On a oner, all the brothers as well as Payne and Xhex, and Qhuinn, John, and Blay, outted weapons.
Fritz was bodily prevented from going over to the vestibule; Vishous and Butch did the duty of checking the screen.
And even though he didn’t give a crap whether it was the Scribe Virgin herself on the other side, Tohr focused on the foyer.
A shout went out, an excited shout with a Boston accent. And then there were lots of shouts, a legion of them, too many to decipher.
Someone in a white robe came in with V and his boy.
Whatever—
Tohr jacked up onto his feet, sure as if someone had hooked his ass up to a car battery.
Autumn stood under the arches of the room, her eyes dazed and her hair a flyaway mess, as if she had been through a wind tunnel—
Tohr plowed through big male bodies, shoving people out of the way to get to her. And when he did, he skidded to a halt. Grabbed her shoulders. Looked her over from head to foot. Shook her hard to get a sense of how corporeal she was.
“Is it… truly you?”
In response, she threw her arms around him and held on so hard, he couldn’t breathe—and thank fuck. Because that meant she was real, right? It had to be… right?
“Lassiter… Lassiter did it.… Lassiter saved me.…”
He tried to track what she was saying. “What… what are you— I don’t understand any of this—”
The story came out several times in different iterations, because his mind just wasn’t tracking anything. Something about her making it up to the Fade, and that angel coming out and telling her…
“He said he would give everything he had to save us. Everything…”
Tohr pulled back and touched Autumn’s face, her throat, her shoulders. She was as real as he was. She was as alive as he was. She had been… saved by that angel?
Except Lassiter had said he would be free if this worked.
The only possible explanation was that he had traded his future… for theirs.
“That angel,” he whispered. “That godforsaken angel…”
Tohr bent down and kissed Autumn as deeply and for as long as he could. And as he did, he resolved to honor Lassiter, and himself, and his female as best as he was able, for however many years he had on the earth.
“I love you,” he said to her. “And just like Lassiter, I’m going to give everything I’ve got to give to the two of us.”
As Autumn nodded and kissed him back, he felt more than heard her say, “I love you,” back.
Gathering her up in his arms, he held her close and closed his eyes, his body shaking from too much to describe. But he knew the score, and he was good with it.
Life was short, no matter how many days you were granted. And people were precious, each and every one, no matter how many you were lucky enough to have in your life. And love… love was worth dying for.
Worth living for, too.
SEVENTY-FIVE
As dawn approached at the end of the darkened night, and the moon sunk low in the sky, Xcor left downtown Caldwell. After that ridiculous meeting with the glymera, he and his bastards had reconvened at the top of their skyscraper, but he hadn’t been able to stomach any strategizing or talk of the aristocrats.
Upon ordering his soldiers to return to their newest home base, he escaped into the cold night air alone, knowing precisely where he had to go.
To the meadow, the moon-washed meadow with the big tree.
As he re-formed in the landscape, he saw it not covered in snow, but vibrant with fall’s colors, the oak’s branches not bare, but lush with red and gold leaves.
Marching through the snow, he mounted the rolling earth, stopping when he came to the spot where he had seen the Chosen for the first time… and taken her blood.
He remembered every bit of her, her face, her scent, her hair. The way she moved and the sound of her voice. The delicate structure of her body and the frightening fragility of her smooth skin.
He yearned for her, his cold heart crying out in prayer for something that he knew fate could never provide.
Closing his eyes, he planted his hands on his hips and lowered his head.
The Brotherhood had found them at that farmhouse.
The rifle case that Syphon used to keep the tools of his assassin’s trade was gone.
Whoever had taken it had come and gone during the previous night. Which meant at sunset, they had packed up their few things and scattered for a new location.
He knew the Chosen had been the cause of it. He could think of no other way their lair could have been located. And another thing was clear: The Brotherhood were going to use the rifle to prove with surety that the bullet driven into Wrath months ago had been from a weapon of theirs.
How thorough of them.
Indeed, Wrath was such a good little king. So careful not to behave rashly and without cause—and yet he was obviously capable of using any weapon at his disposal.
Not that Xcor would find blame with the Chosen—not at all. He did, however, have to find out if she was safe. He simply had to be reassured that though his enemies had wielded her, they had not mistreated her.
Oh, how his wicked heart churned at the idea that she might have been hurt in any way.…
As he considered his options, a cold wind blew in from the north, trying to cut him to the core. It was too late, though. He was already sliced in the heart.
That female had slashed him in a way no war wound ever could, and from the likes of her, he was never going to heal up.
Good thing he didn’t ever allow his emotions to show, for it was best that no one knew his Achilles’ heel had finally, after all these years, come to find him.
And now… he would have to find her.
If only to put his conscience, such as he had one, at ease, he was going to have to see her again.
SEVENTY-SIX
Qhuinn didn’t know what the fuck was up. People fucking poofing it in and out of the fucking foyer, shit going south… until Autumn came the fuck back.
If there had ever been a time to drop the f-bomb, tonight was it.
But at least it ended okay, with all being recovered, and the ceremony completed: With Autumn standing beside Tohr, John had been branded twice, once for Wellsie, once for the lost brother he’d never meet. And then, after the salt had sealed those wounds, the crowd had gone up to the highest point in the house where Wellsie’s urn had been opened and revealed to the air, her ashes lovingly carried up and out to the heavens by the gusts of a rare easterly wind.
Now, everyone was heading back down to the dining room to eat and recharge; after which they’d no doubt go off to pass the fuck out in their rooms as soon as they could politely disengage.
Everybody was just about done, himself included, and that conviction had him turning to Layla as they reached the foyer. “How you doing?”
Man, he’d been asking her that nonstop for three days straight, and each time, she’d told him she was fine, and hadn’t started to bleed yet.
She wasn’t going to bleed. He was sure of this, even if she had yet to believe it.
“I’m good,” she said with a smile, as if she appreciated his kindness.
The good news was that they were getting along really well. He’d been worried after the needing that things would get weird or some shit, but they were like a team that had run a marathon, reached a goal, and were ready for the next challenge.
“Can I get you some food?”
“You know, I am hungry.”
“Why don’t you head up, have a lie down, and I’ll bring you something.”
“That would be lovely—thank you.”
Yup, it was nice the way she smiled at him in that uncomplicated and warm way, the one that made him love her like family. And as he escorted her back over to the base of the stairs, it was good to smile at her in the same manner.