“You are no God,” Demtra’s cold-sounding voice flitters through my mind as I open my eyes and see my own bedroom, but it’s from the past, when it was my grandmother’s bedroom. Elissa’s body is on the ground where I have a rug now, blood pouring out of her mouth and stomach. I look up to see Demtra and the demon king standing close together, just outside the door. The demon king has some kind of white ward wrapped around his body, so he can’t move, and only his head is visible.

“Does it matter? Your poor, little sister is dead, all her mates are dead, and I’m going to find my daughter,” the demon king sneers, and Demtra laughs.

“It does matter,” she says and lifts the silver circle that opened the portal and drops it on the floor between them. The demon screams as Demtra slams a dagger into her stomach and falls to the ground, her blood slowly making its way to the silver circle. When it touches it, the blue portal opens, spreading and pulling the demon king into it as he screams but he can’t move because of the white ward. There’s silence as the blue portal sinks back into the silver circle, and Demtra picks it up. I try to move closer, but as usual, I can’t do anything but watch.

“Only one of my blood can open it. Only my blood can close it, it can only be closed with a death,” she says, her hand glowing white over the silver ring, and it’s clear that her words are a spell of some kind. That they are meant to stop anyone using it to bring the demon king back, but it’s too late for that. There’s only one person who can die to close it now, and that’s me. There isn’t anyone else with her blood left.

“No,” I shout, watching as she dies, and her lifeless eyes meet mine. I glance between Elissa and Demtra, seeing them both dead and knowing all of the ancestors are dead in this castle too. So much death, and for what? For me to just open the portal and let him back in, it feels like I’m repeating the same mistakes that my family did before me. As the silence of the castle, and the death around me hits me, all I want to do is wake up, but I can’t. I watch as a girl runs into the room, her brown hair is curly, and I would guess she is a vampire from how pale she is.

“Demtra, Elissa . . .,” the woman says, walking slowly into the room with tears falling down her face.

“It’s too late, I’m too late,” the woman whispers, falling to her knees and taking the silver circle off Demtra.

“Erina,” a man with curly, blond hair says as he runs into the room and stops at the sight of the bodies and Erina on her knees. I watch as she closes Demtra’s eyes and stands up, holding a hand up to stop the man from walking over to her.

“We have her child, and we will keep her safe, you knew we wouldn’t be able to save her Erina.”

“Let’s go back to Isa and your mates, it’s too late.” I hear them talking about my mother, as everything goes black.

* * *

“Sleepy head, time to wake up,” Dabriel whispers in my ear, and I snuggle myself further into his side. For a moment, I forget everything we have to worry about and just lie with my mate, after a long night of settling angels into the castle. But, that doesn’t last long as the memories of the war that is coming and the dream haunts my mind. I know it’s me that has to die to stop this, there isn’t any other way. How am I going to get close enough to the portal and get the demon king through it? I can’t use my power like Demtra did and bind him.

“How are we going to survive this?” I whisper, looking up at Dabriel as he leans over me. The morning light casts a light around his body, and his white hair seems almost too bright to look at. He is amazing to look at, I could spend hours looking at him.

“Together. We will make it,” he tells me and kisses my forehead. I push him back on the bed and climb over him as I kiss him. He groans when I deepen the kiss, and his hands slide up my back, before he shifts us on the bed until I’m underneath him, and I push down his trousers, feeling that he has nothing else on. Dabriel rips my long shirt off me and starts kissing down my neck, to my breasts and spends his time running his hands all over me before kissing me again and sliding inside me.

“Dabriel,” I moan out when he moves fast, every thrust getting me closer to the edge and Dabriel shocks me by rolling us, until I’m on top. He lets me take control as I lean up and he runs his hands over me, pushing me closer. When I speed up, and he groans, I know he is close, and he rolls us once more, taking over and we finish seconds after each other only a few moments later.

“I love you, Winter,” Dabriel says gently as we both get our breaths back.

“I love you too Dab, I always will.”

“You sound like you’re going somewhere, when there is no chance I’m letting you go,” Dabriel says, and I wrap my arms around his chest as he pulls me to his side. He has no idea, I don’t want to go, but I know only a death will win this war, and I won’t let the past repeat itself. My mates won’t die for me.

* * *

“Good morning, lass,” Jaxson says when I walk out of the bedroom after having a long shower with Dabriel. Dabriel kisses my cheek as he shuts my bedroom door and walks down the surprisingly quiet corridor.

“Morning to you, too,” I laugh as Jaxson pulls me close and kisses me.

“You’re glowing a little this morning,” he says.

“I had a good sleep, wolfman,” I tell him, avoiding saying the wakeup call was better, and he laughs.

“I heard,” he says and nods his head towards his own room which is next door to mine. I don’t reply, only blush. I don’t know why the thought of him hearing me and Dabriel makes me blush, but it does. Damn, these hot mates of mine.

“Any more dreams, lass?” Jaxson asks me, thankfully changing the subject.

“No. Nothing unusual,” I reply, remembering the dream I had before the demon king took me and what my mum said about Lily, the fray queen. I need to tell everyone that they might not be helping us at all, and we need to plan for that. I know it was stupid to make that deal and I was played by that damn fairy. She used my need for a connection to my birth mum to make her seem like a friend to me, when she wasn’t. It was smart, but I need to be smarter now. I have four races of people and family I want alive after this war.

