Page 201 of Onyx Cage: Volume II

With a sigh, he set the bottle on the table between us before pulling several letters from his pocket.

“Arès sends his regards,” he said before resting them on the table as well. “And the last known coordinates of Iiro’s troops.”

I quickly picked up the letters, scanning through them one by one. My stomach sank as I noted the sheer number of soldiers at his disposal. The last letter was dated two weeks ago.

“Are there more?” I asked, flipping back through them to see if there was something I missed.

Taras shook his head.

“It was a good thing we went,” he added after a moment. “From what Arès and Luca say, none of their spies have been in contact since that information was sent.”

He gestured toward the one from two weeks ago.

“They aren’t sure if that means he’s intercepted any correspondence, or if…”

“If he found and disposed of their spies,” I added grimly.

While I had written to both Wolf and Crane asking for their support, I had been careful to keep any details of our plans out of my letters.

And with Lynx, it was safer for everyone to let Iiro believe that Mila was simply visiting her family with her new husband—rather than our need to hold a strategy meeting in person. I needed the support of the other two clans for defense, but Arès was inclined to go on the offensive with me, information that was far more dangerous.

Taras continued to fill me in on the finer details of their talks, mainly the number of soldiers Lynx could lend to our cause, what their weapons reserve consisted of, and how much time it would take to prepare their troops.

“But he’ll be ready when we need him?” I asked, and once again, Taras nodded.

“He has already begun calling in his men from the coast. It’s slow going, but Luca doesn’t want to alert any spies Iiro mighthave within Lynx. I would guess they could be ready within the month.”

I filled both of our glasses this time, downing mine in one shot, and my cousin followed suit.

“I would like to say it won’t be necessary,” I began.

“But that would be a lie,” Taras finished, refilling our glasses once again.

I dipped my chin once, resting my head against the back of my chair.

“We’re doing everything we can, Van. We’re ready.”

I couldn’t bring myself to agree. Not when I couldn’t shake the feeling that Iiro still had something up his sleeve.

There was a part of me that was tired of waiting for the other shoe to drop. A part of me that wanted to bring this war to his doorstep instead of waiting for it to land on mine.

But there were too many variables and not enough guarantees I could make to my allies or to my family.

So I was stuck with nothing to do but wait.

As it turned out, waiting was not a problem I faced.

Dawn hadn’t even broken when we found ourselves in the war room, pouring over maps and missives from our allies.

Crane had fallen. Iiro’s forces had overtaken their defenses unexpectedly and with surprising ease, and now they were on their way here.

I stared down at the map of Socair etched onto the massive table. It was the command table my father had used well before I was born. One his father had used during the clan wars half a century ago.

And now we were studying it, moving small, meticulously carved figurines around like they were nothing more than chess pieces to represent our armies.

The game of war.

That is what Iiro had been playing all along. Subtly hedging his bets and stacking the odds while moving us into just the right place so he could strike.