55. Wolf
Chapter 55
Wolf
T he second I saw Huntyr in the crowd below, I dove for the ground. She’s alive. Fuck, she’s alive.
Nothing stopped me from catapulting down to Earth, covered in blood, landing on both feet directly in front of her.
She stood with Rummy and Jessiah, the three of them staring at me with open mouths and wide eyes.
I didn’t blame them. I had golden fucking wings.
“You’re alive,” Jessiah stated.
I didn’t take my eyes off Huntyr as I answered, “That I am, brother.”
“You were dead,” Huntyr said. “You were dead. I drained you. I felt your body.”
She stiffened as if she couldn’t believe it was really me.
“I did die,” I explained. “I was dead. It had to be done, Huntyr. I needed to die in order for you to take my magic to kill Asmodeus. It had to be you. Our powers combined at their full strength was the only thing that was going to save us all.”
“How are you here?” Jessiah asked, taking half a step forward. “How are you alive right now?”
I glanced at him for only a second before returning my eyes to Huntyr. I couldn’t look away from her for more than that. “Era brought me back. It was all part of the plan; it was all supposed to happen this way.”
The three of them stood motionless, taking in my words.
“Era the goddess?” Rummy asked, finally closing her gaping mouth. “Era brought you back and gave you golden wings?”
“Why?” Jessiah added.
I was still staring at her, still trying to decipher all the emotions running across her face. Without our bond, I couldn’t feel it. I had no fucking clue what she was thinking right now, what was going on inside that head.
“The magic I possessed—it was a gift from her the night Asmodeus sacrificed me. She never wanted The Golden City to turn into this. She never anticipated my father’s thirst for so much power. I knew she had a plan for me, but she liked to keep me in the dark. Apparently, all of it was for this, so we would get to this moment right here.”
Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. The weight of my words fell on everyone, lacing the air with a thick tension. This was all Era’s plan. All the pain, all the betrayal, all the suffering—it was all so we could end the corruption and evil that flourished here, so we could become who we were truly meant to be.
I was confused before, but not now. I saw it all so fucking clearly now.
“Huntress. Say something. Please.”
Her breath hitched as I reached out and brushed her arm. She looked to where our skin touched then back to my eyes with brows drawn.
“Fuck you,” she mumbled under her breath.
“Wha–”
“Fuck you!” She stepped forward and slapped me in the chest, hard . When she reeled back to do it again, I caught her wrist and yanked her into me, wrapping my arms around her. Fuck, she looked so tired, covered in blood and sweat and tears.
“Fuck you,” she said again, but she relaxed into my body. Her voice broke, tears finally flowing freely down her face to dampen my neck. “Fuck you, Wolf.”
“Careful, Huntress,” I whispered into her hair while I inhaled the blood and sweat mixed with the perfect scent of cherries. “You’re being rude again.”
She pulled back enough to look into my face. “Don’t you ever do that again. Ever. Do you understand me, Wolf? You are never allowed to die again! You are never allowed to scare me like that again!”
I gripped her face with both hands, swiping my thumbs across her wet face. “Yes, my love. I understand.”
Her hands fell onto my shoulders. She patted me gently before gripping my shirt in both hands like she never fucking wanted to let go.
And then she laughed.
It was broken at first. Weak. But it was a laugh, filled with fear and exhaustion and relief. Then, the few giggles turned into a complete outburst, and before I knew it, I was laughing too. And Jessiah. And Rummy. All of us stood there amidst bodies and ruins, my golden wings spanned out against a backdrop of the rising sun, laughing.
I t took hours to gather the bodies of the fallen, and even longer to dig their graves, to pay respect to their losses, every last one of them.
We worked until every single fighter was buried properly in the forest around us.
Something lingered in the air, something foreign and still.
Huntyr didn’t leave my side the entire day. She refused to see a healer, but I was able to heal her with barely even touching her. My magic felt different now, ever since I woke up with those damn golden wings.
It wasn’t until the sun set and the survivors gathered around a massive fire in the center of the kingdom that Huntyr and I could finally talk alone.
She sat on a fallen log beside me, face glowing in the flames. I draped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” I whispered against her messy curls.
She relaxed against me, resting her head on my chest. “You’re the one who died and broke our bond. You don’t get to know what I’m thinking at all times anymore.”
I let out a low warning growl I knew she could feel. “Where’s the fun in that?”
