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“Let’s all get some sleep,” said Colby. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m exhausted?—”
“Before you finish that thought,” said Winter, “I think you should know everyone else is in the dining hall waiting for you.”
Colby smiled ruefully. “I should have known better than to think we’d just slay the dragon, and I could slink off with the fair damsel and have my wicked way with her.”
Brie laughed. “I guess I shouldn’t be described as a damsel in distress, although I’ve never actually considered myself to be a damsel at all.”
Colby rolled his eyes. “Why must you ruin my perfectly heroic fairy tale ending?”
Brie linked her arm through his and began to walk beside him. “How about if we just get the happily ever after and let the details take care of themselves?”
“What a perfectly marvelous idea,” purred Colby.
Hayden groaned. “I think I liked it better when you two were still circling and hissing at one another.”
“Not that watching them wasn’t fun,” said Winter, “but the rest of you didn’t have to deal with the morose Colby who moped around.”
“I never moped,” asserted Colby.
“That couldn’t have been any worse than the brave and stoic Brie who refused to even consider he might be right and therefore made herself miserable,” said Caye.
“I did not.”
“Brie, you lived in a cave,” argued Caye.
“My cave was very homey.”
“It was,” agreed Caye, “but it was still a cave. You have to admit being with Colby means an upgrade in your accommodations.”
“I don’t know,” said Colby, “I thought her cave was lovely, and she had some really innovative things to make her life easier.”
Brie stopped and turned him to look at her. “How do you know? You don’t know where I lived.”
“Don’t I?” Colby asked with a grin. “Think about it, sweetheart; there were some things that suddenly became available just when you needed them, and don’t even get me started about getting that damn bed you saw in Chelsea to a place you could have it flown in and lowered to a spot where you could drag it the rest of the way home.”
Brie started to get angry and then thought better of it, rising up on her toes to kiss him. “Even then you were taking care of me. Even when I was being stubborn and a pain in the ass, you were ensuring I was safe and comfortable.”
“I had to admit that the location of your home ensured that it was a safe sanctuary for you. I just couldn’t stand the thought of it not being comfortable.”
Hayden made a vomiting noise. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
Caye punched him in the arm, hard enough to make him wince. “You shouldn’t talk. You and Fallon are every bit as bad.”
“This is all very informative, but as your doctor, can I suggest that we all go inside? It’s cold out here and I don’t think Adriana—it is Adriana, isn’t it—is feeling well.”
“I’m fine,” Adriana said, pulling away. “Just tired and emotionally spent.”
“I can’t even imagine what it took to call down the banshees,” said Winter.
“Far less than it would have taken for most. You have to remember I’m descended from their line so there’s a connection.”
“Inside,” said Greg, urging them through the French doors into the dining hall, where most of the others living at the abbey had gathered and where Maya had prepared a feast.
Brie sat beside Colby, leaning into him and content just to be close, surrounded by friends and family and in the blush of a decisive victory. But while Colby was his usual, gregarious self, there was something off about him. It wasn’t in his mannerisms, but rather a small disquiet she could feel in the link they shared.
“What’s wrong?” she asked as Caye told the story about ripping Strode’s soul out of his body, tearing it up, and then watching as the banshees scooped him up and galloped into the shadowlands with it.
“Nothing,” answered Colby; Brie growled; he smiled. “It’ll keep.”
