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Piper shot to her feet the moment he materialized in the room. “Where’s Sienna?” Her eyes were tired and she still wore the dirtied clothes she’d been abducted in, but there was no trace of the exhaustion she had to be feeling in her voice.
Fenn made a vague motion toward the hall and the main staircase beyond. “Upstairs, with Maya.”
Piper’s eyes widened and she paled. “She’s hurt, too?”
Behind her, Rajan and Sulien exchanged a silent look.
Fenn shook his head. “She’s fine.” There was no need to tell her the details. Sienna would if she decided it was necessary. Instead, he motioned to the seat Piper had vacated. “You may want to sit down—“
“If she’s fine, why isn’t she with you? What happened to my sister?” Piper marched into his space. “What did you get us dragged into, Fenn?” This close, Fenn could see something swirling in her eyes that was deeper than the simple hazel all three sisters shared.
Sulien stepped up and eased her back, just enough to keep her from reaching out and touching Fenn impulsively. “Easy, sweetheart—“
“I am not your sweetheart,” Piper snapped. She shrugged off his hand but held her position.
Sulien lifted his hands as if in surrender and moved away with a shake of his head.
Fenn bit back a sigh. “I am sorry for everything that’s happened,” he said. He’d had no way to know it would unfold as it had, but he felt responsible regardless. Everything had ultimately happened because Florence was obsessed with him. “The people who attacked you are no longer a threat.”
Rajan finally spoke up when Fenn paused. “I heard the kidnapper was a demi-god. Did you kill him? Both of them?”
Fenn glanced over at Rajan. “The demi-god is dead,” he said. “Florence is … suffering the slow death of mortality.” It was actually quite poetic, and though Sienna’s choice had surprised him for a moment, he personally approved.
Piper made a disapproving face.
Both Sulien’s and Rajan’s brows arched high on their foreheads.
Cassian slipped past Fenn and lowered onto one of the sofas, tossing the stone fragment to Rajan in the process. “That was adhered to the altar Sulien found.” He repeated his theory of the preset spell, and concrete circuit, and calmly drawled, “Florence basically destroyed herself.”
The room was silent for nearly thirty seconds before Piper said, “I don’t understand.”
Fenn kept his voice even and quiet as he explained it in simple terms. “Florence and Sienna switched powersets. Sienna is upstairs using her new healing abilities on Maya.” And he could tell she’d finally figured it out, too, from the pulse of life-restoring energy overhead.
On Florence that same power had physically sickened him. As if their natures were so oppositional that his body couldn’t stand her presence. The realization that Sienna had absorbed that power had had Fenn more than a little disappointed, thinking the time was coming when he wouldn’t be able to stomach the new side of her, even if he wanted to. But she had clearly unlocked it, and he didn’t feel a single twinge of that revulsion. He felt as drawn to her as he ever had, to the point that maintaining a conversation in another room while she was so close—busy or not—hardly seemed worth it.
Piper stumbled back in shock, nearly falling onto Sulien as she dropped onto the sofa and not seeming to realize it. “Sienna … what?”
Sulien, who’d rematerialized closer to Rajan, ran a hand through his hair and exhaled harshly. “That does seem a little crazy. You know, for most people.”
Fenn inclined his head. “Florence apparently had hoped to steal Sienna’s immunity to me, thinking that was Sienna’s power. She wasn’t counting on Sienna’s stronger will.”
Piper dragged in an audible breath.
Sulien let out a loud, vibrating laugh. “So you’re telling me this means the bearer ofhealingand life energy is now immune to Death?”
Cassian let out a groan.
Rajan smiled.
Fenn found himself biting back a smile as well and instead faced his colleagues. “Thank you for your assistance. I suppose this means I owe you one.”
Sulien found his feet first, grinning wide. “Damn right it does.” He flicked a glance upstairs before meeting Fenn’s stare. “Don’t be an idiot.” He disappeared in a rising swirl of scarlet fog.
Cassian was standing again before Sulien’s magic faded. “I’ll keep an ear open in case that demi-god had connections we should be worried about. Though I doubt that will be an issue.” He paused and tucked his hands into his pockets. “You know I hate to agree with Sulien on anything, but when he’s right…” He let the words trail and faded from sight.
Rajan released a deep-throated chuckle, stood, and stepped up to Fenn. He clapped a hand on Fenn’s shoulder, a smile lifting his lips. “You’re settling into yourself, Fenn,” he said. “You know I’m not keeping count of who owes what. I just want to see you become the best you can be.” He took a single step back. “I look forward to getting to know Sienna better in calmer circumstances.” His gaze switched to Piper, who had watched their exits in wide-eyed silence. “Thank you for opening your home to us, Ms. Jacobsen. Until next time.” And then he was gone in a spiraling flash of white.
“That was—“ Piper drew a shaky breath. “So the four of you—those three and you—are really the Four Horsemen.” She said it like a statement, as if finally coming to terms with the concept.
