“Even in those first days when I didn’t want to see it or feel it, I couldn’t stop seeing, feeling that beauty, that light.”

“You saw the world.” And more, Lana realized. “A world that’s not just war and loss, battles and blood.”

“I want to show you. One day I have to show you. You showed me,” she said to her parents. “With books, even the DVDs, with stories and maps. But…”

“Being there’s different,” Simon commented. “It’s more.”

“So much more. I saw a world that offers everything for the body, the mind, the spirit, if we just…”

She turned to Mallick, flicking fingers at the bangs she’d carelessly trimmed with her combat knife in a cave in the Anhui province of China.

“You can’t see if you don’t look. How many times did you say that to me? You told me how you’d traveled the world, but I didn’t look so didn’t see you’d traveled it to know it, understand it, honor it.”

“So now you’ve looked.”

“Now I’ve looked,” she agreed. “And I see. The treasures, the dreams, the dangers, the glorious diversity of the world and those who live in it. She’s a generous mother who offers all we need, and she’s a child who needs our tending and care.”

She reached out to Simon. “You always knew that. Always respected, always tended. And you knew the world was worth fighting for.”

“So have you, baby. You just needed a break.”

“You were right about that, too. I wanted the three of you, my teachers, to know what I learned from you got me through. Because it did, once I looked, once I saw, once I started thinking clearly again, I spent more time studying where I was, thinking about where I’d been.”

She got up to get the coffeepot, add more to the mugs. Because it was time, again, to speak of war.

“Here’s a vital bit of that observation. There are skirmishes in Europe, in Asia, Africa, and so on. Small bands, well scattered, not particularly organized. Like here, there are people working to rebuild, to communicate, to connect, or those who prefer more isolation. But the dark magicks are barely a presence. Some Raider-like tribes, but that’s more the ugly side of human nature, and there’s strong resistance there.”

She scooped up more breakfast. “Unlike here, there’s no sense of constant battle, no serious concentration of the dark. It’s here, concentrated, because I am. We are.”

“But in Scotland, you found what you believe is the source,” Lana said. “And the broken shield.”

“It’s waiting there; it feeds there. It needs to be near the damaged shield because that feeds it, too. That’s a theory, but it rings for me. It’s where we need to destroy it. The dark’s focused its forces here to try to kill me and mine, to eradicate any threat. Once eradicated, it can move on to the next shield, do the same until there’s nothing left. It also keeps us focused here, fighting those forces.”

“And keeps you from taking the fight to it.”

Fallon nodded at her father. “Just exactly right. We’ve still got work to do before we move on that, but once you know the enemy’s tactics—”

“You know how to adjust your own,” Simon finished.

“You got it. We’re going to keep them really busy, deplete their numbers. The PWs may not be destroyed, but they’re severely damaged after last night. They might lift up another leader, but they’ll be weak and scattered and shaken by Arlys’s broadcast.”

“You could see that on Rove’s face,” Lana said. “You could see the shock, not shame but shock, when Allegra shed the mask, when he realized he’d been duped.”

“He can spend the rest of his life in prison thinking about being duped.” Fallon shrugged that off.

“A lot of them will crawl back into their holes, demoralized.” Simon gestured with his mug. “Some will try to hide or remove the PW tats, pretend they had no part in it. And some will try to rally. But they’ll never be the threat they were.” Fallon lifted her mug in turn—soldier to soldier. “We’ll run them to ground when we need to. We’ve been finding and taking out the confinement camps, the labs, and we won’t stop until we get them all. There’s no one in charge there with Hargrove locked up. We’re not, as we were, fighting on multiple fronts. But…”

She kept her eyes on her father. “I think we should form specialty teams to work on mopping them up. Forces geared toward hunting them down, the PWs, the militias, taking them out. And we do that before they can recover or regroup.”

“That’s good adjusted tactics.”

“Will you head that up? Refine the training wherever you think it needs to be refined, and take command of that team?”

“You know I will.”

“When he goes, I go.” Knowing her man, Lana held up a hand to ward off Simon’s argument. “They’ll need a healer, and a witch, and I’m both. If the kids needed me here, I’d stay here. They don’t. I go where you go. That’s it, Simon.”