“I need to speak to you, and everyone important to the war. I have things about the war I need to tell you all,” I tell him, he briefly frowns but nods.

“Come on then, there’s a conference room that we use to talk,” Jaxson says and links our fingers as we walk down the corridor. We pass a lot of people, and all of them bow their heads to us as we pass. It used to be weird for me, but I’ve grown to accept who I am now, I’m not that normal girl who wanted to be a vet. I can’t be her anymore, it just isn’t in my future. As we pass the different kinds of people, it’s strange to see how they have adapted to living together, how they walk past each other like they would pass any normal person in the street. I think every wolf, witch, angel, and vampire here have lost a lot, and that binds people together, any kind of people. Jaxson leads me through the castle and towards the back, which I’ve not been to before, and we get to a set of three doors. There’s a door that leads outside, but Jaxson opens one of the doors for me, and I walk in.

“I will go and get people, be right back,” Jaxson says and leaves me in the massive room. The room has a giant, round table in the middle, made out of a dark wood. There are three large windows that overlook the forest, and there is a big whiteboard on the one wall. I look at the dozens of seats around the table, and the only thought that goes through my mind is the old fairy tale my mum used to tell me about Arthur and the round table. Except this isn’t a fairy tale, and my mum isn’t here to tell me that story anymore. A loud purr grabs my attention, and I look over to see both Jewels and Mags sitting near the windows. These two used to scare me in their real forms, with no glamours to make them look like normal house cats, but now I know they wouldn’t hurt me. There’s also the fact that there are far scarier things out there than two cats who love shiny things and magazines. I walk over and try not to laugh at Jewels who has one large paw on top of a familiar box. My crown.

“Are you keeping it safe for me?” I ask, and Jewels gives me a look that suggests I’m not getting it back. Mags walks over and pushes herself against me, and I stroke her head. Atti loves these two, they are part of him in a way. Or, that’s what he has tried to explain to me. Not many familiars survived the attacks on the witches’ city, or I haven’t seen many around the castle. There was a polar bear that I walked past yesterday and tried not jump. Just a random polar bear walking past me, no big deal.

“After everything happens, he will need you.” I tell them both, and they seem to understand as they both stare at me. I wonder how intelligent they both are as I look at them, they almost seem sad. I turn and look out the window, watching the breeze move the dozens of different trees in the forest, and the mountains you can see in the background. I don’t know how far the trees go on for. They seem to stretch on and on, making them seem endless and beautiful. I look down when I hear some shuffling to see Jewels pick up the box in her large mouth and bring it over to me, dropping the box gently on my feet.

“It’s time I wore this, huh?” I ask Jewels, who tilts her head to the side. I lean down and pick the box up, hearing the door open slightly, and I turn to see Milo fly into the room. Milo lands on top of the box and looks up at me.

“Hey, Milo, you look nice today. Very Robin Hood,” I chuckle, seeing the strange, green leather outfit, and he even has a fake bow on his back. I will admit it’s likely the cutest thing I’ve seen, but he has a serious face which is unusual for him.

“Crown keep you safe from blood.”

“From blood? Do you mean my demon blood? Safe from the king?” I ask him, and he nods his head with a big smile replacing the frown. I wonder if it’s true, but why wouldn’t my mum have used it to keep herself safe? I don’t have to think of the answer long because I know, but it hurts to even think it. She didn’t use the crown because she gave it to my dad, for me. She let herself be taken, to keep me safe. My mum didn’t want him to know about the crown because she knew it could keep me safe one day. I lift the lid and stare down at the crown; the large white crystal in the middle and the four crystals encased around it in silver. Red for the vampires, green for the wolves, black for the witches, and the white stone for the angels. I lift the crown, feeling the power spreading through me, and I hear the door open, but I can’t look away from the crown as it lightly glows. It’s meant for me.

“Winter,” I hear someone say, but I close my eyes and place the crown on my head, feeling the power spread through me. When I open my eyes, the room is full of people. Every one of them bows their heads, except my mates who stand strong in a line by the door. They never need to bow to me, they are my equals, as I am theirs. Damn, this crown is so powerful that it floods my mind, making me want to destroy things. I glance down at my hand, seeing it glowing blue slightly and feel for my power, knowing it feels stronger for the extra boost the crown gives me.

“Winter, we don’t wear our crowns all the time because they are powerful, meant to be worn in war. They are meant to boost our powers and help us,” Atti says gently in my mind, using his gift to appear next to me. I don’t move as he takes the crown off me, and the power boost drifts away. I nod at Atti, just as he puts the crown into the box and closes it. Jewels slides between us as everyone comes further into the room and waits for me to say something.

After taking a deep breath, I say, “The crown makes sure the demon king can’t control me. I can fight him now, and I can win. My family hid this crown for me, the demon king doesn’t know of its existence. It was hidden with my human mother for years and only someone of my blood could open the box. We finally have a way to win, a way to beat him.”

The looks of relief around the room are clear. This has been a losing battle until now, we were just hoping for luck to win the war, but this is something else. This gives us a chance.

“You can’t fight him alone,” Atti says gently, looking down at me. I look at him before meeting everyone else’s eyes in the room.

“I won’t, but this is what I called you here for. Our first meeting of all the supernaturals, the first time we plan anything together. War is coming, and we need a united plan to win. There isn’t any other option, so sit or leave,” I say, and everyone takes a seat.