The growl was yet another confirmation, but his senses were still haywire. “Michael, where is—”
“Anne’s not ready to go down yet, either,” Michael cut in, studying him. “And she refuses to leave the Fae’s side. He’s dying.”
“He can’t die. We caught the culprit.”
Michael’s dark orbs gleamed. “Go. Let me handle that bastard. He tried to kill us both. The Fae, too. He protected us. And Anne…I was wrong about her, Nico. Her spirit is like ours. She belongs with us.”
The man pointed behind him but was already half-limping and half-running away, intention vibrating from every tense muscle. Nico didn’t stop him as he ran, too, the last words echoing in his mind and unsure of what he would find. Was Anne as badly injured as his brother? Was she in a worse state?
The suspense was killing him, but worse was the thought that Paul had done a lot of damage before trying to escape. It felt like an endless race towards the unknown before the cavern was in his line of sight, surrounded by trees that had splintered in all directions. Orange caught his attention next, a brightening glow that soon encumbered the cavern. When the blinding light hit, he stretched against a branch and threw himself in the air, his entire world shattering as the cavern entrance crumbled and he was too late—
“Nico.”
He landed on the ground in front of the destroyed space. Then he swiveled and found green eyes on him, filled with emotions that connected them in that stunned silence: stark relief. Joy. Love. Anne sat on the clearing, keeping a sleeping, glittering, and bloodied Fae safe beside her. She was all right.
“Anne.”
She was alive.
***
“He tried to kill everyone after he was forced to confess to his crimes: eliminating an entire Fae group and experimenting on Mino to try to harness his power—to try and dethrone Angelo is what we gathered. Anyway, Paul went after Jan first. Naturally, Angelo wouldn’t have it.”
“So, he’s gone?”
“He’s gone.”
Anne was quiet after the announcement. He could read her dilemma in her brooding, perhaps wondering how a man who had kept a torturous secret for years could just die like that. She wasn’t the only one wondering, as those who had been present during the rescue had been shocked as hell, too, and were still recovering from the aftermath.
“Your clan leader is a brave man for doing what he did,” she finally said. “It must have hurt to end the life of someone he trusted and take in Mino after.”
“If he didn’t end Paul’s life, Paul would have ended innocent lives first. Including Mino’s.”
“Michael’s grieving too, isn’t he?”
“Yes. He wanted a go at Paul for betraying everything this clan stood for and for hurting you guys back there. He needs time to heal. But he will be fine.”
She nodded, then made space as he sat beside her on the sturdy branch at the edge of the barrier that overlooked the fields ahead. The dancing fog was gone, resolved as the Fae healed properly in their home and no longer needed to hunt for blood. The other fog was somewhere out there, still wandering about and bringing rain to the city but no death. No trouble.
She looked at peace, a serenity that was lovely on her face. But nerves fluttered in his system, the words he hadn’t been able to say roaring inside and wanting to get out.
“It looks so nice when the moon is out and I don’t have to worry over it,” she murmured. “It’s so beautiful.”
“It’s home. Home is always beautiful. Anne?”
“Hmm?”
“I love you. Please stay.”
Silence.
A cold sweat glazed over his back, but he knew he would have asked it no matter what. Anne glanced at the moon. Then she looked at him.
“I was thinking of visiting that area again,” she mused.
“What area?”
“My old home. But not to visit Sam and not to show myself to anyone there. I want to check if Hannah’s okay or if she needs help. I want to help her if she needs, it just as you guys helped Mino…me.”