Page 53

CHAPTER FIFTY

EVEREST

I thought waiting eight hundred years for my wife to return to me was going to be the worst part. Nothing in my mind could’ve possibly been worse than the waiting. Nearly three hundred thousand days of waiting. More than ninety-five hundred months of waiting. Over seven million hours of waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Endless, relentless waiting. That was the hardest part. Until now. Never could I ever have imagined that letting her return to the past, our past, right after I’d gotten her back would be harder than the waiting. Yet there I was, staring at where I’d thrown her into the Seelie tunnel trying not to fall apart.

You waited eight hundred years for me. I can’t leave you now.

Her words were going to echo in my mind until she returned. The sight of her sobbing would haunt me until she stood before me again. I took a deep breath and choked on the lump of emotion burning in my throat. A broken sob ripped its way free. I bent over and braced my hands on my knees, silently willing my body to hang on a little longer. It wasn’t getting the memo, though. I was slowly slipping off the edge of the cliff. Those first few centuries without her were unbearable. It felt like I’d spent all my hours crying for what was stolen from me. For what I’d lost. For how empty I’d felt. I hadn’t even realized just how numb I’d grown since, how cold my soul had become until this moment thawed me out. Now the pain and grief built to an inferno determined to swallow me in its flames.

“ Father? ”

I gasped and squeezed my eyes shut. Tears spilled onto my cheeks. My control snapped. Eight hundred years of pain grabbed me like an anchor, dragging me to the ocean floor. My ass hit the ground with a thud that rumbled through my bones, yet I felt nothing. I pulled my knees up and buried my face between them, chasing for oxygen my lungs so desperately needed.

“ Father? ” Auryn’s voice was even softer than it was a moment ago and much closer. Her arms wrapped around my shoulders as she settled in beside me, the only tether to keep myself afloat. Her chin rested on my shoulder as she held me tight. “She knows now?”

I scrubbed my face with my hands, wiping the tears from my eyes. “Yes, Auryn?—”

She gasped so sharply it actually made me look over. Her red and hazel-gold eyes were wide and brimming with unshed tears. Her bottom lip trembled. “You have not called me that since?—”

“I know.” I smiled through the pain and tightness in my chest. “Too long.”

She wiped a tear then sighed. “Felt nice to hear it.”

“Felt nice to say it.” I reached up and wrapped my hands around her arm stretched across my chest. “I told her your real name before she left.”

“Why?”

“So, there would be no question in her mind who you were when she first saw you . . . standing over her—” my voice broke. I had to clear my throat a few times. “She does not remember your face so she would not have realized that was you. It was important she know, as she saw you, who you were.”

She nodded and let out a shaky breath. “So, she knows now.”

“Yes.” I closed my eyes and tried to just breathe. “She came back here . . . to me . . . and I had to send her back into the tunnel . . . to her quest?—”

“She has to finish her task. We already know that.” She squeezed me tighter, resting her face on my shoulder the way she’d always done since she was a little girl. “I wonder . . . I wonder which part of her journey she was on when she returned here?—”

“Her funeral pyre. The scent of that night is a memory I have never been rid of. It clung to her hair. The ash lingered on her clothes?—”

“ Father. ” She cried. “I’m so sorry. I do not know how you have survived eight hundred years without her. I am a mess without Akecheta by my side and I know he breathes our very air.”

“I knew she would return to me and when, that made all the difference.” I rested my head against hers. “And for the days in between I had you . . . and yours.”

“You still have us,” she said softly.

It was the tension in her voice that reminded me I wasn’t the only soulmate hurting in our family. “How is he today?”

“The same, essentially.” She groaned. “I heard you tell the others . . . he’s not going to survive if we don’t block the Unseelie out.”

“No, he is not.” I took a deep breath then slowly let it out. “But none of us will.”

“She will come back. I have faith in her.”

That made me smile. “Your mother has always been a force to be reckoned with.”

“It’s nice to see she didn’t lose her rage.” She pulled her arms from around me then bumped her shoulder into mine. “I couldn’t have handled a passive, calm version of her.”

“You should’ve seen her with that bat in the frat house, a real work of beauty.”

She snort-laughed then we both burst into giggles. Not that the incident was comical in any way, but her reaction was indicative of the wife and mother we knew. Eight hundred years later and she had not changed one bit.

