The Night Before Dead

by Kelly Meding

  “You did what I could not,” Phineas said. “You showed that we are not alone in this world.”

  Aurora grasped his hand. “Ava has more family than she knows what to do with now. She has a future, Phineas. As does our people.”

  “I am so proud of you, Aurora. You honor the lives who were lost by your return tonight.”

  “We’re a part of this world. And I will fight to give my daughter the future she deserves.” She looked out at the faces watching her and met my gaze. “As I fight for all of us.”

  “You trust this clutch of warriors?” Astrid asked.

  “I do. And you can trust them, too.”

  “We have three young Lupa who reside here, under the protection of Truman and Stone. Will your warriors respect their lives?”

  Aurora’s eyes narrowed briefly. “I will take responsibility for my warriors. The Lupa will not be harmed by any of my people.”

  Behind me, Wyatt relaxed and let out a breath. The boys were having a rough enough time around the young Felia in the Watch. They didn’t need the added stress of a bunch of Coni warriors targeting them.

  Maybe they need to stay in the apartment for the rest of the night.

  Not that they’d stepped foot out since the cafeteria incident, which reminded me that I needed to check in with John. He wasn’t handling his captivity memories well, and I knew a little something about post-torture PTSD.

  “The warriors may come inside,” Astrid said. “The empty room to the left of the gym is large enough to house them, if they wish to rest. I imagine you’ve had a long journey.”

  “We have,” Aurora replied. “Thank you.”

  “I’ll make sure cots and blankets are delivered there, as well as food.”

  “Their diets have consisted mostly of raw fish for hundreds of years.”

  Astrid glanced at Rufus, then said, “We’ll see what we can do.”

  Like what, call for sushi delivery?

  Aurora and Phineas hustled out to collect the other Coni.

  “I can’t believe she’s back,” I said.

  Wyatt turned me to face him. “Neither can I. But it’s another check mark in our favor. We’ve both seen Phineas in action. Him times thirty?”

  “That’s a fight I can’t wait to see.” Preferably from the sidelines, but that wasn’t happening. Even though I was tired of fighting, tired of the constant battle for our lives, I wasn’t sitting this one out. Not when all of my friends—and two of the men I loved most on earth—were going to be out there waging war against the Fey and their allies.

  Kismet stalked over and poked Wyatt hard in the chest. “You did not.”

  Wyatt blinked. “I didn’t what?”

  “Volunteer, you idiot.” She looked equal parts angry and sad. “For the Tainted. Are you suicidal?”

  “Not at all. Quite the opposite in fact.”

  I leaned over to kiss Wyatt’s cheek. “You have fun with this. I’ll see you in a bit.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “To check on the boys.”

  Marcus intercepted me just outside of Ops, and I let him lead me to the opposite wall, away from several clusters of people. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

  I had a good idea what he meant, but I still played dumb. “For what?”

  “I may have missed the battle at Briar’s Ridge, but staying behind gave me a gift I will never forget. A gift I will fight even harder for in the morning.”

  So much love and affection burned in his copper eyes that I did something I’d never done before. I flung my arms around his broad shoulders and hugged him. He slipped muscled arms around my waist.

  “Thank you for caring for him,” I whispered. “He needs it more than he even realizes.”

  “It’s something I’ve needed as well. I’ve lived a very lonely life.”

  I pulled away, then wiped at my own damp eyes. “So have most of us. Funny how we don’t find love until the end of the world.”

  Marcus laughed. “Indeed.”

  “How’s he doing?”

  “He’s being brave for me, as much as for himself. It wounds him to have to stay behind, instead of being there with us. For all that he’s been through, Milo deserves to face this enemy with us.”

  “Yes, he does. But I bet a part of you is glad he’ll be safe and sound and far away from the fighting.”

  He smiled. “A part, yes. Another part wishes him by my side.”

  “I can understand that.” I had the honor of standing by my lover on the field of battle. “Are you going back to him?”

  “Soon. Once the Coni are settled. Brevin has said we’ll begin preparations by one o’clock, so I don’t have much time.”

