"That day, when you were staring at her..." Zephyr trailed off, remembering that day so vividly.
"She seemed familiar," Morana completed, leaning into Tristan's side. The man hadn't left her alone since she'd been discharged from the hospital.
"The Shadow Man," Zephyr shared. "He was there that night. He came after... I don't remember but I think he dropped us at the hospital."
Her husband nodded. "He was following Hector for his own reasons. That's how he knew about the murders, I think."
Dante quipped from the other couch. "I've put Vin on Hector. We'll know who he made the deal with soon."
"His brother is already looking for him," Alpha mentioned. Victor, she'd been told, had raged after finding out what his brother had done. He had gone hunting him down. Hector was a dead man.
"Is Vin trustworthy?" she asked.
"Very," Amara replied, surprisingly.
"The Shadow Man warned me this was just the beginning," her husband informed them all. She heard Morana's breath catch, Amara swallowing at the ominous words.
Silence fell over them, all of them consumed by their own thoughts.
Restless, Zephyr stood up, going back to the deck, the dogs again at her heels, not leaving her alone.
She looked out at the view, everything looking dark and bleak, and wondered what the future would bring them.
A presence came behind her, before strong arms wrapped around her. Zephyr sunk back into the embrace of her one-eyed beast, the only solid, real thing in her topsy-turvy world right now. Through the days, he'd been her mountain, solid, impenetrable, immovable. She had raged upon him, knowing he wouldn't be shaken by an avalanche of emotions.
"We'll be okay, won't we, handsome?" she whispered softly, almost fearful to hope for better.
His arms tightened around her, a kiss on her head. "The gray won't be forever, rainbow."
No, it wouldn't be.
Hector was in the wind, The Syndicate was only beginning, The Shadow Man was unknown, and the future was uncertain.
But in the arms of the man she'd loved for years, would love for years, Zephyr felt herself being able to breathe.
The gray won't be forever.
***