Chapter 79
CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE
Ellery
It took almost a week for Ryker to heal completely. By then, we’d recovered all the dead and injured and dug out the city of the dead, though nothing of it remained.
On the day Ryker left the infirmary, we took a wagon to my manor. I’d protested it, but he drove the horses. He’d healed, but I would have preferred him to take it easy for a little longer. He didn’t agree.
I wasn’t exactly thrilled about returning to the home where I was born and raised; nothing of my family remained there anymore. However, neither of us wanted to go to his father’s castle, and we didn’t have many other options.
We could go to his mother’s property, but despite being able to open a portal to and from there, it felt too far away. The amsirah were free, yet we all still lived in turbulent times.
So, we’d settled on my manor, though I didn’t plan to stay. I was afraid the memories might suffocate me if I did.
It felt strange for the two of us to go somewhere alone after being with everyone for so long. Scarlet remained in the infirmary, and Ruby and Billy were with her.
I wanted to stay with Scarlet, but she insisted it was time for us to go, and Ryker and I needed a break. We’d sacrificed so much over these past months and wanted some time alone.
Most of the amsirah from the encampment had returned to their homes and families. If they didn’t have any left, they’d gone to find new homes and a new life for themselves.
The gargoyles had entered the Revenant Woods, and while Indon checked in once a day, they stayed hidden amongst the trees. Indon assured me that’s where they preferred to be.
Tucker and Ianto had taken some of the children to the orphanage in Nottingshire, where they were working to either find their families or make a new home for them. I hoped to help them with it tomorrow.
When we pulled up outside my manor, Ryker tossed the lines around the brake and climbed down from the wagon. I eyed him as he descended, but I didn’t see any lingering effects from his injuries; he didn’t even wince.
Before he could come to me, I jumped down from the other side and rushed around to join him. He draped his arm around my shoulders, pulled me close, and kissed the top of my head.
I leaned into him, but I couldn’t relax as I studied the home across from us. I’d grown up, loved, laughed, and cried here more times than I could count. It was once a place of endless love for me, of security and joy, but the sagging building felt like a shell of its old self.
The manor wasn’t my home anymore; someone transformed it into theirs when I abandoned it. It didn’t look any different, but the stain of their presence tainted the place I’d loved so much.
“Are you okay?” Ryker asked.
Am I okay?
I wasn’t sure about the answer to that. Every night, I had nightmares about the war and woke in a cold sweat or screaming as the palace collapsed over and over. In reality, I’d only lifted Ryker’s severed finger from the ground once; in my sleep, I’d done it countless times.
During the day, I felt like my lightning was electrocuting me, but it wasn’t. My nervous system was stuck in fight-or-flight, and I couldn’t stop it. I hoped that returning to some semblance of normalcy would help calm me.
Closing my eyes, I inhaled Ryker’s scent. It was the only thing that brought me some sense of peace. We weren’t the same, we never would be again, but we still had each other and our loved ones… or at least most of them.
“I’m okay,” I whispered.
He kissed the top of my head again. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
And while I still felt drained from all we’d endured, I was so incredibly happy to be standing at his side. Somehow, against all the odds, we’d won.
Earlier, Indon sent gargoyles and amsirah to search outside and inside the manor for anyone who might be hiding here. They hadn’t found anyone.
Still, we couldn’t take the chance that they’d missed someone.
Two gargoyles remained nearby, keeping watch until we returned.
Those gargoyles rose from the trees and swept overhead as we unhooked the horses from the wagon, led them to the barn, and put them in the stalls before beginning a search of the property.
When we left here, we’d left some of the gates open so the horses could run free if given the chance. While some were missing, others remained in the field, grazing on what little grass remained as winter set in.
Their tails swished as they moved slowly around the field. At the far back of the field, my buckskin mare, Adira, stood with her head low and her ears flicking.
“Oh,” I breathed as I stepped closer to the fence. I’d hated leaving her behind, but she was far too gentle to survive the Revenant Woods.
When I whistled, she lifted her head and her ears flicked toward me. A second later, her tail went over her back, and she broke into a gallop as her hooves thudded across the field.
As she ran, I climbed over the fence and waited as she skidded to a stop a few feet away. Torn up earth broke loose beneath her hooves and hit me, but I didn’t pay any attention as it peppered my clothes.
Throwing myself at her, I buried my face in her neck and clung to her while I cried with joy and relief. The thick hair of her mane tickled my nose, but I didn’t care or bother to wipe it away.
This wasn’t my home anymore, but she was a part of the memories I cherished so much, and I was happy to see her again. When Adira draped her head around me, she pulled me against her chest.
With her warm breath against my back, it finally hit me… everything would be okay. We had a lot of work to do in Tempest, but it really was over. We were free.