“All right, come on.” She jumped to her feet then stared down at me with her hand outstretched. “The Coven is up and scheming and looking for you two.”

I groaned.

“I know. But she will come back, and we have to be ready.”

“I know.” I put my hand in hers and let her pull me to my feet. Then I scrubbed my face real hard and let out a shaky breath. “Thank you for coming out here . . . I needed that.”

She tucked her black hair behind her ears. “Me too.”

In the eight hundred years since she died, our daughter had taken many disguises. For her safety. Thankfully her voice and mannerisms had not been altered by magic, or I may have lost my mind ages ago. Even her soulmate had had to change alias every few decades. It had been a constant struggle and worry, to live in this world awaiting the return of two females. My mother and my wife. The former was the bane of my existence. The latter was my everything.

We were almost there.

Francelina knowing the truth about her own past . . . as Celina. My chest tightened. I longed for the day when I could call her by her real name again, I feared only that would finally heal the cracks in my soul.

I was so lost in my despair that I had not realized I’d followed Auryn inside the house until a large hand landed on my shoulder. Golden mist swirled around me, lightening the pressure in my chest with every second. I frowned and glanced up to find Hunter Bishop standing beside me, watching me with golden eyes full of their own heartbreak. He didn’t speak. He just nodded his head once. I gave him a small smile and a nod. I would take the relief anyway I could get it. He winked, squeezed my shoulder, then strolled over to sit on the brick ledge beside his daughter at the hearth. The sight of Emersyn’s blindfold had my stomach in knots. They’d robbed us of one of our strongest weapons, a move that was not coincidence.

“What are you thinking over there, Frost Mountain?” Tegan’s voice whispered through my mind. She must have followed my stare because she then cursed in my head. “ Emersyn. What is it?”

I glanced over to where Tegan stood at the front window, her back to me yet I saw her reflection easily. I arched one eyebrow and sent my response back telepathically as well. “ We need to find a way to get her back into the fight or we may have to strip her of her Mark. ”

Tegan spun to face me, her eyes wide. “What? Strip her Mark? ”

I shrugged. “ We cannot win this fight without the Empress. Your twin or not, the decision will have to be made soon, and I do not say this lightly.”

She tugged on her bottom lip as she stared at her twin’s back. “ Give me time to think of a way to keep Emersyn in the fight.”

“I am rooting for your brilliance. ”

Her cheeks flushed a soft pink that matched the crystal on her chest and back of her hand. She nodded. “ No pressure, right? ”

That made me smirk as I sat on the bench against the wall, resting my elbows on my knees. “ Welcome to my world. ”

Cooper walked up to Tegan, blocking her view of me. Which was good. Tegan Bishop saw too much for my mental and emotional state. I closed my eyes, but Francelina’s face filled my vision. I cringed and rubbed my eyes. It was a kaleidoscope of her tears. I heard the voices of The Coven all around me though I could not focus on their words. The air was thick with the scent of food billowing from the kitchen to my right, yet I could not decipher a single one. Good. Numb is good. Numb got me through centuries. Numb can get me through until she returns. I would be no use to this new crew of mine if I let my emotions drown me.

They relied on me too much.

Not that I blamed them. I was the eleven-hundred-year-old son of Lilith and Seelie King Atzaran. I’d lived through countless human wars and two major arcana ones. I was there the last time my mother walked this realm and watched when Edward struck her down. I was there when the Unseelie helped Sweyn create an army of new bloodsucking beings and launched her attack on this world . . . and I was there the day that war ended.

That war cost me my wife.

For that, I would see Sweyn suffer a million times over.

A wave of heat washed over me from the left, carrying the scent of fire and ash. My skin prickled. I smirked and opened my eyes just as shifter King of Issale walked through the front door. The dragons had always affected me in ways the arcana did not . . . because neither my parents’ realms had any being of the sort.

Koth stomped through the house, though not in anger. His purple eyes were narrowed and scanning the room until they suddenly widened. He stopped short, pressing his palm to his chest. “Elan—I mean, wait . . . Akecheta ? —”

“You may call me Elan, Koth, ” Akecheta’s voice was lower and rougher than usual. “I’ve grown quite fond of that name.”

