Carefully, the two of them rolled Ryker over. When he was on his back, I cried out as I took in his battered, bloody face and broken bones. Some of his injuries had healed, but many remained, and while his eyelids fluttered, they didn’t open.
But he was alive. He was alive!
“Ryker,” I whispered as I clasped his face. “Ryker, I’m here.”
I bent and kissed him, but he didn’t return it. I tried not to let panic take over as I stroked his scruff-covered face.
“We have to get him out of here,” Tucker said.
“Yes, of course. Of course,” I whispered, but I couldn’t pull my hands away from him.
When I went to rise, my trembling legs made it impossible to do so. Ianto helped me stand as another stretcher came down the hill and the amsirah maneuvered Ryker onto it.
I held onto his hand as I climbed the improvised stairs forged from rocks as the pit grew deeper. When we arrived at the edge, everything in me screamed to keep going, to stay with him and assure myself he was safe, but my feet didn’t move.
I had to trust that they’d take good care of him. There could still be other amsirah alive beneath the rubble.
Lifting his hand to my mouth, I kissed his knuckles. “I’ll join you soon.”
Guilt and sorrow tore at me as I placed his hand on his belly and watched while they carried him away… from me. Unable to stop myself, I placed my hand over my heart; I was certain it was trying to tear out of my chest to go with him.
With a sigh, I wrenched my feet off the ground and returned to the deepening pit. They’re alive. They’re all still alive. And we’re free.
I would ensure we stayed that way.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE
Ellery
It took almost a week for Ryker to heal completely. By then, we’d recovered all the dead and injured and dug out the city of the dead, though nothing of it remained.
On the day Ryker left the infirmary, we took a wagon to my manor. I’d protested it, but he drove the horses. He’d healed, but I would have preferred him to take it easy for a little longer. He didn’t agree.
I wasn’t exactly thrilled about returning to the home where I was born and raised; nothing of my family remained there anymore. However, neither of us wanted to go to his father’s castle, and we didn’t have many other options.
We could go to his mother’s property, but despite being able to open a portal to and from there, it felt too far away. The amsirah were free, yet we all still lived in turbulent times.
So, we’d settled on my manor, though I didn’t plan to stay. I was afraid the memories might suffocate me if I did.
It felt strange for the two of us to go somewhere alone after being with everyone for so long. Scarlet remained in the infirmary, and Ruby and Billy were with her.
I wanted to stay with Scarlet, but she insisted it was time for us to go, and Ryker and I needed a break. We’d sacrificed so much over these past months and wanted some time alone.
Most of the amsirah from the encampment had returned to their homes and families. If they didn’t have any left, they’d gone to find new homes and a new life for themselves.
The gargoyles had entered the Revenant Woods, and while Indon checked in once a day, they stayed hidden amongst the trees. Indon assured me that’s where they preferred to be.
Tucker and Ianto had taken some of the children to the orphanage in Nottingshire, where they were working to either find their families or make a new home for them. I hoped to help them with it tomorrow.
When we pulled up outside my manor, Ryker tossed the lines around the brake and climbed down from the wagon. I eyed him as he descended, but I didn’t see any lingering effects from his injuries; he didn’t even wince.
Before he could come to me, I jumped down from the other side and rushed around to join him. He draped his arm around my shoulders, pulled me close, and kissed the top of my head.
I leaned into him, but I couldn’t relax as I studied the home across from us. I’d grown up, loved, laughed, and cried here more times than I could count. It was once a place of endless love for me, of security and joy, but the sagging building felt like a shell of its old self.
The manor wasn’t my home anymore; someone transformed it into theirs when I abandoned it. It didn’t look any different, but the stain of their presence tainted the place I’d loved so much.
“Are you okay?” Ryker asked.
