Chapter 54 Ivy
Ivy
The shadows wrapped me in their familiar embrace before transporting our group. When they disappeared, where I expected to see more pebbles and water, there was forest.
No, not quite forest. But crawling vines and the ruins of the old palace.
The brief panic over not landing on the beach with my mates quickly subsided as the Elysian demon collapsed beside me. With a newborn, the baby, and leashes in hand, I couldn’t stop her from hitting the ground. Not even Hawk could have caught her.
He cursed, but I tried my best to kneel beside her. “Are you okay?” I asked, leaning over her.
Dark lashes fluttered as she let out a groan, but her eyes didn’t open. Shit. I looked up at Hawk, who clenched his jaw. “Is there anything you can do?”
He shook his head. “Healing a physical wound is one thing, but she’s drained. One trip shouldn’t have done it.”
“Not one,” she groaned. “Five.”
“Five?” I wished I could at least get her head off the ground.
After a moment, the demon opened her eyes. They were a deep red colour, untouched by glamour, and they met mine almost immediately. “We’ve been taking escapees to the Underworld. Many shifters. Some soldiers.”
I sat back on my heels, breath rushing out of me. “Oh.”
She rose to her elbows with a grunt before sitting up. “I took maybe fifteen on my own,” she said, looking at me. “But that may have just been my last for a few hours.”
“The others,” I murmured, turning to Hawk, who wasn’t looking at us. He was focused on a part of the ruins that looked like stairs leading underground. It reminded me of the dungeon the shadows had taken us to in the Old World and what remained of the vampire fortress around it.
I looked back at the demon, who also followed Hawk’s gaze.
If she couldn’t jump for another couple of hours, and that was the same for the other Elysian demons, then those we’d left behind were trapped.
Magnus was one who had chosen to remain on the beach, with Leith, Ya’Dahir, and Otto.
I wasn’t sure who else was staying behind, because Xerxes—with coaxing from Amais—pushed me to take the first trip.
I could curse myself for leaving them behind without knowing for sure they could make it. The barrier around the island kept Damon himself from jumping out, so I wasn’t sure why I was so irritated anyway when we knew the other demons wouldn’t be able to return.
“I am sorry, my Queen,” the demon murmured. “I do wish I could go back.”
I shook my head, struggling to my feet. Thank the Goddess both babies were sleeping, and my two little leashed ones were too exhausted to pull away. All the excitement of getting free wore them out.
“You saved a lot of lives today,” I said, looking down at her. “And I’ll forever appreciate that.”
She met my stare and nodded once before climbing to her feet. “Let me take one, please.”
I couldn’t exactly move my arms, and I had both babies settled comfortably enough against my chest, so I just wiggled my fingers. “Take the leashes.”
“He is not very helpful,” she muttered, glancing at Hawk, who was still staring at the ruins.
I pressed my lips together but didn’t respond. Carefully, I made my way to him, one eye on the dark hole in the ground, the other on the tension in his shoulders, the slight cock to his head.
“What?” I asked quietly, moving to stand in front of him. “What is it?”
He tore his eyes off the area and looked down at me.
I wasn’t entirely sure which Hawk I was looking at right now.
The way he looked at me made me wonder if maybe he was recognising how he finally felt about me, had somehow pulled those emotions free at some point, and it was now influencing the person who didn’t know who I was.
After a moment, he shook his head. “There’s someone down there.”
A shiver rolled down my spine. “Who?”
“I don’t know,” he replied, looking away from me. “I can tell they’re down there, but I don’t hear anything.”
Before I could utter a response, a flash of darkness appeared in the corner of my eye. Where there had been nothing before, there were suddenly two very familiar males, a couple of kids, and another exhausted Elysian demon who fell as soon as he landed.
The female demon rushed to his side, dropping the leashes as she did. Thankfully, the bear cub and wolf pup had their butts planted on the ground, nodding off with no intention of running. At least Hawk made a grab for the ends, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to bend over.
Xerxes, by some miracle, was holding a toddler who didn’t appear to care they were in the arms of what looked like a literal monster. Kiddo had one hand curled in the fur of his chest and was nuzzling him quite happily.
There was something about it that made my heart skip a beat. For a moment, I saw a glimpse of the future with him, of a life where we weren’t being hunted or thrown in cages, where I would get to watch him hold our own children in a similar way.
The thought made emotion thicken in my throat, so I shoved it away, focusing on Xerxes, the children, and Thor.
Thor, who was standing.
Standing with a baby and a leash.
It appeared we had almost all the older kids with us.
The other two Elysian demons hadn’t appeared yet, though they could have landed anywhere on the island.
I only vaguely knew this place was big, that the island once held not just the huge central palace of the High Fae, but also gardens, servant housing, guard buildings, and more.
