Chapter 39
Chapter
Thirty-Nine
Ihave no idea how long I fell. A minute, an hour, a week, a year, but eventually I fell back into my body or my body fell back to earth.
I couldn’t tell. Exhaustion leached into my bones, and I groaned as I tried and failed to stand.
Strong, warm, familiar hands reached to steady me, and I rested against a leanly muscled back.
“Is it over?” I slurred.
Dad stood in front of me, pride shining in his eyes. “It’s over. Lugh is…” He shook his head.
“Gone,” Mom said. “Wherever you put him, he can’t be found.” She studied me. “Is he alive?”
I lifted a trembling shoulder. “He was when I left him.”
“Interesting,” Mom said, a second before her eyes widened in realization. “Holy gods. It worked! You severed his link.”
I nodded.
“Good girl,” Mom said, pride shimmering in her voice. “We’ll discuss in more detail later.”
“Moira,” I wheezed. “Is she okay?”
“She’s perfect. Moira had a feeling Caelan would show up and thought her best vantage point would be the rooftop. She’s been following him all night.” Dad chuckled. “I thought you should know Rachel never made it to the airport.”
I blinked in surprise. “Did Moira kill her?”
Mom slowly shook her head. “No. Caelan did the honors.”
I let out a low whistle. Pins and needles made my feet and hands numb, and I could barely focus on the conversation.
A sharp inhale of breath at my back. I patted Garrett’s hand. “It’s fine. We’ll figure something out later. She deserved it.”
But the voice spoke, and it wasn’t Garrett. “I’m sure she did,” Rowan drawled.
I jerked and craned my neck back to peer up at him.
“Hi.” His hazel eyes held nothing but concern for me.
“Hi,” I breathed.
“We should get you out of here soon.”
At that moment, my eyes took in the massive crowd we had standing around us. Everyone was staring at me. Very few of those stares were friendly.
“Yes,” Dad said. “About that. Word spread rapidly about your other form.”
Barrett stepped up beside my father, clothed in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. “If I were you, I’d lie low for a little while. It’s going to take some time for people to get used to Chimeras being back.”
I swayed again, the blood draining from my face. People I knew stood in that crowd, staring at me with hostility and distrust.
“What about my shop?” I whispered.
“Moira has already said she and Ash would step in.”
“Where is she?”
“Caelan is wounded. She’s taking him back to the Keep.” Mom reached out and touched my face. “He’s going to be okay. Moira said to tell you she loves you and she will see you soon.”
“She knew,” I breathed. Moira had known what would happen the moment I revealed myself.
“We all knew how badly it might go. But take heart. Word will soon pass of your fae identity as well, and they will know to harm you is to bring down the might of the fae upon their heads.” Mom touched my chin with her thumb and smiled.
“Rowan’s arrival was fortuitous. He has agreed to allow you into his territory for an extended stay if need be. ”
Fortuitous might have been Moira giving him a heads up, but I held my tongue.
“I didn’t have to allow anything,” Rowan said. “Evie has always been welcome in my lands.”
“You take my heart with you, Lord,” Dad said. “I entrust you with her safety.”
“I can obviously take care of myself,” I grumbled, my cheeks heating at his words.
My vision was down to two pinpricks of light. Nausea roiled in my stomach.
“Evie?” Rowan’s grip tightened.
“I’m fine,” I whispered.
Mom fished in her pocket and held out two glowing bottles to him. That hellish portal formula to take us from here to wherever in a blink. “Take these,” she said. “Courtesy of Moira. She swore me to secrecy, so maybe consume them away from the prying eyes of everyone.”
Even Cliona’s angry glare didn’t phase the townspeople still watching me with preternatural intensity.
“Go now,” Dad warned. “Danger stirs in the air.”
Rowan scooped me into a bridal carry and shot through the town square. I wanted to protest, but I was so very tired.
I tried to stay awake, but exhaustion weighed my entire body down. My eyes finally drifted shut, safe in the circle of the Lord’s arms.