Page 7 of Deadly Reckoning (Broken Ashes #7)

Neith

I have to admit that I’m pretty fucking surprised when arcs of different colored fire stream from my hands.

I quickly order it not to touch Merrikh and to make sure that he remains safe.

The streams of magical fire wrap around the spells that are completely surrounding Merrikh’s tiny prison, and they burn through them with an ease that I know they definitely shouldn’t be capable of.

There’s a sudden snap as the last spell breaks and the silver grate disappears into nothingness.

My colorful flames come back to me, dancing around my body, and I have no desire to put them away yet.

It’s happy to be free, and it’s not hurting anyone, it can stay and play for a moment.

Something tells me that, like my wings, I’m not going to be able to let it out to play that often.

Merrikh is staring at me in shock, but before he can say anything, my magic lifts the earth under his feet, making him rise, and the hell he’s been in is swallowed by the earth again.

My eyes widen slightly as I look up at him. He’s really fucking tall, he didn’t look that tall in the hole, but then again, I guess that most people wouldn’t.

His expression is full of disbelief, and he clears his throat, “Thank you. You have no idea what this means to me.”

I grin, “I’m just glad that I could free you.”

“Erm, Neith, could you call back your fire?” Griff asks.

I glance back, not understanding the caution and slight unease in Griff’s tone, and burst out laughing as a strand of my fire smacks his ass, leaving a slight singe mark behind on his jeans.

I call my magic back, still laughing as it dissipates.

“Apparently, my fire is a bit mischievous if left to her own devices,” I say.

“That’s not normal fire,” Merrikh says.

I glance back at him, “No, nothing about me is normal, I would hardly expect my fire to be. Could you not tell anyone about it or my shifted form?”

Merrikh’s face becomes serious, no sign of teasing or snark, “Absolutely. I know all too well how power can drive others to do despicable things.”

“Thank you,” I reply.

“Come on, let's get you out of here,” Evander says. He looks at me, “You need to shift back, Nene.”

I frown but allow my magic to wash over me.

“You’re already getting better at that,” Reed grins.

“You’re new?” Merrikh asks, catching on quickly. His mind is seriously fucking sharp despite everything that he’s been through.

I nod, “Yeah. It’s a long story.” I then add because he feels like a friend, like Kar does to me, which is odd. “I’ll tell you over a beer one day.”

He looks surprised at my offer, but nods, “Deal.”

He stiffens as we walk up the steps to the office.

“I’m going to fill the basement up with earth again and ask it to heal the space,” River suggests.

Ransom nods, “That’s a really good idea. There’s a lot of pain down there.”

I turn back to look at Merrikh, “How long were you down there?”

“Six years, three months, and twenty-two days,” he replies precisely.

I nod, “Then this is going to be really fucking difficult. When all you have known is pain and confinement, suddenly being free is fucking terrifying. It’s going to be overwhelming.”

“You speak like you know?”

“Because I do. Six years, nine months, and eleven days. I might have lost a couple here and there,” I reply honestly.

“Did you kill whoever it was that entrapped you?” he asks bluntly.

“I did, and so did another friend of ours,” Coen replies, a vicious smile stretching across his features. “We tore him into unrecognizable pieces and then burned him to dust.”

I decide to ignore the way that Coen referred to Dimitri as our friend in the present.

I remember what happened at the Choosing and how Dimitri was there as well, and I still need to talk to Coen about it.

Now is not the time though. Right now, I need to make sure that Merrikh has the best chance of surviving this.

I have a feeling that he’s going to react like me, and if he feels cornered, he’s going to lash out.

With me, that just meant that Coen and Dimitri got a few bruises and maybe a couple of cuts from my weapons, but that was it.

If Merrikh feels cornered, I have a feeling that it’s going to be deadly. That’s not just because he’s a wolf, there’s something else that’s telling me otherwise.

Merrikh grins, “Good.”

I smile. And then continue, “Is there anyone that you want to see first, someone who might help to ground you, and who knows you well enough to step in if they see you getting overwhelmed?”

Merrikh frowns but thankfully doesn’t dismiss me, “Logan and Dare.”

I grin, “Logan is awesome, so I’m not surprised at all, and Dare’s pretty cool too.”

“Logan’s the beta now,” River says, watching Merrikh closely.

