CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

 

COMPLETELY DISREGARDING THE fact that there were so many people in the house, I rushed from the living room to the nursery. Within a second of Ava’s cry, David was screaming too.

My heart pounded and each step I took seemed to take forever because I was so desperate to get to them. Even though our house was small, the few yards to their room felt like miles under the weight of the screams. They weren’t the usual “I’ve woken and I’m hungry cries,” they were high-pitched, desperate screams that chilled my blood.

Footfalls followed right behind me, first set—Clay, I knew without even having to confirm it with my eyes—but then three more sets joined the mad dash to the nursery. I arrived first and threw open the door. Standing in the middle of the room brandishing an inscribed athame, similar to the one Ethan had given me during our siege on the Bayview Hotel, was Troy.

Unable to pay any attention to Troy or even Clay when my babies were screaming so desperately, my eyes fell straight onto the crib. My own screams joined theirs when I saw why they were panicking. The sheet around both David and Ava was alight with fire. The flames already licked at the edges of their bodies. Without thought, I reached in and scooped up David, holding him to my body before passing him to the nearest set of arms.

I didn’t need to reach back into the fire for Ava because Clay already had her cradled to his chest and was murmuring soothing sounds against her temple.

“Why did you come here?” I snarled at Troy once I was certain both of the kids were safe.

He grinned at me. “Clay’s been lying to you. He’s bringing my children back to me. We’ve just been waiting for the right moment to reveal the deception. Isn’t that right, son?” He waited for Clay to join him, when Clay stood steadfast beside me, Troy’s grin faltered before he forced it back into shape. “Come over here, boy, and I’ll help you destroy that abomination in your arms.”

“They are not abominations.” Clay stepped in front of me protectively, holding Ava against his chest. “They are my kids.”

Troy’s eyes widened. “They’re freaks of nature, just like her.” He glared at me.

“Clay, just get her out of here,” I growled.

He glanced back toward me with a scowl of disapproval. At the same time, Troy lunged for Ava with the athame, and I screamed in warning.

Clay twisted her away, ducking almost effortlessly and clutching her little body against his chest and far out of the reach of the blade. Ava cried louder, and I was certain her body was already heating again. Clay relented, covering her with his body and rushing from the room while murmuring his little secrets against her flame-colored tufts of hair.

The instant he and Ava were safely through the door, I pushed it shut behind them to ensure Troy couldn’t slip passed me to attack my family. I flicked the lock over, sealing us in alone.

“How dare you come into my house and threaten my children.” My voice was low and menacing. There was no way I would let him past me or risk him attacking any of my family members.

A little under a year earlier, my skin would have flamed almost as hot as the fire at my back. I might have lost that ability, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t able to make him pay for everything he’d done. If he wanted to insist on coming after my family again and again, I would show him exactly what I was capable of—fire or no. I clenched my fists at my side and watched his every movement—ready to react in a heartbeat.

The heat from the flames in the crib rose higher and hotter behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw it leap from the mattress to the wooden bars. I thought about calling for help, but I couldn’t involve Clay or his siblings—I wouldn’t allow any of them to be hurt by their father again. If that meant I had to deal with the fire after I’d dealt with the intruder, then so be it. Troy would regret underestimating me, and the love Clay and I shared.

Taking a step toward him, my fingers rolled naturally to form a solid fist, just as Clay had taught me during our training. “You have one chance to get out of my house and stay out of our lives,” I growled.

He laughed. “What are you going to do about it? Clay told me that you don’t have your abilities anymore. You’re nothing more than an ordinary girl.”

His statement stilled me for a moment. I was surprised that Clay would have divulged that information after helping me out, but I refused to doubt him. He’d stayed at my side. He’d saved Ava from his father’s blade. It was likely that it was something he’d learned in his surveillance of me before his first attack. There was no reason to assume he’d betrayed that secret after I’d started to trust him again. Even if he had, was it really such a terrible thing for his father to know? I may not have had the power of fire any longer, but that didn’t mean I was powerless either.

“Are you sure about that?” I took another slow, menacing step toward Troy and he faltered. “Now tell me, why are you here?”

He strengthened his resolve and advanced on me in return. “I don’t have to tell you anything, filthy scum.” He lifted the athame and pointed it at me as he spoke.

“You stole my husband from me,” I hissed. “You endangered your son’s life and wiped his memory. Damn straight you owe me an explanation!”

“Evie!” Clay shouted through the door, banging loudly against the wood. It wouldn’t be long before he’d either break it down or burst through it.

Troy’s gaze fell onto the door before he turned back on me. “You stole my family from me. You stole everything from me.”

“You killed my father!” He may not have been the one that pulled the trigger, but Louise had, and I had no doubt it was at his instruction.

“He refused to hand you over.”

“Of course he did,” I screeched. “I’m his daughter! You don’t hurt your family, regardless of what they are!”

He lunged at me with the knife raised, and I twisted away from him before ducking under his arm. I grabbed for the blade in his hand, but he shifted out of my reach before I could touch the hilt.

“It’s filth like you that ruin everything good in this world!” he shouted.

The fire spread to climb up the wall and licked at the edge of the doorframe.

“No. It’s people like you, the ones who are willing to hurt others in order to achieve their own goals. That’s what ruins the good things in the world.”

Clay continued to smash his hands against the door, banging almost loud enough to drown out his shouts. “Don’t you dare fucking hurt her, Dad!”

