The next evening, everyone was supposed to meet at P & P. Connor shut the whole place down for the day. First, so that he and Claire could recover from their wounds, and second, so that I could thank everyone who had fought. Though the whole town of Elesius couldn’t attend, my mother and father managed.

We all walked toward the coffee shop together, along with Ares. The moon was full overhead, and the golden streetlamp illuminated the sidewalk.

“Did you lose many people?” I asked my mother. We hadn’t been able to talk after the battle because everyone had needed their wounds tended to, and I’d been worried.

“Only four,” my mother said.

My heart ached. If only I’d been faster. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. We know our duty.”

“That’s very stoic.”

She stopped, grabbing my arm so that I halted next to her, and smiled at me. “We’re stoic for an valuable cause. You performed admirably. You are truly worthy of your role, Phoenix.” Before I could thank her, she scowled. “But don’t go leaping through the air like that again.”

“I promise. I won’t. I really wasn’t a fan.” A laugh escaped me, and I met Ares’s eyes. He smiled, no doubt remembering that I’d puked as I’d said I would. “I don’t think heights are for me.”

“You’re a risk taker, Phoenix. It’s necessary when one has a role such as yours to perform. But be careful.” She hugged me. “We don’t want to lose you.”

I hugged her back, then hugged my father, who kissed the top of my head. Just being around my parents filled me with joy.

“Come on,” I said. “The party has started.”

We continued down the street, entering the cozy warmth of P & P to the sound of Connor’s music. Everyone was here, though most people sported bandages or braces. I still felt a little crappy myself, like I was one giant bruise that needed time to heal.

Ares pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Let me get you a drink. The usual?”

I smiled up at him. “You know me so well.”

He went to get me a bourbon, and I found Cass and Del in the middle of the room.

“Hey!” Del wrapped an arm around me and squeezed. “How are you?”

“Good. You?”

“All right. Healed up.”

“Same.” Cass smiled.

“Good.” I checked out the crowd.

The FireSouls were all here, but they weren’t dressed in their usual armor, thank fates. I didn’t want to see armor or weapons for at least twenty-four hours. Aerdeca and Mordaca wore their usual white and black outfits, while Bree and Ana wore their Mad Max attire like they were ready to jump back into battle at any moment. Even Jeff was over in the corner, back to his normal, small size.

Ares joined us, handing me my glass of Four Roses.

“You’re a hero,” I said.

“You too,” Del said. “Super brave, jumping off of Cass like that.”

Cass caught my eye. “Yeah, brave. But also an idiot.” She punched me lightly on the shoulder. “But you’re my kind of idiot.”

I laughed, then clinked my glass with her can of PBR. Del lifted her mug of boxed wine, tapping her glass to ours.

“I’m going to go say thank you to everyone,” I said. “Then we should meet with Alton to see what he has to say about Drakon.”

Cass nodded. “Good plan.”

I made my way into the crowd, stopping to thank everyone who’d fought at our side. The sight of their injuries made me wince, and the thought of the dead made me tear up, but I was so grateful for their help. I never could have done this alone.

I finished at the group of FireSouls, all of whom sat around Alton in the corner. The wound at his cheek was now a dashing scar.

He smiled. “Thanks for what you did back there.”

“Anytime.”

Ares joined me, and I reached for his hand. Cass and Del came to stand at our sides, along with Aidan and Roarke.

“Is there a chance you overheard anything from Drakon or his men?” I asked.

He grinned. “Didn’t hear anything. He was too smart to talk around me. But he abducted the wrong FireSoul.”

My heart beat faster. This was going to be good. I could just tell. “How so?”

“I’m a mind reader.”

“Oh, snap,” Del whispered.

“So you know that he wants to steal all the power from the last remaining dragons,” I said.

He nodded. “He was testing a spell that would help him do that. He’d never used it before and wanted to test it on people. He’d hoped to capture you as well, but I don’t think he expected you to go into the city. That upset his plan.”

“He didn’t realize I had a blade that would get me in.”

Alton shook his head. “He didn’t. Nor did he realize the blade could wound him. It saved your life.” He looked at Del and Cass. “And theirs. And mine.”

“So, we rescued you and saved the black orb, which is now locked up safely in the Vampire Realm, being studied by their smartest scholars. Does that mean he can’t deploy his spell against the dragons?” I phrased it as a question because it sounded too good to be true.

Alton frowned. “No. Unfortunately not. He proved his spell worked. Now he just needs to get another magical battery like the black gem.”

“Damn it.” I’d been expecting that—this wasn’t nearly over yet—but it still sucked. “Does he have another battery?”

“Not yet, but soon. There’s one other that he is trying to get, but he didn’t think about it in much detail. I’m not sure what it is, but I don’t think he has it quite yet.”

“But he’s on the path to finding it?” I asked.

“Yes.” Alton nodded. “And he’ll also hunt other FireSouls. He’ll need more of us to steal the power from the dragons.”

“So FireSouls have to be on the alert,” Ares said. “Keep to your realm where he can’t get to you. We’ll protect the ones on Earth.”

“There are more than we know about,” Cass said. “Not just us.”

“But he wants us for the final spell,” I said. “He may not threaten the others.”

“Then we’ll have to be careful,” Del said.

“We’ll help you,” Alton said. “However you need.”

Mordaca and Aerdeca joined us, coming to stand next to Corin and Fiona.

“You know we’re in,” Mordaca said.

“We can help, too,” Bree said.

Ana nodded.

My mother, who stood behind Bree, just smiled. I smiled back, knowing she’d be there for us. As would my father. Ares squeezed my hand.

My heart thumped in my chest. Everyone here was in this together. Despite the danger and the risk, they’d be there when I needed them. And I was going to need them. What we were facing… It was bigger than all of us alone. It didn’t matter if I was ready to fight what was coming, because it was coming whether I was ready or not. We may have beaten Drakon today, but there was a bigger fight waiting on the horizon tomorrow.