CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
In books and movies, it never seemed to show what came immediately after the big battle.
I was unnerved to discover that, after such a rush of fear, adrenaline, blood, and pain, everything that followed was … ordinary. Quiet.
Awful.
Sunlight bounced harshly off all the armor and weapons.
I squinted as I picked my way through the dead, looking at every face, dreading that I’d see more I recognized.
So far I had found Narfu and Sarod. In the distance, I could see Luther’s huge frame doing the same thing I was.
Every so often, he bent over, flung a body over his broad shoulder, and carried the fallen soldier to a waiting cart.
The wheels squeaked as they rolled over the uneven ground.
I watched the one closest to me go for a moment, knowing the rats would have several more loads before they were done.
They hadn’t been the only ones to suffer huge losses. There were a dozen other carts scattered over the hills as others did the same with their dead.
A hawk shrieked overhead, drawing my gaze away from the carts. I continued my search, and a few minutes later, I finally found the body I’d been looking for.
I closed a door inside myself, then settled on the ground.
With ash-covered hands, I lifted Viessa Folduin’s head and placed it near the rest of her.
She was as cold as ever, but the magic had left her body, leaving a beautiful, terrible shell.
I closed Viessa’s eyes and sat back, feeling heavy and hollow at the same time.
“Thank you for being my friend,” I whispered.
A shadow fell over us. After a moment, I tipped my head and looked up at Nuvian.
His back was to the sun, but I could still make out his expression.
For once, there was none of the hatred or disdain I was used to seeing—there was only pain.
He didn’t say a word, and neither did I as I stood.
Nuvian sank to his knees on Viessa’s other side.
I left him to grieve alone.
More time passed. I didn’t track the sun’s progress as it began to move overhead.
I helped the rats, the faeries, the nymphs, and the shapeshifters.
Body after body I put in those carts. They got heavier and heavier, but still I went on.
Even when another shadow fell across me and I caught that wonderful scent, I kept my head down, my focus completely on the task at hand.
“Go home,” a familiar voice said. Then Collith added, because he knew I was about to argue, “Please.”
I shook my head without looking at him. I bent down to grasp a dead water nymph’s wrists. “I need to help with the cleanup.”
“You’ve given enough. We all saw you close that Gate.
We felt it.” When I straightened to respond, Collith stepped closer and pressed a slow, tender kiss to my forehead, utterly disregarding the dirt and blood coating me.
He spoke against my skin, murmuring, “Fortuna, please. You’re about to collapse, and then I’ll just have to carry you back anyway. ”
I knew he was right. I still really hated it when he was right. “Okay,” I said faintly. “Fine.”
Collith studied me with a faint look of surprise, but he didn’t question it. “Do you want me to come with you?”
I considered the question for a moment before I cast another look around us. So many of the bodies were fae. These were his people, and no matter how sincere he was, I knew Collith would want to help put them to rest.
“No,” I said numbly. “I’ll just see you back at the loft when you’re done.”
I felt his eyes on me as I walked away. It took me at least an hour to get to the place where we’d parked all our cars.
I’d hidden the keys behind one of the tires, and thankfully they were still there.
They jangled in my hand as I unlocked the trunk.
It took me a couple of minutes to peel off my gore-covered armor and put it inside.
Once I’d rubbed most of the blood off my face and arms, I got in the car and started the engine.
I was barely aware of the sound it made.
I was barely aware of driving to the closest town, where the Door awaited.
Barely aware of leaving the car, or using the Door, or making my way through the woods.
Barely aware of climbing the stairs to the loft.
Of greeting my family. Of Emma hugging me, Danny and Damon standing nearby with a happily babbling Matthew, as she said, “Oh, thank God. Thank God.”
I let Emma fuss over me for a few minutes, and then I told everyone I was tired. They nodded and reassured me they would tell the others we’d won. Bea and Gretchen. Seth. I was so detached that even the thought of them caused no reaction.
“Oh,” Emma said as I walked toward my bedroom. I slowed, then stopped in the doorway, as if my body was two seconds behind the commands coming from my brain. I looked over my shoulder at Emma, whose brows were drawn together with worry. “Was anyone hurt?”
