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Elijah.
Cole.
Fearghas.
Hell, I can even add Willa, Z, Lauren, Drexel, Magnolia, Deissy, Ivan, and Ridley to my give-a-shit list these days. They all mean more to me than I ever thought possible, and honestly, it snuck up on me. I should be pissed that I let myself care. That I knocked down every single wall keeping me safe. But instead, even now as I’m facing something that could possibly mean the end of all of this, of everything I’ve built, of nearly everyone I know, I feel joy.
Fear, sure.
But, ultimately, joy. Because in the worst months of my life, I had people at my back. I had friends. Loved ones.
Family.
And to me, those months of companionship make the grief worth it.
“You have to come back,” Mags says as she pulls away. “Promise me.”
“I promise that I will do everything in my power to return. But I need you to promise me that should something happen to me, you sell this place, take Drex, Winnie, and Ivan, and the four of you disappear. Go live your lives somewhere peaceful. Beaches, mountains, anywhere that will make you happy.” I glance back at Deissy. “After you finish her training, of course.”
Deissy shakes her head. “If it comes down to teaching me or surviving, you two run. I can always watch online videos for fight styles.”
Drex nearly chokes. “You cannot possibly learn how to fight from an internet video.”
She shrugs. “Maybe. Maybe not. I hope we never have to find out.”
“I hope not, too.”
Tarnley pokes his head inside. “Fearghas and Ridley are here.”
“Great, thanks.” I head toward the door. “You can start now. Good luck.” As I’m leaving, Drex wraps an arm around Magnolia’s shoulders, and Deissy waves.
Tarnley is waiting for me just outside the door. He pulls me toward him and presses his lips to mine. The kiss is quick, warm, and everything I needed to give me the strength to push forward with this absolutely insane plan of simply walking in and reporting for our summons.
“You okay?”
“I am. You?”
“Not even a little bit. This feels like a suicide mission.”
“That’s because it is one. But unless we want thousands of bounty hunters tracking our every move, it’s our only choice.”
We continue the walk in silence, making our way downstairs to where the group waits, with the addition of the two fae, and the absence of Paloma and Walker, who had to get back to the station before anyone noticed them missing for too long.
Pushing into the room, I take stock of everyone inside. Willa stands in a corner by herself, arms crossed, expression hollow.
Delaney and Cole stand near Rainey and Elijah, all four of them looking far more somber than ever. Ridley and Fearghas are seated on the couch, Eira in between them.
“Eira, I didn’t know you were coming.”
“You’re facing off with the councils,” she says. “Councils that I have intimate knowledge of.”
Fearghas snarls, and she reaches over to gently touch his arm. While the contact is brief, the fae visibly relaxes beneath her touch.
“Walker gave us the Cliffs Notes version of his vision. Basically, they’re going to have us surrounded with bounty hunters and witches,” Rainey says. “Not much we can do about that, though he did say they will not be at the left side because, when we ran, we turned and tried to go back the way we came. He also said we didn’t seem to sense them, which is a little strange. I didn’t think the council had that kind of power.”
“The council doesn’t, but Chasin does,” I tell her. “It’s the reason I brought his backstabbing ass here in the first place.”
“Oh, yeah, thanks for that, by the way,” Rainey retorts.
