I stared at her for a long moment, realizing just how much Evie had done.
Declan shot her a quelling look. “This is serious, Hope.” My Second’s mouth dropped open as he did a double take.
Hope was too hyped up to notice. “Dude. I know as well as you do, but you can’t deny you’ve never felt better, right?”
That was the clincher. Evie had shared her claim on my land and restored her claim on Donovan’s old territory while also allowing me authority, but she’d also healed the land, and not quite in the way she thought she might have. All my old aches and pains were gone. Old injuries, that odd spot in my knee thattwinged when rain was coming, the strange ache in the back of my neck when I slept wrong, all things shifter physiology should have fixed but didn’t were now erased as if they’d never been.
Including Hope’s scar.
Declan kept staring at Hope, a completely freaked out expression on his face until she finally noticed. “Dude. What?”
He opened his mouth and snapped it shut just as fast, before looking over at me helplessly.
“Declan?” Hope looked back and forth between us.
I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile and took her by the elbow, leading her away from the kitchen and into the laundry room area where there was a guest bathroom. After I flipped on the light, I stepped out of the way and gestured for her to go inside, waiting until she was inside before shutting the door.
Declan crossed his arms over his massive chest, his face stricken. “What the hell is she, boss?”
He wasn’t talking about Hope. “She’s the child of two gods and a being of mixed Chimera blood. You know she’s the Fae Queen.”
He nodded. “With that much power, she could be queen of the entire damned world, and I’m not sure anyone could stand against her.”
Soft sobbing came from behind the closed door.
Declan’s expression turned stricken. He went to go to her, but I held him back. “Wait,” I said quietly. “Give her the space she needs. When she’s ready, she will come out.”
He blew out a frustrated breath. “I feel like I’m twenty again. Gods.” He craned his neck to look up at the ceiling. “Half of the guys out there are scared shitless of her. The other half are in love with her.”
Considering what Evie had done out there, I wasn’t surprised. “And you?”
He ran a hand through his hair and speared me with a look. “I think you’ve stepped into a different world, boss, and you’re taking us along for the ride. She seems like a good woman, but I’ve never seen so much power contained in a single person.” His eyes narrowed, before widening a hair. “Oh, man,” he chuckled. “You crazy sonofabitch. Does she know?”
“I don’t think so.” How the hell was I going to explain what she’d done and the ramifications? Part of me felt remorse. I don’t think she knew exactly what she was doing when she was doing it, so wrapped in her power, she took whatever the land offered her. The other part felt a bone deep sense of rightness, of satisfaction, of knowing this was what I’d been seeking for my entire life, and she’d given it to me on a golden platter.
“Poor bastard.” Declan clicked his tongue. “You know you’ve probably set us on a path to war with all the other Lords.” He chuckled and clapped a hand over my shoulder. “Good thing you have all the territory in the world to plan your strategy now.”
The bonds tugged inside my chest. I’d have to visit the new territory soon, see how I could stake a physical claim on it so the other Lords wouldn’t keep trying to encroach.
Hope stepped out of the bathroom, eyes puffy and nose red. “Where is she?”
I stilled.
“Where’s Evie?” Hope looked to Declan.
He held out an arm. “I’ll show you.”
Evie was still sitting in the kitchen when we walked in. She smiled at Hope when she saw her, but the happy smile slid off her face. “Oh. Oh gods, Hope. I am so so?—”
My Omega bent and slammed into Evie, wrapping her arms around the smaller woman and burying her face into the crook of her shoulder. Sobs racked Hope’s body. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
Evie’s wide eyes met mine. She blinked a few times and drew Hope in closer. “I did not mean to take the choice away from you.”
“I don’t know that I would have made it,” Hope sobbed. “All I wanted for so long was to be rid of the evidence of what he’d done to me. Looking in the mirror every day told the story of my pain, but there was nothing I could do. I’d tried everything.”
“This won’t make the pain go away,” Evie said softly.
“Yes,” Hope agreed. “My physical pain is gone, which will help me put those memories to rest. It helps knowing everyone else around me won’t be reminded of it as well. When I look in the mirror now, I can see me again.” She rose and wiped her eyes. “If there is ever anything I can do for you, name it. You will always have a loyal friend in me.”