  And he wanted every moment he had. I understood that need far too well. We went our separate ways. Word of Wyatt volunteering must have started making the gossip circuit, because I ignored several sympathetic looks as I made my way back to the apartment.

  Mark and Peter were in the living room playing a video game.

  “There’s a new smell in the air,” Peter said over the sound of digital car engines.

  “A bunch of Coni warriors flew in from Greece to help us fight tomorrow,” I said.

  Both of them stared at me a beat, then went back to the game.

  Teenagers.

  Their bedroom door was shut, so I knocked once before entering. John sat on the floor in one corner of the messy room, knees drawn up to his chest. He wasn’t rocking or shaking or doing anything much, besides staring at the far wall. I shut the door, then knelt in front of him.

  “John?”

  His gaze slowly rose to meet mine. He was too fucking young for all of the fear and anxiety in his eyes. “Does it ever stop?”

  My heart flipped. “Does what ever stop?”

  “The bad dreams? The memories? The pain?”

  “In time it becomes less.” I shifted to sit next to him. He leaned against me, and I wrapped a comforting arm around his slim shoulders. “I wish I could say it will go away like it never happened, but that’s a lie. All you can do is work through it.”

  “How?”

  “Have you talked to anyone about your time with Vale?”

  He shook his head.

  That surprised me a bit. “Not Wyatt? Or Dr. Vansis?”

  “No.”

  I angled my left hand so he could see it. “A few months ago I was tortured by a man in the name of science. He did awful things, including cutting off my pinkie to see if it would grow back.”

  John’s eyes went wide. “Oh wow. Oh God. You don’t act like you were tortured.”

  “That’s because there’s no one way to act after suffering through acts of violence. I had people around me who loved me, and who helped me overcome all of the bad things I was feeling. Do you trust me and Wyatt to help you?”

  He held my gaze for a long moment before nodding. “Vale told me my brothers were dead. That he killed them and left them for you to find.”

  My heart ached for the pain in his words.

  “I didn’t want to believe him. I still felt them, but I was so scared. I was so sure I was going to die, too.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that, so I held him close and listened while this teenage boy—someone I’d come to care for despite myself—opened up and told me about his worst nightmare.

  Wyatt found us an hour later. John had fallen asleep with his head on my shoulder after exhausting himself talking. It was probably his first real rest in over a week, so I didn’t move. Even after my ass went numb from sitting on the concrete floor. Wyatt carefully picked him up and tucked him into bed. John mumbled once, then passed back out.

  In the privacy of our room, Wyatt asked, “What was that?”

  I told him. Some of the details enraged Wyatt, as I knew they would, but the anger left quickly. It had no direction, no enemy left to fight. Vale died in many pieces, and his accomplices had been executed by the Assembly for treason. All we could do was support John, until the nightmar
es dimmed and the world seemed a little less terrifying.

  No small feat when every other race on the planet had reason to fear you.

  “Thank you,” he said. “For reaching out to him.”

  “I have more experience with kidnapping and torture than most.”

  He pulled me into his arms, and I went willingly. I rested my cheek on his shoulder and inhaled his scent. Masculine, a hint of cinnamon, and the deeper, muskier smell of his wolf. His heart beat steadily against my chest.

  “Promise me something,” I said.

  “Anything within my power.”

  “When this is over, when the Fey are done attacking us, and the Tainted are back across the Break? You and me. A tropical beach. Fruity drinks with umbrellas in them.”

  “Vacation?”

  I lifted my head to hold his gaze. “I’m thinking more like a permanent retirement.”

  His lips twitched. “If we want to stay there forever, we need to find a beach near a Break source.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “You do realize that if we’re near a Break, we won’t be the only supernatural beings around.”

  “Don’t care. As long as we’re far away from this fucking city.”

  Wyatt tilted his head. “What about our friends?”

