing timbers creating lines and shapes that hurt my head. I had to close my eyes again, squeezing tight until the white washed walls from my vision were gone, until none of it remained. This was now. This was me.
Emily bumped me with an elbow and I nodded, shoulders straightening as I focused anew. I scanned the room, a large, open area with tables scattered near the outer walls. Narrow windows sat high on the walls to our right, the atrium apparently taller than the rest of the structure, and a massive arched entryway centered the wall opposite us, where Morgan and his men would be coming in. The wood floor stretched toward it, dark birch planks stained with age, giving the room the feel of money, of power.
The Council’s men and Division soldiers began to file in behind us. They knew what they were risking, what Morgan was capable of, and they knew the alternative, knew how it would end. The room was silent, each of them standing in wait as time crept away. He would be joined with the others now, all of them converging at once. It wouldn’t be long. Minutes. Seconds.
There was a shifting in the crowd, a subtle brush of cloth. The sudden intake of breath. I glanced at Logan, searching for an answer, and could see that he was listening, that some news was coming through the device. His fist tightened, the corner of his eye flinched. A few of the others, random faces in the crowd and men that I recognized from the earlier meeting, looked suddenly sick, or in pain.
“What’s happening?” Emily whispered.