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“Are you alright?” he pulled back enough to ask, framing my face again and looking at me as if scanning for any injuries.

“I’m okay, you got here just in time,” I told him, making him shake his head.

“No, not soon enough, for you never should have spent even a single minute here without me by your side.”

“Jared, I know you’re most likely angry that I…”

He was quick to interrupt. “I am furious, Ella.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but he got there first.

“But I know why, baby, I know that you didn’t have a choice.”

I released my breath with a whoosh, nodding and so relieved that he understood. Because I knew he would have woken from the fight hurt and angry and worried. The guilt I felt at what I was putting him through had been a constant regret eating away at me. But to know that he understood I did the right thing regardless, then it made it all go away. Like a dark cloud lifting.

“Now let’s get you out of here,” Jared said as he picked me up into his arms, carrying me over the rubble toward where I could now see the rest of them waiting. However, the second he put me down, Lerna came running and I, in turn, went running to her. Although at first, I thought that Jared may not let me, as his hand tightened on my arm before letting me go.

“Lerna!”

“Ella!” we both shouted before embracing. Her crying at my shoulder told me of her relief and as for me, I too had tears in my eyes.

“Did you get away?” I asked, making her shake her head.

“No, but I was rescued,” she said, looking back at the others, making me remember that Jared hadn’t come alone. So, when she let me go, I ran the rest of the way over to Jared’s brother, shouting his name.

“Orth!”

His smile was a heartwarming sight as he opened his arms ready for my hug and, this time, instead of my nickname, he muttered down at me in an emotional way,

“Sister.”

I melted into him, hugging him tightly, or at least trying to due to his size. But then I looked to my left and saw Marcus, who said,

“Hey Cookie.”

I reached out and grabbed him too, pulling him into my hug, so I was left half hugging them both.

“Whoa! Okay, jeez, we missed you too, little dancing girl,” he teased, making me smile. But then this was when Jared obviously hit his limit, framing my waist and pulling me from them both, complaining,

“Alright, Casanovas, that’s enough of that.” Then he tucked me right next to him, with his arm around me. As if not prepared to let me out of arm’s reach for long. However, this was also the point that the man that had faced my sister turned around and I gasped when I saw him.

“You!”I scowled at the man I knew as Koro and before anyone could stop me, I wrenched myself out of Jared’s arms. Then I started storming toward him, stopping long enough to pick up a piece of metal bar that must have come off the gate when Jared’s beast had burst through it. His eyes widened as he saw me coming at him, when suddenly Lerna shouted,

“Ella, no!” Then she launched herself in front of him, with her arms out trying to protect him. As for Jared, he was quick to hold me back, with his arms wrapped around me from behind.

“Don’t you know who he is?! He is the one that tried to drag me to Hell the first time!” I shouted, making Lerna lower her head before telling me,

“No, he wasn’t. It was me. He was just doing as I asked.”

I shook my head as if trying to make sense of it all. When suddenly, it finally it hit me.

“You have been working together all this time?”

“Not just working together, but we are…” She couldn’t finish that sentence, so Jared did, telling me softly…

“They are married.”

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