  “They can visit whenever they want. I’m tired of fighting, Wyatt. I feel like I’ve been fighting for my entire life, and I’m exhausted. I want to go someplace with you and not think for a while. To sit in the sun, drink fruity cocktails, and make love to you.”

  “I like this future of ours.” He nuzzled my cheek with his nose. “Especially the last part.”

  “Sitting in the sun.”

  He kissed my cheek. “Nope.”

  “Fruity cocktails?”

  “Try again.”

  I licked my lips, anticipation tightening my belly. “Making love?”

  “Yes, please.”

  We did, with a tender slowness that drew me to the brink of tears over and over. I savored every touch, every kiss, every taste, every orgasm. Every moment we shared together, moving together. No matter how much we believed in a positive outcome, the future wasn’t a promise. We couldn’t predict what dawn would bring.

  All we had was now.

  As the time drew closer to midnight, we reluctantly left our bed for the shower. We were both dressed in black cargo pants and shirts, debating a quick trip to the cafeteria, when Wyatt’s phone rang.

  “Truman.” His expression remained neutral. “On our way.”

  I didn’t wait for him to hang up before asking, “Is it time?”

  He nodded. “Soon. We’ve reached the room below Olsmill.” The room where Tovin had successfully brought a Tainted into the world via a pool of black water somehow directly linked to First Break. A doorway to another world entirely.

  A doorway we were deliberately opening for a second time.

  The corridor outside of Ops was jammed with just about every warm body in the building—human, vampire and Therian. We still had squads in the city patrolling, but the bulk of our forces were here. The masses parted for me and Wyatt, which was a little disconcerting. We got a lot of looks, too. Everything from sympathetic to respectful.

  Milo was at one of the Ops terminals with headphones on. He met my gaze and winked, an unexpected lightness in his expression. Getting lucky definitely changed a person’s perspective on the end of the world.

  We made it into the War Room without incident, which held fewer folks than I expected. Astrid and Marcus, Rufus and Kismet, Isleen and Eulan (the first time I’d ever seen them together), plus Phineas, Brevin and a second elf. Identical to Brevin except for his thicker ear hair, the newcomer leaned on a cane of gnarled wood.

  Once we were inside, Marcus pulled closed the rarely-used set of doors for the War Room, giving us complete privacy.

  Brevin stood on one of the chairs. “It is time to begin preparations for the summoning of three Tainted. My brother, Sorvin, has joined us, and by the time we reach the pool, our other brother will be with us.”

  “Who three are to be the hosts?” Sorvin asked.

  Wyatt squeezed my hand before releasing it. He moved to stand with Phineas and Marcus, the three of them set away from the rest of us. Presenting themselves like pageant finalists waiting for their placements to be called.

  Sorvin studied them. “Coni. Felia.” He tilted his head at Wyatt. “You are unique.”

  “I am,” Wyatt replied, his voice strong and sure. “I am a Gifted human, as well as of Lupa blood. I embrace both sides of myself, and I’m willing to fight for control of this world.”

  “Acceptable.” To all three of them, Sorvin said, “We cannot promise anything to you. You may all die for your trouble. Do you accept that outcome?”

  All three men spoke in unison: “I do.”

  Sounded like one of the most fucked up wedding vows ever.

  Brevin addressed the entire group. “We six will descent into the Break point alone. There can be no distractions while we prepare. The vessels must be focused, ready and willing to accept their burdens. Anything less may prove disastrous.”

  I bit back a protest. Watching Wyatt leave, knowing what he was about to do and not being able to be by his side hurt. A lot. A physical ache in my gut that knew this might be the last time I saw my Wyatt Truman alive and well. But we had, in many ways, said goodbye earlier.

  Someone’s fingers curled around mine. I hadn’t seen Kismet move, and I squeezed her hand. She’d known Wyatt for nine years. They’d been good friends long before I landed in his lap. We both had our own pain, and for the first time in my adult life, I felt no shame in sharing my pain with another person. No embarrassment in knowing my emotions were plainly written on my face.

  I’d never been the heart-on-my-sleeve type.

  I’d also never been in love before.

