Chapter 94
CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR
Ellery
After leaving the orphanage, the others opened portals to return to their homes, but Ryker and I decided to walk through the Revenant Woods. I was too restless and concerned about Scarlet to return to the manor. I sought the comfort only the forest could provide.
Things had changed a lot over the past year, but my love for the Revenant Woods hadn’t faded. I still craved the solace it provided, even though some of the most monstrous creatures in the realms resided beneath the thick canopy of trees.
None of the trees stirred as we walked, but I suspected they knew we were there and passed the message along in the way only they could.
My suspicions were confirmed when, after a few minutes, a shadow swept overhead and Indon landed a few feet away.
His wings rustled as they settled against his back.
I smiled at him as we stopped walking. “Good afternoon,” I greeted.
His smile bared all his massive, sharp teeth as he glided closer. When he stopped beside me, he peered down at where Lillian slept, once again bound to my chest. She’d woken earlier, but fell back asleep after being changed and fed.
When he stroked her fingers, there was no spark of light. She hadn’t produced one since that first time, but I didn’t doubt what I’d seen.
“She’s grown so much already,” Indon murmured.
“That she has.”
“What brings you into the forest today?” he asked when we started walking again.
“Scarlet, Callan, and Samael left today, and I was missing this place.”
“Ah, yes, the trees do offer comfort.”
“Yes, they do.” I pulled back a little to look down at Lillian. “Plus, she may be sleeping through it, but she needs to learn the forest too. She’s as much a part of it as the rest of us.”
“The forest will protect her too… as much as it can.”
I smiled at that. “It does work in mysterious ways.”
“It does.”
“How are you and the gargoyles doing?”
Indon grinned again. “Very well. We are happy to be free.”
“You never should have been caged.”
“While that is true, it’s not what fate had planned for us. There is a reason we were all brought together.”
I agreed with his assessment.
“And things are good now,” Indon continued. “That is what matters.”
I gripped his solid arm and squeezed it. “And you will only know freedom from now on.”
His long fingers and lethal claws rested over mine. “I know. I shall leave you to your walk. I will see you soon.”
With that, he brushed a finger over Lillian’s forehead, whispered goodbye, and pushed off the ground. He swept through the woods before disappearing into the trees.
Ryker and I continued our journey past a river and on toward the clearing that was once our home. I hadn’t intended to return to the encampment when we started this journey, but I was inexplicably drawn to the place.
Once there, I stopped beneath our old tree house. It was starting to fall apart, as were the rest of the homes. With no one here to repair them, the wood would one day return to the land from which we harvested it.
It made me sad that we’d lost yet another home, but we couldn’t hide away here anymore. Even if we didn’t rule it, Tempest still needed us.
I wasn’t sure where our home would be. While we’d remained at the manor, it didn’t feel right.
The property Ryker’s mother left him was too big and far away. Maybe we’d eventually build our own home again, but there was still too much going on for that to happen now.
Ryker settled his hand on my shoulder as Mouse darted out of the trees. Instead of throwing himself into my arms, the boy skidded to a halt when he spotted Lillian strapped to my chest. He grinned as he stood on his toes to look down at her.
Mouse visited us and the orphanage often enough that he wasn’t completely filthy and his clothes were in good condition. He’d forever remain wild and free, but he craved being around us too.
“Do you ever spend time with the gargoyles?” I asked him.
Mouse grinned as he nodded. He formed his fingers into a heart.
“Yeah,” I said, “I love them too.”
Mouse pointed at me, Lillian, and Ryker before forming another heart.
Tears burned my eyes, and my words came out hoarse. “I love you so much, Mouse. You’ll always have a home with us.”
He kissed my cheek, caressed Lillian’s head, and hugged Ryker before dashing into the woods again.
“I wish he’d stay with us,” Ryker murmured.
I sighed. “He wouldn’t be Mouse if he did.”
“True.”
Ryker rested his hand on my waist and guided me out of the clearing and back toward the manor. While we strolled through the trees, ghosts floated past.
None of them acknowledged our existence as they floated through trees and other obstacles. Unlike the poltergeists, the ghosts weren’t sentient beings, but the sight of them was, in some ways, more unsettling than the bloodthirsty specters.
We’d been walking for an hour when Farley found us. He waved his dagger in greeting.
“Aw, it’s the little one,” he cried excitedly.
