“I shall take your word for it.”
Silence drifted between us once again, and in the calm, I spoke the words in my heart.
“I cannot say I’ve come to this banishment unwillingly,” I said. “For I’ve longed to return to my human form, to live out the remainder of my days as a mortal. But I would not have wished this upon you. Upon any of you. My one regret, Gray, is that when I am gone from this realm, you and those who carry on your legacy will still be dealing with this fallout. Yes, I will die, and without another to carry on the sacred duties, my soul will be as cursed as all the rest. But in so many ways, I am getting the easy way out.”
“No, Liam. You’re not.” She shook her head, staring at me as if I’d just spoken the most ridiculous words known to man. “You gave up your life for me. For Emilio. For us to have another chance at life and love. You gave up your eternal soul. And you did it all over again when they gave you a chance at redemption, and you turned them down.”
“I will not sacrifice another.”
“I know. And in that refusal, you gave up absolutely everything.”
I took her face in my hands, pressing another kiss to her lips. “And I will do so again,” I whispered. “For as long as I have something left to give, for as long as I am here to give it.”
“Okay,” she said firmly, rising from the bench and brushing the snow from her legs. “Here’s the deal, Colebrook. I love you, too. Don’t ask me how it happened, because there are too many little moments, too many conversations, too much anger, too much laughter, too many sparks. But itdidhappen. You’re as much a part of this family as the rest of us. And that means you’re bound to us, and we’re bound to you, and mortal or not, you’re not goinganywherewithout us. We won’t give you up without a fight. We won’t give any of this up without a fight.”
She turned to head back down the path.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“To make damn sure we win this fight, and the next one, and every single one we’re facing after that. Because guess what? This little witch still has something left to give, too.”
Forty-Six
GRAY
I trudged through the snow, back the way Liam and I had come, back to the mausoleum. The injuries had all been treated, and now the group huddled together, checking over the liberated prisoners one last time. Haley had her arm around Adele, their heads bent together, both of them sitting on the mausoleum steps. Adele’s eyes were closed, but some of the color had returned to her cheeks.
Haley’s eyes were haunted. She hadn’t wanted to talk about the blood spell she’d done, about what dark energies she’d called upon, about what it would mean for her later.
About what it would mean for any of us.
But I knew she’d sacrificed something important.
Just like Liam had done. Just like Jael had done. Just like the prisoners had done. Just like everyone from our group had done—all the brave witches and allies and my strong, beautiful rebels standing before me. Every single one of them had put their lives on the line, making their own personal and private sacrifices, all because I’d asked them to follow me into the darkness, and they’d come without question.
I hadn’t guaranteed them a victory. Hadn’t even guaranteed their survival. Yet they’d put their trust and faith in me, and they’d come anyway.
Now, it was my turn to step out over that endless void, to leap with no guarantee of a net below. To be bold and brave. To trust that I was making the right decision—not just for me, but for all the witches I’d led here. The ones I’d still had yet to meet. To unite. For the men who would give their lives for me. The men who’d already given me their hearts.
We’d lost a friend tonight. A man who died protecting us, honoring the memory of the woman he loved—my best friend.
We’d fought a ravenous army of vampire-shifter hybrids, terrifying and brutal, yet no more than a fraction of the size and skill of the armies that likely awaited us in the Bay. That may also be waiting in the shadows of other cities, in other countries, their masters counting down to armageddon.
We’d discovered that my mother was the mastermind behind a worldwide supernatural conspiracy that left the fate of humankind hanging in the balance, and my sister—a sister whose existence I’d only just discovered—was doing her bidding.
We’d liberated another sister, who—along with other witches and supernaturals—was fighting her way back from the edge of death, and would heal from her physical wounds only to unleash the horror of all the emotional torments she’d endured at the hands and direction of our mother.
And Haley… I had no idea what was in store for her, but from the haunted look in her eyes, I knew it wasn’t going to be pleasant or easy.
Despite all we’d lost, all we’d endured, there were still so many battles to face. Still so many nasty surprises on the horizon.
I closed my eyes, recalling the moment of utter powerlessness I’d felt in the hands of that hybrid. I’d felt his thoughts, seen the glint of blood on his fangs. His breath had misted on my cheeks, and in that moment, I’d known it was the breath of death.
If not for Liam, I wouldn’t be standing here.
I didn’t know what awaited us around the next corner. But I did know this: I wouldnotbe made to feel that way again.
It was in our blood, I realized. The key to everything. Darius’s blood had healed me in the Shadowrealm, and my blood had begun to restore his memories. With help from my magic, Asher’s blood had built up an immunity to Jonathan’s devil’s trap nanotech. Haley’s blood had saved us tonight, causing our enemies to turn on each other. Silversbane blood had brought us together, had led us to our other sisters, had carried the legacy of our magic from one generation to the next.