Koth’s mouth mashed into one line like he was struggling with his own emotions. He ran a hand through his unruly long hair that held every shade of brown imaginable. “For my current sanity I will take you up on that offer.”

“What brings you here, my lord?”

Koth grimaced. “You’re like eight hundred years old. Feels weird for you to call me that.”

“You are still my King.”

I’d been avoiding looking at him, my emotions were shot enough as it was. And since no one else in this room knew Auryn— Saber— was my daughter I needed to keep that control of myself. Akecheta was a son to me. Eight hundred years as my daughter’s soulmate made him my own child in my eyes. I hated that he took the hit for me even while I was grateful and while I knew why he did it. My mother’s downfall was nearly as much on my shoulders as it was Tennessee and Tegan’s. I had to survive or their chance of survival dropped significantly.

As Koth crossed the room I took a deep breath and looked over. My gaze landed on Akecheta instantly. They had him propped up on that lounge chair I usually chose to sit in. The wound on his chest made me want to vomit. His long black hair was braided back, and I knew my daughter had done that for him, I recognized her handiwork. Her mother had taught her how to braid like that. She curled up in his lap, her legs across his and her face resting on his shoulder.

There were things I needed to say to him, to ask him. Things to discuss for this war. Yet I just stared. The words would not come. Somehow seeing my daughter holding onto her soulmate for the first time in decades on the cusp of my own soulmate being gone was too much. My eyes burned. That lump formed in my throat. I lowered my head and scrubbed my face with my hands.

A sharp whistle ripped through the room.

“Thanks, D,” Tenn’s velvety voice had extra gravel in it today. “All right, we have things to discuss. Where’s Frankie? We need to talk about her quest.”

Silence.

Then I felt their eyes on me, burning lasers on my face.

Tenn cleared his throat. “Everest . . . where’s Frankie?”

Tegan hissed. “She left, didn’t she?”

Yes, she left and I’m basically falling apart.

“Yes,” Mei-Ling answered for me. “Valathame sent Frankie a message.”

There were lots of curses and grumbles at that point. I looked up and found them all watching me, some of them with too much knowledge in their eyes. I licked my lips and sat back, leaning against the wall as I simply lacked the strength to hold myself up any longer. There were things to say yet the words caught on the hot lump of emotion in my throat, so I merely nodded.

Bentley gripped his Hierophant’s locket and narrowed his eyes. Orange magic flashed. He nodded.

Tegan let out a breath and pushed her hair back. “I want to ask you so many questions, yet I know I cannot.”

I smirked. “I know that feeling too well,” I said softly.

“ When in doubt head back to him. ” Tegan narrowed those pale green eyes on me. “She goes back to you , doesn’t she? That’s what that line means.”

“Yes.” I sighed and rubbed my chest to try and relieve the pressure. “I want to tell you everything that happens, as it already has for me, but alas, I cannot.”

“There are too many of us who understand that.”

I glanced up just as Myrtle sat beside me on the bench. She reached out and patted my knee, it was such a motherly show of affection and one I had never grown up with. Lilith knew nothing of love and affection, that was where she’d lost me all those centuries ago. Eithne had been the first to show me affection, even if it was subtle so my father wouldn’t notice. Then she was the one who helped me to Earth, to where I found life and love in not only my soulmate but in other people and the realm itself.

“Everest?” When I looked up to him, Bentley cocked his head to the side. “You don’t know if she makes it back, do you?”

I shook my head. “I do not.”

Auryn cringed. Saber, her name must remain Saber for now. “We have to assume she will. We have to.”

Braison ran his hands over his puppy’s fur. “Which means we have to be ready to break that damn spell on the tome when she gets back?—”

“DEMONS!” Bentley shouted and sprinted to the front door.

The Coven, and their pets, did not hesitate to follow. Only Saber, Braison, and Malik held back and only because the sun still shined on the world. They wanted to join the others who were already out the front door, I saw the desperation in their eyes, however they understood why they held back. We could not betray Sam, not without great cause.

“Everest?” Saber snapped her fingers in the air. “Go. They may need you.”

I nodded and pushed to my feet. By the time I made it out the front door The Coven was gone, with the last flicker of Tegan’s portal fading away. It didn’t matter. I did not require her transportation services. I just closed my eyes and let my magic find the shadows where demons were playing.

