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And, to top it all off, I had my Caleb with me. Right there, in the palm of my claw. I held him tight, the wind lifting me and the sun drying me. I flew us toward the castle, toward Malibu, every flap of my wings lifting me higher. I let loose a roar. This one was of pure excitement and thrill. Of happiness and second chances.
We had just saved the world, and I’d saved my man.
Everything was going to be alright.
Everything was always going to be alright.
Chapter 33
Eternal Sunshine
Caleb
Maddox gently placed me down as he landed in the castle’s courtyard. There was still scaffolding from where the wall had been blown through by the Crimson Ring. My heart pounded like it had been replaced with a thousand drums. Maddox shifted back into his human form and I launched myself into his arms, wrapping him into the tightest hug I could manage.
“We did it,” he said, kissing my forehead. “We fucking did it.”
“That was so close,” I said. My clothes were soaked, water pooling at my feet as it dripped off me. Maddox was completely dry, the shift likely protecting him from the water.
“It was,” Madds agreed. He turned his gaze to Amelia, who sat on the floor with her head in her hands. She looked like a drowned rat, her dark brown hair plastered to her neck in wet streaks.
“I’ll leave you two…”
“No,” he said. “I don’t want you ever leaving me.” He grabbed my hand in his before turning his focus back on the friend who’d betrayed him.
“I’m sorry,” Amelia said as she looked up at us. There wasn’t a sliver or steel on her. She’d actually been cured. Whatever it was they did to her seemed to have worked.
“Sorry? As if that can encompass the amount of pain you’ve inflicted on me.” A vein throbbed in Maddox’s forehead, just near the shimmering blue scales. His jaw clenched, apparent from the tense lines that cut across his face. “You were my best friend. The one person I trusted most in this world. I started this entire hunt because of you. And you return the favor by stabbing me in the back?”
“I thought I didn’t have a choice.” Amelia started to cry. Her shoulders shook, matching the tremble in her bottom lip. “I was dying. And Kyler promised me more than life. I fell in love with him. I can see now how wrong I was, I’m sorry.”
“Love.” Maddox scoffed. He took a couple steps toward her, my hand falling from his. “You should have told me what was happening. Maybe we could have figured something out. A way to save you without selling your soul.”
“I made a mistake. I wasn’t thinking, I was turning to steel with every passing second. Do you understand the pain that caused? Not even medication could help me, Maddox. I was desperate. So fucking desperate.” She started to cry harder, sobs wracking her body as she folded forward. She pressed her forehead against the ground.
Maddox winced. His eyes snapped shut, brows pushed together. It only took him a few seconds before he got down on his knees and put a gentle hand on Amelia’s back. He didn’t say anything, just kneeled next to her as she continued to release all the bottled-up emotions she held. It was painful to watch. Made even harder by the tears that glinted on Maddox’s cheek, catching some of the bright afternoon sunlight. This had to hurt him, as viscerally as if he’d been physically stabbed.
The crying slowly began to soften and slow. “What happens now?” Maddox asked.
“I’ll turn myself in,” Amelia said, looking up, determination in her tear-filled eyes. “I fucked up. I have to pay the consequences.”
Maddox narrowed his gaze. I shouldn’t have spoken up. This was a situation between two life-long friends. I almost swallowed my words and let things play out.
“I don’t think you should,” I said instead. “You made mistakes, but you were under an intense amount of fear and pressure and pain. Joining the Crimson Ring itself doesn’t deserve an automatic sentence behind bars, trust me, I should know. And we destroyed the paintings, the lock is still in place. You have things to atone for, but I don’t think turning yourself in is the right decision to make.”
Maddox, his ocean-deep blue eyes pinned me to where I stood. Wrinkles appeared between his thick, dark eyebrows. Had I said something wrong?
“He’s right,” Maddox said. I let out a breath as my shoulders relaxed. “You gave Kyler some information and you were coerced into joining in return for your life. It will take time to make things right again, but I don’t want you rotting in a jail cell before things do get better.”
That brought on a whole new wave of tears from Amelia. She no longer used the paved courtyard floor as support, instead collapsing into Maddox. He kept his arms down at his sides, his jaw still visibly clenched. We were all mostly dry now, the sat sun directly above us. Maddox, taking a deep breath, raised his arms and wrapped them around a still-crying Amelia, offering her words of comfort.
