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“Okay.” His thumb brushed her cheek.
“Okay?”
“Yes.” His eyes crinkled briefly, then turned serious again as Laurel arrived with Thorne and Clarke through the open portal.
In her battle leathers, Laurel was a fierce example of female empowerment. Just as dirty and blood-stained as the males, she was who Nova wanted to be when she grew up. As Clarke and Thorne locked on Leaf and strode over, Laurel’s sharp gaze landed on the writhing, demented man on the ground. Some bones appeared outside his body, but he jerked and moved alive. Nova had been too frightened to approach him, but Laurel split from the group and strode over.
“Leaf,” Clarke said, a strain in her voice. “We found Willow. She’s at the lake. Can you portal us there?”
He gave a curt nod. “Where’s Rush?”
“He ran off the instant Clarke had the vision,” Thorne answered. “Just in case we couldn’t find you.” His gaze became distracted, darting to where his mate crouched. “Laurel, what are you—what the fuck is that?”
He pulled his great battle ax from his holster and swung it in a big loop, preparing to chop, but Laurel put up her palm, stopping him. She curiously inspected the broken man’s pained face, then faced Nova and asked, “Who is this?”
“That was the tentacle monster,” Nova replied. “When the queen unmade herself, he became this.”
“Bones.” Laurel jumped to her feet and stepped back.
A snarl burst from Thorne’s lips. He was at his mate’s side instantly, glaring down at the man begging for mercy. Now that his queen was no longer there, he crawled toward Laurel.
“He’s in pain,” Laurel said.
“Good,” Thorne replied darkly. “Leave him like that.”
“No.” Laurel straightened her spine and looked down her nose at him. “We’re putting an end to that cycle of punishment. Mercy is the only way we’ll all heal.”
Flames erupted along her hand, licking around her fingers and crackling with eagerness. She glanced at her mate, briefly seeking his opinion with her eyes. He gently touched her lower back and said, “If it’s what you want.”
She nodded, then directed Thorne to move Bones onto the wooden litter where the other orcs rested. Once done, she set the agonized creature on fire. The pyre burned so hot they had to step back and shield their eyes. Within seconds, there was nothing left except a pile of smoldering ash.
“Leaf,” Clarke urged, her eyes full of panic. “I need to see her.”
“Of course. Let’s go.” He took Nova’s hand, closed the old portal, then started another.
When it opened, they saw directly through to bright sandy shores, a lake glistening under the sun, and burning debris floating on the water.
ChapterFifty-Six
By sunset that evening, the armies had mostly dispersed from the Order grounds. The original members of the Cadre of Twelve, plus Caraway and his mate, gathered on the lawn before their house. Leaf had called the meeting after he’d returned from the lake with Willow and her family.
She was injured, traumatized, and sadly missing her mana after what happened on the battlefield. She wouldn’t go into details, and Leaf hadn’t pressed. All he knew right now was what he’d seen on the battlefield, and that Rory and Cloud had fought. Then somehow, the two women had been tossed overboard. Cloud had caught them, but unable to carry the weight of both, Rory chose for him. She sacrificed herself for Willow.
This would complicate things with the Unseelie. It didn’t sit well in Leaf’s gut that Maebh was still alive out there, even as old as Nova said she was. In his opinion, nothing ended until the last manabee exited one’s body.
The rest of Willow’s account was a little murky. She said blood had rained from the sky after Rory died and that River, who’d found her by the lake, had flown to the airship to investigate. He was on board when an explosion destroyed the vessel, releasing Nero’s harvested manabeeze into the wild.
Leaf found River floating in the lake, burned, battered, and barely alive. Ada healed what he couldn’t, but it would take time for the crows feathers and hair to grow back.
Cloud was the only one from the original Twelve missing tonight.
Leaf looked at each in turn and said, “The Well is whole, but Elphyne is not.”
“Neither is the Order,” Shade grumbled. “It’s a mess.”
“I don’t disagree,” he replied.
“River, what happened at the lake?” Trix’s voice rose above the rest. She translated for Aeron, who signed his question. When the crow shifter ignored her, the elf king’s impatience grew. He signed something to Jasper, who nodded grimly but didn’t comment.
