Chapter 42
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
As shocking as Basil being here was, my attention snapped immediately back to Miko.
A vacant, still Miko.
“Are you okay?” I asked him.
He blinked, giving his head a slight shake. Not offering me anymore than that.
Shock. It had to be shock.
All your blood. Your life for Dawn’s ending.
“You’re welcome,” Basil huffed behind me.
I turned to face him. “What are you doing here?”
He hooked his thumbs in the loops of his jeans, rocking on his boots. “Looking for you. I—”
“Maybe we should talk about this later,” Daria said. “I can hear a horde approaching.”
Great. Another one.
“You can?” Basil questioned.
“Yes. We must leave.” She held up a pair of blood-stained trainers she’d stolen from a dead magi. “Try them.”
They fit, only a little loose and better than walking about in socks.
“This pub is compromised,” Daria added. “Allow me to lead you to safety.”
Basil groaned, trying to take my hand.
I shook him off and took Miko’s. “Miko? We’ve got to go.”
He blinked with understanding, allowing himself to be directed down the stairs back to the street. A chorus of hissing filled the air, dangerously close.
All your blood. Your life for Dawn’s ending.
Oh, stars.
Daria led us into the station. I panicked, checking for Wendy. She was safe in my pocket, completely unharmed.
Phew.
I gave her a kiss.
Basil quirked an eyebrow at me but asked no questions.
Safely inside, Daria locked the makeshift door into Camden station behind us. “I will guide you through the tunnels to where you need to be.”
The chestnut wolf made a sound, bumping its muzzle on Miko’s thigh.
Which wolf was it?
Miko looked down, nodding his head. “James said head south for now. There’s a new place. He doesn’t want to say too much just yet.”
“Understandable,” the vampire said. “South it is.” She guided us with the flashlight she’d given me. I wasn’t sure how she’d got it back off me.
“Hi, James,” I whispered.
He licked my hand.
“Rather your hand than mine,” Basil said on my left.
Ugh. “Thank you, by the way,” I told him as we started moving toward the platforms. “I’d be dead without you.”
“I know. And you’re welcome.”
Basil boasted many gifts. His healing power was so much better than mine, able to heal fatal wounds, clear magical toxins, all by the hugging and pressing his lips to skin method he’d performed on me.
And, having air affinity like me, he could use his wind-watch to surf the skies.
He’d once shown off his wind-surfing skills in the sky for me, at the beach.
It had been a romantic evening with fae wine, strawberries, and skimpy swimwear being peeled off me with his teeth.
We reached the southbound platform, climbing onto the tracks with the vampire and James in point. Miko’s hand stayed in mine, his grip painfully tight. I didn’t mind. As long as he kept holding it, kept those feet moving, things would be okay.
Only, they weren’t going to be.
All your blood. Your life for Dawn’s ending.
Basil provided decent distraction.
“After the incident between us,” he said, “I struggled.”
“You mean the orgy incident where you accidentally gobbled all those cocks?” I sniped.
He threw me a scowl. “Quite. But you were unreasonable, Orion. I never promised you love, only fun. We weren’t an item. It wasn’t like I truly cheated on you.”
“You asked me to be your boyfriend.” I kept my voice as low as possible, acutely aware Miko could hear this.
“Indeed, I did.”
“So, it is cheating.”
“Possibly. Regardless, I struggled with the guilt after seeing the hurt on your face. I never wanted to see hurt on your lovely face. So, I devised a plan to beg for your forgiveness. Only, you were here on Earth by the time I went to find you. So, I contemplated my next move, deciding to follow you to London. But then the Dawn problem began, the Faery gates ordered closed by His Majesty. London shut first, then the rest of the European gates. It became a race against time to get over here. I sent your parents a message promising I’d bring you home and managed to get to the last open gate in time.
You would not believe the gold I had to pay the guards to let me through. But they did.”
More revelations. He’d come after me? Promised my parents? That kind of hit me directly at the core of my soul.
