When she struck him down, when his laughter became a shriek, she felt the jolt shake through her, all but steal her breath.

He lay, breath gurgling. “She will be your doom.”

“No. I’ll be hers. As I’m yours.”

She plunged the sword into him, ended it.

She lifted her sword high, called on the cool light of the moon to cleanse it. Once cleansed, she drove the point into the ground. So the ground shook, and light burst like noon before it faded to starlight.

“This place is now the place of the light. We claim this place. Light for life.”

There were cheers, but she walked through them with tears on her cheeks toward Flynn.

He stood, holding the wolf who’d given his life to save him. She saw his broken heart in his eyes.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“He died a warrior, a hero. He died in—” When his voice broke, Flynn pressed his face to Lupa’s bloody fur.

“He died in service to The One.” Starr stepped up beside Flynn, and though her voice shook, she continued. “To the light she stands for. To the light we fight for.

“Come.” She who rarely touched or allowed herself to be touched, laid an arm around Flynn’s shoulders. “We’ll take him home.”

At another shout, Fallon turned, looked with eyes blurred with tears as Colin fixed a cloth with the fivefold symbol shining silver on a field of white onto a flagpole.

The PW brand lay trampled in the dirt. And they raised the standard of The One over Arlington.

Faeries flew in to transport wounded even as, now with the base under their control, more healers rushed in to treat some where they lay.

Fallon ordered sentries to take their posts, and teams to sweep through every house and building, every shed and structure to make certain they missed no enemy, no wounded.

No dead.

She searched for her father as she did her own sweeps until her heart began to pulse in her throat.

When she saw Will leading a team out of a fortified house, giving the all clear so one of the witches could shimmer a fivefold symbol on the door, she hurried to him.

“I haven’t seen my father. I need to—”

“He’s okay. He took a hit, but—”

“Where is he? How bad? My mother—”

“Breathe,” he told her. “I swear to you he’s okay. We had him, you know, airlifted to the mobile. Your mother treated him herself. A through and through, right side, mostly caught meat.”

“No one told me.”

“He made me swear not to, and I agreed with him. I just got word from one of the medics he’s on his feet, and already on his way back here.” He added a smile and a shoulder rub. “Your mother cleared him.”

“Okay.” She did as Will suggested and breathed. “Eddie, Aaron,” she began.

“They’re okay. We lost people, Fallon, and it’s going to be hard to take those losses back to New Hope.”

The weight already lay in her belly like stones. “I need names and numbers, casualties and wounded, as soon as it’s possible.”

“You’ll have them. Are we going to count you among the wounded? You’re bleeding here and there, and you’ve got some burns.”

“I’ll take care of it when the rest are treated. We need to—” She broke off, managed a shaky “Dad,” and ran to Simon.

He caught her, his grip on her as tight as hers on him. “I’m okay. But you—” He pulled her back. “You need a medic.”

“When everyone’s treated. It’s nothing. You’re pale. Let me see.”

She yanked up his shirt before he could object, studied the healing wound in his right side. Laid her hand over it. “It’s clean, and healing. You’re pale from the blood loss. You should rest until—”

“I’m good enough, and your mom agreed.”

She studied his face, saw a little pain. “After how big an argument?”

“I won. Word’s already traveling back at how you ended this, and I want to hear all about it later, from you. I’m going to tell you now your mom, Travis, everyone on medical and support are okay.”

Her blood went cold. “What does that mean? What happened?”

“A handful of deserters got through the lines. They figured they’d take one of the mobile units and escape. They didn’t, but there was a skirmish. Your mom, Travis, Rachel, Hannah, Jonah, some of the others? Kicked some serious ass.”

“Was she hurt?”

“Not only not hurt, but she, and the rest of them, protected the wounded, the mobiles, and ended up with seven prisoners. Take your victory, baby.”

“The Dark Uncanny killed Lupa. He— I couldn’t stop him in time.”

Simon lowered his brow to hers. “I’m sorry. I’m damn sorry. Flynn?”

“He and Starr will take him home. We’ll take our dead home. We’ll cremate the enemy dead. There are too many to bury, and we’ll take ours home.”