“Don’t pull the that’s it—”

“Did. What’s next, Fallon?”

“We’re going to talk later,” Simon muttered.

“Fine. Next?”

“Okay. Next is a small, special group that can be ready to mobilize and flash out anytime we get word of a Raider camp or attack. I’m going to ask Poe to head that. A third team should be ready to bug out if we learn of any confinement centers or labs we’ve missed. Starr and Troy, I thought. And on all of these, I’d expect our allies to give support if needed. I’ll speak with Vivienne, firm that up.”

She looked over at Mallick, calmly eating his omelette, a slice of toast with damson jam, the pretty fruit compote.

“You’ll need other specialty armies, feeding out of your established bases,” he said as he ate. “Not exclusively magickals, but primarily.”

“Yes. I intend to spend time at every base helping with training.”

“And would like me to do the same—and with less time here to enjoy your mother’s excellent cooking.”

Gray threaded through his hair, and creases had deepened around his eyes, his mouth. She wished she could give him his cottage, his bees—just as she wished she could give her parents the farm.

But the world needed them.

“I’ll make it up to you. I’ll be asking Duncan to rotate, too. I’d like to keep Tonia and Travis here—they’re so solid at the barracks. And as New Hope’s already dealt with three attacks by Petra or her parents, I think we need to keep the others right here, to defend. When Petra finds out—and she may know already—I killed Allegra, she may launch another attack on New Hope. We should stay on high alert.”

“As should you,” Mallick added. “We had Allegra in our midst, and yet none of us saw beneath her false face. Not one of us saw through the disguise of White.”

“She used all she had,” Fallon told him. “For the disguise, to hide under it.”

“Max hurt her. Hurt her and Eric,” Lana said, “in the mountains before we came to New Hope. And after the attack here, I hurt them. Then you, Fallon. You added to that. She never recovered, not fully.”

“That’s right.” It was just, Fallon thought, that the damage to Allegra’s power had started with Max. As it had been just for her father to have ended Eric.

“It’s why she couldn’t attack, why she was weak when she did. It’s why she’s dead.”

“She should have held it until she was away from you,” Lana said. “She should’ve held that mask in place until she was in prison. The damage she might have done once inside to guards and security. But she couldn’t wait. She didn’t have the control to wait with you so close. Petra has more power and more control.”

“It won’t be enough.” Fallon reached over to rub the back of her mother’s hand. “I’ll take care of the dishes. And rather than ask the commanders here, I’m going to talk to them all individually, at their bases, which also gives me the chance to apologize to each individually.”

“Then if Fallon’s got KP, I’m going to walk over to the barracks. I’ve got a few in mind for the specialty force you’re after. That was great, babe. Thanks.” Simon kissed the top of Lana’s head after he pushed back from the table. “We’re still going to talk later.”

“Uh-huh.”

“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go with Simon. I have a few to consider as well. Thank you, Lana, for the meal.”

“You’re always welcome at our table.”

When they were alone, Fallon shifted to her mother. “Before I start the KP, I’ll start with the apology.”

“There’s no need. Your dad talked to me about it so I understood. I truly did. And everything you said here?” She sighed. “What mother doesn’t want her child to see the world, and all its wonders?”

“I want to take you. I want everyone I love to pick a spot so I can take you where you most want to go.”

“Won’t that be an adventure?” Brows arched, she ran a hand over Fallon’s hair. “Combat knife trim?”

Fallon brushed a hand through it in turn. “Is it that bad?”

“Hmm” was Lana’s answer before she laughed. “So … instead of an apology, I’m hoping you’ll tell me about the ring you’re wearing. I’d always imagined you’d be full of excitement when you told me you were engaged.”

“I didn’t want to say anything until it was just you and me.”

“Now it is.”

“It’s really more of a promise. I think, in some ways, we’ve been engaged since before either of us was born. But this is the promise, and the choice for both of us. And I am excited.” She thrust out her hand, and for a moment, a precious one to Lana, was just a young woman in love. “Isn’t it beautiful?”