“Yes. A lot of people were hurt.” My hand fell from the doorframe, and my voice was still empty. “Viessa died. Narfu is gone, too.”
Her hand went to her mouth, and tears filled her eyes. “Oh,” I heard Emma say softly.
But I’d turned away again. I couldn’t bring myself to say anything else.
I continued going through the motions, because I didn’t know what to do.
I took off my armor, then the sweaty clothes beneath it.
I showered. I brushed my teeth and got into bed.
Hello jumped up, purring, and curled into a ball on my stomach.
I rested my hand on her tiny spine and stared up at the ceiling.
I didn’t expect to fall asleep. It did take a while.
The battle replayed in my head, over and over.
I wondered if I’d really spoken to my mother.
I absorbed the aches and pains in my body.
I relived the vivid scene of Lucifer’s death.
When I finally drifted into the darkness, I was still thinking about him.
And then I saw him.
He was in his study. His head was bent, his shoulders slumped. But a moment later, he let out a bellow of rage and swept an arm across his desk. Everything went crashing to the floor, the lamp, his computer, all of it. Cords yanked and sparked, and the light went out.
Lucifer moved to stand in front of the window, his chest heaving, fists clenched at his sides. He stared at his reflection in the glass, and suddenly his eyes narrowed. A chill went through me, as if I were standing on the other side of the glass looking back at him.
Could he … see me?
I want to wake up, I thought, making it a hard command instead of a hysterical burst. I want to wake up right now.
I woke up in my bed, drenched in sweat.
The first thing I noticed was that Hello was gone.
In a rush of worry, I searched the dim room.
I spotted her on the floor—my cat was pressed against the door, glaring at me with bared teeth.
Her back was arched, her fur spiked. I studied the poor thing, my heart rate still uneven.
She looked like she’d been threatened. Like she’d sensed something else in the room with us.
And I knew. What I’d seen hadn’t just been a dream.
It wasn’t over.
Steam rose from the coffee cup in my hand.
We’d all gathered in the kitchen. I sat on one of the barstools, and Emma occupied the one beside me.
Collith and Laurie stood to my left while Cyrus and Ariel had claimed the space on the other side of the island, their arms wrapped around each other.
Damon and Danny had done the same across from where I sat.
Gil leaned against the refrigerator, his arms crossed, and Seth was nearby pouring himself a cup of coffee.
Lyari had come, too, but she stood in front of the sink and stared out the window.
The baby monitor rested silently in the middle of our tension, its small lights dim.
“We really need to work on your poker face, love,” Gil said to me.
Shit, I thought, gripping my cup tighter.
The bad news was probably written all over my face, and staying quiet about it certainly wasn’t helping.
I’d just been waiting to see if Nym would come.
He hadn’t been in his room, of course, so I had tried texting and calling, none of which went through.
The fact that Nym didn’t have any signal was a solid indication that he’d gone back to the Unseelie Court, and I didn’t blame him.
The battle for the world might be over, but with Viessa gone, the fight for the throne had just begun anew.
Seth finally left the counter, holding one of Emma’s coffee mugs between his palms. As our eyes met, I knew I was out of excuses.
I just didn’t want to see the expressions on their faces when they found out it wasn’t over.
But we were all in danger—again—and keeping them in the dark wasn’t an option.
Steeling myself, I rested my weight on my elbows and looked around at the people I loved.
“He’s alive,” I told them. “Lucifer is alive, and he’s back in Hell. I saw it in a dream.”
At first, no one reacted. Their expressions didn’t change, and neither did the tension. “Good riddance. Let him rot, just as the Lord intended,” Emma declared.
I gave her a strained smile. Gently I said, “The problem is that he still has connections here. Ways to reach his followers and give them orders … like killing us. Even in Hell, he’s dangerous.”
“Then we’re right back where we started,” Lyari said grimly, turning from the window.
“We didn’t know about demon glass before,” Ariel volunteered.
Lyari’s eyes flashed. “And how do you propose we use it on him?”