I jolted awake. Shivered in the freezing air. Where the heck was I? I raised my head, winced at the pounding. I lowered it back down to the ground. Floor? I shifted to look to the left. Even the smallest movement unsettled my stomach. But I knew where I was, at least. I would always recognize these boards. Back in my Village shack. Naked, if the breezes were anything to go by. I waited until I could no longer count the beats of my heart in my eyes before I sat up. I groaned. Held my head to steady it. My head had never hurt like this. Ever. Before I could think about it, I rolled over to my hands and knees, emptied my stomach onto the floor. Again, I waited for my eyes to stop throbbing. It felt like they were trying to force themselves from their sockets. Or my brain was. Either way, it felt awful. The stench of my own vomit made my nose run and my breath back up in my throat. Naked, vomiting, and probably dying of a headache. Not even my life when I actually lived in t
A sob pushed at my chest. Tore at my lungs. Ripped at my throat. She was gone. She was somewhere I couldn't follow. Somewhere I couldn't bring her back from. I coughed to cover the sob. It came out wet and brittle. Even to my own ears, I could hear the sorrow. No one else was going to be fooled. I buried my face in the curve of her neck and shoulder. Shook as the next wave of tears and grief swamped over me. I sank my hands into her long, cool strands of hair. Gripped her head tight. "Come back, Hollyn. Please come back," I whispered against her neck. Someone stumbled through the forest next to me. I cringed back. My grief was still too raw to allow others to see it. To show it to anyone else. "Hollyn." It was practically toneless. Nothing more than an exhalation of anguish. The person stopped as if I'd shouted at them. I laid still in the grass. Waited for them to walk by. I tried to cover as much of Hollyn's skin as possible. As if the moon were trying to caress her sk
I was barely holding myself back from ripping Stretch from her grandmother's arms. I knew I wasn't the only one hurting, but damn, did I need some one-on-one time with my girl. I'd almost put her in the fucking ground. Only Tag's stubbornness had led to this moment. That and his uncanny ability to walk around fully armed without alerting anyone. I was indebted to him for the rest of our natural-and supernatural-lives. Shame ate at me. Ripped through the joy of having our girl back. In our arms. Alive. The only thing I could keep thinking of was my demands to bury her. To put her body under the soil so it would no longer taunt me with the reminders. To have it removed from my sight. My heart. My memories. I'd known I wouldn't survive her loss. Much like with losing Charlie, I needed to put it behind me as quickly as possible. Shovel as much fake normalcy on top of the yawning cavern of grief and pain as possible so I could continue to put one foot in front of the other. I
I turned from the circle of my family. Looked out into the night. Funny thing about this new power of mine...I could see just as well in the dark as I could in the full brightness of day. It was as if Chaos' power had somehow flipped a light switch in my brain. Not only was I glowing, but my eyesight seemed to have its own night vision as well. Oh well. Just one more thing to get rid of after I killed Merlin. Drace and Finn walked over. A passel of children following in their wake. When Drace saw me, she squealed and ran over. I was up and twirled around in circles as she hooted with laughter and tears. "Corcra, I've never been so excited to see anyone in my entire life." She gave me an extra squeeze before she put me back on my feet. I stumbled a bit as my brain tried to right itself. I smiled. "Well, next time, just a hug will do. But I'm sorry you were frightened as well. Merlin is a twat waffle douche canoe who likes to play at being a god." Her mouth dropped open. A
They rushed me into the elevator. Then stood on the far side of the moving car. Their gazes made me hot as they shifted and snarled low in their throats. Grumpy reached for me at one point.Thane slapped his hand back. "Mine first."I smiled. "Do you think people are going to be in our living room?" I asked as I played with the hem of my shirt. I looked up at Thane through my lashes. "They better fucking not be." He swallowed hard. "Can one of you call Drace. Tell her to make sure it's empty?" I slid my shirt up just a little. Felt the cool air ghost over the skin of my belly. Tove had his phone out and up to his ear in a heartbeat. "Clear everyone out." He listened for a moment, never taking his eyes off me. "I don't care. Put them in a hotel. Yes, we'll pay for it. Just leave. Now." I lifted the shirt a bit more, slid my other hand down over the waistband of my pants. "Stairs. Take the elevator from a different floor." He hung up without taking his eyes off me.
"We share her. But I swear to the fucking stars, Tove, you get her mouth." I slammed the bottle of syrup on the kitchen island. I was this close to losing it. He laughed. "I'm good with whatever part she gives me, bro. But I'm pretty sure all of that is up to her." He flipped another pancake over on the griddle. "What's up to me?" She took a deep breath. "Pancakes?" Her eyelashes fluttered closed. "Sweet stars, you made me pancakes?" Her lavender eyes opened, zeroed in on me. Shifted to Tove. She clasped her hands together, pulled them to her chest. "I love you both so much." Just like that, the tension left my body. Oh, I was still going to fuck her into next week, but the frenzy was off. Nothing had changed for her. Not really. Even though it felt like I'd lived a lifetime without her, she was basically back to normal. She wasn't going to be hiding under the bed. Cowering back from us in the dark. If anything, she looked lighter. Brighter. More settled than I'd ever se
I glared at the light streaming in the windows. Did it have to be so bright? Couldn't it just keep blazing up into the sky? Why did it have to sit right there for what felt like hours on end?Tove snorted, jerked awake. "What?"I snickered as I rolled towards him on the giant bed. "Who you talking to, Batman?"He plopped over on his side, smiled at me. Most of his face was still buried in the pillow. "You, beautiful. How do you feel this morning?"I smiled. "Except for hating the sun for shining in my eyes, surprisingly good. I'm not sure I'll look at powdered sugar or honey the same way ever again, though." I pouted. He laughed, the sound joyous and happy. "Oh, I think it's become my favoritest ever."Grumpy laughed from my other side. "Mine is now powdered sugar and Hollyn's skin." I felt the bed dip slightly as he rolled up against my back. He planted a soft kiss on my shoulder. "Morning, Grumpy."He growled in my ear. "That it is, cheeks. That it is." He snaked hi
My smile was huge as I watched this group of people give my girl the love and acceptance she should have received as a child. For this alone, I would be grateful to them. Even had we not had an alliance, I would have come to their aid had they needed it. Once the laughter died down, Hols took her seat at her grams' feet once again. She curled her knees up, wrapped her arms around them, and settled her chin on her arms. "I just wish there was something someone could tell me about any weaknesses Merlin might have. I'm not really looking forward to going into another fight with him with just my moxie."My heart froze and my soul jolted. There was no way we could let her go into this final battle all by herself. I wouldn't stand the waiting or the loss. If she didn't win, I was going to follow her into whatever came after this stupid life. Ari and Hollyn both startled. "Someone's coming," Hols said. The room went into battle mode in a moment. Everyone had weapons or some kind