There was no point in getting upset about waking up in bed alone. I knew Drake wanted to let me sleep and rest as much as I could. Besides, by the looks of it, the sun had set some time ago, so he was probably out hunting. Which was good, because I had too much on my mind, and I hadn’t been alone in a while to process it all. But before that, I needed some sustenance.

I put on a simple dress and dragged my bare feet to the kitchen. Thankfully, there was no one there. In silence, I followed Bagatha’s instructions and made more of her tonic. Only when that was done and I had taken a seat at one of the island’s stools, did I let my mind wander through all the crazy thoughts crowding my brain.

Drake and I shared a bond—the immortal vow.

I wasn’t the witch queen.

I was pregnant.

The baby in my belly was the witch queen. More than that, she was Queen of All Witches.

If I didn’t die during the pregnancy, I would die during childbirth.

I knew all things connected, like a game of dots, but it was still too much.

Despite it all, I had to be logical here: I knew Drake wouldn’t give up on finding a way for me to live, but we couldn’t count on that. As far as we knew, I was going to die. So, what were my options here? We could hide until I had the baby. Then, Drake would be left alone to raise a powerful witch. They would have to hide until our daughter was old enough, strong enough, to fight Morda. That could take decades, and the chances of Morda finding them in that span of time was high.

My other choice was to go after Morda now. I could drink Bagatha’s tonic and some other energizing potions I knew, and using the last of my power, I could kill Morda myself, before my daughter was born.

The easiest way to do that was to sneak into DuMoir Castle while everyone was sleeping and kill Morda. It wouldn’t be easy, but with the right timing and a good amount of luck, it could be done.

“What are you thinking?”

I blinked and turned to see Luana entering the kitchen. As usual, she wore leather pants and a loose tunic over some kind of sports bra. Her long light brown hair fell down her back in a thick braid.

“Nothing,” I lied.

Frowning, Luana grabbed a carton of juice from the fridge, a glass from the cabinet, then she sat beside me. “Fine, don’t tell me. After all, I’m a traitor, am I not? Who would trust me?”

“Don’t say that. You wouldn’t be here if we didn’t trust you.” I took a sip of the tonic. “Besides, as I see it, you didn’t betray them. They betrayed you.”

She let out a long breath. “That’s how I want to see it too.”

“Don’t worry. You don’t need them. We are here with you. We’re like a cool mix of covens and packs. More like a family, really.”

She glanced at me, her hazel eyes searching mine. “Since you’re family, let me ask you, how are you?”

My shoulder deflated. “I’m not sure,” I confessed. “At first, I was shocked I’m pregnant. But now all I can think of is that I’m gonna die and leave this child without a mother.” I scoffed. “Which is funny, right, since I barely had a mother to begin with.”

“Weren’t you close to your mother? What happened to her?”

“I was never close to her. Witches aren’t close to each other, outside of ranking. We’re raised as if we were in a magical boarding school with severe punishment for each infraction and rule broken.” I shrugged. “She was just another witch, though sometimes she yelled at me more than the others because she had birthed me. When I was five, I think, she got pregnant again, but she died halfway through the pregnancy.” I paused, remembering those days. “I didn’t feel much other than the sorrow of losing another witch.”

“I’m sorry,” Luana whispered.

“I didn’t have a good role model, and I always thought I wouldn’t care for kids, because that was how I was raised. Isn’t it funny I now want to be here for my daughter? I want to protect her, to teach her, to see her grow?”

Luana’s usually guarded eyes softened. “It makes complete sense. You’re a different witch, a good witch, and that’s why you’ll make a great leader.”

I snorted. “I don’t want to be a leader, to be honest. I just want a better world for all of us.”

“That won’t happen without a great leader, and I see two in this house: Drake and you. I can’t think of a better couple to lead all supernaturals.”

My brows curled. “That won’t be easy, and as it is, Drake will have to rule alone.”

“He’ll find a way to save you.”

I was sure he would try with all his might. I wasn’t sure he would succeed. Of course I didn’t want to die, but I would feel better if Morda had been defeated by the time I did. And there was only one way to do that.

“You’re deep in thought again,” Luana said. “There’s something else bothering; I can see it.”

I stared at Luana. In the past month, she had been a good friend, even with her explosive werewolf temper. I would dare say she had gotten closer to me than to Drake since we moved to the mansion, even though he had brought her in. If I told her about my plan, would she tell Drake? I had had bad experiences revealing too much to others in the past—Ebby had betrayed me to Morda, and because of her I had lost my coven’s heart.

But Luana was different, wasn’t she? She had felt the pain of betrayal. She wouldn’t do that to anyone.

“I’m thinking about sneaking into DuMoir Castle and killing Morda,” I confessed in a low voice.

Luana’s eyes widened. Her silence made my stomach contract. By all that was sacred, she would tell Drake. She would let him know, and then he would be all over me like a mother hen and I would never get the chance to—

“Sounds like a good plan,” she finally said.

My jaw fell open. “W-what?”

One corner of Luana’s lips curled up. “I get it. You’re trying to stop Morda now, because once she learns about your daughter, she won’t stop. She’ll come after you stronger than ever. And the longer it goes on, the weaker you’ll be. To have any chance to take her down, you have to act now.” My jaw was still open. “I’ll help you, but I have a request.”

I forced my mouth closed. “What is it?”

“Yesterday the warlock told us the witches are working with the werewolves, which means Ulric is probably at Castle DuMoir with Morda.” The glint in her eyes darkened. “Help me take him down, too.”

That would be harder. As a werewolf, Ulric had heightened senses, and he wouldn’t be alone—his betas would be with him all the time. But … if we devised a plan to get him alone and kill him, it would be a step ahead in this damned war. Without a leader, the witches, the werewolves, and the vampires would fall into chaos. They would be too preoccupied with each other to find a new leader for each coven or pack, which would give us time to hide in peace during my pregnancy.

We had been fighting for order and fair rules for so long, it actually hurt to consider ensuing more chaos. But it was darkest before the dawn.

After birth … I didn’t want to think about what came then. Not right now.

One step at a time.

And the next step was to kill Morda and Ulric.

“I’m in.”

Luana stood. “Then, if you’re feeling well, I suggest we go now. Like I said, you’ll only get weaker as the pregnancy progresses, and as far as I can tell, Drake went hunting and the warlock is sleeping. They won’t be able to stop us if they don’t see us leaving.”

She was right, of course. I looked down at my bare legs. I needed to change first. Even so, that would take only a couple of minutes. I downed the rest of the tonic and stood beside her. “Meet me in the back in ten minutes.”