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“The weakest of us stayed behind to guard our home.”
“Oh. I’m so sorry. Does that mean you’re planning on going back?”
He slowly shook his head. “None of us will want to return no matter what happened to Molev.”
“Molev? Who’s he?”
“Our leader. He left us a long time ago.”
“Why?”
“We do not know. Cassie lives in that house,” he said pointing down a side street. “But she is with Nancy and Uan.”
The name sounded vaguely familiar.
“Uan? Is that someone I know?”
“He was the one who stopped the hellhound from killing Hannah and Tasha when my brothers were collecting the cattle from your barn.”
“Oh. How is he?”
“Not well.”
Guilt wormed its way in even though I knew none of what had happened to the fey was my fault.
“Who is Nancy? Is that his wife?”
“Yes. And Tasha and Brenna are his daughters and Zach is his son. Uan has much to fight for.”
As we neared a brown ranch, the front door opened and Cassie emerged with Kerr right behind her. They were speaking too softly for me to hear, but their expressions said enough. They were worried.
My steps slowed. Anyone with eyes could see that now wasn’t the best time to—
Cassie looked up and saw me. Surprise lit her face then more worry.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“Yes and no,” I said reluctantly. “How’s Uan? I rode in the truck with him and was so caught up in Adam I never thought to ask.”
“He’s not healing like he should. But that’s nothing you need to worry about. He’s a strong man with a lot of people determined to pull him back to good health.”
“I wish those infected would have never found our barn,” I said, thinking of all the pain they’d caused.
“If wishes were fishes we would all be well-fed,” Cassie said with a smirk. “It’s funny how that saying has so much meaning in this world. Why don’t you tell me why you’re walking around town?”
“Adam’s hurting. A lot. For the first time in three years, he snapped at me. He didn’t even do that the night we ran or when he realized his family wouldn’t be joining us.”
“I’ve been using all the heavier hitting medication on Uan,” she said. “There’s not much of it, and honestly, he needs it more than Adam. I think it’s the only thing that’s helping him hold on.”
“I understand. Is there anything I can do to help him or Nancy?”
“I wish there were.”
I nodded and said goodbye before following my helpful escort back to Tor’s. However, the distant cattle calls distracted me, and Turik happily led me to where the animals were now being kept. The majority of the cows roamed a large open lot, grazing on the dried grass poking through the snow. A few wandered between nearby houses.
Turik and I weren’t the only ones checking out the livestock. More fey lingered in the area as well. The large, grey men walked among the cattle, running their hands over their hides and talking to them in low tones. When a cow went too far from the rest, a fey would gently redirect its attention to the mound of hay in the middle of the area.
The pigs and horses intermingled with the herd. Watching them, I felt a sense of relief and contentment. How often had I felt sorry for the trapped animals and wished we could let them out to graze? I was glad they were being well-cared for and finally able to go outside. And even more deeply, I was glad they were no longer our responsibility. We’d had far too many close calls with the infected due to them.
