“Aye, Halálhívó,” they said in unison.

“You are dismissed,” I said, and they offered me a final salute before dispersing.

Rapp remained behind, leaning over the map table again and studying it, tongue fiddling with the ring in his lip. “The papers are over there,” he jerked his head in the direction of a small side table adjacent to a chair in the corner. Indeed, a pile of dirty, half-crumpled sheets rested atop it, and I snatched them, scanning through for any sign of burgundy eye colors. The chances of finding a female among them were zero, but if there were even a few males that had them, perhaps their sisters, mothers, or cousins did too. Kiira could direct her search toward those parts of the Demon Realm rather than spreading her network even thinner. Passing messages from the far south, even via raven, took days. Days, by the looks of the map, we didn’t have to spare.

Rapp’s attention burned into me, and I glanced up, finding a concern pulling down the corners of his mouth. “What’s got your scowl even more foreboding?” he pried, tilting his head ever so slightly to the side.

I returned to scouring the parchments. “Nothing to concern yourself with.”

He snorted, then sauntered to a tray of food growing cold on the opposite end of the tent. “Alright, I’ll let you have one day of being a mysterious, broody bastard.” He grabbed a fat green grape and popped it into his mouth. “But tomorrow, you’re telling me. I’m no use to you as a friend or Hadvezér if I don’t know what I’m working with.”

“Fine,” I grumbled, taking the papers and making my way to the throne of bones. Settling onto it, I began examining each page more carefully, pulling the ones with notes of high power or unique magic. They were the ones most likely to know this essential burgundy-eyed female. Grem and Zeec snoozed at my feet, and eventually, Rapp dragged himself into the smaller space, lounging on one of the plush cushions kept in here for advisors. We worked on our respective tasks in silence, though the anticipation thrumming in my veins made me want to do anything but sit.

Patience.

I needed the reminder as much as I needed to cool my temper. Patience, strategy, and cunning, those were the traits that had gotten me this far. Those were the traits that would carry us to victory. The Fates had provided me many gifts, and this success was merely another in a long line. Time would tell how swiftly they’d offer me their next and final—victory over the Angels.

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22

Acrackling fire beckoned Dromak, Uzadaan, Izgath, myself, and a few Vezető they’d grown close with during their time in the army to sit as we watched the road in the distance. Gnim and Grex were helping Jaku with the chaos inside the camp, only growing as more and more groups arrived in Uzhhorod, coming from nearly every direction except due north.

By midday, the flow of Demons had slowed to a trickle, and after we ate a light meal, it stopped altogether. Just as we handed over our empty plates to a nearby washing station, Jaku trotted over, carrying with him an air of excitement.

“Hurry and dress in your new armor. The Hadvezér and Parancsok are coming for the viewing ceremony shortly,” he told us, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to tidy it.

“Yes, sir,” we said in unison like the well-trained soldiers we were.

When our Százados strode away, I whispered to Izgath, “What’s a viewing ceremony?”

“The important army leaders want to see all the fresh blood at once,” Dromak butted in, offering me a mischievous grin. “They’ve got to size us up, decide if we’re enough. But I know without a doubt we are. This time, we’ll slaughter all those fucking Angels and take Keleti for ours.”

The other Vezető echoed his sentiment with bangs of fists against their chests. All fell into excitable laughter as they rose and headed for their respective tents. Izgath hung back and walked with me. “Relax, Assyria, nothing to be afraid of. While we’re still together, I’ll protect you, warn you if you need to be careful.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, not realizing I’d been twisting my fingers together until Izgath grabbed my hand. Blowing out a breath, I dropped them to my sides.

The new leather armor hung over the back of a chair, and I quickly donned it, not wanting to be late and draw attention to myself. The chest piece was a little too tight over my stomach, but there was no need for me to visit one of the stands to switch it out when I could simply redo my magic to fill it out perfectly. After pulling on the standard issue pants, I shoved my feet into my boots and fastened them. Somehow, dressing in the clothing that I’d seen Izgath, Uzadaan, and Dromak wear during our journey from Stryi made me feel more official in my role.

It was a shame that I wouldn’t remain in it for long. Izgath wouldn’t know I was missing, possibly ever, after we were separated. A wave of sadness swept through me at the thought of never seeing him again. But that was what I had wanted all along—a fresh start and a new life. I couldn’t remain in the army if I wanted either of those.

I wanted to be Assyria, and the army was no place for a female, let alone a female like me.

Swallowing down the knot in my throat, I dipped back into the open air, the roar of activity increasing to a cacophonous crescendo as shouts rang out in all directions. Százados and Vezető corralled their soldiers, some with more force than others, toward the outer edges of the camp. Males hurriedly strapped on weapons, smoothed back their hair, and bumped shoulders with one another as they flooded the narrow spaces between the tents, tearing up the dirt beneath their boots as they made their way toward the open space beyond.

Mind struggling to catch up, I was swept up in one such wave, carried among those in the Lovak Squad. Jaku strode at the head, shouting instructions at us. The thunder of my heart in my ears made it impossible to hear his words. Completely surrounded, totally at the mercy of the males around me, and vulnerable to exposure like I’d never been before, it took everything I had left in me not to panic, not to scream, not to race away.

There was nowhere to hide should my magic fail.

Like a spark of hope among the darkness, Izgath appeared at my side. “Vagach,” he teased, “you better pull it together before Parancsok Olet sees you, he doesn’t take kindly to anyone showing fear.” The smile he boasted didn’t reach his eyes, as if he too were as nervous as I was about the possibility of exposure.

I let out a weak chuckle. “You can’t blame a Kormánzó of a small vidék for feeling a bit nervous around so many Demons at once.”

Morrt barked a laugh behind me, nearly causing me to jump out of my form. “You can take a male out of the countryside, but you can’t take the countryside out of the male.”

I faced him, trying and failing to plaster an easy smile across my face. “Exactly.”

He clapped me on the shoulder. “You’ll be alright, Kormánzó Vagach. Soon you won’t even notice them all.”

“Do you speak from experience?” I asked, needing a distraction from my spiraling thoughts.

“Aye,” he responded. “Took me about a week to get accustomed to the chaos. Now I have a hard time sleeping without it. Was too quiet down in Stryi for me.”

Before I could say anything else, we broke into the clearing. Immediately, my lungs inflated, grateful to have room to move, to breathe, again. Jaku and Dromak gestured and shouted ahead of us, pointing toward an open spot about a thousand feet away.

Izgath dropped his voice low. “Round up your unit and have them march in formation to that spot. You will have more attention on yourself than you want, with the Vezető of other squads sizing you up. Do Jaku proud and he won’t say anything.”