I smiled at them. “Maybe.”
That one word made both of them happy.
“It’s nice that everyone got the end they deserved,” Titan said.
I frowned. “But they didn’t.”
Everyone looked at me.
“What do you mean?” Danzig asked. “Gale, Lars, and Lomis are all gone.”
“They’re only the ones we know about,” I said. “There’s still a garage full of exotic animal parts in that empty house. People hunted those animals, other people preserved and transported them. Every single one is responsible for the atrocities.”
“You could hire my mom,” Mason said.
“What?” I asked, confused.
“Take everything you found to Mom,” Mason said. “It’ll take her time, but she can work a spell that follows the trail and affects everyone who played a part.”
“What do you mean by affect?” I asked.
Mason shrugged. “It depends on the spell. Talk to her.”
“I will,” I said. Even if I had to pay a lot, I wanted to do this. This would make me feel like we made a much bigger difference.
“We’ll clear out the garage tomorrow,” Marduk said. “If we wait, all of it might disappear.”
“Give me a time and place,” Mikey said from behind the bar. “I’ll make sure you’ve got people and trucks.”
“Thanks, Mikey,” Danzig said.
“I still can’t believe all of you survived unscathed,” Amara said.
“Only thanks to Victor,” Danzig said. “If you’d arrived any earlier, you would’ve seen two sons with almost no aura left.”
“And one hurting gargoyle. I think I’d broken one of my wings,” Mason said. He pointed his beer at me. “For as long as I live, I’ll never forget the sight of you throwing that void-tie.”
“She has a wicked throwing arm,” Marduk said, making everyone laugh.
“Was that your plan all along?” Danzig asked.
I bobbed my head in a half nod. “Kinda. I knew he wouldn’t drop the other ties, but I hoped he would show them to us.”
“Why?” Marduk asked.
“I thought it would be easier to take them away if we knew where they were,” I said and then finished my beer before continuing. “After that, I was going to throw the void-tie behind him, so he had to turn his back on us to get it. Then I figured we’d all attack at the same time.”
“That’s why you wanted us to stand with you,” Mason said.
I nodded. “When he came close, the opening to the void followed him, so I threw it in there. It was an easy pitch.”
“Did you know what would happen? That it would create Victor?” Skyler asked. I gave her a look, and she laughed. “Right, no one could’ve known what would happen.”
Beatrix raised her glass and said, “To Bec’s quick thinking and amazing throwing arm!”
Everyone lifted their glasses with a cheer. Victor grabbed his drink so quickly to join in that the umbrella tumbled out and fell to the table. He watched everyone drink and then followed their example.
He was adorable and made me think of a golden retriever.
