Callan stared from me to the rock and back as they parted. “You were right.”
I didn’t acknowledge his words as I focused on Luna. “Close your portal.”
She blinked at me before shifting her attention to the open portal and waving her hand to close it. It had been years since I last saw the woman, and she’d changed in that time.
Luna was always slender, but she was thinner than the last time I saw her, and her collarbones stood out sharply beneath her ill-fitting black clothes. Her cheekbones were also more pronounced, as were the bones in the backs of her hands. Her golden blonde hair hung in a tangled mass around her shoulders and bruised face.
“We have to go,” I said.
“Where?” Luna demanded. “And what are you doing here?”
“Somewhere safe, and you’ll learn all about that soon enough, but we can’t stay here.”
“It will be okay,” Callan assured her.
Luna still looked doubtful, but her shoulders slumped a little, and some of her defensiveness ebbed. Even if she’d continued to fight, I wouldn’t have stood here and debated this. I wanted out of this rock of memories, away from The Hollows, and back with Ryker.
While I waved my hand, I pictured Tucker’s encampment and opened a portal. I stepped back and let Callan and Luna enter before I followed them.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
Ryker
I waited outsidefor another minute as I surveyed the town. A couple of kids ran down the street toward the rock, but when they spotted me, they turned and ran away.
My presence had chased them away from their playtime, but I’d be gone soon. When I was sure Ellery had enough time to open a portal and leave, I stepped away from the rock.
While no one was looking, I slipped into the Revenant Woods. I traveled twenty feet before opening a portal and emerging in Tucker’s encampment. That would probably be my last one for the day, as I could feel the toll they’d all taken on me.
As soon as I finished closing my portal, I spotted Ellery, who was only a few feet away, with Callan and a pretty blonde woman. When she saw me, her shoulders slumped and she ran toward me. Meeting her halfway, I swept her into my arms and crushed her against me.
“Are you okay?” I whispered in her ear.
Her fingers bit into my neck. “I’m surviving, and I’m with you.”
My arms constricted around her as some of Tucker’s followers emerged from their tree houses, the barn, and pens. The ones sitting near the fire rose while others turned away from where they practiced archery or training with their staffs.
“It’s about time,” Tucker said as he strode toward us. He grinned as he looked between me and Ellery. “I’m glad you’ve finally stopped pretending you don’t give a shit about each other. What brought on this sudden and much-welcome reversal in your relationship?”
Tucker stopped a few feet away and hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his pants. He rocked back on his heels as his sea blue eyes twinkled with amusement.
When Ellery’s head turned on my shoulder to look at him, Tucker’s amusement vanished at the sight of the fading bruises marring her face. I was sure her devastation was written all over her countenance too.
“What happened to you?” he demanded.
“Too much,” she whispered.
“We’ve brought you two more,” I told him.
“Did they do that to her?”
“They’d be dead if they had.”
“I don’t know why I bothered to ask. I already knew the answer.” Tucker glanced at where Callan and his sister stood. “What happened?”
“A lot.”
“Let’s get some drinks and sit by the fire so you can fill me in. Bring your new arrivals with you.”
