Am I okay?
I wasn’t sure about the answer to that. Every night, I had nightmares about the war and woke in a cold sweat or screaming as the palace collapsed over and over. In reality, I’d only lifted Ryker’s severed finger from the ground once; in my sleep, I’d done it countless times.
During the day, I felt like my lightning was electrocuting me, but it wasn’t. My nervous system was stuck in fight-or-flight, and I couldn’t stop it. I hoped that returning to some semblance of normalcy would help calm me.
Closing my eyes, I inhaled Ryker’s scent. It was the only thing that brought me some sense of peace. We weren’t the same, we never would be again, but we still had each other and our loved ones… or at least most of them.
“I’m okay,” I whispered.
He kissed the top of my head again. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
And while I still felt drained from all we’d endured, I was so incredibly happy to be standing at his side. Somehow, against all the odds, we’d won.
Earlier, Indon sent gargoyles and amsirah to search outside and inside the manor for anyone who might be hiding here. They hadn’t found anyone.
Still, we couldn’t take the chance that they’d missed someone. Two gargoyles remained nearby, keeping watch until we returned. Those gargoyles rose from the trees and swept overhead as we unhooked the horses from the wagon, led them to the barn, and put them in the stalls before beginning a search of the property.
When we left here, we’d left some of the gates open so the horses could run free if given the chance. While some were missing, others remained in the field, grazing on what little grass remained as winter set in.
Their tails swished as they moved slowly around the field. At the far back of the field, my buckskin mare, Adira, stood with her head low and her ears flicking.
“Oh,” I breathed as I stepped closer to the fence. I’d hated leaving her behind, but she was far too gentle to survive the Revenant Woods.
When I whistled, she lifted her head and her ears flicked toward me. A second later, her tail went over her back, and she broke into a gallop as her hooves thudded across the field.
As she ran, I climbed over the fence and waited as she skidded to a stop a few feet away. Torn up earth broke loose beneath her hooves and hit me, but I didn’t pay any attention as it peppered my clothes.
Throwing myself at her, I buried my face in her neck and clung to her while I cried with joy and relief. The thick hair of her mane tickled my nose, but I didn’t care or bother to wipe it away.
This wasn’t my home anymore, but she was a part of the memories I cherished so much, and I was happy to see her again. When Adira draped her head around me, she pulled me against her chest.
With her warm breath against my back, it finally hit me… everything would be okay. We had a lot of work to do in Tempest, but it really was over. We were free.
CHAPTER EIGHTY
Ellery
The next morning, I woke and reached for Ryker, but my hand fell upon a cool space. Unable to stop it, a bolt of panic shot through me as I sat upright in bed.
My heart slammed against my ribs as my gaze flew around my bedroom, which was both familiar and unfamiliar all at once. The plants that once entwined around the wood beams above and turned this room into my private forest were gone.
Whoever had taken over the manor after I fled, and I suspected it was Gaius, had removed them. I didn’t see any sign of them during our search of the property yesterday, but the burn pit out back contained remnants of the things that once belonged to my family.
Any sign of me in this small, private space I’d once cherished and made my own had been removed. My clothes, accessories, weapons, trinkets, and cherished possessions were gone, as well as all my parents’ things. The once cozy, welcoming space of my room had been stripped bare and left cold.
Our family portrait, which had hung downstairs, no longer existed. When I uncovered a section of its frame in the burn pile, I felt as if they’d burned away a part of me too.
I’d hated sitting for that portrait and grumbled about it the whole time. After my father’s death, it came to mean so much to me. I regretted not taking it with me when I fled the manor, but I didn’t have a choice.
I wasn’t sure whether Gaius actually stayed here after I left or had some of his lackeys take care of the horses and monitor the property. If he had stayed here, then he’d most likely taken over my parents’ room. It was also empty of anything once belonging to them, but tangled blankets still lay on top on the bed, while they’d stripped all of mine.
That had made it easier to sleep in here, even knowing there was a good chance he’d gone through all my belongings before destroying them. I shuddered at the possibility and hugged myself; once things in Tempest were more settled, we’d find somewhere to live.
Maybe we’d stay here or move to his mother’s property. Perhaps we’d build a place of our own, but we could sort that out later.
For now, we’d stay here, but I wasn’t sure I could turn this place back into a home. I also couldn’t imagine anyone else living here.