When he zipped over to hover above my shoulder, Lillian’s eyes fluttered open. I wasn’t sure if she could see him or not, but she smiled before settling into sleep again.
“Just like her mama.” Farley puffed out a little like he was her mother. “She recognizes a good man when she sees one, isn’t that right, Aristodick?” Farley asked Ryker.
“Fuck off, you free-floating blob of impotence.”
Farley chuckled as he waved his blade. “I’m not so impotent with this.”
“Try it, and I’ll take that blade from you. Permanently,” Ryker warned.
“I’d never attack you. I like Lery too much for that.”
“One of these days, you two will get along,” I muttered.
“That’s not ever going to happen,” they both said.
I chuckled. “You’re so much alike.”
The looks they gave me were equal parts disbelieving and irritated. “You’re not funny,” Farley said.
Ryker opened his mouth but closed it before speaking. I laughed when I realized he’d been about to agree with Farley and didn’t like it. When Ryker scowled at me, I playfully bumped his hip with mine.
“You think I’m hilarious,” I teased.
“Hmph,” he grunted.
More poltergeists drifted through the woods toward us, and while having so many of the armed specters around us made me a little uneasy, I trusted them. They were all fascinated by Lillian.
“That babe has power,” one of them muttered.
“Isn’t she adorable?” another cooed.
“She’s like her mama,” Farley said proudly. “At one with the forest and us.”
While Lillian was too young for us to know this for sure, I suspected he was right. One day, my daughter would also find solace beneath these trees.
She’d become as much a part of the forest as the poltergeists were. Maybe, like her mother and father, she’d find love here too.
After a while, the poltergeists drifted off, and when the shadows beneath the trees deepened, Ryker opened a portal to the tree line outside the manor.
Dusk had descended by the time we emerged, but that didn’t keep me from spotting the horse standing in the front yard, grazing on the short grass there.
“Xanthus,” Ryker breathed.
When he stepped out of the forest and whistled, Xanthus’s head came up, his ears flicked forward, and an excited whinny issued from him. He trotted across the street with his tail held high and his front legs prancing.
Ryker laughed when the beautiful stallion stopped before him. The horse nudged him as Ryker’s hands ran over his head before he kissed his muzzle. Then he threw his arms around the horse’s neck, and Xanthus pulled him close as the two of them embraced.
I stood, gawking as I watched them in amazement. While we’d taken time to search for him, there’d been no sign of the stallion since I last saw him in the cavern.
Over time, I’d come to believe he’d died in the woods, and I dreaded the idea of encountering his ghost. I should have known the stubborn, mostly untamed creature, who was so much like the man who could never fully break him, could survive the forest.
After a few minutes, I walked over to pet Xanthus’s velvety muzzle. He nudged me, but soon lowered his head back to Ryker.
I wondered if the horse had believed him dead. Xanthus left after the duke captured Ryker; perhaps he’d assumed the only man he trusted had perished.
When they finally parted, Xanthus trotted back to the grass and resumed grazing. Ryker and I went to the barn to get him some grain.
After we returned to the stallion, Ryker spread the grain on the ground, patted Xanthus’s neck, and returned the grain bucket to the barn. I suspected the horse would stay nearby, but like Mouse, he’d never be fully tamed.
We stayed outside with him until Lillian started getting fussy. “You can stay out here,” I told Ryker.
“No, it’s time to get her ready for bed.”
When we entered the manor, dim lights illuminated the entryway. I stood there as memories of laughter and love bombarded me.
Ever since we’d returned here, I’d tried not to recall my past life in this place. There had been many good times, and while I cherished them, they also brought a pang of sorrow over the reminder of all I’d lost.
And despite all the amazing memories, there were also bad ones and a lot of sadness. However, all those roads and losses had led me back here, to the place where my father, my daughter, and I were born.
Suddenly, I knew. There would always be bad memories, and we’d also create some of our own as time passed, because no family always got along, but this was my home.
It always had been and always would be, even Xanthus agreed.
Sliding my hand into Ryker’s, I looked up at him and smiled. “We’re home.”
He grinned at me. “I know.”
And then, careful not to squish our daughter between us, he wrapped his arms around me, drew me close, and kissed me.
The series will continue with book 8, A Tempest of Reckoning, releasing in 2027: Rkwb
Turn the page for a sneak peek of When Roses Burn—Book 1 of Beneath the Briars, a dark fantasy romance Beauty and the Beast retelling.