Chapter 47 #2
Emme didn’t notice our weird reaction as she was heading back inside. “Okay, come and rescue me, big guys,” she called over her shoulder.
As soon as she was out of sight, my wolf howled loud enough that it spilled from my lips. Finley and I crashed into the house, to find Emme waiting near the stairs. I could hear footsteps on the second floor, and I loved that she hadn’t gone up there with strange alphas.
“My heroes,” she called, beaming at us.
My arms went around her, and I hauled her up against me, needing to feel every inch.
She wrapped her arms around my neck and legs around my waist. “Upstairs, mate,” she ordered, and my chest caved in at her using that word, despite our broken bond.
Fuck, who cared? We would always be mates, even if we could never bond again.
Emme directed me upstairs, and I followed voices to find a dozen or more enforcers in a room on the second floor. They were standing around what looked like an actual massacre.
“Baby,” Finley breathed, his eyes wide as he took in the carnage. “You tore her fucking heart out.”
I set Emme on her feet, keeping one arm around her as every alpha in the room snapped to attention. “You did that, Emme?” Horton asked, smiling far too friendly-like.
“About to be a second massacre if you don’t stop that,” I warned him. I might not be Slade, but he heeded my anger and shut that shit down.
Emme snorted. “So dramatic.”
“We have called in healers and the council,” another enforcer said, standing very straight and rigid as if we were still under attack. “You all should wait outside for them.”
Not wanting Emme to have to stare at death any longer, I took their advice and left the room, keeping one arm around my mate, while my brother stayed behind us.
“How did you take her down?” I asked, when we were back outside, inhaling the fresh, brisk air.
“You shared your energy with me,” she said simply, her breaths slow and steady.
“I was filled with all of our essences, so, in a way, we all tore her heart out. Between my magic, beast, and the quintet essence, she was no match for us. Jewels thought she was facing a weak omega abomination, but I was more than she ever expected.”
I dragged her against my side, which dragged Finley too, since he was wrapped around her. “You’ve always been the strongest of us all. What happened when you first left the arena? We were on our way home when Kassidy called us and said we needed to get over here as Jewels was holding you hostage.”
Emme’s sigh was loud. “Oh thank the goddess Kass is okay. I checked for her outside when I first came downstairs, but she was gone.”
“More than okay,” I said, “she had to go to healers for a quick check, but her vitals were strong.”
Our omega nodded, the relief clear on her face.
“Jewels has been here since the battle in our street,” she said.
“Warrick and Cora didn’t betray us in the same way as Chelsea, as Jewels kept them locked down and only allowed them out to further her plan.
They also burst in that room to save me, risking their lives. ”
“I’m not in a very forgiving sort of mood,” Finley said shortly. “I’m not sure I care that they came good in the end.”
“Let’s burn their house down once they’re out,” I suggested, not remotely joking.
Finley nodded decisively. “We should be burning the witch’s body anyway. Her magic will linger in the blood and bones, and I don’t want her resurrected ever. In any way.”
Emme pressed her lips together, but a smile still appeared. “I have no idea why I get turned on when you act like bloodthirsty assholes. But I do.”
My dick stood at attention like we’d been called a good boy.
I was about to say fuck it and take her right here amid death and destruction.
Emme snorted and held her hands up. “Down, boy. Plenty of time for that later.” She looked up and down the street, and in the distance I could see more enforcers making their way toward us.
“Did Hunter and the others say how long until they’d be back?
Jewels kept blabbering on about how they were going up against the rest of the witches, and I’m worried about them. ”
My chest tightened, and when the silence extended on for a few seconds too long, Emme looked between the both of us. “What aren’t you telling me? They’re okay, right?”
Finley’s expression was shattered as he held her tight, his words gentle. “Emme, love… their plane went down on their way back here. We haven’t heard from any of them since.”
If I thought Finley looked shattered, it was nothing to the way Emme’s face crumpled. A sobbing cry tore from her throat. “No!” She shook her head aggressively. “No, they wouldn’t go down from a fucking plane. No!”
She clawed at her face, scratching her skin, and I reached out to capture her hands. Tears burned my eyes as I tried to reassure her that they were tough enough to survive a crash, but I couldn’t speak. I had no idea if our quintet was intact, and Finley hadn’t even told her the worst of it.
Her breaking the bond was what set that plane crash in motion.
A truth that would destroy her.