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“Not at all,” Byron said. “But this was the cleanest solution. I’m sorry about the innocent people who were caught up in the mayhem. The police will never leave us alone after this. We’ll need to start some rumours about Interpol or some such taking care of Margo’s relatives. That might calm some things down.” He glanced at his watch. “Now I need to get to the hospital so I can be there on time to greet my grandson.”
Thanks to Zara, Jeremy had missed everything. Which might have been for the best. Jeremy wasn’t really into truces.
An hour later, we had all migrated outside. The false fire had cleared people out of the community centre, but most of the crowd were still hanging around, unwilling to miss even a second of the excitement. The food truck that had been booked was making an absolute killing.
With an overexcited squeal, Emma came rushing over to us, followed by Chloe.
“See, I told you they wouldn’t get their hands on her,” Emma said with a grin.
“Are you okay?” Chloe asked Margo. “There were loads of your creepy relatives hanging around. It was mad. Where did they go?”
Margo took a deep breath. “They’re gone. The right authorities came to help. We’re not really supposed to talk about it. Ongoing case and all.”
Emma looked thrilled. “Exciting. I’ll be back. I need to…” She was gone before she even considered finishing the sentence.
“That’s the entire world about to be caught up,” Chloe said dryly. “Sure you’re okay?”
“I’m good,” Margo said. “You?”
“Yeah.” Chloe grinned, rubbing her wrist. “I got a nice dig in earlier. Hurt, but it was pretty satisfying. Half the town got into a scrap today. It was amazing.” Then her expression grew serious. “There’s a lot you’re not telling me, right?”
Margo and I exchanged a glance. Alison came over and handed Chloe a burger. “Let’s leave them alone,” she said. “They’ve been through a lot, and her parents are waiting for her.”
“Someday, I’m going to get all of the gossip,” Chloe warned with a grin, but she let Alison lead her away.
Margo left me to guiltily reassure her parents, while I found Perdita with Victor and the baby. He was carrying her delicately, holding his breath as though that would hurt her.
I took Diane from him and rocked her in my arms instead. “Well?” I asked. “Any news from the hospital?”
Perdita was staring over my shoulder. “Huh? Oh. Nathan got there a few minutes ago. He sent me a text saying baby Jakob should be born any minute now. Actually, he keeps calling him Jakey. It’s driving Jeremy insane.” She glanced at the baby in my arms. “Can you hold her for a few minutes? I think I need to deal with Tammie.”
I let her go, watching as she jogged over to Tammie to speak to her. Tammie had been hit with Eli’s power more than once now, and she was currently huddled under a thick blanket, staring into space. We couldn’t keep lying to people about what happened, but we couldn’t exactly tell them the truth either. I had to hope they would continue to accept us, no matter what happened.
Although everybody looked so cheerful that it seemed like they’d had a great day out. I didn’t get people sometimes.
“I don’t know whether to feel good or not,” Victor huffed. “Did we even win?”
“We didn’t lose,” I said, though I knew what he meant. “And Eli is getting a punishment he deserves.”
“We barely had a fight,” he complained. “Doesn’t feel right. Should we be making truces with people who can hurt us without even getting close enough to touch us?”
“They can’t all do that. They want to be left alone, most of them, just like us.”
“Sorry, did you not feel whatever that was in the air when those old men arrived? It was way worse than Margo and Vira together.” He shuddered. “Creepy.”
“That’s what chased us off the mountains,” I explained. “Maybe we should be grateful they want a truce.”
Evelyn passed us by, waving a free hand as she doled food out to the neighbours who insisted on sticking around as though the situation was part of the show.
Victor sighed. “How many more strays are we going to end up taking in? I’m feeling outnumbered.”
“That’s because you’re an idiot,” I remarked. “Now, don’t get ratty. I’m holding the baby.”
He scowled at me. “You can’t keep using the baby as a shield. She’ll grow up eventually.”
I looked down at Diane and smiled. Maybe by the time she grew up, the pack would have solved our issues and become something she could be proud of. I glanced around us, as pack members helped townies, as they eased into conversations and made jokes. We were already getting there.
EPILOGUE