How…heroic.
“Unfortunately, the last gate fed into Los Angeles. Not exactly down the road from London.”
“I…I don’t know what to say. T-Thanks.”
He carried on talking. “My plan was to use the air to fly to you. Simple, avoiding the mess of the apocalypse for the most part. However, upon arrival, I was met with absolute chaos. Humans and zombies and explosions. A plane crashed in the city, the explosion throwing me into an iron fence as I tried to fly. Damaged my watch and hurt my head. Clipped my wings.” I thought I’d seen cracks on the screen of his device.
Without the king’s clock-smiths to repair his watch, Basil’s air surfing days were over.
“I found a band of shifters, recovered my strength, and began my journey to London.” He sighed. “What a horrible world this has become.”
“Absolutely.” I swallowed, caressing Miko’s knuckles with my thumb. “How did you cross the Atlantic Ocean?”
“By ship, of course. Which sank two miles off the coast of England. But I’ve always been a wonderful swimmer.”
“It sank?”
“Yes, Orion. Everyone but me perished.”
“I’m so sorry.” I offered him warmth, our past irrelevant in the grander scheme of things. Call it instant forgiveness. Honestly, catching a two-week boyfriend gagging on penis at an orgy paled in comparison to everything else. “All I can say is…wow. I can’t believe you came after me.”
Why did it make me feel so giddy?
“You’re…” It killed me to admit this. “You’re amazing.”
“I don’t regret coming now I know you’re still breathing. I found you just in time.”
“Luck was on my side.”
“Indeed.”
The tunnel curved to the left.
“What happens now?” I asked.
“A deeper discussion for when we’re safely settled.”’
“Oh.”
He stayed silent for the rest of the journey. Everyone did, no words exchanged even after we were forced to deal with seven slowies stumbling in the dark.
Miko didn’t take my hand again after ending three of them.
I tried speaking to Trev. He didn’t want to talk. His head hurt and he just wanted to get back to Paige.
Stars, thing were in a bad, bad place.
After a painfully long three hours or so, we were outside again, a light drizzle of rain falling. We successfully got through the dark streets, reaching the street James told Miko to pass on to Daria.
Dragoon Street, with a series of apartment buildings lined up in a row with green spaces between them, trees swaying in the chilly night breeze. It sat close to Aragon Tower, but a safe enough distance away. There were no sounds of the dead around, the horde hopefully moved on.
James led us to the middle building up to a second-floor apartment by the stairs.
Miko knocked.
Cate opened the door and launched herself at her husband, sobbing into chestnut fur. James shifted back into his naked human form. Weak yet able to cling to his wife, tears streaming down his face.
“You did it,” Cate whispered. “You did it.”
“Let’s get inside,” Miko said, a slight quiver in his cold tone.
Cate stood up, going to hug the alpha.
He stepped back.
“I’m so glad you’re okay, sir,” she said instead. “And you, Orion. Trev… Paige has been a wreck since you disappeared.”
“Shit…” he breathed.
“You made it to safety,” he responded. “Thank God.”
We went inside the two-bedroom flat, immediately filtering into the master bedroom to see Paige sat up in bed in the candlelight, a blanket covering her lower half.
“Oh my god…” she wheezed, taking Trev into her arms.
Miko stood on her other side. “I’m so sorry.”
His whispery tone hurt to hear.
Paige faced him. “Sir…”
He took her hand. “How are you holding up?”
She sniffled. “Better for seeing your face. I should be okay to leave here in the morning. I’m guessing we can’t stay in London anymore. Can I smell a vampire?”
“Hello, wolf,” Daria said from behind me.
“And another fae?”
“Greetings. I am Basil Tristan Angelwood.”
Paige looked to her alpha with deep confusion all over her features.
Miko responded with, “We’ll talk. How did you escape the horde?”
