Her sob turned into a broken laugh. Her fists tightened in the front of my shirt and she held on to me like she would never let go again.
Xavier leaned into view beside her. “You scared everyone shitless,” he breathed. “Don’t ever fucking do that again.”
“What happened?” I repeated. “I could have sworn I was just dead there for a few seconds.”
Rummy laughed again. Her hands ran over the wound on my chest—the wound that was now being healed by my angel magic. Cornelius’s block must have been lifted.
Cornelius.I pushed myself up.
If I was here… and if Rummy was alive beside me…
“You did it,” I breathed. “You killed them.”
“She did a lot more than that, brother,” Xavier said. He put an arm around Rummy, and the three of us huddled there in the grass. “She just brought you back.”
“A force both dark and light,” Rummy replied. “I harnessed all of the magic and brought you back. It actually worked.” She laughed again, and a fresh wave of tears rolled down her wet cheeks.
She actually fucking did it.
Before I could celebrate, though, she was smacking me in the shoulder. “I can’t believe you would do that!” she yelled. “You really were going to sacrifice yourself and leave me here? How could you do that to me!”
I caught her hand and held on. “I knew you would figure it out,” I lied. “If anyone is going to make sure we all walk out of this kingdom, it’s you.”
Movement over her shoulder caught my eye. I glanced back to find soldiers—our soldiers—waiting near the garden entrance.
My attention slid back to Xavier. “You really came?”
He smiled, and I even caught his eyes growing watery. “There was no way in all hells I was going to let you two march here alone. After talking to Wolf and Huntyr, we gathered the troops from The Golden City, and we got our asses moving. We’ve got your back, Jessiah. Always. Even if you are a pain in the butt sometimes.”
My heart welled, and it wasn’t from the pain of the blade this time.
Cornelius was finally dead.
With this army, we could make things right. We could restore peace to Pericius. We could make the people feel safe again.
For now, though, there was only one thing I wanted.
“Thank the goddess I’m not dead yet,” I muttered. “You two would be lost without me.”
The sound of their laughter seared into my memory.
I reminded myself that I wasn’t dead. This was real life, we were all together, and everything was going to be okay.
For once, things actually felt like they were going to be all right.
Chapter 46
Rummy
The sun heated my skin as I tilted my head back and soaked it all in. Hot days were rare in Scarlata, even in the summer, but we’d been blessed with the warmth for weeks now.
AnddamnI looked good with a tan.
Huntyr laid back on the riverbank beside me, her bare feet skimming the water’s surface as she dangled them over the rock. Her eyes were closed, too, and she had the faintest smile on her lips that made my stomach flip.
“Don’t you have important queen shit to do?” I asked. “Or are you ignoring all your responsibilities so you can get some color on that pale skin of yours?”
Without opening her eyes, she replied, “Shut up, or you’ll ruin the peace.”
