“What about the rest of the initiates?” Kiara gasped.
“Leave them,” Alexei replied. “They need to make up their own minds on whether to stay or go.”
Should be an easy enough decision, since we’d slaughtered all the acolytes but one. We dodged falling stones, bones and debris as we made our way out of the catacombs. The walk down here had taken forever, but our escape could not.
Eventually, we reached a more stable part of the catacombs that weren’t collapsing, but we kept on running— even though there really wasn’t anything to run from anymore.
I nearly collapsed when we reached the stairs. I was exhausted, starving, and broken. I just couldn’t run anymore. Ethan took me into his arms and carried me up the stairs, taking them two at a time after our friends.
All of us were heaving as we exited the entrance to the catacombs behind the griffin statue. The shifters changed back. Most of them fell on the floor, their legs unable to hold them up any longer. We mingled in the empty hallway at the university and tried to catch our breath. Finlay and Amantha leaned against the wall, and Jasper wiped blood off of Ozzie’s face tenderly. Theo cradled Odette, who was still out cold. Several of us were sporting bruises, cuts, or were bleeding, but it didn’t look like anyone had been seriously hurt, thank the gods.
“Is everyone all right?” Ethan rasped.
There were nods and sounds of confirmation. Finlay straightened. “Amantha and I will head into the city,” he said. “We need to know what the damage was of those catacombs collapsing.”
Ethan gave him a brisk nod. Theo shifted Odette in his arms and noted, “I need to take Odette to the hospital wing, and make sure she’s okay. She probably just needs rest.”
Theo carried Odette off. The rest of our friends gathered around Kiara, to observe the griffin stone with awe.
“We finally have it,” Alexei noted. “The griffin stone is ours.”
“Only two more left to find,” I whispered— and two years left to locate them. The Seelie and the Unseelie stone could be within reach. We might actually pull this off.
A couple people around us wavered, and Ethan announced, “We should all rest. Job well done, everyone. You saved our lives. We couldn’t have done this without you.”
“Yeah, well, saving your ass is a pastime of mine,” Stefan noted, before he coughed.
Everyone dispersed to their own dormitories to rest, save for Ethan, I, and the griffins.
“Let’s not wave this around in public,” Alexei suggested, pointing to the staff. We ducked inside Kiara’s dormitory. She tried to hand it out to me, but I shook my head, pushing it gently back into her hands.
“That’s a priestess staff. The griffin stone belongs in your hands,” I said. “You’ll keep it safe for me.”
Kiara nodded, and she opened her closet door, tucking the staff behind a set of clothes. As she turned to Alexei, she asked quietly, “Do you think your parents made it out?”
He gave a frown. “I saw their bodies as we were leaving the catacombs. They were killed by Callista’s explosion.”
Kiara’s face fell. “Oh, Alexei, I’m so sorry.”
“I didn't expect them to survive the cult,” Alexei said, in a broken way. “I hope now, at least they are with the gods and at peace. And it was a blessing to see them, one last time.”
Kiara embraced him. She didn’t let him go for a long time. When she finally drew away, Alexei had a quizzical expression on his face.
“There are always two parts to achieving the stones,” he began. “How did the griffin stone find us worthy?”
“We had to show compassion,” Kiara noted. “We were compassionate when we set those children free. And you forgave yourself as you confessed your love for me, just as I forgave you. The stone accepted our mercy.”
Alexei reached out to take her hands. “Kiara, you were always my forever. I can’t apologize enough for not admitting it sooner.”
“It doesn’t matter. We have all the time in the world now,” Kiara replied softly. She leaned forward to give him a kiss on the cheek, and when she pulled away, I swear, he glowed.
Ethan sighed. “My father’s goal was to wipe out the Black Claw. He taught me that they were evil, and that each of them had to be scourged from the Earth.”
He shook his head. “Now I see that he was wrong. So many in the cult are victims, who feel they have nowhere to go. They are puppets, once again, of the wrong people in power. And despite our best efforts, the cult is free to slaughter again.”
“We killed most of the acolytes,” Alexei said. “The cult has been destroyed.”
“Acolyte Vesper is still alive, and I’m sure there are oppressors that Gabby has kept hidden secret for herself. The Black Claw isn’t defeated yet,” Ethan responded.
