“I know. It’s okay.” She stayed there for a moment, crying into Raine’s chest. “Raine…” she whispered. “They opened a portal.”
“I know.” He rubbed her back. “Luna told us. We’ll discuss it back at the castle. We need to get home.”
She pulled back. “Is Cas okay? What about Remy?”
The healer was still kneeling at his side. “The general is running a high fever. I don’t have any supplies that will help. He needs to get back to the castle as soon as possible.”
“Okay,” said Ava, trembling as she scanned the forest for him.
“He’s over there with Quinn and Pax,” said Raine, gesturing behind him.
Though she wanted to run to him, she needed to ask about Remy. And she was stalling because she could tell by the look on Isolde’s face the news would not be good.
“And Remy?”
Isolde shook her head, her silver eyes—Jorrar’s silver eyes—full of sorrow. “He doesn’t have long. Minutes.”
A knife twisted in Ava’s gut as her fears were confirmed.
As if reading her mind, Isolde added, “Sit with Remy first. Casimir will be okay a little while longer.”
Ava nodded and approached her friend. The first friend she had ever made upon her arrival in this world. Knees buckling, she collapsed beside him. Raine stood behind her, giving her space but providing support with his presence.
She regarded the hobgoblin, his breathing ragged. “Miss Ava. I got…the…book.”
She stroked his face, memorizing the hooked nose, the globe-like eyes always so full of curiosity and wonder, now dull and fading. “You were perfect. You were brave, Remy. So very brave.”
“I wanted…I wanted to help…I helped, right? You will…send her back?”
Ava’s voice broke. “Yes, Remy. You helped. I’m going to send her back…”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
“I knew you were special,” he murmured. “When I saw you in…the tent. I knew you came to…to help. To save…us…”
Ava let out a sob.
Remy took a deep raspy breath. “It’s curious…”
“What is?” Ava asked, pulling his little green hand into her lap and stroking the top of it.
“That our first and last meeting…would be…at the…camp.”
Ava’s vision blurred as the wetness of tears washed the dirt and sweat from her face, unable to control her whimper. She tried to give him a smile. “Yes…it is curious.”
“Don’t be sad, Miss Ava. I get to be with my parents now…”
Ava’s lip quivered. “Yes, you do.”
They sat in silence a moment longer when Remy said, “Remember our cave?”
“Of course, I remember.” She squeezed his hand.
She would never forget that cave. How he cleaned the floor with a makeshift broom, how he spoke to her with kindness and love. He’d told her being normal was boring, and she hadn’t forgotten those words. They had meant the world to her when she felt so lost and out of place.
“It’s close.”
