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It’s a brutal, primitive way of disabling a fairy and against the war accords, but I don’t care. Gray doesn’t deserve the protection of the law. He is a creature so heartless and depraved that he can break a man’s bones without feeling, and he likely just killed some of my people.
Sam and the others…
They wouldn’t have let Gray down here if they were okay.
“You and you.” I motion to the two wolves with fairy blood still in their mouths. “Head topside and check on Sam and her team. And get medical here ASAP.” I roll off Gray and come to my feet. “Cox, use the leather straps on the walls to stem the blood from the Fey’s hands, take him to the glen, and call for prisoner transport. There should be room for the chopper to land there.”
I turn back to the chamber and my brother raging on the other side. His free arm swings in mad circles that send the chunk of rock he pulled from the wall crashing into the stone table, sending tiny shards of granite flying into the air.
Drawing in a bracing breath, I fetch the machete from the floor, gripping the hilt tight. “The rest of you, get ready to transport the bodies upstairs for burning. We don’t want to leave any infected flesh behind for the animals to eat.”
And then I take two running steps and jump, the weapon clenched in both hands. I land atop the stone table in a crouch and swing my weapon at my brother’s face.
In the second before the blade connects, his eyes lock with mine. I see hatred there—hatred and the blazing hot fire of impotent rage—and then his right eye isn’t there anymore. My second strike connects with his neck and two strong, hacking blows later, his head drops heavily to the floor.
The rest of him continues to convulse against the wall for several, stomach-turning moments. And then…it’s over.
It’s really, finally over.
“Get some fresh air, Alpha,” Cox says, putting a gentle hand on my bare shoulder. “We’ve got this from here on out.”
I nod and swallow the bile rising in my throat. “I’ll call in the second wave. Tell them to start rounding up anyone still left in the camp.”
I turn, making my way out of the room, past the blood on the ground where the fairy lost his hands, and up the stairs.
Outside, the medic helicopter is already landing in the glen and Sam and the rest of her team—alive, thank the stars, but badly wounded—are being loaded inside. The air still smells of smoke, but not nearly as thick as before.
Not thirty minutes later,an update from the leader of the second wave confirms the fires are out and the surviving enemy forces have been taken into custody.
“There’s still a lot of rubble covering the area where the portal exploded,” Steven explains, motioning toward the remains of a cave set into the mountain next to the camp. “But we can’t hear any movement inside and our instruments aren’t picking up any heat signatures. If anyone was on this side of the portal when the bomb exploded, they’re dead now.”
“And what about the man who allegedly set them off?” I ask. “The man my sister said was named Axe. Any sign of him?”
“One of our scouts saw a man with a swarm of birds and several bears heading north over the mountains not long after the bombs exploded,” he says. “She followed, but lost them a few miles away. She thinks the man used a cloaking spell. He was a shifter she said—cat most likely from the smell—but also seemed to have some magic of his own. Said he felled a dead tree with a twitch of his fingers to conceal his trail.”
My jaw tightens as I watch another batch of prisoners being loaded into our largest helicopter. We’re taking them to our cargo plane in waves, the logistics of getting them all transported taking far longer than the battle.
Thank the stars for that, too.
“Send another scouting team north,” I say. “Tell them not to engage, but to follow the man if they can find him and gather as much information as they can. He may have cursed my sister. Or at least know how she ended up an owl and how to change her back. We need to keep Axe on our radar.”
Steven nods and turns to relay my message to the scouts, but I stop him. “One more thing before you go,” I say. “Have we had any word from New York? Can we confirm if the portals there are operational?”
He nods. “We got confirmation just a few minutes ago from New York, Boston, and our allies on the west coast. None of the portals are functional at this time, and no one’s been able to make contact with people Parallel side. We’re still waiting for word from Europe and Asia, but as of now it looks like this is systemic.”
“Thank you.” I cross my arms over my chest. Steven hurries off to relay my orders as the medic staff fires up lights to triage wounded prisoners before clearing them for transport.
Night has truly fallen but the full moon makes it fairly easy to see. I have no trouble finding my way across the glen and through the smoldering remains of the camp in the darkness.
From there, the funeral pyre lights the way.
I come to stand beside my team a few yards from the flames. The wind blows from behind us, sending the worst of the smoke, and the smell of charred flesh, drifting down into the valley below.
It’s only then, as I watch the last of my brother burn that I feel safe borrowing a phone from one of my still-clothed soldiers and placing the call.
Willow answers on the first ring, “Tell me this is you and that you’re fine.”
“It’s me,” I say, the tension in my chest easing now that I’ve heard her voice. “And I’m fine. Bane is dead, the risk of spreading the virus has been contained, and we’re loading the prisoners now. I should be home before morning.”
