Chapter Ten
CHAPTER TEN
David
I feel the surge of energy from Caolan, the rush of something racing through space, and then éibhear collapses, a hole in his chest.
It’s done. This has been itching at Caolan since the king asked him to handle it—death for elves is a big deal, since they choose when they want to finish their lives, and soul death is a concept for the worst horror stories. To be the one to mete it out…
But all I feel from him now is calm. I want to take his hand, pull him aside and ask him how he is, but the middle of this battlefield with Tish standing mere yards away is not the place.
Speaking of…
“Murderer!” Tish bellows. He looks wildly around for supporters, but those who haven’t already defected are still lying prone from my attack weave.
Which is just as well, because I don’t have any juice left—that took it all out of me.
It’s sheer will that’s even keeping me upright right now.
“Do you see how they maliciously strike down—”
“Give it up,” Noah says scornfully. “That’s not how it is, and you know it.”
Tish’s gaze fixes on him, and he sneers. “You! How did you escape me? How are you here ?”
Noah smirks, manifests a fireball, tosses it in the air, and catches it. “Did you really think you could keep me prisoner?”
I choke down a laugh. Noah’s clearly watched too many B-grade movies. Still, the look on Tish’s face is worth it.
“This is over,” Percy says calmly, walking forward into the space between us and Tish, beyond the safety of our ward. I frown. “You know it is. You’re done. You’re alone. We’ve taken your other compounds. There’s nothing left of this foolhardy plan.”
Tish moves so fast, I can’t even shout a warning as he hurls a weave at Percy. I can’t see exactly what it is, but it has the distinctive pattern of a genetic modification, and that’s not a good thing.
Time ticks forward in slow motion, muffled and blurry, as though I’m underwater. My mouth opens. I reach desperately for any last shred of power I might have. Gideon flashes out of existence beside me. Alistair and Elinor leap forward.
We’re going to be too late.
And Percy shifts, dropping under the weave, then lunges up and rips out Tish’s throat.
Reality crashes back like a boulder, sound exploding into my ears as Tish’s lifeless body drops to the ground.
Gideon blinks, now only inches from where Percy was standing a moment ago, his arm outstretched to yank our lucifer out of danger.
Alistair and Elinor skid to a halt, whining in confusion.
Sam bends at the waist and puts his hands on his knees.
“You know,” Andrew says into the silence. “I think we may have underestimated Percy.”
The cat that is Percy makes a snarl-hiss sound, his mouth stretching in what might be a smile. He shifts back, and yep, he’s smiling as he opens his mouth—
The world changes.
I clutch Caolan’s arm for balance—emotional balance. I know this feeling. This has happened before in my lifetime, more than once. The last time—
Looking back at Percy, I see the shock on his face—shock and relief and sorrow.
His time as lucifer is done.
Before I can go to him, a startled sound grabs my attention. Even as I turn, I become aware that the feeling of being near the lucifer is still strong, and so it’s no surprise to see Sam sitting on his ass in the dirt, shock and awe and fear written all over his expression.
“Sam?” Gideon chokes out, stumbling over to him. Sam tips his head back and gazes up at him dazedly.
“I think our life’s going to change,” he murmurs. “I need to make a to-do list.”
I huff out a laugh and let go of Caolan’s arm, only to sway. Wow. Maybe it wasn’t just emotional balance I needed.
He grabs for me and slides an arm around my waist as the adrenaline high begins to drain away and I become aware of awful pain in my wrist—the same wrist that was broken not that long ago. Please don’t let it be broken again.
“You need to sit,” Caolan says, but I shake my head.
“I’m okay. Percy,” I manage, and my wonderful, handsome, heroic elf sighs and helps me over toward my childhood friend.
“Hey,” he says in his typical unruffled manner, and even though the aura of the lucifer is gone, he still projects that sense of calm and serenity he always has.
“Hey,” I reply. “Busy day.”
He chuckles. “You could say that.” Glancing around, he adds, “It’s going to be a busy night too.”
That’s putting it mildly. The truth is, it’s going to be a busy few weeks getting what’s left of Tish and éibhear’s plot unraveled, their people questioned and charged, and their bases dismantled. Then months more going through all the data.
Not to mention the ongoing task of resettling all the elves and dragons and helping them assimilate to Earth.
Cold panic strikes me at the thought of Percy not being there to help.
“You’re not leaving CSG, are you?” I blurt, a little louder than I had intended.
There’s a muffled shriek behind me, and we all turn to see Sam scrambling to get up. “No! No, I need you!” He races over, Gideon following. “Percy, you can’t leave. I don’t know anything about being in charge.”
“I don’t know,” Alistair says thoughtfully, joining us. “You’re pretty bossy.”
Sam glares at him. “Don’t you have a boyfriend to annoy?”
“My lover is currently seeing to his people.”
As always when Alistair calls Aidan that, I force myself not to cringe.
“Come on,” Percy says to Sam, gesturing with a hand that’s spattered with gore. “We should be doing that too.”
“You won’t leave, will you?” Sam asks again, and Percy shrugs.
“Not right away. I’ll help you get settled into the job.”
For a moment, I think Sam’s going to argue, but then he heaves a sigh. “I guess you’ve earned a break. And a life that’s not devoted to others.”
Gideon groans, his face pained. “Our life is going to be at the mercy of the masses,” he complains. Sam grabs his hand and pulls him toward where our troops are checking bodies to see who needs medical attention and who’s beyond that point.
“Let’s start now,” he says. “This will be good for you.”
Alistair trails after them, heckling Gideon, and Percy watches them fondly.
