“And what if he does yield?” Lilly asked.
“Then you have the right to take his life if you choose.”
“Would Lysander let me live if I yielded?”
“No, he’d kill you without a thought,” Cypher replied.
“Can I defeat him, Cypher? Be honest with me,” she told him.
“Yes,” he answered immediately. “First, you’re smarter than he is. Second, you have my power running through your veins.”
Lilly’s lips turned up. “I used your power to zap Peri.” She couldn’t help but sound proud.
Cypher chuckled. “I’m glad I could give you the ability to zap the high fae. She’s no doubt earned a few zappings in her time.”
Lilly glanced back at the book. “So that’s all the book says? That a clan leader can challenge a new royal bloodline ruler? Seems like an awfully big book for such a simple explanation.”
“There’s a bunch of rules,” Cypher said, “but what the asshat, as you called him, probably doesn’t remember or hasn’t bothered to research is that challenges are not to be made in times of war.”
“I would definitely consider this wartime,” said Lilly. “But that’s not going to be enough to stop him, is it?”
Cypher shook his head. “No. Lysander has always been an ambitious prick. He never stood a chance against me, and he knew it. Now that I’m gone, he sees an opportunity.” Cypher held her hand tighter as he used his other hand to tip her chin up so she was looking into his eyes. “You can do this. And you must do this on your own. Gerick is going to want to help. He mustn’t. Not all of Lysander’s clan is going to agree with him, but they will back him because he’s their leader. If you show any weakness at all, even if you win, they will never truly see you as their queen.”
Lilly started to nod, but Cypher held her chin still.
“No mercy, Lilly. I don’t care if you have to imagine him strangling Jacque or doing some other horrible act. You show him no mercy.”
Lilly took a shaky breath and nodded. “Okay.” She reached up and took his hand. “Okay, Cypher.”
He leaned forward and pressed his lips firmly to hers. It only lasted a moment, but when he pulled back, he touched his forehead to hers. “I know you can take his ass out. And even if he yields, you kill him.”
“What?”
“When I said no mercy, I meant none. Not even if he yields.”
“Isn’t that a little ruthless?” Lilly asked.
“It is. But it’s necessary. It’s what I would do at a time like this. For him to challenge you in a time of war is ruthless and dangerous for our people. When he comes and makes the public challenge, you need to read the actual written rules, which include the war stipulation. The people will understand what he’s doing. They will not think you cruel for killing him even if he submits.”
“He won’t yield,” Lilly said, knowing in her heart it was true. Someone like Lysander, willing to cause dissension during such a time, would see yielding as a weakness. He’d rather die.
“No, he won’t,” Cypher agreed. “But he might pretend to in order to catch you off guard. So, no matter what, you kill him.” He leaned forward and pressed his hand to the book which began to glow. After several seconds, he pulled his hand away and turned to her, a smile on his handsome face. “You should be able to read it now.”
Lilly rolled her eyes. “Dammit, Cy, now I have to read. I was going to use the excuse to Peri that I couldn’t read it because of the whole language barrier.”
Cypher waved his hand at the book, and it flipped open. “Just read that page. That’s the one you will need to read to the clans when Lysander shows his asshat face.”
She laughed. “I totally just pictured his face as an ass with eyes.”
Cypher grinned. It was one of his boyish grins that always made her heart beat a little faster. “It’s easy to picture, considering he has such a charming personality.”
Lilly leaned forward and cupped her mate’s face in her hands. “Thank you,” she whispered. She ran her thumb across his bottom lip, his grin slowly fading. She wanted to beg him to never stop grinning at her. Lilly wanted to beg him to figure out a way to stay with her so that she didn’t have to do this on her own.
“You never have to thank me, my love,” he said softly. “It is an honor to have the privilege of being here for you when I can, for however long that is.”
“Forever,” Lilly whispered. “I will need you forever.”
Cypher said nothing, but she could see in his eyes that he knew their time would come to an end soon. She wanted to grab hold of him and shake him and make him promise to never leave her. Lilly couldn’t stand the sorrow she saw in his eyes, so she moved closer to him and pressed her head to his chest. She was lying to herself, but it was what she needed to do. For now. She had to pretend he was with her and would be always, just like they’d planned. She had to tell herself that she wasn’t just fighting for the future of their people, or for the whole of the world, but for them as well. Because she still had moments where fighting for everyone else wasn’t enough. Deep down, she knew when they reached the end of this road, when the dust settled, and the Order was defeated, he would no longer be by her side. She knew it was selfish, but she actually dreaded that day. They could stand victorious. One day, the supernatural races might be safe, the humans free of enslavement,
