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“Wow,” Weyland rasps. His cock is hard again as he strokes himself.
The others look much the same.
Rook chuckles in my ear, his claws trailing along my skin. “Looks like you’re not done yet, little oblivion.”
Despite my panting, I chuckle and reach for my mates until we’re a tangle of limbs and there’s no way to know where I end and they begin.
Just as our hearts are tied together, so are we.
Chapter
Sixty-Five
KAI
The lands are healing with aching slowness. The fire in the Dead Lands has finally begun to ebb, revealing the charred remains of the forest I once thought of as home. It will take a long time for things to return, but I have hope.
We all do.
There is no separation between the Shadow Lands and Gilded Lands now. The golden streets spill into the gray ones, creating a gradual change that is almost poetic. We set to work in the Shadow Lands, repairing houses that were little more than shanties and building new homes that are all the same, none better than the other.
As I stroll through the streets, healing those who have grown sick or who are still injured from the war, I take it all in. I heal everyone I’m able to, but even I have my limits. I go to the direst situations first, and then I work my way through.
A man stumbles into the street on shaky legs—not because he’s injured, but because he stands before me.
I tilt my head in confusion. “Are you well, sir?” I ask, pausing my movements.
He swallows and then reaches to the side. Three small children come running from a house. That’s when I recognize him. I saw his face on the battlefield, his body shutting down as he neared death, and I healed him in a desperate attempt to stop the bloodshed. A woman trails out after the children, her belly round with a fourth child, and I blink in surprise and then realization.
“Thank you,” the man rasps, his throat thick with emotion. “I haven’t gotten a chance to tell you before now. I can never repay—”
“Stop,” I croak, my fingers clenching my skirts. “You have no reason to thank me.”
“I do,” he says, his eyes bright with gratefulness. His wife comes forward, and he wraps his arm around her waist. “If not for you, I would have died on that battlefield. I never would have seen my children again. I owe much to you.”
He had been a hunter, but he stands before me now simply as a man who loves his children and wife. There are many like him who’ve realized the foolishness of the war, and now I’m faced with what I’ve done.
The wife comes forward and takes my hand. Her eyes are bright with unshed tears as she stares into mine. “We are at your service, Kai Black,” she murmurs. “I always knew you and your sister would be something great, ever since I saw the two of you sneaking around the cornfields as children.” She smiles and bows her head.
The children dance around me, their excitement at meeting me palpable.
“Do the power!” the little girl screams.
“Yeah, make your lightning!” the boys add. “We want to see the lightning!”
I smile and kneel, holding out my hand. Lightning springs to life on my palm, earning shouts of excitement from them. Theyclap their hands, delighted by the magic and eager for their own. Perhaps they’ll have it. The lands are changing, merging, and becoming one. Perhaps the magic will return to everyone.
I can only hope.
“If you think this is cool,” I tell them, looking over my shoulder to gesture for Kaito. My men are never far behind. Despite my newfound confidence, they will always protect my back, and I love them for that. I can’t help but smile as he winks at me. “You should see what Kaito can do with water.”
Kaito smiles and takes a seat beside me, crossing his legs. The children seem scared at first until he holds out his hand and a tiny fish made of water begins to swim around his palm. That’s all it takes. They squeal in excitement and leap forward, eagerly watching as Kaito creates animal after animal, taking their requests with ease. He grins with excitement, happy to make them smile. My sweet monster.
I stand and grin at the others. Many fear them, but they are able to walk freely through the streets. All beasts are. There is no violence allowed here, which is a rule that Cora passed immediately.
I feel a tug on my skirt, and I look down at the little girl, her bright eyes wide. “Aren’t you scared?” she asks as she glances at Rook.
“Oh no,” I say, kneeling to her level. “I don’t fear them.”