“We fled the tower at the first opportunity,” Cate joined. “A close call, but we managed to get away unseen after some of Lance’s pack got cocky with the zombies. They failed to cross that red bridge in time. Bad for them, good for us.”
“Hearing them being eaten alive made me so happy,” James added, standing naked beside me. “As soon as we got Paige to safety, I shifted, going after your scents.”
“Thank you,” Miko said. “Thank you.”
“I’d never leave you to his mercy, sir. Ever.”
“You’re brave, James.”
“We didn’t get any supplies out of Haven, though.”
“It’s okay. We can work out a restoration plan.” Miko didn’t sound so sure.
“And then Trev disappeared,” Cate added. “Just…vanished. My goodness.”
Trev’s forehead rested on the bed by Paige’s arm, his breathing slow and deep.
“Are you okay, Trev?” I asked.
“Not really, mate,” he answered, lifting his head. “I can’t…I can’t remember anything.”
“What do you mean?” Paige asked.
He closed his eyes, straining. “I can remember me, my experiences. But not the other me. The oracle. I know he’s there, I know I’m him. But he’s lost. The memories are broken, the pieces too small to come back together.”
“Maybe they will in time,” Paige said, shaking.
“I don’t…” He blew out a long breath. “There’s a drill in my head. It hurts.”
All this time, Trev was the one.
The one with the hope and doom wrapped in one rotten package.
All your blood. Your life for Dawn’s ending.
This couldn’t be happening. There had to be something more.
There was that wishful thinking again.
“You need to rest,” Miko said. “Let these things percolate.”
“I don’t remember making the marks. Nothing. I’ve got nothing.”
“Rest,” Paige soothed. “A time-out is required.”
But first, Miko told the tale of the Camden drama.
Paige and Cate paled, Basil offering no response.
“Your life…” Paige whispered.
“Apparently so.”
“What happens now?” Cate asked.
“I don’t know.”
“You can’t die to save the world.”
“Can’t I?”
My heart twinged.
“No!” the whole pack barked together.
“We can’t stand back and let you commit suicide,” Cate added.
“That’s not it. It’s me giving—”
“You don’t know what it is,” James cut Miko off. “Trev is the oracle. Fine. But that doesn’t mean you have to take every word as gospel.”
“I can’t see it,” Trev said. “What I told you. It’s not there. It’s broken.”
“But you did,” Miko responded.
My mouth failed to contribute. Basil came up beside me, resting a hand on my shoulder.
He’d saved me. Crossed half the world to bring me home. He deserved kisses all over his smooth, handsome face. Even a foot rub and plenty of hugs.
I wasn’t the fae to give him those things, despite my gratitude.
Being bonded changed things.
Hurt.
He’s marching toward sacrifice…
“There’s a lot to think about,” Miko said. “Too fucking much. Lance heard what Trev said. Place your bets on him going after this heart of Dawn. Most likely to destroy it. Or he’ll ramp up his efforts to take me out now.”
“We really can’t stay in London anymore,” James said. “Especially with Lance being besties with blood magi.”
I moved toward Miko, Basil’s hand slipping off my shoulder. “Miko…”
He faced me. “Are you feeling alright?”
“I wish…” I lost use of my mouth again.
“Can we just rest up a bit now? I really need to sit and be alone.”
He found himself a corner in the flat’s living room—a brown armchair with a swivel table attached. The entire flat was brown and orange in décor, quite musty and dull while also being warm and peaceful. A far cry from the internal turmoil in my head and everyone else’s.
Silence followed. It was a time for rest. Basil declared his support for our group, but only until he found us a way home. Miko didn’t react to that, never lifted his gaze from the fixed spot on the carpet. No one did, the silence holding us in a strangle.
The idea of going home failed to light my fire as much as it should. There were sparks, but I was a bond mate—a detail yet to be revealed to Basil.
Taking the end of the sofa closest to my mate, Basil watching me from the opposite corner, I curled up. Sleepy. Helpless. Hoping tomorrow brought a brighter outlook.