Merrikh smiles a real smile, “No way. I’m so fucking pleased for him. I knew he had it in him. You did well picking him.”

River grins at his reactions and says, “I’m not the alpha. For a couple of hours I was, after I killed Derek, but then I realized that the pack belonged to Asher and gave it back.”

He stares, “You gave the pack back to my dad?”

Everyone freezes.

“Asher and Amari are your parents?” Raiden asks.

Merrikh nods, “Yes.” And then sensing our silent question adds. “My parents are really tactile people, like most wolves are, and I’m going to need Dare and Logan there to step in. They’ve been my best friends since we were pups.”

I nod, “Understood.”

“Well, the basement is all closed up,” River says. “I’ll go and get them and bring them in. Probably best to not be in this room.”

Merrikh looks around and sneers, “Absolutely not.”

We head into the hallway near the front door, and River steps outside.

River

A s I step outside the door, I’m happy to see that there are only a few wolves still milling around. I imagine that quite a few of them are in the medical building, and the rest of them will have gone back to their cabins.

Unsurprisingly, Asher and Amari are still talking to the few wolves that are around.

They’re going to lead this pack well, it’s late, really late actually, and nearing midnight, and they have both been through the same ordeal as everyone else, and need to rest, but they’re still out here checking on their wolves, on their pack.

I grin as I spot Rana moving through those still left and helping as well, although her help isn’t being as well-received as Asher and Amari’s.

I jog up to Asher and Amari, “Hey, do you know where Logan and Dare are?”

Asher frowns slightly, “Yeah, they went to check on the wolves in the medical building.”

“Could you call them back, please?” I ask.

Asher nods and sends a text, and it only takes a couple of moments before they’re jogging from a big building to the left of us.

“What’s up?” Logan asks immediately.

“Can you guys come with me?” I ask.

“Of course,” Dare replies with absolutely no hesitation, while Logan simply nods.

Asher and Amari are watching me curiously, but I have nothing to say.

I can’t tell them that everything is okay because it's not, but I also can’t tell them that we’ve found their son that they most likely thought was dead, because this situation needs to be handled really fucking carefully.

Merrikh asked for Logan and Dare, so that’s who he’s going to get.

When we get up the porch steps, I pause and turn back to face them, “I need you to control your reaction, okay?”

They both look confused, but seem to trust me enough because they both nod.

Pushing open the door, I usher them inside and quickly close the door behind me. The scent of cleaning products in here is strong enough that no one outside should be able to smell Merrikh and rush in here before he’s ready, but if the wind changes while the door is open, then all bets are off.

I stay in front of the door, just in case someone decides to try and come through it, and the others step back as Logan and Dare freeze.

Merrikh grins, his eyes hiding his unease, “Miss me?”

“What the flying fuck?” Logan whispers.

“Merrikh?” Dare says, a tinge of hope in his voice.

Merrikh grins, “In the flesh.”

Logan surprises me when he launches himself at Merrikh. I tense, preparing to intervene, but Merrikh must have been expecting it because he simply wraps his arms around him tightly, hugging him back, and burying his head in Logan’s shoulder.

After a couple of minutes, he glances up and meets my eyes, and I know that he’s okay with this.

He’s handling it. I also understand why he wanted to see these two first. They’re his True Pack.

I can see the bonds between them with my magic, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the three of them split off from this pack to create their own.

They are all stronger than they should be.

Their magic is different from normal wolves, but I’m not entirely sure why.

There was so much going on earlier that I hadn’t noticed, but now that my attention is solely on them, it’s easy to see.

My instincts tell me that isn’t information that I need to share, not right now. But knowing that they are a True Pack, or at least the beginnings of one, makes me relax, and I smile when Neith’s body language relaxes when mine does. She probably has no idea that she’s doing it.

Logan lets go of Merrikh, and Dare moves to give him a hug instead.

Stepping back, he says, “We thought you were dead. Derek told us that he killed you.”

“He tried, over and over again. He couldn’t kill me,” Merrikh replies honestly.

The fact that he can be honest with them both is a really good sign.

It means that he’s not going to keep what happened to himself, which would make it fester and mean that he never heals properly.

He may never tell them everything, and that’s okay, just so long as he talks to someone about some of it.

Both of them growl when the implications of Merrikh’s words sink in.

“This whole time? He’s been torturing you this whole time?” Logan asks, horror and anger in his voice.