Page 30 of Gift from the Source (Source of Elementra #5)

Twenty-Five

Corentin

The shattered look in her silver eyes hurts almost as much as what it felt like to have her soul rip from mine.

In two strides, I’m nearly at the edge of the bed when she throws herself at me.

My fingers tangle in the wild, messy curls that hang from her bun. My other hand wraps around her lower back as her arms and legs wrap tightly around me.

I pull her even closer.

Her trembling body shakes me to my core.

All I can do is hold her, breathe her in, and let her break in my arms.

I savor the tear-drenched kisses she lays to my heart, and I close my eyes, fighting back my own tears as she whispers her unyielding love for me.

“Everything’s okay, princess. I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere.”

“You weren’t here, Core. You were gone. You were in the beyond. I lost you. We lost you,” she sobs and my brothers circle in around us.

With one of their hands on her, the other on me, I can’t hold back the tears I’ve been fighting since I woke up squinting at a clear sky.

Its beauty took me by surprise for a fleeting second. Then I ran .

I swear I ran into the sun.

It was jarring coming out of a light so bright, to a realm full of screaming.

Tillman was leaning over me with tears dripping from his eyes. He was bellowing to take him too, not make him wait and suffer.

Draken was on his knees, rocking back and forth as he prayed to give us back to him.

Cas sat silently. Unmoving.

My squinted gaze followed his line of sight beside me.

That’s where they laid her.

She was so still you couldn’t see her chest rise and fall.

Whatever she did, they thought she died doing it. You couldn’t feel a pulse in her wrist or air coming from her nose.

I knew she was alive, though.

My soul was wrapped around hers.

My movement caused chaos.

Suddenly, Tillman was shouting for Draken and Jamie to heal me, and more voices started screaming so loud I couldn’t make out my own thoughts. I pieced together enough as Jamie was shoving his magic in me that while they were losing their minds, they refused to let any of the rest of our family near us.

Gaster, Oakly, and Lyker were fighting to get closer to Willow but were being held back. On Cas’s orders, my dads kept my mom back from getting closer to me.

They couldn’t bear the thought of anyone touching us.

I tried to speak three times and couldn’t get the words to come out, but I finally managed to mentally murmur, “She’s alive.”

That seemed to calm down the protective rage in them a bit, but once my eyes finally opened and Jamie pulled his magic back, Cas shadowed us away.

The three of them paced along the edge of the bed until I announced I had to use the bathroom. Then they attempted to carry me, and I had to put my foot down.

I was coming out when she woke up .

“So that’s how long I was out for?” Willow sniffles as she lifts her head to look at me.

“Are you eavesdropping?” I ask.

“Yes. I have every intention of being as bad as Tillman from this day forward.”

“Elementra helps us all,” Cas grumbles and Willow’s face crumbles just a little.

I tilt her chin up to meet my gaze and I search her eyes for what that look means. “What’s wrong, princess?”

“She pulled me into my mind, if you all didn’t figure that out already.”

“We did,” the four of us say and she nods.

“She told me…I asked if she’d given you back to me. She said I have done nothing then followed it up with there were things in the beyond she had to figure out.”

My mouth opens and closes as I search for the words to say. I decide on the truth, although it isn’t much.

“I know it wasn’t her, but I don’t know what happened. I remember opening my eyes to a brightly lit, I don’t know…empty space, then I ran. Where, I don’t know that either. I just remember the light. It was like sunshine. It was powerful and very familiar.”

Her hands cup my cheeks as she rubs underneath my eyes. “Right now, I honestly don’t care how it happened, just that it did.”

I lean down and capture her lips with mine.

I don’t have any words to give her or my brothers. Especially none that would be reassuring at the moment.

It’s not easy explaining the feeling of death. One moment there was so much pain, I couldn’t breathe, to nothingness.

I could feel the power of what I assume was the beyond thrumming at my back from where I lay, but it all changed as the light did.

Words continue to escape me, so I decide to just speak another way. I continue to kiss Willow until we’re both struggling for breath. I don’t want anything right now but to be surrounded by her and my brothers .

I crawl us into bed and pull her higher on my chest. She lays her head on my mark and my heartbeat slows. I trace my handprint on hers and we both sigh in contentment.

The sound of Tillman’s communicator going off has each of us turning to him. His eyes squeeze tight as he looks down at the message, then lets it fall to his chest.

“How many?” Willow asks softly.

“One hundred and sixteen confirmed dead or missing as of now, little warrior.”

The waterworks immediately start, and I glance at him to get a better understanding of those one hundred and sixteen. Any of our immediate family? Close friends?

All their lives are important. That’s a huge chunk of our army who sacrificed their lives today, but if it’s anyone closer to us, I need to prepare myself.

