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My uncle’s jaw clenched. “Life did. You think she’s wrong?”
Cal snorted. “I don’t believe anything she’s said anymore. Could be she’s right, could be she’s wrong. However, I don’t see the Mindolin stuck in a location like Onyx and Bard.”
“He did have one, once.” Marcus walked to stand by Lighting, out of the center of the group. “Undine Pool was where he first dwelt. He was a Lower Water Elemental, and he was strong like Clara. Until his pool ran dry. No one knows why. Aaron’s power weakened as the pool emptied, but there was apparently nothing he or Clara could do about it. They never asked me for help, or I would have given it.”
“Why didn’t you just give them your help?” Sophie asked, still healing Jeff.
Zhaine bounced on the balls of his feet. “We are Elementals and therefore, we have a slight problem with pride.”
“Ya think?” Grace rolled her eyes at the larger men. They glared at her, but neither made a move to attack for the insult. Dalton, however, was physically readying for them to do so.
“So, brother, I guess it’s your decision whether or not to bring your mate here.” Marcus scuffed his foot against the ground. “I haven’t set eyes on Onyx since your son was taken and killed.”
“He wasn’t killed.” Zhaine growled out. “Another of Life’s lies.”
Marcus turned and gave his brother all his attention. “What are you talking about?”
Yavich moved and drew Marcus’ eye. The Earth Elemental gawked at the Demon.
Zhaine turned to his son and held out his hand. “I think you need to come with me to retrieve your mother. She’s been heartbroken long enough.”
Uncertainty crossed Yavich’s face, and he took a step back. Zhaine’s hand didn’t lower.
“I didn’t know.” Yavich was centuries old, but at the moment, he appeared as fearful and insecure as a child.
“I know that.” Zhaine spoke with more patience than I’d ever heard from him before. If he’d have spoken to my brothers or me, he’d have snapped and maybe slapped us.
Yavich shook his head. “No, you don’t understand. I’ve done horrible things for him. I’ve killed people.” He wanted to hang his head, hide from us. We could all see it, but Yavich stood his ground.
Zhaine’s hand fell. After a deep breath, he strode past Brynn and me to his son’s side. The Elemental didn’t stop until he’d wrapped Yavich in a hug. The Demon didn’t react at first, but once he realized what was happening, he returned the hug with tight arms.
The scene almost felt too intimate to be intruding on, but Zhaine had never shown any sort of kindness in the time we’d known him. His heart had been frozen by what his sister had done. Now, he’d begun to thaw.
Dad and son were gone in the next blink, off to reunite with Onyx.
“What’s happening at Cambria?” Carmon asked when we’d all been quiet for a few minutes.
I gave a gusty sigh. “I don’t know. They’re battling the Mindolin’s army, and Life and the Mindolin showed up before Zhaine jumped us out of there. I don’t know if I failed, but the people there did have warning. They were gathering their weapons. It won’t be the slaughter I saw in Onyx’s pool. I hope.”
Victor nodded. “I hope you are right. My people there will do what they can to help. Damian is there too with his Demons. He won’t go down without a fight.”
“Neither will my Harbor Witches,” Nate added. “They’ve been told to use deadly force, and most of them can throw a decent death spell.”
Silence reigned again, outside of the noises from the five children. One by one, people began to break off and settle into units.
Chris and Sophie wandered a little way off to cuddle. If they spoke, I couldn’t hear them. Carmon and Sylee went in a different direction while Nate, Tessa, and Jeff stayed where Jeff continued to lie. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Nate giving Jeff some blood. Jeff’s preference of biting the wrist made his drinking less obvious than others.
After borrowing a bottle from Drew and Jazz for a crying baby, Dalton and Grace took their new charges to a secluded spot and lay down with them. Drew and Jazz continued to rest beside a vehicle. Their babies were cuddled in close to them, and Jazz was drifting off to sleep. Before she slept, Drew had Victor take the baby Jazz held.
The night air was cool, but not overly so to me. The babies would have been better off in a vehicle or house, but darkness surrounded us now, and no one wanted to give away our position with an interior light or headlamp from a vehicle.
“Victor thinks Grace and Dalton will adopt the kids.” Brynn leaned close to me to whisper in my ear. She spoke extra quietly so no one but me would hear.
“I think you’re right.” My brother and his mate seemed to already be in love with the children. I’d never pictured Grace as a motherly type, but something had changed her. Maybe it was bonding with Dalton or taking charge of her own team, but Grace wasn’t as hard anymore. Something inside her had softened.
“What do we do now?” Brynn gazed around into the darkness. If she was like the other Ladies, her eyesight wouldn’t have improved much with our bond. The darkness would have almost blinded her by now.
“Come with me.” I tightened my hold on her hand and pulled Brynn closer to the forest, but not too close. Bad things lurked in its recesses now. Things that should not see the light of day.
