Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Ireturn to my body and wake with a gasp, scrambling to stand bolt upright next to Asher’s hospital gurney. He’s blinking up at me, whole and alive.
“What the hell?” Orion has a hand up, shielding his gaze from the brilliance of Birdie’s portal power. When the energy dies down, he sees Asher is alive and…
“He’s going down…”
Asher grabs Orion’s arm, and Wylder rushes around the gurney in time to keep our white tiger shifter from assplanting on the cubicle floor.
Wylder holds Orion until his eyes flutter open, and his fainting spell passes. When everyone has recovered from the initial shock, Wylder pegs me with a look. “What happened? What’s going on?”
I give the two of them a very brief recap and get to the immediate problem. “How do we get him out of here without the doctors and nurses seeing him and wondering how this is possible?”
Orion is still hugging Asher, their foreheads pressed together. "Not a dream. You swear?”
"Not a dream," Asher confirms.
“While it’s great to see you with your face back on,” Wylder says, “we need to cut this reunion short and celebrate once we get home. Poppy’s right, Asher being upright and breathing is exposure waiting to happen.”
They don’t seem to hear Wylder, or don’t care. They are making out like there’s no tomorrow—and, fair—because there almost wasn’t.
My mind is spinning. “What about the old ‘patient in the laundry cart’ idea? They always use that on TV.”
Wylder is scowling, but I’m not sure if it’s because he hates my idea or because the PDA is quickly getting out of hand. “Get a fucking room, you two. We need to—”
The fizzle of magic over my skin gives no warning before a flash of light brings the four of us to Asher’s room back at Hallowind House.
“What the fuck just happened?” Wylder snaps, glaring at the room as if something or someone is about to jump out at us. “Who portaled us here?”
Asher and Orion seem aware enough of their surroundings to at least ease back from their celebration affections to consider how we ended up here.
Asher grins. “I think that was me.”
“What?” Mind. Blown.
He’s lying on his bed and stretches out, getting comfortable. “Yeah, I was thinking how badly I wanted to be here and how I didn’t want to be stuffed in a laundry cart, and bam, a surge of energy zapped out of me and here we are.”
Orion collapses on the bed next to Asher. “So focused on getting me back to your bed that we unlocked one of your new powers?”
“Yeah, baby.” Asher waggles his brows. “I died today. That puts things into perspective. Priorities, you know?”
I snort. “Well, we’ll leave the two of you to your prioritizations, and will call Declan to see if he has any ideas on how to create a medical cover-up at the hospital. You kids have fun. I love you.”
Asher winks. “Love you, too.”
Footsteps thunder up the hallway and Rowan bursts into the room, her hair wild from sleep.
When she sees us, she freezes.
"What did I miss? I just felt a surge of power I didn’t recognize.”
Right. Rowan’s been sound asleep, oblivious to the trials and triumphs of our night.
I gesture for her to retreat to the hall, and Wylder joins us, leaving Asher and Orion to their fun. “Come downstairs, girlfriend, and I’ll explain everything. You’re going to need to sit down for this."
In the end, I explained everything that happened to Rowan and Wylder, and then the three of us turned in. Wylder stayed for another PG sleepover because he wasn’t comfortable going home and leaving me susceptible to Tharuzel.
I didn’t mind the company a bit.
Because, despite it all working out in the end, I’m both anxious and annoyed that while the silver disk on my neck and the Thornhill potion didn’t allow me to be possessed mind and body, having little to no personal autonomy wasn’t much better.
So, with Orion staying over, too, there are five of us for the Hallowind House celebration brunch.
“Uncle Declan said he’s taken care of the mystery of Asher’s disappearing body at the hospital, and since his face was completely chewed up, he doesn’t think being recognized will be an exposure issue.”
I cheers Orion with a piece of bacon. “Excellent. Thank you for following up on that.”
Orion eats his bacon and cuts off a chunk of pancake as a chaser. “I wasn’t so much following up as reporting my whereabouts. I tore out of the house in the middle of the night, and Eliza can get protective if I don’t keep her posted.”
Asher finishes chewing and takes a swig of coffee. “You’re lucky to have your aunt and uncle. They’re good people and they love you.”
Orion nods. “Pack families are very different from human families. They can be growly and overbearing, but if tragedy should strike, there’s no one left behind.”
Rowan sets her peanut butter toast down for a few pieces of chewy bacon. “It’s like the saying, ‘It takes a village to raise a child’. Only it’s a pack of supernaturals who turn into animals and can rip you to shreds.”
