As Lilith’s presence disappeared, the hissing of her snake ceasing altogether, Xander retreated from her mind and found Adriana’s body had stopped glowing in his arms. Her eyes returned to their natural pale blue and her hands gripped onto Xander as they both returned to reality.
With a tearful smile, he helped her up, barely registering the pain as his skin slowly healed from the burns. Adriana’s eyes widened as she looked around the room and heard the explosions and gunshots around the building. Xander took her hand and led her to Nicolai’s slowly closing portal, spotting Cassandra on the other side frantically waving them through.
“Come on,” he said. “Let's go home.”
Chapter twenty-eight
Where It All Began
Xander
Xander entered the old ballroom of Duran Manor, his footsteps echoing on the floor. He sighed as he took it all in—the high ceilings, the large windows, the furniture covered in white sheets. It had been quite some time.
He removed the sheet from the large circular table in the centre of the room and ran his fingers over the smooth wood. The Courts had not come back to Duran Manor in a while. Most of their business for the last twenty or so years had been in London, where the World Court headquarters had been created. But that was all gone now.
The country was falling. The government was being taken over by the Liberators, the majority of the cities were being ransacked, and Daemons were being forced to flee for their livesor face Rook’s execution. Even though Rafael had tremendous support to take over from Katie, Rook held the nation with the fear he’d instilled within them, and he was rising to power with ease.
They’d held a funeral for Katie the night before, burying her in the grounds of the manor. Xander hated to admit that he didn’t know if she had any family to contact, he hadn’t ever thought to ask such trivial questions when they had spent so much time working to build a better future. A future that seemed to drift further and further away, a future that she would never see. He regretted not taking the time to know her more.
“Back where it all began,” Deion’s voice rang out from the doorway.
Xander peered over at him. “Back where it all started to become interesting, at least. But this was certainly not the beginning of our journey.”
“I know, we’ve been at this far too long. I didn’t realise not ageing would mean I’d never bloody retire.”
Xander let out a small chuckle as he began to unstack the chairs from the corner of the room, bringing them round to tuck under the table. Deion gave him a hand, watching Xander with obvious concern.
“If you have something to say, Deion, just say it.”
Deion sat down on one of the chairs with a sigh. “I worry about you. I’m happy Adriana is back, of course. I’m happy you get to have another chance… but I see the way you look at her. I know you never forgave yourself for what happened, and I know you likely never will.”
“Get to the point,” Xander quickly retorted, as he placed the tenth chair round the table.
“My point is that you are stuck in your past, a past that almost destroyed you. If you want a future, whether it is with Adriana or not, you need to find a way to move on.”
Xander held on to the back of the chair next to Deion’s, his brows furrowed in deep thought. He knew he loved Adriana, he had never stopped loving her, and he would do everything he could to prove that to her. But could he ever forgive himself for what he had done? Could she?
Voices from the hallway brought him out of his thoughts. He gave Deion a small smile, a silent promise that they would continue their conversation another time, as the room began to fill with the Court leaders.
Edward took the other seat next to Deion, giving him a kiss on the cheek as he sat down and began setting up an untraceable radio in the middle of the table. The Liberators didn’t know the location of Duran Manor, no one did. Only the Courts and their most trusted allies had been granted that information, and Katie had made sure to keep the original location of the Courts out of any government databases.
Kadeem took the other side to where Xander stood, with Ade, Dylan, and Niamh sitting on the chairs next to him. Nicolai walked in with Cassandra, pulling her chair out for her before he sat next to Edward. Xander didn’t greet any of them, he just stared at the only empty chair opposite him as he heard Adriana’s footsteps coming down the stairs.
He’d offered her to use his cottage to stay in, but she’d been reluctant to remain there, opting to share one of the smaller bedrooms in the manor with Cassandra. Xander had assumed, with a little too much hope, that she would stay with him. However, Adriana had avoided him since they’d returned to Duran Manor the day before. He knew she needed her space, needed time to deal with all of it. And so, he had stepped aside and said nothing as she made her intentions to bunk with Cassandra clear, despite Nicolai’s crude offer for Cassandra to share his room with him.
As Adriana approached the table, Xander watched her cheeks redden as she noticed all eyes were on her, but she fixed her attention solely on him. The two of them held onto the backs of their chairs opposite one another, both wanting to discuss so much but unable to.
Xander gave her a lopsided smile. “Please, sit.”
She took her seat between Cassandra and Niamh, who gave her a small wink that did not go unnoticed by Xander as he sat down.
“Right then,” Xander spoke softly, glancing around the table at every person. “I suppose this is it. Welcome to the new Courts of Daemonium.”
Kadeem let out a low whistle as Nicolai sarcastically applauded. Edward fiddled with the radio, switching the channels and filling the room with quiet static sounds. They’d sent out a message the night before to Rafael to share with any remaining allies in government, an instruction for all Daemons and anyone fleeing the Liberators to make their way to Duran Manor.
Xander flexed his hands as he continued to speak. “This will be our home and our meeting place for the foreseeable future. The headquarters are gone, as is Parliament. London is not safe for us now that Rook is quickly gaining power, and I worry that Daemons in other larger cities across the UK will also be at risk. So, we need to plan how to help them.”
“I believe that’s where I come in,” a familiar voice spoke out on the radio.