“It’s more fun this way,” she teased. “It means you have to guess.”
“Fine.” I let a finger trail down her back. “You’re thinking about how relieved you are that you’re free now. You’re feeling overwhelmed. You have no idea what to do next. You’re exhausted.”
She lifted her face to mine and replied, “Damn, you’re good. Maybe the bond is still intact after all.”
I sighed. “I wish that was true. I miss feeling you all the time. It became second nature.”
“Yeah, now you won’t know when I’m pissed off at you.”
I smiled, gaze flickering to her perfect lips. “I have a feeling you’ll let me know.”
She giggled, and fuck, I didn’t realize how much I’d missed the sound of that. She nuzzled back into me, wrapping her arms around my waist as silence fell over us, the crackling of the fire taking over.
After a few minutes, I said, “He’s really gone this time.”
Her hand fell onto my thigh and squeezed. “I know.”
Another beat passed.
“It’s really all over.”
“No.” She pushed herself up and looked at me again. “The shit is over. The violence is over. The war is over. But the rest? The rest of it is just beginning.”
Tears welled in her eyes. I leaned down and gave her a firm kiss, reveling in the feeling of her. We were both alive, both still here, still breathing.
But Huntyr was right. This was just the beginning.
We were interrupted as Jessiah and Rummy joined us on the next log. They handed us both a piece of cooked meat from the fire, and my stomach grumbled from the sight of it. Hells, we really were exhausted.
“Those wings are really something,” Jessiah said. “I suppose you’ll have a hard time blending in around here.”
“What, these old things?” I flexed my wings on either side of me. They were much, much larger than my original wings, but somehow, they were light, weightless. The gold feathers had a silky finish to them, and I let my right wing flutter across Huntyr’s shoulder until she shivered. “I think I could get used to them.”
“I’m glad you got your wings back.” Jessiah’s tone turned serious. “If anyone deserves them, it’s you. Our father had no right to take them in the first place.”
We all focused on our meat, and I swallowed before replying, “Thank you, brother. For everything.”
He shook his head. “No thanks required. I would do it all again tomorrow if I had to.”
“Still. You didn’t ask to be dragged into this mess. You didn’t ask to be thrown into a kingdom with vampyres.”
He shrugged, taking a bite. “I guess vampyres aren’t so bad. Just don’t go drinking my blood when you get hungry, okay? Or Rummy’s. I have to keep my eye on her now.”
Rummy blushed but shared a knowing look with Huntyr.
“I think we’ll all be much, much safer here than we ever were in Midgrave,” Huntyr said. “This is our home now.”
“And you are the blood queen,” Rummy said, simmering with pride. “The way they look at you, it’s incredible. It’s like they know you’re going to change the world.”
Huntyr shrugged. “I did what any of them would do. I’m sick of powerful people taking advantage of everyone else. I spent my entire life without control, and that changes now. It changes for all of us.”
Her words lingered in the air.
“What happens when the others hear about this? What happens when the other fae and angels realize we’ve killed Asmodeus?” Jessiah asked.
“We’ll tell them the truth, and we’ll offer refuge to all vampyres who have been living in hiding, afraid to show themselves. We’ll meet with the fae and the angels to show them that what they’ve been taught is a lie. Vampyres are not blood-hungry monsters with no control. We’re just like them. We deserve a home. We deserve peace, just like they do.”
I placed a kiss on her temple, not giving a fuck that Jessiah and Rummy were here. “I’m so fucking proud of you, Huntress. You have no idea.”
She twisted and looked up at me. “Proud of me ? Hells, look at you, Wolf! You sacrificed yourself to save us all. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you. Whatever Era planned, she chose you for a reason.”
The memory of Era’s voice flooded my memory again. “Ah, that reminds me. She has a message for you.”
Huntyr straightened beside me, the others snapping their attention in my direction. “Era has a message for me?”
I nodded. “She wants peace. That’s all she has wanted since my father took peace away from these lands. To expedite the process, if you will, she’s told me how to stop the curse of the hungry ones.”
They all stared at me, waiting, but I kept my eyes glued on Huntyr .
“It’s me, isn’t it?” she breathed. “I’m the one who can cure them?”
My smile could not be contained. “Your blood continues to be the one thing that will deliver peace to these lands. Bleed and live, Huntress. Bleed and live .”