When I opened my eyes, I frowned. The Coven was nowhere in sight, yet demons were . They crawled along the sides of Chicago’s skyscrapers like cockroaches. Red eyes sparkled from beneath the surface of the Chicago River. None of them had attacked the hundreds of innocent, ignorant humans going about their day on this Saturday afternoon. The sun still sat high in the sky, but the storm moving in from the east over Lake Michigan was going to give them a power boost and lots of coverage. Soon.

Not for the first time I wondered just what the human eyes saw.

And then I felt Sam. That sire bond pulsed with such vibrancy that only meant she was near. I focused on that sensation then gave myself over to the shadows again. This time, I did not step into the light. I lingered in waiting until I spotted her inside a building, standing just outside the sun streaming through the window. Her red and golden eyes were wide, I knew she was seeing all the demons as I had.

I moved to stand just beside her but behind a column in the dark. “Sam.”

She gasped and clutched her chest then closed her eyes and cursed. “ Everest. Dammit.”

“How did you get here in the light, Sam?”

Sam was smart, she knew not to look in my direction. She pulled out her cell phone and pressed it to her ear. The girl had incredible survival skills. “ Asmodeus. He told me to wait here. Inside. Away from the sun,” she whispered back.

I glanced around for the angel in question but did not see him. “ Why? What’s the plan ?”

“ The Coven was lured out to fight those demons so they wouldn’t be ready to move when the other attacks happen,” she whispered fast, her cheeks flushed. “ Warn them. They’re planning multiple attacks tonight, one by one. They’re mobilizing now. Once the sun sets, it’s game on.”

My stomach turned. “ Where? ”

“ Chicago. San Diego. Boston. In that order.” Then she glanced to me for a split second before looking away. “ Azazel is on the move again. I don’t know what he’s doing ?—”

“ He’s building an army .” I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. “ But his army is a tomorrow problem, figuratively speaking. We will be facing the Unseelies and vampires before his army.”

“Great.” She wrapped her arms around her waist. “ I don’t know why he brought me here ? —”

“Just lay low and try to pretend you don’t exist. If Asmodeus asks you to do something, then you do it. The show must continue. ” I glanced around again, trying to ignore every urge to run out there and kill those demons crawling over the rails from the river. “ The Prince seems to like you, do not waste that detail.”

She nodded but she was gnawing on her lip. “ The Coven . . . this is gonna be a long night ? —”

“They’ve been through this before, back when you thought you were human. ” I stepped closer to her. “ Keep your head on a swivel, Sam. I have to return to them ? —”

“Be careful. ” She met my eyes and gave me a small smile. “ I fear I may not survive if you don’t.”

I nodded. “I will get you out of there, Sam. One way or another. Just hang on for now.”

“I’m hanging— he’s coming . Asmodeus. Go?—”

I dissolved into the shadows of the realm, focusing my magic on the spark of The Coven until I was stepping into the sun between Tegan and Savannah. The fight was in full throttle already and it was mayhem. Skyscrapers towered around the park we stood in, though I could not place where we were. Not that it mattered. Demons were everywhere. I flicked my wrists, sending my magic into a few dozen demons at a time. They burst to ash and dust.

Savannah shot magic from the wand in her left hand and led an army the dead

Libby sprinted up to me. “Where the hell did you go?”

“Story for later. We need this fight over now. ” I turned to my left. “Tegan, now would be a good time?—”

Tegan was suddenly everywhere. Literally. Hundreds of Tegans filled this downtown courtyard, all dressed in identical black jeans and sweaters. Her short brown hair swaying as each copy of her pounced on demons. Wait a second. My pulse quickened. A sliver of happiness sliced through my own grief as I realized what was happening.

That was Devon Bishop.

Not Tegan.

And she was a beast. I watched with a grin on my face as the legend that was Devon annihilated demon after demon. My gaze didn’t know where to look, it bounced left and right and back again. There were hundreds of her. I’d never seen a Chariot Card use this many projections and do it so effortlessly. It was impossible to even tell which one was the real Devon.

And then the demons were gone.

In seconds, Devon and her projections had exterminated them. The Coven stood still, their weapons still gripped in their hands, but their jaws dropped and their eyes wide. The projections stopped and looked around, like they wanted more. When no other demons attacked, the projections all turned to look at the one standing just twenty feet in front of us.

