“Hoyt and I can look,” Glenna said.

“I’ll want you to, but looking isn’t enough.” Moira continued to eat. “We need to gather reports from those who survived.”

“If they did.”

She looked at Larkin and felt what he felt. The constant thrum of fear for Oran.

“If they did,” she repeated.

“If she’d wiped out the base,” Cian put in, “the messenger she sent would have bragged about it, and likely she’d have sent more bodies.”

“Aye, I can see that. But to keep what she accomplished from happening again, we’ll want to add reinforcements.”

“You want us to go by dragon.” Larkin nodded. “That’s why you asked if they were ready to be ridden.”

“As many as can be used for this. Those who must go on foot or horseback from here will, from today on, be watched over by riders in the air. If you, Larkin, and Blair could go this morning, take a small number with you. On dragon-back, you can travel to all the bases, transport more weapons, more men, see to the reports and what you think must be done when you see for yourself where we stand. You could be back before nightfall, or failing that, stay at one of the bases until the morning.”

“You’re cutting too many of us out by sending two,” Cian interrupted. “And I should be the one to go.”

“Hey.” Blair wagged a piece of soda bread. “How come you get to have all the fun?”

“Practicalities. First, all but Glenna and I have seen some of the ground of or near the battlefield firsthand. It’s time I got the lay of it. Second, with that bloody cloak, I can start the journey during the day, but I can travel more quickly and more safely than any of you at night. And being a vampire myself, I’ll recognize signs of them quicker than even our resident demon hunter.”

“He makes a good argument for it,” Larkin pointed out.

“I’ve been planning to go, nose around a bit in any case. So this will kill all the birds with one stone. And the last of it, I think we can all agree, the mood here would settle if I wasn’t around.”

“She was out of line,” Blair muttered.

Cian shrugged, knowing she spoke of Tynan’s mother. “All a matter of perspective—and where you draw that line. Time’s getting short, and one of us should be on the battleground, particularly at night when Lilith might be scouting around herself.”

“You don’t mean to come back,” Moira said slowly.

“There’s no point in it.” Their eyes met, held, and said a great deal more than words. “One of the men can come back with your reports and so on. And I’d fill in the rest of it when all of you arrive.”

“You’ve already decided this.” Moira watched his face carefully. “I see. We’re a circle here, equal links. For such a decision, I think we should all have a say. Hoyt?”

“I don’t like any of us going off without the others, truth be told. But it needs to be done, and Cian makes the most sense of it. We can watch as we watched when Larkin went to the caves back in Ireland. If need be we can intervene.” He looked at his wife. “Glenna?”

“Yes. Agreed. Larkin?”

“The same. With one change in it. I think you’re wrong, Cian, to say we’d be cutting it too thin to send two out. I think no one goes on their own. I can get you there in dragon form. And,” he continued before there were objections, “I’m more experienced with the dragons than you, should there be any trouble with them, or the enemy. So I’m saying we go together, you and I. Blair?”

“Damn it. Dragon-boy’s right. You may move faster alone, Cian, but you’re going to need a dragon wrangler to get there, especially if you’re leading men.”

“Yes, it’s smarter.” Glenna considered. “All around smarter. It gets my vote.”

“And mine as well,” Hoyt said. “Moira?”

“Then that’s what we’ll do.” She got to her feet knowing she was sending the two men she loved most away from her. “The rest of us will finish the weapons, secure the castle and follow in two days.”

“Big push.” Blair considered, nodded. “We can do it.”

“Then we will. Larkin, I’ll leave it to you to pick the dragons for this, and to you and Cian to pick the men.” Moira laid it out in her mind, the overview, the details. “I’ll want Niall left back, if you will, to go at the end of it with the rest of us. I’ll go now, see to the supplies you’ll need.”

W hen she’d done all she could, and hoping she was calm, Moira went to Cian’s bedchamber. She knocked, then opened the door without waiting for his response. With the curtains drawn there was barely enough light to see, so she flicked her hand, her power toward a candle. The way the flame spurted warned her she wasn’t as calm as she’d hoped.

He continued to pack what he wanted to take in a duffle.

“You said nothing of these plans to me.”

“No.”

“Were you going to leave in the night, with no word?”

“I don’t know.” He stopped, looked at her. There were a great many things he couldn’t give her, or ask of her, he reflected. At least honesty was a quality they could share.

“Yes, at least initially. Then you came to my door one night, and my plans changed. Or, they were postponed.”

“Postponed.” She nodded slowly. “And when Samhain’s come and gone, will you leave without a word?”

“Words would be useless, wouldn’t they?”

“Not to me.” There was panic rising up in her at the knowledge they were moving toward the end. How could she not have known that was waiting in her to push its way out and choke her? “Words would be precious to me. You want to leave. I can see it. You want to go.”

“I should have gone before. If I’d been quicker, I’d have been out the door and gone before you came to me. You’d be better off for it. This... with me. It’s no good for you.”

“How dare you? How dare you speak to me like a child who wants too many sweets? I’m sick to death of being lectured on what I should think, feel, have, do. If you want to go, you’ll go, but don’t insult me.”

“My going has nothing to do with what’s between us. It’s just something that has to be done. You agreed, and so did the rest.”