The day passed way too quickly. I spent it running around Anchorage. Jennifer needed my help explaining the situation to a group of skeptical Enforcers. Zain and I started to fortify City Hall by barricading back doors and forcing bystanders out. Then I did my best to try and prepare the willing Enforcers by explaining Dani's tactics and how powerful her allies were.

   The next day was spent evacuating houses and businesses. Everyone that wasn't an Enforcer was forced into the three bunkers Anchorage had. We couldn't let them out of the city, in case the Dark Stars were watching. Tate informed me that Anchorage's barrier also cast an illusion over the city -- those with ill intentions couldn't see what we were doing on the inside. Our actions were completely undetectable.

   Anchorage was scarily silent. Over ten thousand people had been evacuated. Something that startled me was that the Anchorage I knew about had over two hundred thousand people in it. According to Tate, that was the illusion Anchorage. The actual town was a fraction of that size. 

   I spent Wednesday running around town. The majority of the people had no idea what was going on. We hadn't told them anything. In our attempt to keep our behaviors a secret, we'd actually forced the shut-down of the nearby cell tower. People couldn't text or post that we were preparing for Dani. She would have no idea that we were bracing for her hit.

   Thursday morning, I awoke around four in the morning to sharp prickles running down my back and arms. The moment my eyes opened, I realized what day it was.

   Thursday. I had eight hours until Dani and the Dark Stars arrived, expecting to take the city.

   The two days had gone by too fast. My heart thundered in my chest. Despite myself, I was nervous. This day was going to mark the end of this fight. Either way it turned out, it was ending. 

   Now that I was facing it, I didn't feel ready. I was still technically an apprentice. This time, I'd be facing Dani with the actual intention to fight. No more excuses. I had my staff. I was prepared. This would be the time I faced her, and it was without Alexie. 

   Tate must've woken up. He rolled over. Fingers brushed my back. The sheets shifted. "Roxie?" He murmured sleepily.

   Tate and I had decided to share a bed for the night. I didn't want to admit it, but it was partly because a small part of me feared that I wouldn't get the chance again. I wondered if he felt the same way.

   "Go back to sleep, Tate."

   "Why're you up?" He yawned. "Your heart rate is pretty speedy, considering how early it is."

   Color flushed up my cheeks. My fingers twisted themselves. "You know why."

   "Yeah, I do." He gently pulled on my wrist. I relented, rolling back over to face him. His face was lined from the pillow's wrinkles. "We've got this. Besides, you've got your magic back."

   "What?" I looked at my hand, startled. My mental reach stretched back and was met with a humming. It vibrated in my skull, almost playing a happy tune -- as if the magic was happy to be back. Crimson dripped from my fingers. "How the hell did you know that?" The relief that hit me was like a bucket of warm water being dumped over my head.

   "Your scent shifted." He stretched. "Magic has a different scent. Yours is almost like smoke. It's been building all day." Tate's eyes opened again, crinkling into a soft smile. "I'm surprised you didn't feel it coming back."

   "I guess I was too distracted." I flexed my fingers, relieved. Golden sparks flew, lighting up the pillow. "Holy crap. I was starting to worry." Worry was an understatement

  "Is there any chance you're going to fall back asleep?"

   My look was enough. My brain was too wired to rest. Tate closed his eyes. "Figured as much."

   We waited a few hours before rising. The sun followed us shortly after. I took a shower first-thing. Tate stole the water directly afterwards. I picked up my clothes from the bed, staring at them.

   The day was cool. I had a feeling that I wouldn't care. I'd be too active to notice. But these clothes . . . if something went wrong, they could be the last set I ever wore. I had promised my father that I wouldn't let that happen -- that I'd see him again -- and we had all crafted extensive plans to take Dani down, but the thought nagged at me anyway.

   Way to be an optimist.

   An Enforcer had supplied Tate and I with clothes that would protect us a little. The dark brown pants had guards on the thighs and sides of the calves. Zain had demonstrated for us, showing how regular blade would not be able to puncture the shield. I was too small for any of the chest-guards, so I ended up accepting a tank top from Daneilla. The snug tan fabric would stay out of my way. The tanned skin on my arm gleamed in the lamp-light.

   My left arm still had the mark. The whole of the limb stood out like a sore thumb. But I was done hiding it. It was still unnatural to see my arm as if it had been dipped in the world's darkest paint, but I was done pretending that it wasn't there. By the end of the day, it'd either be gone or I'd be too dead to care.

   The black pants were a little constraining, but I understood why. I tested the shield on my thigh with a finger and found it to be solid. With the tank on, I accepted the pair of fingerless gloves a mage Enforcer had offered me. "It helps with gripping your staff," she'd told me. "When your hands are slick."

   With blood, she meant. 

  My hands were starting to tremble a little by the time Tate changed clothes. I continued to braid my hair loosely. The tied-off end hung at the small of my back. I tied on my converse and paused. My left shoe still had teeth marks through the tongue. 

   Getting up, I snagged my staff from beside the bed. The doorway in the back of my head opened. Crimson magic seeped onto my hands. I pulled one hand back to stare at it. 

   Tate finished tying his boot and straightened up. His jaw was tight. Even he couldn't keep up the relaxed posture, anymore. I saw the signs of stress on his body. His knuckles were white.

   "Ready to go?" he asked softly.

   My lips pressed. I tossed the staff lightly up, allowing it to vanish into the gap. I nodded.