Siren and Rover held a meeting in the lodge, discussing the new variables in this war—the sister portals, the undead army's new recruits, and of course, my exceptional power to incapacitate the enemy.

As soon as my situation was revealed, the people standing within a two-foot radius of me moved the slightest bit away. A month ago, I probably would have loved that reaction—a people repellent. But now I just felt like a disease in shoes.

Fudge smiled and bumped me with his shoulder. "Relax," he said. "It's just new. New things are scary."

"I'm not scary."

His brow crinkled high on his forehead. "Alex, you cried, and an entire battalion dropped unconscious."

I let out a small snicker, bumping him back.

Fudge had been pretty shaken up this morning. He had a bad case of survivor's guilt, especially since I'd prohibited him from even stepping foot on the battlefield. He'd watched the horror unfold from the sidelines, and he'd apologized to me profusely for not jumping into save me before my brother. For not having the courage to try.

I'd silenced him with a tight, suffocating hug and forbid him from experiencing even an ounce of guilt.

"I've just received message that the demons have broken through Holly's curtain," Siren began. "The Interior's sentinels are trying to hold the city, but many civilians have yet to be evacuated, and the Pans have opened a portal in the heart of the business sector."

My last shred of hope snagged on her words.
They'd opened another possessing machine around people? Civilians?

Gritz. They didn't stand a chance.

It was becoming more and more apparent to me that this was not a war; it was a massacre, and an undisguised genocide.

"You'll help, won't you?" Claus asked. He'd been uncharacteristically quiet ever since we'd lost Sol, and his voice lacked its usual gruffness.

Siren nodded, though her dark eyes carried a shade of uneasiness. "Despite my grievances with the military, I would never turn my back on innocent people." She glanced at Rover. "That being said, I will not send my army blindly into a warzone. We'll take today to develop a plan of attack. We'll leave for Holly at first light."

The men and women in the tent expressed their solidarity, and I marveled at their cohesion. Will had told me that Siren's followers consisted of runaways, castaways, and trained warriors.  Men and women who'd escaped our authoritarian government to fight for a better future.  Together.

This tribe did not reflect the homogenous makeup of a platoon. These individuals did not have to pass a stupid test to prove their utility. They'd earned their places, and they'd gravitated toward a leader and a cause they believed in—united under one mind, one body, one heart.

This was an army.

Save but a few, Tom's soldiers were highly skeptical of Siren and her team. They couldn't wrap their heads around the reality of a woman leading a brigade and taking the credit of a famous male idol. They'd accepted that women could fight—superhuman women, at least. But lead? Bark orders? That was something else entirely.

I wanted to witness the moment their paradigms imploded.

Once Rover agreed to Siren's terms, we huddled around a long, wooden table with an Ellsian map engraved upon its surface.

The two leaders brainstormed different pathways into the city, discussing the most effective ways to halt the invasion and ensure the safety of Holly's citizens.

Rover's men offered up more traditional, army-sound solutions, while Siren's followers suggested more creative strategies drawn from their experience with guerrilla warfare. And it was hard to argue with a team of archers who'd immobilized the Interior Company in thirty seconds.

I watched in amusement as Rover moved markers and game pieces into position, only for Siren to shake her head and move them elsewhere. It was obvious the captain didn't know what to make of the woman, but he respected her input and sound judgement, which enabled them to form the bones of a half-decent plan.

When the meeting adjourned for lunch, I approached the two leaders and crossed my arms over my chest. "So where do I come in?"

Rover spun on me. "You aren't going anywhere until we figure out exactly what you're capable of. If you lose control again—"

"I was emotionally distraught," I dismissed.

"All the more reason for you to stay behind." He lowered his voice. "What if you run into Tom again? How will he affect your judgment?"

"I can handle it."

"We can't risk it," he insisted. "Like it or not, Fuse, you're one of the most important assets to this war now. You're connected to everything that's happening, and I won't lose you." His eyes softened. "I can't."

I wilted under his sincerity.

Siren looked us over, smiling with her eyes. "I don't know, Captain. I have a hunch she's going to fight whether we permit it or not."

Fudge snorted, and I cut him a sharp glance.

"What? She's not wrong," he teased, slipping out the door before I could knock him to the ground.

"He's right, Alex," Siren said. "You are important. And you'll need to train, become stronger and more knowledgeable about your ability before you take it to the field. Your connection to the supernatural may just prove the key to our triumph. Having said that," she concluded, a mischievous glint in her eye, "you can't cage a bird and ask it to fly."

Rover's jaw dropped several inches. Almost as far as mine.

"Really? I can go?"

"It's up to your superior officer, of course. But we'll need every fighter we have. And a fighter with a passion is twice as deadly." She gave Rover a meaningful look and walked away.

He glared after her. "Who does she think she—"

"Rover," I soothed, stepping closer. "I just want to be there. I'm not going to charge into battle, okay? I don't want to kill anyone, not when I know they're still human."

Witnessing Tom's turning only hardened my resolve. I knew in my heart the Pans harbored victims, helpless and very much alive. I'd felt it in their memories at Yellow Valley, in the demon's mind by the river. And I wouldn't murder another one—I refused to murder someone's Tom.

"That's what worries me," Rover said. "You're trying to save everyone. That's just not possible in war."

I touched his arm, and he didn't shy away from it. Knowing Rover, I wasn't sure why I thought he would. "At least let me carry out part of the plan. The last thing I want to feel right now is useless."

He considered me carefully, and after a few seconds, he visibly deflated. "You're just as stubborn as your brother, you know that?"

"Supposedly, we get it from our mom."

He cracked a smile, but it was a bit broken, a little chipped, and nothing like it had once been.

"Fine." He looked out at the camp, then back at me. The waters in his eyes had grown choppy, waves drained of color, crests breaking to form whitecaps—like a sea before the storm. "I need you to come up with a way to destroy the portal."

I struggled to bury my elation and profound relief. "Nothing extravagant, I take it?"

He chuckled. "Are you kidding? I'm choosing you for a reason, Fuse."