Everett, get down, her beautiful voice tells me.
But I barely register that warning, because her perfect body is limp in my arms. The emptiness in her lifeless eyes breaks something in me all over again. Tears drip down my cheeks, freezing along with everything else I touch.
“Telum-cursed…vice of keeper dead,” the whispers mock, still reciting the prophecy that’s tormented me for years.“Deaths to five…”
Something slams into me again. It’s disconcerting as hell because all I can see is the worst moment of my life on replay, but I’m aware someone just tackled my physical body. A whistle cuts through the air before a furious hiss and screech assault my ears?—
And suddenly, I’m blinking up at the darkening twilight sky.
Maven just slayed the final wraith that was tormenting everyone in this clearing. Crypt tackled me to move me out of the way so she could cut the damn thing in half. A lot of the screaming in the clearing begins to taper off as the wraiths’ influence dies with it.
I exhale, shakily wiping the moisture off my temples as I get to my feet. Maven sees and immediately steps close to embrace me.
I don’t care that she’s covered in wraith blood. I pull her tightly against me for a second, internally reminding myself over and over that she’s here and she’s alive and we’re bound again. That was just another godsdamned wraith getting inside my head.
Still…
I’m pretty sure the thought of losing my entire world all over again will always haunt me.
Tell me again,I plead with Maven, only speaking to her telepathically.
She knows exactly what I mean as she peers up at me. Despite slaying wraiths, she’s still so breathtaking that it fucking hurts as she stands on her tiptoes to kiss my jaw.
I love you, and I’m not going anywhere.
Those words are my lifeline.
Crypt tips Maven’s chin back, studying her face to reassure himself that her eyes are still where they’re supposed to be. Then he grins. “You wear the blood of fiends so well, darling. Any chance you’d let me give your scythe a swing? Seems fun.”
“It is,” our keeper smiles back before turning serious again, her determined gaze sweeping over the clearing. “But we have a problem. None of the wraiths I just killed were Gideon. He's playing his favorite game.”
Hide and seek. I remember the fiendish asshole taunting her about it the first time we crossed paths with him. For the last six months, I haven’t seen a single fucking glimpse of this asshole—I’d hoped Maven killed him in Alaska after all.
Clearly, we’re not that lucky.
The celebration is in shambles as everyone slowly comes out of the fear-induced hysteria. The Baird quintet hovers protectively around Kenzie while cultists tend to their burnt, unconscious leader. Reformists check on each other, still on edge as they examine their surroundings fearfully.
There are a lot of injuries, but no one is dead. They probably have my keeper’s quick response time to thank for that.
I'm eyeing all nearby shadows as Silas and Baelfire rejoin us. Baelfire is smeared with blood that isn't his own. Other than looking incredibly guilt-ridden, Silas is fine.
“I should have reinforced the wards the moment we arrived. Forgive me,sangfluir.This was my fault,” he tells Maven.
“Believing that doesn't make it true,” she mutters, still clutching her scythe tightly as she looks for signs of the worst of the wraiths. “Besides, if Gideon was able to get through the Divide before, you changing the wards wouldn't have kept him out of?—”
Three gunshots fire off from far out in the woods, drawing our attention.
“Someone needs help,” Baelfire realizes. Then he looks quickly over the aftermath of the wraith attack, and the blood inexplicably drains from his face. “Hang on. Where's…”
My attention is called by Felix, who's been healing coyote bites on Vivienne’s leg.
“Commander.” Felix holds up his arm to show that his Reformist scrying brand is glowing. “It’s a distress signal. Douglas just set it off.”
“Quinn,” Baelfire chokes, already stumbling toward the edge of the newly-warded clearing. “She's missing. So is Lillian.”
Shit.
The rest of us don't hesitate to rush after him. Even though I want to beg Maven to stay behind in the clearing and help the others recuperate after the horrors of the wraiths, I know my keeper would never willingly send us off into danger and stay behind.