The real Devon.

The projections vanished.

Silence.

I didn’t get struck stupid often, but my God was that a moment of beauty and awe. It was no wonder Devon was chosen to be the mother of the twins, the mother of Tegan. She was every bit the menace her children were, and I was suddenly fiercely protective of her like I hadn’t been before. If we had had Devon in either of the last two arcana wars things may have gone down differently. I felt the first sliver of hope for this new war. The angels had been telling me for decades they weren’t playing fair this time and all of a sudden, I realized the extent they meant. Because they hadn’t just stacked their team with Tegan and Tenn, but each individual Card was the best version of that Card I’d seen yet. Each new addition to this squad was better and better.

Devon turned and grinned, lowering her serrated daggers to the holsters on her thighs. She rolled her shoulders. “Now that felt good.”

Hunter dropped to his knees in front of me and sobbed. I rushed over and put my hand on his shoulder.

The rest of The Coven stood staring at her. I felt their shock echo my own.

“ Mom,” Tegan breathed.

Tegan, Cooper, and Bentley charged for her at the same time, like a switch was flipped. The three of them tackled her in perfect unison. Hunter swayed, his breaths hard and labored. I understood the feeling more than he knew. Tegan cackled and clapped her hands like a maniac. Cooper held his own head in his hands.

Bentley exhaled and gripped his locket. “I swear, it’s getting harder and harder to trust the process with this thing.”

“How do you think the rest of us feel?” Devon grinned and cupped his cheek. She winked then turned away from her children. Her pale green eyes widened. “ Hunter. ”

His breath hitched and his body trembled. I held onto him.

And then Devon was sprinting for him. I stepped back just as she dove for him, showing just where her children got their tackling skills from. She wrapped her arms around Hunter’s neck and held on tight. His fingers dug into her body, his knuckles white with how hard he held her, yet she didn’t seem to notice.

God, I want that.

My heart sank at my own traitorous thoughts. I looked away to give them their privacy and to stop my mind from attacking me again. I didn’t have the emotional strength to think about what it would feel like to finally be reunited with my own soulmate, now that she knew the truth of who she was to me. She knew she was my soulmate, but she didn’t know how long those roots had been growing. She didn’t know we’d once shared a long, long life together as husband and wife. She didn’t know how we raised a daughter. Now she knew. I was grateful for that moment she’d leapt out of the tunnel for me, the moment I knew she knew.

But my heart was greedy, and I could not settle for less than everything.

I needed her back.

Tenn stepped into my line of view, ducking his head down to meet my eyes. I didn’t know what he saw but his face fell. He frowned and nodded then squeezed my shoulder, which I realized was a common sign of affection in this Coven and one I’d already adopted for myself. He gave me a small smile. “ Breathe, my friend, ” he whispered.

I took a deep breath and the relief in my chest told me I might not have been doing that a moment ago. I nodded in thanks.

“Hey, your girl is a fighter.” He gave me a lopsided grin. “I pity the fool that tries to keep her from you. They will rue the day they come up against her.”

That actually made me chuckle. “You have no idea.”

“Where’s Emersyn?” Devon’s sharp voice sliced through our quiet moment. " Where is she? ”

“She’s home,” Hunter said with a thick voice. “She’s okay but she was injured?—”

“Tegan, get us home. Now?—”

“How did you even get here?”

“ Tegan—”

“All right, all right. ” Tegan smirked and snapped her fingers.

White light flashed and this time, I let Tegan’s magic carry me with the others. When it faded, we were out front of Coven Headquarters in Eden. I frowned, delivering us outside was an interesting choice.

“Mom, wait.” Tegan’s magic wrapped around Devon forcing her to stop moving. “Mom, look I need to explain?—”

“How bad is it?” Devon asked in a rush, her face pale.

“She’s blind.”

Devon gasped and swayed on her feet. Hunter wrapped his arm around her for support.

Tegan nodded. “Unseelies and their magic have taken a lot of us down, including Uncle Kessler?—”

“ What?” Devon hissed. She gripped her husband’s shirt but didn’t move. “What happened to them?”

“What you need to know before you go in that house is that everyone who has been injured by the Unseelie . . . well . . . their injuries will not heal unless we can force the Unseelies out and block them permanently?—”

“Who else is down?”