“Look at me, little wanderer,” Draken says softly, and he wipes her cheeks when she listens. By the breaking in his cobalt eyes, I know he’s about to say something hard. “My dad and Tanith are both alive, but Tanith took significant damage to one of her wings. The healers are working hard to get her healed. She’s feeding and Keeper is transferring her some of his blood in hopes the power in him will help it heal completely, but she’s got a long road ahead of her.”

“No,” she cries, shaking her head. “How did that happen?”

“She was shot down by spears. When she crashed, Keeper was attacked by the vampires, and she continued to defend him. It made some of the injuries worse.”

“But he’s okay? They’re both alive and that’s what matters.”

“Yeah, little wanderer, but…” He clears his throat multiple times, and I find my chest rising and falling harshly enough to lift Willow with each breath. “I almost didn’t make it to him in time. If it hadn’t had been…if it hadn’t had been for Vince, I don’t know what would’ve happened. He didn’t make it.”

The air flees my lungs. “What?”

“Vince didn’t make it,” he says as tears roll down his face .

He isn’t joking.

My body shudders and my face goes pale as all the blood rushes to my heart. The years spent with him flash through my mind at the speed of light. I remember the way his eyes lit up when I introduced him to Draken. Those same eyes rolled at me when I asked him to be the shifter instructor.

All the drinks, jokes, and fucking off at the mansion before our roles grew more serious. He was one of our lifelong friends. When he lost his brothers, we made sure to always check on him.

Willow’s weeping causes my stomach to cramp, and I wrap my arms around her tighter.

Everything he taught her.

She was close to him as well.

Fuck. The boys. We have to tell Layton and Carrington.

I close my eyes tight at the thought of sitting the two of them down.

“Anyone else?” I ask gruffly.

“I don’t know yet. They’re still out there, sorting it all out.”

Minutes pass and we don’t speak.

We just sit in silence as the day settles over us. Every now and then, tears will stream down her cheeks and one of us will wipe them away. Each of us lose it a time or two as we face the reality of everything.

This is day one of our healing journey.

It’s going to be a long road.

“We need to go,” Willow says as she pushes off my chest and wipes her face clean.

“Where do you want to go, Primary?”

“Outside. We need to help with cleanup and pay our respects to the people who laid their lives down for this realm. We won’t be sulking in bed while others are out there doing it for us. We can grieve later just like they will. And I need to see my family. I need my eyes on them.”

Her silver irises are sharp like daggers, but there are a few battle chips lying within them. Still, they’re just as ready to conquer whatever next.

I’m reminded why silver, not just any shade, but the pigment in her eyes, is my favorite color. It’s the way they burst to life like a kaleidoscope when she feels passionate about something.

It’s hypnotizing and commanding.

Wordlessly, we get out of bed and Tillman reapplies another uniform on her. The sight of the one he stripped from her had my stomach rolling.

With time, I’m going to have to ask him to show me what happened.

Today is not that day, though.

Cas’s shadows wrap around us, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

I didn’t see darkness when I died, but the thought of traveling through the fabric of the realm right now has my heart trying to shatter my rib cage.

I inhale sharply when Cas shadows us to what’s left of the battlefield, but he doesn’t release us just yet. We look out over the destruction left and bile rises in my throat.

We’ve been through enough missions to know what’s going on. But this is by far the worst.

Our people who didn’t make it today are laid about, covered in cloths for now as they’re identified so we can notify families. Or so surviving Nexus members can find their fallen.

The enemies are in a pile, waiting to be burned.

Pride but also apprehension rises in me as my eyes scan our entire family and friends gathered.

They each look worse for wear, but they’re alive.

Gaster’s head quickly turns in our direction as Willow lets out a fretful sound. He didn’t hear her, but no doubt just sensed the strong change in the air.

She bursts through the cloud of darkness and sprints toward him.

And just like the first time he ever felt her, he runs to her.

The two of them collide and it’s maybe a millisecond later, Oakly’s screeching as she hauls ass to the two of them. Then before we know it, we can barely see her, she’s engulfed in so many arms.

“None of us would’ve ever been the same without the two of you, Core,” Cas murmurs quietly as we watch our family seem to build themselves back together. “For a moment, I experienced what you felt all those years. Feeling so close to saving the one you love, only to lose them. Asking yourself what you could have done differently in that second. It all flashed before my eyes .

“Telling you goodbye felt like a betrayal. Even though that’s what we knew we had to do, and you were telling us to, it was wrong, but we still did it. She didn’t. Our Primary did not choose that. She was going to destroy the beyond to reach you. She was dragging our souls with her cause she was determined to do anything for you. We failed you.”

“Don’t. Don’t you dare, Caspian Vito. You did not fail me. None of you did,” I warn, narrowing my eyes on him and the other two. “I alone made the choice to stretch my gift to its full extent. I made that decision. I’d make it again a thousand times if it meant you all were okay. You will not carry any guilt over what happened past this conversation. Do you understand me?”