Asher’s mug clinks against the countertop. “Same-same.”
Orion laughs. “Yeah, pretty much.”
I pour myself another glass of juice and pass the carton to Wylder. He’s been quieter than usual, and I’m not sure if that’s just his way to process or if something is bugging him.
"We don’t have to be shifters to be pack,” Asher says. “Poppy and I have been pack for years. We just didn’t know it.”
“We should get tattoos,” Rowan adds.
Asher points his fork at her. “We definitely should, Ro. You and I will start working on the design. If anyone has ideas they want considered, let us know.”
“If we put your design idea within this symbol, it could also act as a brand against demon possession.” Wylder has the anti-possession brand symbol on his phone and holds it up for everyone to see. “I think we should all get one.”
Asher and I lean in to check out the symbol. “Agreed. I’m in for anything that protects us from demon possession.”
“I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that you’ve played bingo with the Goddess Mother,” Rowan says.
Laughter bubbles up and out before I can stop it. "Yeah, we had to learn the names of her entire lineup of lucky troll dolls and everything."
"What?" Wylder looks between me and Asher like we've both lost our minds. “Man, you should never meet your idols.”
I laugh again. “No, you absolutely should. Knowing that she wears overalls and plays bingo and likes to knit awful festive sweaters just makes her all the more magical.”
Orion pushes his empty plate away and leans back. “I want to hear more about this grotto.”
Wylder pulls out his phone to check a notification. “I want to hear more about Asher being Poppy’s guardian angel. What does that mean in terms of powers?”
He finishes reading his message and frowns, raising a finger. “Hold please. It's Mica. She says she can feel the Cinderheart Crucible calling to her and is calling the Brigade together for a mission.
My spine straightens. "Is she sure?”
He looks at me and shrugs. “I’m just the messenger.”
I exchange glances with everyone and stand. “All right. Let’s get ready to saddle up for a field trip. We’re off to find a mythical forge.”
Mica arrives twenty minutes later, with Clara and Lizzy in tow. The extra spring in Mica’s step has her teal, purple, and blue hair whipping around behind her like a peacock's tail. “The scrying spell is working."
I finish tying my shoe and greet her. "You found it?"
"Not found, exactly. I feel it." Mica presses a hand to her sternum, her fingers splayed. "It's close. Pulsing in my veins, like a heartbeat just under my ribs. The Cinderheart Crucible is here."
"Here? Like in Emberwood?"
"No, here, like in the country." She turns in a slow circle, her face tilted like she's tracking something invisible. "Southwest, I think. The pull is strong."
Asher strides in, his compound bow slung across his stomach, loading metal bolts into the harness as he walks. "Now that everyone is here, Sebastian is heading out to the stones. He says for Mica to come out as soon as possible so she can guide him to get us a portal target.”
“Awesome, thanks.” Mica lets off a squeal and hurries off toward the back of the house.
“Is Rowan coming down?” I ask.
“She’s on the back deck with Orion and Wylder.” He looks up to chat with me and fumbles with the bolt in his hand. It tumbles toward the floor and as he curses and stumbles to catch it, a surge of energy crackles in the air.
The metal bolt hits the floor, bounces once, and lands as a long-stemmed gerbera daisy.
He picks up the flower and looks at me. “Did you do that?”
I shake my head. “No, that was all you.”
He arches a brow at me. “I can poof things now?”
“Apparently so.”
We both stare at the pretty purple flower as that sinks in, and then Asher takes it over to the kitchen to put it in a glass of water. “Well, I don’t suppose it’ll do much good as a weapon of mass destruction, so we might as well enjoy how pretty it is.”
“I suppose that’s true.” I watch as he gets the flower sorted and wonder what him being a guardian angel brought back from the dead will mean for him. “Are you sure you're up for a field mission?"
His jaw sets in that stubborn line I know too well. “Of course I am. I'm better than ever."
"Ash, you just turned an arrow into a flower."
"Which is weird, but not a sign that I need to stay here." He meets my gaze with a determination I know too well. "I'm not sitting this out."
The agony of his death is still so fresh I can barely breathe. I want to cast a protective shield around him and lock him in the house where demon wolves and ancient forges can't touch him.
But Asher has never been a guy to hide while others fight, and the Goddess Mother herself sent him back for a reason.
To stand and fight at my side—where he was always destined to be.
"Fine. But if you accidentally teleport into a tree, I'm saying I told you so."
"Deal."
Wylder comes back inside to check on us. "Are we doing this?"