A wave of elation washes over me as the implications fully sink in.
We don’t have to hide our bond anymore. Everyone will know now.
If that knowledge sets a jolt of terror jittering through my veins too, well, I’ll take both as long as I also have these men.
The officer glances between us as if she’d forgotten that part of our story, which maybe she had amid the murder and mayhem. Her stance tenses, but all lucents know how overwhelming a match is when it’s first sparked, especially if you’re unprepared.
And I doubt she wants to piss off the Devine family or the Worths.
“I suppose I know where to find you,” she says slowly.
Salvatore can’t keep quiet any longer. He tucks his hand around my elbow. “We’ll make sure she gets home safe.”
His tone doesn’t leave room for argument. My pulse stutters at the thought of what he might do if the officer protests, but at the same moment, her radio crackles.
Her hushed discussion with the person on the other end sends her racing back into the depths of the park. I spot another void patrol group hurrying after her from a van that’s just pulled up at the side of the road.
My fingers close around empty air. I handed Ross’s knife over to the officers as evidence.
I glance behind us. “Should we keep helping against the voids?”
Salvatore gives a huff and nudges me onward. “Worth had the right idea. You’ve done enough fighting tonight, Elodie. We got some people out of that mess, and the people who’re supposed to be doing the protecting are here now.”
Even Asher nods. “They have more training than I do. And you’ve got to be exhausted.”
He isn’t wrong about that. I swipe at my weary eyes, letting Salvatore guide me along, and then shield my gaze from a sudden flash of light.
Eager voices carry from along the northern road.
“There’s a few of the students now!”
“Hey, would you tell us what happened to you here tonight?”
A couple of news crews have gathered near the corner. Iguess the police presence caught their attention no matter how discreet the lucent division would have tried to be.
“Hell, no.” Salvatore tugs me away from the cameras. “They’re almost as bad as the voids.”
As we dodge the reporters, a tall, lean form draws up alongside us. Cole casts his gray gaze toward me, his face solemn in the sallow artificial glow. “None of you are hurt? They caught her?”
A trace of a smile crosses my lips. “The cops already took Gwyn away in handcuffs. We’re going to give more detailed statements in the morning.”
“She’s cooked,” Salvatore declares. “Jovak too. Between the two of them, the police had better follow the trail to the rest of this sick bunch. Maybe I’ll get my associates to do some of the digging for them, just to make sure.”
For once, the professor doesn’t grimace at the reference to Salvatore’s criminal colleagues. “I can make that easier for you. I managed to pick up these on my way over…”
As we cross the street, finally leaving the park behind, he hands each of us the phones Captain Ross confiscated at the start of the exercise.
I tuck mine into my hoodie and prod Salvatore with my elbow. “But we can worry about that in?—”
My gaze slides down the street and snags on a patch of storefront that sends a wobble through my nerves. I narrow my eyes, the comment I was making forgotten.
I could swear there’s something familiar about…
The ephemera draped across that spot shifts, and I catch a glimpse of a figure so unexpected I trip over my feet.
As Salvatore steadies me, I keep staring, even after the magical barrier muddles my view again.
There were actually two of them, huddled in the shadows between the reach of the streetlamps, peering at the activity at the park. And I recognized both.
