There’s a murmur of acknowledgment around the room, a shared exhale. Five dead, a few injured. It could’ve been worse. It definitely could’ve been worse.
When I realize everyone is looking at me, I startle.
Red speaks softly. “What about you, Tobias? Will you share what happened out there?”
I swallow, skin heating. “Honestly, I don’t… remember much. Not clearly.”
“Just tell us what you know.”
I decide to skip over the part about choking Rowen and running away like a coward. “When I went in,” I say slowly, “it was like something broke loose in me. My animal took over. I could feel him clawing under my skin, if that makes sense. Pushing forward. And I just—let him. Everything after that is… fragments.” I chew my lip, thinking. “I remember killing a vampire, and biting a couple of wolves. But it was just like overdrive. I don’t know.” My throat tightens. “Then I heard Rowen. Heard him cry out when Rip got a hold of him. And it was like my world narrowed to that one sound. I didn’t care about anything else. I just needed to get to him.”
Rowen’s hand finds my knee, grounding me.
“You were insanely fast,” Jericho says. “I almost couldn’t track you.”
“For real,” Ivy agrees. “Like Sonic the Hedgehog.”
I laugh weakly.
“You saved my life too,” Forest says. “Do you remember that?”
I blink up at him. “No.”
“One vamp was seconds away from… anyway, you knocked him over and ripped his throat out.” He shakes his head like he can’t believe it. “The vamp never saw it coming.”
Tears sting my eyes. I genuinely don’t remember that.
They wait patiently for me to continue.
“I killed Rip, and then…” I press a hand to my chest, wincing at the memory. “It’s like I can still feel it,” I whisper, glancing at Rowen.
I realize now he hasn’t asked about this part at all yet. Because he was too afraid, maybe?
I take his hand, threading our fingers together. “When the seal broke, something burned inside me. It wasn’t just magic. I mean, it hurt, of course. But it felt like a struggle almost, like the bond wasn’t sure who was really in control for a moment. Then it just… burned out of me. Everything went white. And I knew it was over.”
The memory shudders through me.
“But when it happened…” I pause, wondering if I should say anything about the visions, but after all they’ve done for me, they deserve the truth. “I saw something. At the end, I mean. I don’t even know what it was. Just snippets. A brick hallway and water? I don’t know. It made no sense.”
Taren nods, her tone calm. “That was probably residual energy from Rip. Being linked to him like you were, you eventually would’ve been able to see inside his head too. Things he wanted you to see. So when the sealshattered, it’s possible that some of his memories rebounded to you. I wouldn’t worry. It’ll fade.”
I don’t trust myself to speak. That was Rip’s memory? Strange.
Jasmine clears her throat. “Can you feel anything now? Like, at all?”
That question stops me cold. I haven’t even looked at the mark since I shifted back.
Slowly, I tug my sleeve up. The warm air hits my bare skin where the mark used to pulse, red and alive. But now it’s just a scar. Pale, faintly raised, and absolutely normal. I touch it in disbelief, a choked sob slipping from me. No light. No heat. Nothing.
Rowen exhales softly beside me. Then he leans in and presses his lips to my temple. “It’s over, hon,” he murmurs. “You’re really free of him.”
The words should make me feel something—joy, relief, triumph—but instead there’s a hollow ache.
Even though my mark is deactivated, the war with the coven continues. Rip’s dead, yes. But Foxx and Orem are still alive. And they have Grant. Until Grant is here, I won’t truly be at peace.
Still, I nod, leaning into him. “Yeah,” I whisper. “Free.”
The silence stretches again until Jasmine breaks it with a sniff, then a clap of her hands. “Okay! Enough doom and gloom. We know what happens after that. Tobias and Rowen frolicked in the forest for three days while Toby adjusted to that cute little tail of his.”
