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I vowed that I wouldn’t return until I was certain we’d reunite our coven, for good this time. That, or we’d die trying, because this could not happen again.
“No, Lucas. We’re not safe,” I said darkly. “We’ll never be safe. Not until this is done.”
And I intended to finish this. Once and for all, the Imperium Council was going straight to the Abyss, where they belonged.
Even if I had to take them down to hell with me.
CHAPTER 25
LUCAS
Iwoke to the sun shining through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Nadine lay curled in my arms on the bed, and she hadn’t woken yet.
A week had passed since we’d fled town. Helena had brought us to a big house a few miles outside of Octavia Falls. It was tucked deep in the forest and built into the side of the mountain. The house was all clean lines and big windows, which made me feel exposed, but the wards surrounding the safe house concealed us well.
The house was huge, with enough beds for all of us. William used to rent it out as a mountain retreat. That was obvious by the smell of fae still lingering on the sofa. We noticed it as soon as we walked in.
We searched the lodge high and low for fae intruders. We came to the conclusion that the fae hadn’t been there in quite some time, back before William had made this our safe house. The fae we’d helped last semester must’ve stayed here after they’d gotten what they needed from Hattie.
Headmistress Verla had arrived later that night, along with Professor Warren and Onyx. Verla had made it out of the school alive, and she’d found the other two nervously awaiting our arrival at her house, like we’d planned. Things had completely gone off the rails that night.
Settling into the safe house gave us time to recover, but it couldn’t cure the trauma we’d endured. I’d dreamt of that night again—the pain that had permeated my bones when the demon used his spells on me, the horrors of watching him beat Nadine to near death. I knew the dreams weren’t real, and yet they still felt like they were still happening. When I closed my eyes, I could still see his burning red eyes behind my lids. Often, I replayed how I could’ve killed the bastard myself and saved my friends from the pain.
But there wasn’t anything I could’ve done. He was gone, and I had to accept what had happened as reality. There was no going back and changing it. It was in the past, and I didn’t live there anymore.
Still, I got physically ill as my eyes roamed Nadine’s body. She wore a thin nightgown, which showed off the purple and yellow bruises all over her body. Her finger was in a splint, since it’d been stitched up after Avery’s attack. Onyx had done a really good job on the stitches, and she’d put my leg in a cast using the medical supplies William had left us. She’d learned a lot working at the hospital, and we were lucky to have her here.
Nadine would be able to take the stitches out tomorrow. The ones on her leg had to stay a few more days. Those cuts from the monsters had been deeper, and I was surprised she could move at all after what they’d done to her.
I ran my fingers lightly down her arm, over the mottled bruises. Every inch of her seemed to be covered with them. I had my fair share of bruises and fractures, and that made it all the worse—because I knew exactly what it felt like to move wrong and feel the pain of the attacks all over again.
Nadine stirred. Her ribs had been fractured in several places, and she hadn’t gotten out of bed much since we got here. Nadine winced as she rolled onto her back.
I startled. “Did I hurt you?”
Her eyes fluttered open, and she got a light smile on her face when she saw me. “No. You could never.”
“Well, technically—”
“Technically, you worry too much,” she teased.
The fight was over, and it was her light mood that reminded me of that daily. Without it, it was easy to slip into survival mode. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I’d ever come out of it, but we were safe here at William’s lodge. The Waning had passed after a few days, and we were able to cast wards and protection spells that even the priestesses couldn’t penetrate.
This wasn’t exactly the ski resort weekend we’d talked about weeks ago, but we were staying at a mountain retreat, and we had escaped the priestesses.
From the foot of the bed, Isa stretched, and Oliver stirred awake beside her. He placed his paw over her and started licking her ears.
“It’s my job to worry,” I told Nadine. “How are you feeling today?”
“Well enough to go for a walk,” she said. “I want to try, at least.”
The gashes on her leg were tender and made it hard for her to get around, but if she was ready to try, I was ready to help. It was like recovering from the kidney transplant all over again. One step at a time.
I helped Nadine sit up in bed, and I checked her wounds. “Everything seems to be healing well. No infections.”
“I’m getting some range of motion back in my finger,” Nadine said. She reached for the salve Helena had given her that sat on the nightstand.
I took it and began rubbing the herbal mixture over her leg, before bandaging it all back up. I took her hand in mine and gently removed the splint from her finger. As I rubbed the salve over her skin, my fingers grazed her engagement ring. A thrill traveled through my stomach. I was still getting used to it.
