NINETY-THREE
CAZ
There were too many people lost to count.
I believe many of the bodies went away when I tapped into all my energy. Everyone who was alive was spared and sent to a safe space. Granted, it was in the middle of the ocean, but it was better than being electrocuted.
Alora and Valden, though injured, rally up the remainder of their soldiers and return to Vanora. Neither of them has much to say.
Neither do I.
Everyone is still in shock.
I tell them I’ll see them in Vanora in a few days once things are settled in Blackwater.
Devlin survived the war, but his friend Bolv didn’t. I checked on him, and he’s with the Kessel tribe, having his wounds tended to by one of the Mythics. With his territory charred and most of his people dead, I’m not sure where he’ll go or what he’ll do, but we’ll figure things out when he’s better.
There are more people I need to check on, but none of them are as important to me as Rowan. I rush into the manor with Willow, and we hurry up the stairs to the second floor.
When we near his chamber, I spot his body on the bed, his face ghostly pale and his lips blue. The gash in his chest is deep with black veins spread around the edge of the wound, proving there was poison at play.
Killian and Maeve sit on either side of him, and Juniper is at the foot of the bed. All have tears in their eyes.
Maeve clings to her deceased son’s hand, sobbing. Willow and I look at each other, sharing a tightness of grief in our chests.
“I told you not to die, you idiot,” Juniper sniffs.
“Can I have the room please?” I ask.
They all look to me, a pause in their cries.
“What for?” Killian asks. “We’re all grieving, just the same as you, Caz.”
“Kill,” I reply calmly. “Trust me on this one. I need the room.”
He frowns, swinging his eyes from me to his brother. Then he pushes out of his chair and reaches for Maeve. “Come on, Mum.”
It takes him a while to wrench Maeve away, but he manages and takes Juniper along with him. Willow shuts the door after them, and when her eyes meet mine, she nods.
“I don’t know if this will work.” I stand over Rowan, my heart beating twice as fast. Being this close to him makes my stomach twist. “My poor brother.”
“Just try,” Willow whispers. “For the family. For him.”
I steel my jaw, fighting the flashbacks of the scorpion tailed creature sticking him like a dagger. But fighting it does me no good, and instead I drop to my knees and press my head to his arm.
“It’s my fault.” My tears fall, hot and thick. They sizzle when they land on the cool wooden floor. He’s dead because of me. I can’t do this.
“Hey.” A hand smooths my hair back while another raises my chin. Willow points my face up, and I look at her. Her eyes spark as she looks down at me with a smile. “What did Hassha say? You have it all in you now, Caz. Whatever you put your mind to, you can do.”
“She’s right. Trust yourself,” Yuri says.
“But this is different,” I say out loud for both of them to hear. “If I fail—if it doesn’t work—I’ll never forgive myself.”
Willow reaches for my hand and brings me back to a stand.
“Try,” she says, nodding. “I believe in you.”
I draw in a breath, sliding my attention to the cold body below. My eyes close. I grip Willow’s hand, feeling her energy course through me.
My mind drifts out of Rowan’s chamber to search for remnants of Selah’s spilled blood. Drops of it cling to the broken pieces of the warlands. When I find it, the droplets rise in the air. I force them to come to me, to find me.
Then I open my eyes and raise a hand to the double doors leading to the balcony, summoning them open. An orb of dark blood appears, and I watch it float through the room. It doesn’t stop until it’s above Rowan’s body.
I cut my eyes to Willow, and she releases my hand. I grab one of the knives from Rowan’s weapon rack to cut into my palm and draw blood. Clenching my hand into a fist, I squeeze the blood into Rowan’s wound before my hand can heal. Then I let the orb sink into the wound too.
Our blood merges and sparks, orange clashing with red, but the red overpowers the orange and dissolves completely. Light spreads through him, and to my surprise, the black veins around his wound disappear. His skin stitches together at a rapid pace.
I release a trapped breath as relief hits me straight in the gut.
It’s working.
“Bring him back to us the way that he was,” I whisper.
The wound is gone now, revealing Rowan’s solid upper abdomen. I wait, heart thundering in my chest, for any sign that he’s alive again.
And then I see it.
The color returning to his skin. His lips shifting from blue to pink. His chest rising as it fills with breath.
“Oh my gosh,” Willow breathes. “It worked. Love of Vakeeli, it worked.” She dashes to the door and swings it open, which causes Killian to stumble in sideways. Knowing him, he had his ear pressed to the door.
“Come,” I tell them, flicking my fingers.
They rush inside, surrounding the bed, watching as Rowan breathes in and out. Then slowly, his eyes peel open, and a groan escapes him.
“Caz?” Rowan croaks, eyeing me. My heart pumps with nothing but pure joy. “Oi, I had the worst fucking nightmare of my life, I shit you not!”
“Rowan!” Maeve cries, throwing herself at him. She collapses on his chest and hugs him so tight he wheezes. “Oh, my son. You’re alive!”
“Well, of course I’m alive, Mum,” Rowan chuckles.
I can’t help laughing as tears line my eyes. Killian and Juniper join their mother, crying as they hold him equally as tight.
“That was no nightmare, brother,” Killian says, chuckling. “You literally fucking died.”
“Did I?” Rowan asks, eyes expanding. They all pull back so he can sit up. “Fuck me. So I lost the bet then?” he asks Killian.
Killian laughs and playfully punches his upper arm. “You lost the fucking bet. But it doesn’t matter because you saved my life, brother, and I’ll owe you for the rest of mine.”
“Wait a minute.” Juniper swings her eyes to Rowan. “You bet on one of you dying in the war?”
“What? No! I bet on not dying.” Rowan throws his hands up in a guiltless gesture. “Betting made it more fun. I didn’t think we’d actually fucking die though. At least I didn’t do what Killian did and bet on everyone dying. If you’re going to be mad, take it up with this brute.” He punches Killian back.
Willow laughs and steps past me to hug him tight. “Welcome back, Rowan. The clan wouldn’t have been the same without you.”
“Oh, come on. You lot didn’t miss me that much,” he says when she pulls away.
“We thought we lost you, you idiot,” Juniper ruffles his hair, her mouth quivering. She sinks into his chest, and he holds on to her with a satisfied smile. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”
“I never will again, sister,” he whispers in her hair. After planting a kiss on top of her head, he climbs out of the bed.
Standing tall, Rowan faces me with a wide smile.
“Look at you, Caz,” he breathes, looking me from head to toe. “I can thank you for this, right? Coming back to life and all?”
“Nah. Don’t thank me,” I say. “You’ve done more than enough for us. You risked your life for ours, Row. Reviving you was the least I could do.”
Rowan’s eyes glisten as he presses his lips.
“Come here, you goof.” With a proud smile, I reel him in and hug him tight.
I’ve lost so many people, but if I’d lost Rowan—someone who has always been like a brother to me—I don’t know what I’d have done. If one person is taken from this family, we’ll never be the same.
The rest of the clan joins our hug, and I drop an arm around Willow, planting a kiss on her forehead.
“To the ends?” Killian asks.
“To the ends,” they chant.
A wave of heat wraps around us all, and I realize it’s love. Love protecting them. Love keeping them close. My love.
“To the ends, the beginnings, and the impenetrable bond of the Blackwater Clan,” I say. “I love you all.”