by Chris Fox
Next to Jordan sat Leti, and Blair smiled when her hand found Jordan’s.
Blair raised both arms, and the crowd fell silent. He slowly lowered them, taking a deep breath. “Today was both horrible and miraculous. We lost many, as sister Elia said. But those who survived are stronger. We’ve learned to put aside differences—for deathless, champions, and unblooded to work together. We stopped Hades and his demons, showing them that we will not be taken easily. They are powerful, but together so are we.” He left out the part where Nox had gotten away.
And the part where Nox had probably created a Primary Access Key.
“Many threats still remain. Hades is in Cairo, squatting over the Ark of the Cradle. Sobek and his nameless master are in Australia, and they could decide to attack us at any time.” Blair stopped, considering his next words carefully. “I thought long and hard about telling you this next part, but you not only deserve to know, you need to. Hades works for the beings who built this city. They also built the Arks, and created the technology Isis used to create all of us. Those creators, we call them the Builders, will be returning soon. Their shock troops are already here.”
He raised his voice to a roar.
“Until now, we’ve been on the defensive—scattered groups just trying to hold onto what we have. That ends today. We are going to take the fight to our enemies. We didn’t ask for this war, but we are damned well going to win it.”
The crowd went berserk, and this time it didn’t take shaping from Trevor to make the applause echo.
Blair reveled in the collective joy, the relief they all felt at still being alive. He reveled in the power of this place, and the possibilities it offered.
Trevor had been quite clear. The city had somehow manipulated the flow of time, and they’d seen something similar when they’d light-walked from the exploding First Ark. Trevor believed that time was a signal, just like any other.
If that was true, then Blair had no doubt that Trevor would learn to master time travel. When he did, Blair already knew how he planned to use it.
If they were going to win this war, they needed to save the Mother.
