“He’s gone, but not gone,” she whispers, her lips pulling down into a frown as tears build in her gray eyes. “Just like before. But I couldn’t let him come back. Not after what he did.”
I look over at Nolan, afraid that Callie may have completely snapped this time, and I have no idea how to bring her back. “What the fuck does that mean? What the fuck happened?”
Nolan gently leans Callie’s head against his shoulder. “I don’t know exactly what she means, but I think…” He hesitates, as if he’s afraid to say the words. “I don’t know how the fuck he was here, but… her dad had Felix.”
Callie screams like someone just stabbed her in the chest and pitches forward, her hands fisted tightly around two necklaces. She rocks and sobs uncontrollably. “It hurts. It hurts so much. It won’t stop hurting. He’s gone, and he’s never coming back.”
Climbing into the tub, boots and all, I wrap my arms around her so tightly that I imagine it borders on painful. “Angel, who? I know it hurts, but you have to talk to us. We can’t help you if we don’t know what’s going on in your head.”
Nolan shudders, his face pulling tight as he seems to fight back his own emotions. “She killed the bastard. It was… intense.I thought the bath might help. It worked when Kaleb did it after she took out the alpha.”
She hiccups and chokes as the agony trapped inside her racks her body with violent sobs. Her small fists are trapped between us, and I grit my teeth against the throb of her knuckles digging into what is definitely bruised muscle.
“There’s more to this,” I insist, meeting Nolan’s gaze over her shoulder. “Tell me everything that happened.” Before Nolan can start, there are frantic scratches at the door, and I shout, “Motherfucker, stay downstairs. She’s crying, not dying. We’re handling it.”
Nolan turns to look at the door. “Who the hell is outside?”
“Mischief,” I grumble, rocking Callie side to side as my knees start to ache from kneeling on the bottom of the tub. “Mildred insisted I bring him, but he’s supposed to wait downstairs until Callie is ready to see him.”
“I thought he could turn into a human form. Why is he scratching at the door?” Nolan asks, moving closer so Callie is sandwiched between us.
“Fuck if I know,” I answer, unsure how to feel when Callie’s sobs start waning. I hope it’s because she’s getting tired and not because she’s going catatonic on us. “Maybe he assumes we’ll let him in, like we forgot he’s a fucking person and not an animal.”
Nolan scoffs. “With the amount of shifters running around here, I’m starting to assume every animal is actually a person. Seems safer that way.”
I grunt my agreement, and after the scratching at the door stops, I get back to my earlier question. “What the fuck happened tonight? And give me the CliffsNotes version.”
He releases a shaky breath, like the events of the night are weights pressing against his lungs. “It was at some abandoned cabin in the woods. When we got there, the bastard had Felix at knife point and slit his throat right in front of her. She warrior witched to the extreme after that. Connor ended up turning Felix to save him.”
Callie’s head shoots up, smacking Nolan in the chin. “Felix is alive?”
His eyes widen, and he immediately wraps an arm across her chest, his hand resting over her heart. “Yes, my love. He’s alive. He’s a wolf, but he’s alive. He’s recovering with Connor right now.”
With an angry growl, I punch his shoulder. “You asshole. I can’t believe you let her think he was dead.”
“She fucking roasted her dad like a pig on a spit,” he explains, swallowing heavily. “I thought she was talking about him.”
Callie tries to extract herself from between us, wiggling her very naked body against me. Even with the amount of pain I’m in, it’s difficult not to react, and I have to remind myself that I’m currently covered in the ash and guts of so many dead demons that I lost count. This is not the time for my dick to run the show.
“I need to go to him,” she insists, trying to get to her feet. “There’s something wrong. Connor is in pain. He shouldn’t be in pain if Felix is okay.”
“Whoa, whoa, slow down,” I reply, wincing as I attempt to stand up, the bloody water sloshing over the side of the tub. “Kaleb is already heading there. He’ll let us know if we’re needed.”
Nolan runs his hand down her back. “Felix’s… transition wasn’t easy, and he wasn’t awake to make the decision for himself. What you’re feeling might be Connor beating himself up over what Felix is going through right now. Kaleb will know what to say.” He looks over at me and then down at the red and black tinged water. “It looks like your skills might also be needed here.”
Alarm flashes over Callie’s features, followed by her expression collapsing into immense guilt. “Donovan, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left you all to fight on your own. Neva caught me, and when I saw my father’s note saying he had Felix, I just panicked. It all came back. What he did…” She presses her lips into a tight line and squeezes a loose necklace in her fist. The other one she was holding turns out to be the familiar Volkov arcane focus that hangs around her neck, the cracked blue stone nestled between her breasts. “I couldn’t let him hurt Felix the same way he hurt me.” Her shoulders droop. “All my power, and he still almost died.”
“Angel, it’s okay.” I slowly ease myself back into a sitting position, trying very hard not to look at her beautiful body. Even I know it’s not a good time, plus I’m so sore I can barely move. “Kaleb and I are okay. We were able to fight them off long enough for the cavalry to arrive. Mildred made a bonfire of demons, and we sent them all back to hell.”
I leave out the part where not everyone made it out alive. Just because she’s an uber powerful witch doesn’t mean she’s responsible for saving every life, and I refuse to add to her guilt tonight. Tonight, she faced off with the bastard who did everything in his power to destroy her so he could use her for his selfish gains, and she thought she watched Felix die right before her eyes. That’s enough for one fucking night.
Nolan lifts one of my legs so he can untie my boot. I hiss through clenched teeth as one of the scratches on my thigh reopens and blood seeps through my torn pants.
“Okay, my ass,” Callie grumbles, giving me a hard look. “Donovan, how many injuries do you have?”
“Nothing I’ll die from,” I answer, groaning as my foot starts to swell when Nolan frees it from my boot.
“Good, but not what I asked.” Her eyes take in my disheveled appearance with a critical eye. “How attached are you to what you’re wearing? I’m going to be honest, I don’t think your suit is salvageable.”