My heart pounded as I took him in. I was honestly surprised he could stand at all. But then again, when he’d been in his bear form, he had no issue rising onto his hind legs. I’d watched him do it a couple of times, in the Pit especially.
At least he’d kept the fabric around his waist. The thought of him flashing everyone made my stomach clench, especially because he’d been so confused why he couldn’t.
His confusion had been a little bit cute, but something to address later.
Once we knew where we were.
The female demon helped her brother off the ground. They were almost a spitting image of one another, with the same inky black hair and hooded eyes. Where her hair was long and pin straight, his was shoulder length and thick.
“Should we just start walking?” I asked, watching them. “Hope we run into the others?”
“That might not be necessary,” Hawk said quietly. “I sense others coming our way.”
I couldn’t help but hold my breath. I looked at him and noticed he was staring past the ruins and underground entrance into the thick trees beyond.
Almost as if they were summoned, my mates crashed through the undisturbed forest, stumbling to a halt as their eyes locked with mine.
Elias, Maeve, Rowan, and Adrian.
I let the tears fall freely, a sob lodging in my throat. All the fear, all the locked away hope, every barrier I’d put up when Dante put the collar on me fell away as soon as they appeared.
Before I knew what I was doing, I fell to my knees. Maeve was there in an instant, her arms going around me and the babies to stop my fall.
It only had me sobbing harder. “Shh, a mhuirnín. I’m here. We’re here,” she said, voice breaking. “You’re safe.”
Still sobbing, I collapsed into her. I couldn’t hold myself up anymore; my arms shook, barely strong enough to hold onto the babies, and my thighs were trembling with exertion. Maeve was the only thing holding me together as the others approached.
Before they could get more than a few steps, Thor stepped between us, growling. It was enough to pause the sobs for just a moment, giving me a chance to say, “They aren’t a threat.”
The growling male looked over his shoulder at me, eyes bright. It was the first time I’d noticed the presence of his bear since he shifted. His eyes shifted to a deep, mesmerising brown, the same shade as the bear I’d come to know well.
But when he blinked, it was gone, leaving the light brown in its place. He stopped growling at least, though he said nothing as he took a lumbering step towards me, then another, eyes locked on mine.
Maeve stiffened behind me, though she didn’t move, didn’t make a sound, either. She could have growled and warned him off, but she didn’t.
Her arms tightened around me, though. I wished I could talk to her, could hear her thoughts.
But it was so painfully obvious now what I was missing.
The holes in my chest where my mate bonds should be, were somehow wider, darker.
A terrifying reminder of what Dante had taken away from me.
And I had no idea if I could get them back.
If there was any way to. Not with what he’d carved into my back.
And not when there would always be one permanent hole inside me where Orion should have been.
Thor moved to my other side, finally looking away as he did. The moment he was out of my way, Elias, Adrian, and Rowan were there.
I drew in a sharp breath as Elias moved into my line of sight. His warm, calloused hands went to my cheeks, but his eyes were on the collar. “I’ll tear him apart.”
I swallowed, shaking my head. “That won’t fix this.”
Elias finally looked up, meeting my stare. “We don’t know what will fix this. But tearing his heart out is better than the alternative.”
My stomach dropped at that. I hadn’t realised how badly I’d hoped they would have found a way to get this thing off me, how badly I’d hoped they would be able to save me.
“I’m so sorry, Angel,” he murmured, dropping his forehead to mine. “I am so sorry.”
Pressure built in my chest as my breaths came harsher. I wanted to tell him that it was okay, but I couldn’t make the words appear.
“Take the babies,” Maeve murmured. “She can’t hold them for much longer.”
I wanted to fight Elias for taking the little girl away from me. Her weight disappearing, which had kept me steady for the long hours following the tunnel, made the exhaustion and pain more real.
Buzzing started in my ears when the second baby was taken away from me. The newborn, no older than a month I’d guessed when Ya’Dahir handed him to me, slept so soundly I’d worried he was dead. That he couldn’t possibly survive all of that.
But both were given to the waiting demons, and suddenly I had nothing left to hold me up.
Suddenly, all my strength was gone.
When I collapsed this time, I cried again. Silently this time. Elias was there, cocooning me on one side, Maeve at my back. Rowan and Adrian appeared a second later, creating a wall between me and the others.
I should have felt guilty for falling apart. Should have felt bad for letting them pick up the pieces of me.
I maybe should have tried a little harder to be the person they all thought I could be.
But I was exhausted. I was in pain. Every single part of me hurt and there was no amount of soft touches and gentle words that could heal the bone-deep ache settling within me.
I doubted anything could really heal what Dante had broken.