Tillman and Draken both grunt and squeeze my shoulder, but he doesn’t answer. His eyes fade over into a look I haven’t seen in so long I want to slap him to bring him back.

“Caspian,” I warn.

“Fine. I understand. I don’t like it, though.”

“That’s nothing new, so I’m not that worried about it.”

The smallest of twitches crosses his lips as his gaze becomes his own again. He can’t hide it from me. I shoot him a wink to let him know that.

With a scoff, he moves us rapidly the twenty or so feet distance from everyone, then snatches his shadows away. Our sudden appearance has everyone turning around, then it’s a damn dogpile.

My mom nearly knocks everyone down in her stampede to get to me. Her arms wrap around me so tight she knocks the breath out of me. I stand here for a minute longer than I’d like as she has to pat me down and make sure I’m really okay.

My dads aren’t snickering or making googly eyes at her for once. They’re standing there seriously, observing everything she does to make sure I’m okay. The concern warms my heart and reminds me how lucky I am to have parents who love me so much.

Gaster’s the next to approach me and I welcome his hug.

“You nearly gave me a heart attack, my boy.”

“Not me. It’s all that running you’re doing in your old age.”

He tsks and glares at me. “Old. I can run circles around you kids. ”

The two of us chuckle low, then turn our attention to Lyker as he lays into Willow. The second she starts arguing back, he smoothers her face into his chest and the rest of her brothers join them.

Around and around my family goes as we all reunite with one another. Together we decide to walk among our fallen and pay our respects.

It’s a shock and a very sad scene to see Pran, Dillon, and Maxima laid together.

Willow’s cries make my own throat hurt. She collects herself quickly, though, and kneels in front of them. We all try to give her a little privacy, but I bite my cheek to distract my emotions when she tells them she’s happy they’re finally free and that Joslin, Lucila, and her dad will be happy to have them home.

“Their bodies were found around those of Vicki, Hunt, and Isaiah Gale,” Roye says quietly.

Standing back up, wiping her nose and then her knees, violet eyes meet his for just a moment. “I hope they got exactly what they deserved.”

The rest of the Everglows fell as well. Oakly wasn’t pleased with Kellie Everglow’s ‘easy’ death, but she was happy she was gone.

We make our way around the whole battlefield of our fallen, but my steps grow slower as we make our way to a body that Tanith’s protectively lying beside.

The sight is so rough, I choke on the air I inhale.

There’re still traces of cuts, holes, and slashes all over her golden body and the massive white bandage around her wing looks wrong. It eats me alive that she got so badly injured in a battle not even meant for her.

“Do not feel sorry for me, young lord of light. Where my family goes, so do I. This one paid with the ultimate sacrifice for my bond. I will stay with him until he’s laid to rest.”

“Thank you, Tanith.”

I halt in my track as my eyes fall on Vince just a few feet away. I can barely bring myself to get closer to him. It isn’t until Willow’s fingers lace through mine that a shuddering breath falls from my chest, and I take an unsteady step .

When Keeper joins the five of us where we kneel around him, he begins speaking in his language over his body. I have no clue what he’s saying, but the more he talks the harder Draken and Willow cry.

It’s my undoing.

I let the silent tears fall as I mourn him.

I mourn the friendship we had and what all he did for my little brother.

I’ll never forget that, and he’ll never be forgotten.

We begin talking about remembrance celebrations as our whole group starts walking back in the direction of the palace. Of course, each family will have their own say so, but we’ll be here to do and provide anything they may need.

From there, it all merges into everyone spouting off plans and what must get done.

That conversation sparks a to-do list in my mind that I can’t get to stop.

“The faster we do it, the faster we go on vacation,” Tillman murmurs.

“How do you—you’re so damn annoying. Did you tell her already?”

“No. I’ll let you have that surprise, brother.”

“Oh, daughter-in-love, speaking of plans, what’s your plan for that little vermin you caught?” Dyce asks.

She cocks her head to the side and we all stare at her for an answer.

“It’s always the two of you. You know, kidnapping someone then forgetting about it once, understandable. Twice seems more like a weird habit you have,” Trex says and her eyes narrow, then widen in shock.

“Oh shit.” Her uncontrollable laugh startles everyone. Oakly’s the first to crack as she joins her just because of how magical the sound is. “Fuck, I really needed that. Thanks for reminding me of that, Trex. I really didn’t mean to forget about you. That day was crazy. This one was even worse.”

“So…are you going to explain, Primary, or do Tillman and Jamie need to check your head?” Cas asks.

“Very funny. No, I forgot that I beat Donald’s ass, then had Dyce take him to your dungeon for me.”

We stare at her.

“What?” she asks .

“Firstly, it’s the palace prison,” I say as a smirk crosses my lips. “Secondly, that’s my girl.”

Her face flushes a beautiful red that has us all crowding in closer to her.

I know what we’re moving up the to-do list.