“Bettina, Deacon, Uncle Kessler, Chutney, Easton, Lily, and Esther Irit who took a hit for me.” Tegan swallowed roughly. “Bentley’s shoulder, Savannah’s hands, and now Em’s eyes are injuries that won’t heal either.”

Devon looked to Savannah then to her son. Her face was a mask, but I felt the emotion stirring in her. “Deacon is down again and she’s blind . . . she can’t be doing well. Where is she?”

“By the fire?—”

Devon spun on her toes and raced up the steps. She shoved the front door open. White light flashed again and then we were all inside the living room, facing Devon as she hurried inside. I almost laughed. Tegan was so convenient.

Devon’s steps faltered and I knew she’d spotted her other daughter, still sitting on the ledge in front of the fire with her hands in the flames. The white blindfold bandage still wrapped around her eyes.

She took a few slow steps forward like she didn’t want to spook her. “ Emersyn ? —”

“MOM!” Emersyn spun around. Fire ran up her arms. Her eyebrows raised and a little flush filled her cheeks. “Mom? Mom, is that you?—”

“It’s me.” Devon sat next to her and cupped Em’s face in her hands. “I’m here, my love.”

A broken sob ripped through Emersyn’s chest. She dove forward, collapsing in her mother’s arms as she broke down. Devon held her tight.

“Everest?”

I glanced over. “Tegan?”

“Where did you go? I didn’t worry about you needing my portal, but you didn’t follow. Why?”

Libby arched an eyebrow at me. “That’s what I asked?—”

“ Libby? ” Devon gasped, her eyes wide. “ Libby, you’re alive? ”

Libby blushed but she wagged her eyebrows. “I’m still as surprised as you are, but yeah.”

Devon’s eyes watered. She pressed her hand to her chest. “Your family?—”

“Doesn’t know yet.” She grimaced. “Waiting for Everest to give me the green light on that?—”

“Not me.” I shook my head. “Your Coven Leaders will give you that green light.”

Tegan and Tenn scowled then in perfect unison turned to look at Tim and Constance. Who just rolled their eyes and chuckled.

“Wait, don’t distract him.” Tegan pointed at me. “Talk. Now.”

“Long story short, I ran into Sam in Chicago.” I glanced around to all the tense expressions in the room but there was nothing to be done about what I had to say. “When the sun sets there will be demon and Unseelie attacks in Chicago, San Diego, and Boston. In that order, one after another.”

Silence.

I nodded. “Their goal is undoubtedly to wear us out to make us easier to kill.”

“Is it time for new tricks?” Jackson asked, his expression tense.

“I think we need a plan. A strategy for which new tricks we’ll try and in which order so that there’s no question or hesitation when we fight.” I looked to Tenn and Tegan. “You two are still their prime targets so I am going to request you stay at my side. They are still afraid of me, and for good reason, but there is a limit to what I can do?—”

“Why?” Savannah raised her mangled hand. “No disrespect, Mr. Frost Mountain, but I’ve seen what you can do so what don’t we know? ‘Cause you could open up a can of whoop ass like no other out there —”

Akecheta chuckled then winced and gripped his chest.

Saber held my stare. Then she nodded. “Tell them, they need to know, and maybe crazy pants can find a workaround?—”

“For what?” Tegan moved closer to me. “Everest, talk to me?—”

“Lilith,” I said quietly and noticed everyone else shuddered. “If I use too much of my magic . . . it can lure her out. Bring her out. And yes, I’ve learned the hard way. I don’t yet know of a way to sever that connection so I must act within the limits I know?—”

“Good God.” Tenn scrubbed his face with his hands. “Yeah, please do. Right, Tegan and I will stick by Frost Mountain while we fight. How long until sunset?”

“Two hours,” Timothy eyed his watch. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if they go early.”

“Okay, we need Katherine. We need all of us energized and awake, it’s gonna be a long night. Everyone else . . . take the next few minutes to do what you need to be ready, then get back down here so we can strategize.” Tenn turned to Bentley. “Can you get Royce and Tegan some?—”

“Squishy already went. He’ll be back soon.” Bentley nodded.

Tegan snapped her fingers, and a dry erase board appeared on the wall. She held a marker out. “Let’s talk new tricks for fighting these bastards.”