  And for some reason, Brevin was looking right at me.

  “I understand,” I said. “I know my reputation precedes me, but I’ll do whatever it takes for this to go in our favor.”

  Brevin tilted his head in some kind of nod. “We will begin in the darkest moments before dawn. Many will feel the shift in the Break’s power the moment the first Tainted crosses, including the Fey. In that moment, we will have declared war upon Amalie and her followers.”

  Bring it on.

  Chapter Nine

  06:45

  We didn’t say good-bye. For all we didn’t know about the future, neither one of us wanted to jinx it.

  I walked with Wyatt to the parking area, hand in hand, saying nothing. There wasn’t anything to say. We loved each other. We were both prepared to fight tooth and claw to come back to each other. That was everything.

  A lot of people were in the corridor to watch. I didn’t care why, be it for the spectacle of two elves, two Therians and a half-breed about to take on the Fey, or for moral support. It didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered to me was that three people I loved were heading into uncertainty, and I didn’t know if they’d come home whole.

  It had already been decided that Aurora and her clutch of Coni warriors would go ahead to keep an eye on the above-ground area, along with Leigh, Jackson and Nevada. The rest of us would wait until dawn to mobilize.

  Phineas, the secretive jerk, walked alone. Head held high, shoulders straight. Whoever this mysterious lady love was, she kept herself hidden. Maybe they’d already said what needed to be said. I hugged him hard, memorizing his lean, muscled frame. The odd way his body was both strong and somehow light.

  “How far we’ve come, Evangeline,” he said quietly. “From me tricking you into a devil’s bargain, to you wishing me well into war.”

  “It’s a war we’ll win,” I replied. “We have to. I have plans for afterward.”

  He smiled. “Oh?”

  “Yes. A beach. Fruity drinks. No more fighting. God knows I’m owed that much.”

  “You are owed that much and more. You do your species proud.”<
br />
  “So do you.” I kissed his cheek. “Go get a demon and kick some Fey ass.”

  “Until we meet again.”

  I turned away, eyes stinging a little, in time to catch a very hot kiss between Marcus and Milo, and in front of everyone. I gave a few people the stink eye, daring them to comment, and they got over it. Kismet came up to hug Milo when the pair had to part ways. I wanted to hug them both—not my default mode, either—but I had one more person to see off first.

  Wyatt cupped my cheeks in his palms, skin so warm and familiar. I gazed into his simmering black eyes, with their silver flecks. Eyes that had looked at me as something more than just a Hunter, more than just another sarcastic problem to solve, long before I ever had a clue. This man loved me more than I deserved, and that was what would see us both through this.

  We’d been at war since my resurrection. So far we had only been surviving it.

  Today we were finally, truly fighting back.

  “I’ll see you out there,” I said.

  He seemed to fight against so many things, warring with the part of himself that wanted to say “fuck it” and run as far away as possible. And as lovely as that fantasy was, it would never happen. Neither one of us had ever backed down from a fight. We would both see this through to the end.

  “Be careful,” Wyatt said.

  I laughed. “Always am.”

  “Be careful anyway.”

  “You, too, jackass.”

  His lips twitched. “I thought I was a dumbass.”

  “You’re my ass.” I pressed one hand over his heart. “And my heart. Come back to me.”

  “I will. I love you, Evy Stone.”

  “I love you too. Always.”

  I stood alone, arms rigid by my sides, as the van drove off, carrying a large piece of me with it. I stood there long after the crowd broke up and drifted away, many with nothing to do but wait for dawn. I stared at the empty parking lot beyond the magic barrier that pretended to be an intact wall, unable to make my feet move.

  My skin prickled with the proximity of another person. “We’ll get them back,” Milo said.

  I turned my head and blinked hard. Sheer determination sparked in his eyes. Not even the walker he gripped made him look less than positive of his desired outcome. I had no idea what my face displayed, but I fed from his confidence. “Yes, we will.” I poked him in the shoulder. “Come on, Gimpy. I’m hungry and I want company.”