"Thank you," she whispered into my ear. "I can never repay what you've done for me… for us." She kissed me on the cheek and moved away, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
"You never have to repay a thing," I told her. "Where're Tommy and Kasey?"
"Kasey went for a coke; Tommy went to deal with his issues."
"He's hitting something, isn't he?"
"In the gym. He's having more trouble dealing with what happened than Kasey is."
"He was almost beaten to death. That's going to screw with anyone's head. Besides that, he's a wolf who in any other life would be the alpha of a powerful pack. It's probably a lot for him to take in that he couldn't help his daughter. I'll talk to him, if you like."
Olivia nodded as Kasey walked in, can of coke in hand. "Nate," she shrieked, as she saw me and ran over, hugging me tightly.
"I like the artwork," I said.
Kasey pulled away and glanced back at the pictures on the wall.
"I'm a big fan of the rocket picture."
"That's an aeroplane," she corrected.
"Oh, so what's the slug thing underneath it?"
"That's a mountain with eyes."
I raised an eyebrow in question.
"I was six," she said, explaining everything.
"He hurt my dad," she said after a moment's silence. "I couldn't do anything to stop it." And Kasey was enfolded into her mum's arms the second the tears began to fall.
I let them have their moment together, until Kasey pulled away and glanced up at me. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop him from hurting you either."
I've seen many things in my life that have pulled at my heart in one way or another, but that? That damn near broke it. "Kasey, you stood up to a monster that most adults would have run from. You have nothing to be sorry for. Neither I nor your dad would ever think any less of you for being unable to stop the lich. We think more of you for trying. It's not your job to fight monsters, it's your job to enjoy being young. Maybe one day, you can be the big monster killer, but right now we don't want you to put yourself in danger. Not even to protect us."
Kasey sniffed. "My dad is angry."
"I'll deal with your dad," I told her. "Some people are more stubborn and proud than they should be. I'll go get him for you."
Finding Tommy was easy. I heard the grunts of pain, and the sound of the punch bag's reinforced chain straining to take the blows, before I'd even reached the gym's entrance.
I stood at the door and watched Tommy go to work on the bag with a combination of savage blows. Two previous bags lay on the floor nearby, their contents spilling out across the floor.
"You know, if you're going to be breaking every single punch bag, it's probably a good idea to start buying ones that are made for a werewolf."
"Go away," he said and continued punching the bag.
"You're not healed," I continued, ignoring him. "You keep that up, and you're going to end up a long-term resident for Doc Grayson to look after. I saw your wounds, Tommy. That silver can't be anywhere near healed yet. You're only doing more damage by being a stubborn pain in the ass."
"I'll be fine."
I walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Tommy, stop it."
He shook me off and planted a hand in my chest, shoving me back. "I said, go away."
When I didn't move, Tommy growled and threw a punch at me this time, but he was still injured and the punch lacked power and speed. I deflected it, causing him to lose his footing and fall forward.
"Don't be an ass, Tommy."
He sprang up to throw a second punch, but a quick kick to his injured leg ended that plan before it started.
Unfortunately, it didn't deter Tommy so much as it pissed him off even more. He charged at me, so I stepped into the attack, grabbed his arm and spun him up and over my shoulder. He landed with a loud thud, crying out with pain as the silver wounds struck the floor.
"Enough," I said one more time. "Don't make me hurt you."
I stepped back to give him some room and he charged again. I tried to avoid him, but he grabbed my t-shirt and tackled me to the floor, where he quickly found himself in a triangle choke hold. He tried to use his strength to power out of it, but I had it locked in, and he wasn't at full health. So the question became which would give out first, his remaining strength or his oxygen supply?
As it turned out, it was his strength. He sagged against my legs, his fight gone, and I released the hold, pushing him onto the floor next to me as I panted with exhaustion. Apparently, Tommy wasn't the only one who hadn't fully healed yet.
I sat up. "You feel like telling me why you're being a dick?"
"He forced Kasey to watch as he beat me," Tommy said, clearly upset. "I begged him to stop, to let her go. And he just laughed and kept on hitting and cutting me. He screamed at Kasey to watch, forced her to see me bloodied and helpless on the floor. I couldn't protect myself, let alone my own daughter." He started to cry as the rage and helplessness overwhelmed him, and we stayed like that for several minutes.
"How do I help Kasey get over what she saw?" Tommy asked me finally.
I got back to my feet and offered my hand to Tommy, who took it, allowing me to help him up. "Tommy, your daughter is one of the bravest people I've ever met. I don't mean bravest girl, or bravest twelve-year-old, I mean bravest person. She stood between me and my quite probable death, and she stared that son-of-a-bitch down without blinking. And when I got to see her a few minutes ago, she apologised to me for not being able to stop him. I don't think you're going to have much to worry about with her in the long term. She'll have nightmares, she'll be a little short with you and Olivia, maybe a little withdrawn, but she'll see her friends, and so long as you're both there for her, she'll be just fine. I'm more worried about you."
"I've been beaten up before" He waved off my concern. "Several times. I've thought my life was over on occasion, too. But seeing Kasey there, being unable to keep her safe. That's crushed me. My whole job as a dad is to protect my daughter. And I couldn't do it."
"Damn, Tommy, I think you're being a little hard on yourself. You'd been knocked out by Reid, who'd put a sorcerer's band on you and then you were attacked by something that you couldn't have hurt even with your full abilities. You did fuck all wrong. Hell you should be commended for being too stubborn to die in the first place."
Tommy laughed and some of the tension that he'd kept inside almost visibly left him. "What happened to Reid? I'd quite like to have a few words with him. And by words, I mean tear his arms off and beat him to death with them."
"I'm sure you'll get your chance at some point. Whoever he was working for probably won't be happy that Peter got killed before he could finish his job. For the moment though, Reid has vanished."
We started to walk toward the exit, and I noticed several of Tommy's employees craning their heads around the door to get a look at what was happening. After a few steps, Tommy stopped walking. "Oh, I almost forgot. Matthew said thanks for the help. Apparently having Hellequin as a friend changed the minds of a few people who'd been supporting Elijah."
"I'm glad I could help."
"Are you sure about Hellequin? That's a big step for you. I remember when you buried him, and it was not a good time for you."
"I know, Tommy. But it's been long enough. Hellequin is who I am. I may have different values, different wants from back then, but it's still me. And if dropping the name to get information on you and Kasey means I have to deal with the aftermath, then so be it. It's a deal I'd gladly take again."
"Thanks for everything, Nate. Have I ever told you that you're a damn good friend?"
I stared at Tommy for a heartbeat. "You should mention it more often; maybe create a huge banner to hang at the entrance of your building to tell the story of how great I am. You could write a song about it… "The Ballad of My Great Friend, Nate."