“Any sign of the Corrupter?” Xae asked him.
“No,” Kel said.
The Corrupter. Shit. I'd forgotten to be on guard for him. With Corrupted there instead of corpses, the chances of the Corrupter being there increased. But I'd been so excited to see some of my old neighbors that I'd forgotten all about him. It was a good thing I wasn't alone.
“This way!” someone shouted.
Our group spun toward the voice. It was Taroc. He didn't wait for us, just turned and ran down a street on our left. We raced after him but didn't have far to go. He came to a stop twenty feet down the road, and we quickly caught up to him. Ahead of us was a group of about forty Corrupted, and I recognized some of them.
“Why the fuck are you smiling?” Taroc asked.
I looked over at him and realized he was talking to me. “Because I know some of them.”
“The Corrupted?”
“His old neighbors,” Rath said.
“The parents?”
“Yeah. Not all of them are parents, but yeah,” I said.
Then I got to work. Again, my wraith left my body, a piece of my spirit going forth to free my fellow humans. Other wraiths joined mine, most splitting as mine did, but Taroc's remained whole. The Corrupted stopped in their tracks and fell to the ground. They were silent as our wraiths returned to us. But by the time we joined them, they were getting to their feet.
I hurried over to one of the people I knew. In fact, he was an old lover of mine. The last man I'd been with before I joined the Wraith Lords. We never ended our relationship. But then, it hadn't really been a relationship.
“Caleb!” I cried.
The man turned toward me with wide eyes. “Ember?”
“Yes, it's me. It's good to see you, but I don't have time to talk right now. I need you to take this group down the street.” I pointed in the direction we'd come. “Rachel, Vivienne, and Albert are over there. Wait for me with them.”
“Uh. What?”
“Just go!” I hurried off toward my men who were already moving past the crowd of freed humans.
“South!” someone called from above.
It was Jathalion again, but this time, his direction was welcome. Our group, now including Kel and Taroc, veered south, toward yet another band of Corrupted.
Chapter Four
Out of the sixteen Fress villagers found, seven were parents, two of those a couple, and none of them were married to Harcut or Reginald—the two fathers I'd freed at the Corrupter's castle. It was once again a bittersweet reunion, with most of the children and the two fathers disappointed while ten kids were elated. My sweet Sally wasn't one of the children who were reunited with a parent. Or, in the case of Lilly and Julie, reunited with both parents. The dining hall was full of the sound of weeping, both happy and sad.
“Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry.” I picked up Sally and hugged her. “But this should give you hope. If I can find these people, I can find your mommy and daddy.”
She nodded but kept crying.
I rocked Sally and blinked back my tears. It was like giving one child in a group a toy. You just don't do that shit. And this was far more important than a toy. But it's not as if I could keep everyone apart to save the feelings of those kids whose parents I didn't find.
The other villagers of Fress, those who weren't parents, had come back with us as well since they had nowhere to go. A few were younger people like me, one was elderly, and the rest were old enough that their children were grown. They all comforted the kids along with me, Evina, and a few Wraith lords. And their familiar faces did help.
Caleb, one of those who didn't have children, mainly because he was gay, came up to Sally and me. He laid his hand on Sally's back. “Hey, Sally. It's Uncle Caleb. Remember me?”
Sally sniffed and turned to look at him. “Uncle Caleb?”
“That's right.” He smiled at her. “I'm so glad you're safe.”
“I'm glad you're safe too.”
