Royce stuck his bottom lip out in a pout but then he slammed two plants into the grounds like they were bombs. His magic rippled through the grass, then pierced the ground and embedded itself into the Unseelie’s legs. Royce didn’t hesitate and he didn’t miss a beat. He knew what to do as he threw his hands up and forced the Unseelies to lift into the air and flip upside down. He flicked his wrists, and more vines pierced through our enemies, ripping them into small pieces.

Royce turned to me and signed, “I need these.”

I smiled up at Everest. “Maybe we need a small Seelie garden for them to use until we eliminate the flea infestation?”

Everest smirked. “I’ll talk to Thorne.”

I opened my mouth to push for more information on that when Everest placed his hand over mine.

Without looking at me, he whispered, “Drop your wave.”

I listened. Obviously. My magic vanished the second I dropped my hands.

“Tegan, can you open the air just above us?” Everest glanced over his shoulder at them. “Tenn, keep that wind over the city.”

Tegan threw both hands up with rainbow mist swirling between her fingers. She waved her arms in the air in the shape of a tornado. Everest spoke in a language I didn’t know, but Braison, Malik, and Shi-Shi sprinted over to stand guard around Tenn and Tegan. Up ahead, Libby whispered to Deacon, who turned to her with a cocky smirk. They leapt behind a tree.

And then Everest vanished.

I hated the gasp that came out of me. But I also hated that he didn’t speak in full sentences. He didn’t think out loud. He didn’t tell us what his plan was since he clearly had one. I balled my hands into fists so tight I felt my fingernails pinch my palms. My Coven-mates had scattered around this clearing to guard the perimeter while Royce and Saffie had gone to work with their garden savagery.

Shadows slid overhead. I glanced up, then did a double take. Another dozen Unseelies were lowering into the clearing. I sucked in a deep breath and raised my hands. Saffie spotted them at the same time I did. She looked down at her empty hands, then flew on those wings made of starlight over to Royce. He turned to face her with wide sapphire eyes. His hands were also empty. They were out of ammunition. Saffie shouted something in a language I didn’t know, and not the same one Everest had used.

Tenn and Tegan were literally shaking with the desire to fight, but we couldn’t let them. I understood their side and Everest’s. We needed them to live to fight another day, and we weren’t in a position worth risking them. I pushed just enough magic out to make a circle around our little huddle, just in case.