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Rebellion will not be tolerated. Cronus's words rattled around my head, louder each time. I numbly accepted a backpack from Em, hooking it over my shoulder. What were the chances that every world leader left alive said sure Cronus, we'll roll over and let you invade us? No chance. No fucking way. But anyone who stood against him would be slaughtered. He killed his own allies—he ate Aphrodite, for fuck's sake. It would be wholesale murder, no one left alive and—
I jumped when cool fingers linked with mine, interrupting my panic with a comforting squeeze.
"We'll be alright," Wane promised, rubbing his calloused thumb over my knuckles. His steady eyes dispelled the sharpest edge of my fear, and I held his gaze like I’d been drowning and he was air.
Wait, was his thumb calloused or was this skin marked with my name, too?
"Everyone ready?" Wynvail asked loudly, drawing my attention away from Wane.
Wyn’s back was straight, a serious, capable look on his face that gave me inappropriate butterflies as he scanned our family, making eye contact with each of us. "I have three safe houses in Hell—an apartment in Vollisaw, a house in Jinsevia, and a cottage near the mines in the Kyora mountains. The last house is the one I've shielded the strongest, and it's the biggest so it’s probably the best suited to our needs." He looked to me for input. "Is that okay, honey?"
"Anywhere but Jinsevia is fine by me," I replied with a shrug, as much as I could with a heavy backpack. I'd rather not return to the city that housed the war camp I endured for two years. I got out of that place as soon as I could, and I never planned to go within ten miles of the place again. I didn't want Verena anywhere near those bastard soldiers, either.
Judging by the way Wyn's eyes darkened, he knew that part of my history. "Kyora mountains it is. Everyone grab hold of me."
"Aren't the Kyora mountains supposed to be haunted?" Kai asked uneasily, air rippling around his inked arms as his magic manifested.
"Scaredy snake," Harvey coughed.
"They're not haunted," Emlyn interrupted, a growl still threaded in his voice. "There's a defunct portal there; it's echoes of Earth you can hear."
"Not creepy at all," Kai muttered, but he grabbed Wynvail's arm and the rest of us followed suit. My fingers locked with Wyn’s, and I let my eyes close, trusting him to get us out of here. Trusting him, full-stop.
Light pressed through my closed eyelids, and cold bit at my skin through my clothes, raking claws through my wings until a shiver ran through me.
"Don't let go," Wynvail barked, and grunted when I tightened my bruising grip. "Not you, honey. You've already got a stranglehold on my hand."
"So you don't drop me," I bit out, my wings shuddering hard as power raced past my feathers.
"I would never," Wyn swore.
I didn't dare open my eyes to see the maelstrom of magic dragging us across realms. It wasn't legal, per se—we were supposed to use the portals—but there was something to be said for door-to-door travel, and Lucifer couldn't exactly punish us for it, could he?
Fuck, was he dead? Or was he still alive in there? Was our king suffering and screaming in Cronus's stomach? My own gut twisted. I wasn't sure I wanted the answer to that question.
"We're here," Wynvail murmured, to a chorus of relieved groans. I opened my eyes, squinting against the prick of lilac daylight. Fuck, I’d missed this light, this realm. Even with everything, I was glad to be home.
"Your magic is bullshit," Verena told Wyn, decidedly green beneath her freckles. "Just so you know."
Wyn tugged on a lock of her hair. "The nausea will only last a few seconds."
As if to prove him wrong, Kai twisted aside and vomited into the grass. I squeezed Wyn's hand and let go, striding across a paved path to Kai's side, and stroking his back while he retched.
"I hate him," he said in a low moan.
"I know," I soothed, pulling wine-red hair out of his face when he heaved again. "I know, my night. He's just awful, how dare he get us to safety."
Kai shot me a betrayed look as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "I'm sensing sarcasm."
I leaned in to kiss his forehead. "You sense correctly."
"There's water in the backpacks," Wynvail said, turning to look at the house he'd brought us to. "Just in case someone wanted to get rid of the taste of vomit."
Kai scowled, but I knew it was less because he hated Wynvail and more because he hated being helpless, and sickness fell into that category. Without comment, he fished out the bottle of water and rinsed his mouth, appearing to take great pleasure in spitting it out on the path.1
I peered at the house at the end of the brick path. A low, inset pool interrupted the path where a fountain might sit on a fancy French manor, the water reflecting the pale lilac sky like a rectangular mirror. On either side of the pool, a double staircase swept up towards a pale, towering structure with columns, arches, and big bay windows. The mountains were visible in the near distance, but trees framed the house, reminiscent enough of the home that burned down for my eyes to sting.
"Cottage," I said pointedly, staring at the mini-mansion. "How many bedrooms does this cottage have?"