She looked around, saw Taibhse perched on the pole above the flag. She sent her mind to Faol Ban, found him where she’d asked him to be, helping guard the wounded. And Laoch returning to her from taking the last injured to medical.

All of hers, she thought, alive and well. But others …

“Their blood sanctifies the ground.”

With his hand still gripping hers, Simon felt the rise of her power, saw others who worked to clear, to gather the dead stop. Her voice rang, lifted, carried to every ear.

“In this place where once dark ruled with cruelty and bigotry for a false and twisted god, I will bring a white stone, pure and polished. On this stone I will carve the names of all who died in the name of light and right, for the sake of the innocent. They will be mourned. They will be honored. They will be remembered.”

Sighing, she turned back to Simon. “Can you help gather the names?”

“Of course.”

She stood in the smoke, and remembering her own vision, swept up her arms to clear the air of the stink of it.

“I need to bring Chuck in to check out the tech, and I need a report from Thomas, one from Mallick. Troy and some of the others can add layers of magickal security to keep out enemies. We need an inventory of weapons, of supplies, equipment, medicines.”

“What you need is a temporary HQ. Take theirs for now. Colin’s already on the weapon inventory. I saw him on my way in.”

Just do the next thing, she told herself. Do the next thing, and when that was done, do the next.

“If they can spare Jonah or Hannah back at the mobiles, I’d like one of them taking charge of doing the inventory of medical equipment and supplies.”

“I’ll send a runner. We’ll get teams on the rest of the inventory. Baby, do your dad a favor and let one of the medics treat you.”

“I can do it. I’ll set up in the HQ. I could use Chuck.”

“I’ll have him brought in. Fallon? You’ve done what no one has been able to do in the decade or more since White and his PWs took this place.”

“We did,” she corrected.

“You’re right. And you were right about fighting for it. We won’t forget the dead, but don’t you forget that. You were right.”

He gestured to where a team had already begun dismantling the scaffold. “Put your stone there. Put it there where the bastards held their fucking public executions.”

“Yes.” Thank God for him, she thought. Thank God for the man who could see and feel and know. “Yes, I’ll put it there.”

As she started across the base, Tonia fell into step beside her. “Thanks for the save.”

“Anytime.”

“He was stronger than I anticipated—my mistake. Goddamn Petra.”

“His death won’t mean anything to her. She’ll just find another. She already has others.”

With Tonia she crossed a sidewalk, went up a trio of steps to a paved walkway toward a wide, covered porch.

“I talked to Duncan.” Tonia tapped her temple. “We have Utah.”

Fallon felt twin tugs of jubilation and trepidation. “How many casualties?”

“Zip, zero. Not a single one. Some injuries, but not a single casualty on our side. He said their security was a joke, and half the enemy was drunk or stoned on peyote—which is a big no-no for PWs. I don’t think White sent his best. I think Dunc’s actually a little disappointed it was so easy.”

“The next won’t be.” Fallon paused on the porch. “I’ll need a full report, and details of what they’ve done and are doing for our security there. The supplies, the prisoners, the rescued, all of it.”

“He knows. Once they’ve done the inventory, got their numbers, and all that, Mallick’s coming back to report to you directly.”

“Good. I’ll check in with Mick, and we can hope the news there is as positive. Meanwhile, we’re going to set up our HQ here.”

She opened the door.

As they stepped in, Tonia gaped. “Holy … Wow!”

The entrance spread over gleaming floors, towered up three open stories. An elaborate staircase split and veered off right and left on the second floor. Overhead, an enormous light showered with crystals.

Art in ornate frames covered the walls.

As Fallon wandered farther, she saw some sort of open sitting room to her left with twin sofas covered with silky fabric, chairs with curved legs, tables of polished wood, lamps with more crystals sparkling.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Tonia said as she shifted right.

A fireplace framed with white stone shot through with silvery gray stood between tall white pillars. The room held a piano painted gold, more sofas, more chairs and tables and lamps, more art.

A few pieces had been smashed or broken during the battle. The steel shutter over the big front window, compromised during the fight, hung crooked. Blood stained the colorful rug. Some had spilled on the polished floors.