“He chose to remain as he was and not risk the pools. We stayed in the caves only long enough to gather our brothers. The crystals had already started to make Adam’s head ache as we made our way to the surface. But he recovered quickly.” His gaze moved from Drav to me. “We were many and attracted much attention from infected and hellhounds. We kept Adam safe. But during one attack, he disappeared. We searched for him, but he was gone.”
I couldn’t stop the tears from falling. Tor tugged me close to his side and stroked a hand over my back. His worry helped ground me in the moment.
“I understand,” I said to Uan. “Thank you for trying to keep him safe. He knew the risks he would be taking going with you.”
“I am sorry, June.”
I nodded and managed a weak smile of reassurance.
“We killed twelve hellhounds and many infected,” Uan said, talking to the crowd now. “But we saw no sign of Molev.”
“Rest,” Drav said. “Spend time with your family.” His gaze locked with mine. “Mya would like to speak with you.”
Swallowing down the dull ache of my grief, I nodded and made to follow him. Tor allowed me one step before picking me up and hugging me tightly to his chest. I buried my face against his shirt and shed a few more tears for Adam. It didn’t seem real that he was gone. But mostly, it didn’t make sense to go all that way and change his mind at the end. He’d risked his life for nothing.
By the time we reached Drav’s house, I’d managed to dry my tears. There would be time later to grieve for Adam. Mya needed to know how things went clearing the haters from Tenacity.
“June is here,” Drav said, the moment he opened the door.
“Good,” Mya called from the kitchen. “Get in here and try one of these cookies, June. Did you find out what all the yelling was about, Drav?”
Drav glanced at me. Though his expression didn’t give anything away, I knew he wasn’t sure what to say. She didn’t know. Any of it.
I patted Tor so he’d put me down and walked into the kitchen. Mya took one look at my face and her cheer fled.
“Uan and his group have returned. Uan’s safe and healthy. Adam disappeared on the way back. There’s an irony in that. He chose not to die in the caves and died anyway.”
“June, I’m so sorry,” she said, hurrying to hug me.
There was nothing to say, so I hugged her in return to reassure her the best I could that I didn’t hold anyone to blame for it. No one had forced Adam to go.
“I’ll take a cookie if you’re still offering,” I said, “and tell you about our success in Tenacity.”
Mya released me, gave me a searching look, then fetched a cookie. They were lemon.
I took a seat. Tor stood behind me and gently played with my hair as I spoke for us. Mya listened to the recap and admitted she’d heard a bit from one of the fey who’d run back with the news once the group of men was booted. I told her about our plans to move into the Tenacity house on a more permanent basis to help support Matt’s message that things were going to change.
“The timing couldn’t be more perfect,” I said. “It looks like you have a lot of new fey to house. Matt has humans cohabitating about ten to twelve to a place. I know fey are bigger, but you should be able to fit that many in Tor’s house.”
Drav shook his head.
“My brothers know it is difficult to find a female and even more so when there are many of us together. It is better they have their own homes. We may need to start another community.”
“After Matt announced his intent to rearrange the living assignments, a woman asked if she could live with Tor and me. She was clear that it wasn’t to freeload. She wants to live with a fey and a human couple to get a feel for what it would be like. It doesn’t free up houses necessarily, but it might reshuffle the numbers enough here that a place could open up.”
“I like that idea,” Mya said. “I know Cassie and Kerr wouldn’t mind a helping hand. Nancy and Uan probably wouldn’t be a good fit since they’re focusing on Tasha. But maybe Thallirin and Brenna?” She looked at Drav.
“I will speak to Thallirin and the others. Many will defer to their women.”
“Perfect. I know I can talk Angel and Eden into it. It’s like an exchange program for potential brides,” she said with a grin. “But you’re right, Drav. We should still look into starting another community. Is there anything within the same distance as Tenacity?”
A heavy knock on the door interrupted the conversation. Drav went to answer it.
“The infected have returned,” the fey said.
Since coming to Tenacity and Tolerance, I hadn’t seen or heard an infected nearby. We saw plenty of them when we went out for supply runs, but never any nearby the settlements.
“What does he mean?” I asked Mya.