“This may be the only time I’ve ever second-guessed the magic,” I begin, “but I really wonder if it knows what it’s doing, pulling Gideon so close to the spotlight.” He barely tolerates the attention he gets as a member of our team.
Percy chuckles. “The magic hasn’t completely deserted me, and I get a strong feeling that Sam’s not going to be in the limelight for too long—just long enough to handle these transition years. In a decade or so, they’ll be able to get back to their life.”
I study his face. “And are you going to get back to your life?” Beside me, Caolan shifts his weight, then carefully lets go of me, hovers for a second to make sure I stay upright, and walks away.
I love him so.
Percy gazes after him. “You’ve got a good one there. Even if you were too stubborn to realize it at first.”
“He’s amazing,” I agree, mentally kicking myself for those days we could have been together but weren’t.
“But you’re dodging the question. Are you okay?
” I know what it’s like to have your whole life change in a single second, and while it was for the best for me, I don’t know how Percy’s going to handle this upheaval for a second time.
He sighs. “I don’t know. But I will be. I just… need to get used to things again.”
“Helping Sam settle in will be a good way of easing yourself out,” I point out. “You can slowly move away from… this.” It hits me hard that I won’t be seeing him and working with him every day. The last fifty years have been an incredible journey.
Pushing past the sudden lump in my throat, I add, “Maybe you can try dating again. I bet Alistair would happily show you everything there is to know about hookup apps.” Officially, Percy’s been single since before he became lucifer.
Unofficially, he and Lily were on-again-off-again for about twenty years before she died.
That’s not widely known—in fact, I may be the only one aside from them who knew, although I think Andrew suspected.
They were always so careful to hide it, especially from shifters with their keen sense of smell.
He makes a slight face. “I’m not sure I’m ready for anything Alistair has to teach in that area,” he says dryly. “Did you hear about the time—”
“Percy.”
He stops, then concedes, “Maybe. I don’t know yet.
Things changed rather suddenly.” He gestures to the battlefield around us.
Not far away, medical teams are coming through portals to assess and transport the injured.
King Raeulfr and Brandt have joined Sam and Gideon and the others in checking on our people.
“And you know my father is going to have some opinions to shove down my throat. If we weren’t in the middle of nowhere with no cell reception, my phone would be ringing nonstop. ”
This is true.
“I just want you to be okay. Promise you’ll call me if you need me. No matter what.”
A faint smile crosses his face, and he claps me on the shoulder. “David, I’m going to call you even when I don’t need you. Now stay here, and I’ll send someone over to check you out.”
He jogs away before I can protest that I’m perfectly fine, thanks…
which is just as well, since we’ve known each other too long for me to be able to successfully lie to him.
You’d think after so many years and so much training, I’d know better than to use every scrap of my own power like that…
but on the other hand, if you can’t do it during an apocalyptic battle to save the universe, when can you?
An arm slides around my waist, and I turn my head to look at the man who’s changed my whole perspective on life.
“You need a medic,” he says grimly, but I shake my head.
“Not as much as others,” I assure him. “My wrist is sore, but I can still move my fingers. Other than that, I just need protein, water, and sleep.” The only things that will help me recharge my inner power well. “But there’ll be time for that later. There’s too much to do now.”
Two minutes later, I’m sitting on a folding chair that the triage team brought with them and being examined by a paramedic. My man is stubborn and not above hauling me bodily around when I don’t have the strength to stop him.
We’ll fight about that later.
The sorcerer paramedic hands me a protein bar and a bottle of water. “Get started with these while I bandage your wrist. It’s definitely not broken, but it’s going to be painful for a few days, so ice and rest.”
“Sure,” I agree, ripping the bar open with my teeth.
The paramedic pauses. “You’re not going to do any of that, are you?”
I swallow my first bite. “Ice and rest? Of course I am.” As soon as things are under control at the office. Maybe tomorrow sometime.
She sighs. “I’ll get you a sling.”
Caolan comes back just then. “The king, Sam, and Percy are going back to headquarters, and you’re going with them,” he says in this bossy, overbearing tone that for some reason completely cranks my engine.
If I weren’t so drained that thinking is an effort, my cock would be standing at full attention.
“There are still things—”
He holds up a hand. Yep, I apparently have a fetish for dominating men.
Or dominating Caolan, anyway. “Garin, Andrew, and Noah are staying here to oversee what’s necessary.
I’m assigning an elf with portal capabilities to assist them.
Alistair and Gideon are going to visit the other compounds and ensure things are being managed correctly there.
Elinor is going to coordinate from the office. And Sam said he needs your assistance.”
Part of me is miffed that they managed to organize everything without me, but I push it aside and nod. “Okay, then.” The paramedic brings me a sling, and I shove the last of my protein bar into my mouth and slip it over my head. Once it’s adjusted to her satisfaction, she waves me off.
I’m feeling a little stronger already and manage to walk under my own power to where Sam and Percy are standing with the king and Brandt.
“Okay?” Sam asks, his concerned gaze searching my face. It’s so disconcerting to feel the soothing power of the lucifer radiating from him. Really, though, I already know he’s going to be great at this job.
“All good,” I assure him. “Caolan’s just a worrywart.”
Caolan makes an offended sound, then sniffs. “You’ll take that back when you need my help later, Mr. One-Arm,” he promises, and I choke back a groan of irritation as I remember how fucking hard it is to navigate life when you can’t use both hands. Buttons in particular suck.
“You’re so handsome,” I tell him, and the whole group bursts out laughing. Caolan rolls his eyes as he turns away and opens the portal, but he’s smiling.
Time to get to work.