Her beautiful brown eyes were suddenly blurred by the mist of her tears.

"Dario, are you sure?" She asked, her voice cracking as the smile grew on his face.

"I'm absolutely sure. This staff has so much more power than any wand. Malcolm won't even stand a chance if he fights you," he said, handing it to her carefully.

She ran her fingers along the crevices and over the sharp points at the top that were visibly crackling with energy.

"I'm going to give him hell," she muttered in a murderous tone.

Little did she know, she was already giving my dick hell.

There was something about seeing her in her element that set me on fire and made my chest swell with affection. It was not necessarily the violence in her, but the fearless and dominant parts of her.

"I know you will. The same way you killed that vile bloodsucker that held me hostage," Dario said proudly, ruffling her hair a little, "Now, I need to go take care of some things for my father's memorial so I'll see you two in an hour."

He gave me a nod and slipped out of the room in a rush, and Jaslynn turned to me, "How about we go eat brunch?"

The corner of my lips twitched, and she pointed a finger at me as soon as she noticed, "I mean real food. I'm already sore as it is."

I chuckled and took her free hand, "Let's make a visit to the dining room then. I was thinking we could make some new memories in that place by fu–"

"Alrik! Food!"

"Right."

***

The hour whizzed by with Jaslynn and I discussing battle strategies and torture methods for Malcolm over crêpes and coffee. By the time we were done, I was sure that every maid in our vicinity was tramautized and terrified by our enthusiastic discussions.

"Do you think it would be odd if I took his teeth and turned them into a necklace?" Jaslynn asked, deep in thought as we trudged back to the conference room.

I furrowed my eyebrows, "Why his teeth?"

"Because he has a very punchable face. You should see him when he smiles. It makes my blood boil when I think of how smug he must be knowing that the Minister is gone."

Her nails were digging into my palm, and I pressed a kiss to the back of her hand, "We'll wipe it from his face, and you can take as many teeth as you would like as long as his body ends up in hell with the rest of them."

"I hope everything goes by plan," she said softly as we got closer to the conference room, "I just have a weird feeling in my stomach."

"It's probably just battle jitters or you're feeling dick-deprived," I smirked, trying to lighten her mood.

She narrowed her eyes at me, "The only thing I'm deprived of is feeling in my ass. I'm pretty sure you've made it numb."

I stayed silent, the proud expression on my face revealing all that she needed to know.

"Men take pride in the weirdest things," she muttered under her breath as we entered the room, causing me to pinch her ass. She gave me a glare and rubbed away the sting discreetly as we took our seats and faced Dario.

He gave us a pointed look and addressed the group, "Leaders, before we vote, do you have any questions?"

"Could you just repeat everything?" Daxton asked, slightly embarrassed as everyone stared at him.

Dario sighed, "Jaslynn."

"First, we make Malcolm think we're going in a different direction by using a few warriors as a diversion. Then, we wait for him to open the portal so we can launch a surprise attack. The goal is to throw the book, Malcolm or his body, and every demon he summons back into the portal."

"He can't open the portal from hell, can he?"

"There's only one road to hell. Once you're in, you can't get out."

"Unless someone in the Middle World opens the portal."

"Exactly. That's why we get rid of the book too."

Daxton pursed his lips and scratched his chin, "Okay, I'll vote now."

"Alright leaders, to begin our vo–"

"Wait," Regan raised her hand as a gesture that she had questions as well.

I had to resist the urge to throw my chair across the room as she proceeded to ask everything Daxton had asked in different words. Jaslynn didn't even seem irked as she explained everything patiently, probably because she had dealt with this lot before and knew their brains functioned at the speed of sloths.

When Regan was done nit-picking the plan, Dario raised his eyebrow, "Mr. Wilbur, do you have questions?"

"I understood the first time," Wilbur replied, glancing at the two leaders that flanked his sides.

"Finally," Dario muttered under his breath, "Let's begin the vote. Ms. Regan."

"Yea."

"Mr. Wilbur."

"Yea."

"Mr. Daxton."

"Yea."

"I don't even have to ask you two," Dario waved his hand at us as he took note of the votes in his journal. There was a chorus of chuckles around the table before he raised his head and stared questioningly at Wilbur and Regan, "Would you two provide some warriors for the diversion? We just need Malcolm to believe we are traveling north instead of west. They can circle around and join the invisibility shield after."

They agreed, and Dario shut his journal, "You have five days left to assemble your warriors, leaders. We will meet at the Santissima Forest on the day of the full moon. Dismissed."

***

"The spies have returned, your greatness."

Malcolm lifted his head and stopped sharpening his weapon, "Send them in."

The servant bowed his head and exited the large tent to summon the spies. The three men scrambled into the tent excitedly, aiming to please their master with their information.

"What do you have to report?" Malcolm asked, ignoring their shuffling.

"It appears that Jaslynn and the other leaders are going North. We found groups of vampires and griffins at various airports boarding planes to northern cities."

Malcolm grunted and eyed his sword in the dim moonlight, "North, you say?"

"Yes, sire. You'll be able to open the portal with no interupptions. This is gre–"

"Don't underestimate the enemy, boy. Regardless of how many warriors you've seen move north, we will stay on guard. Jaslynn is not an idiot, and who knows how much information she has from the pages she received. We will stick to the original plan, is that understood?"

"Of course, sire," the three spies nodded enthusiastically, and a hint of a smile played on Malcolm's lips.

"Good," he replied.

Then, there was a flash of silver as he raised his sword and swiped it across their necks, the bodies falling to ground with satisfying thumps.

Malcolm raised his eyebrows at the crimson liquid dripping from the polished metal, "Not bad, could be sharper."

He wiped the blood off with a towel and admired the sword once again before glancing up at the rising moon.

"Do you remember this sword, Amos? You gave it to me on my eighteenth birthday and told me to achieve great things," Malcolm let out a dark chuckle, "And tonight, I'll do just that. I'll use this sword you gifted me to slit your beloved Jaslynn's throat while you watch the life drain from her eyes from up there and blame yourself for handing me the murder weapon."

He sniggered and plunged the tip of the sword into a jar of wolfsbane, "I hope you're proud. I'll be the leader of the Middle World come early morning, and no one will be able to stop me."

The wolfsbane dripped from the tip slowly, and he allowed a few drops to fall on his tongue.

Then, he licked his lips hungrily, "No one at all."