Troy snarled at the door that stood between him and Clay. With his eyes flashing with manic purpose, his gaze flicked rapidly between the door, the fire, and me. He stood wielding the knife and waving it to and fro like a lunatic. His eyes were crazed, as he no doubt tried to figure out where his plan had come unraveled.

“You know what,” I said as the anger within me fizzled away at the sorrowful sight. Knowing that the twins were safe, and that Clay was too, I didn’t feel the man before me posed any real threat. Aiden could take him to court, and he could finally face justice for what he’d done to Louise. I moved closer to him, still watching for any movement, but feeling safer than I ever had when I thought of the power of the Rain Elite. “You’re so pathetic I can’t even hate you. I just feel sorry for you. You want to know why I have the love of your family?”

His lips remained fixed in a sneer, but he didn’t answer my question. Not that I expected him to.

“Because I never once made them feel like anything less than wonderful for being exactly who they are.”

“You won’t win!” he growled, lunging at me again. Every moment of training Clay and I had done in Sweden was coursing through me as I deflected his arm and grabbed his wrist. I twisted his hand until he dropped the knife. Still clinging to him, I kicked out my leg, planting the edge of my heel into the center of his stomach. His breath rushed from his body in a rapid exhale.

“It’s not a contest,” I scoffed as he fell to the floor, winded by my strike. Without turning away from him, I backed up to the door. Clay had been silent on the other side for far too long, and I worried what he might be trying to do. “What’s sad is that if you’d just been willing to open your eyes to the reality of the world, even a little, your family probably would have eventually forgiven your mistakes. That’s just the sort of amazing people they are.”

I unlocked the door and the instant it opened, Ethan and Aiden charged straight in with a fire extinguisher and fire blanket. It was only when things were calmer that I wondered why the fire alarm hadn’t gone off. A quick glance at the ceiling confirmed Troy had disabled it—no doubt in an attempt to keep his assassination attempt on the twins covert.

Verity followed close behind him with her turned up nose puckered tighter than I’d seen it since she’d walked into the house. “This is all highly irregular and exactly why I prefer to stay at the court.”

Troy lunged for the athame, clutching it in his hand as he dragged himself back to his feet. Still struggling for breath, he watched with mad eyes at the influx of bodies flooding into the room. While I continued to monitor him, I wondered whether maybe his mind had snapped. He didn’t move to attack anyone, just continued to stare with wild eyes at the assortment of fae and human working together to put out the fire. Occasionally he shifted the direction of his blade toward another possible target, but I stood by, ready to counter any attack.

Louise walked into the room, glanced at the damaged crib, took a deep breath and spun toward her father. Calm as ever, and without a word, she lifted her arm and raised a gun to Troy’s head.

The athame in Troy’s hand lowered.

“Louise, don’t!” I cried as her finger curled around the trigger.

My shout drew Aiden’s and Ethan’s attention and they leaped toward Louise, wrestling her into submission.

Struggling against their hold, she looked at her father with clear contempt on her face.

“You should have let me do it!” she sobbed as her calm exterior shattered. “You know what he did to me. It was wrong. It was wrong, Daddy! How could you do that?”

What little remained of Troy’s composure broke at the sight of Louise’s tears. He fell to his knees with an apology on his lips.

Aiden left Ethan to console Louise and gathered Troy into his arms. When Troy stood, the athame remained on the ground where he’d dropped it in the instant before he collapsed under Louise’s anger.

“This one has an almost countless number of violations, Aiden,” Verity said with clear disdain as she clutched her head with one hand and her stomach with another. The corners of her mouth creased almost as much as her nose, and I understood the reason for her upturned nose. If she experienced the pain of people we’d hurt, our house would have been a practical torture chamber for her.

No wonder they keep to themselves. And no wonder they would never want to see me.

“There’s at least a hundred violations—two hundred maybe. Not just attacks, but deaths. I can’t even count them all, it just hurts.”

Aiden nodded. “The Tribunal has spoken. Troy, you will be held at the fae court for the duration of your sentence.”

The statement seemed to rouse Troy. “Get your filthy hands off me!” He swiveled his head in my direction and shouted at me. “This is all your fault, freak!”

His use of that word, the one word that still had the power to inflict pain on me, was too much. My anger boiled over again, and I covered the handful of steps to reach him in less than a heartbeat. A sickening thud echoed through the room the instant my perfectly formed fist connected with his temple.

Troy’s shouting ceased as he slumped forward in Aiden’s arms.

Every pair of eyes in the room turned to face me with varying looks of awe. I resisted the urge to shake my fist to relieve the pain and ruin the perfect moment I was wallowing in. My fingers and knuckles protested painfully to any further attempt at movement though.

Holy shit! That hurt way more than I thought it would.

“Bad ass!” Ethan exclaimed.

“Why do you get to punch him?” Louise whined with a chuckle.

“One year for every violation?” I questioned Aiden, trying to keep a straight face and not cry out in agony.

Aiden nodded. “For every injury. Ten for every death. Verity?”

Verity crossed toward Troy and touched her fingertips to his forehead. Instantly, he stirred but stood compliantly in Aiden’s hold. A blank look covered his features, as if all the muscles that held his expressions in place were loosened all at once.

“Where’s Clay?” I asked, searching for one of the three people missing from the room. When I was certain no one was watching, I cradled my sore fingers with my other hand.

“Here,” he said from where he stood in the doorway, a baby balanced in each arm, and one eyebrow raised as his gaze fell to my hands. He didn’t say anything about it, though, just smiled slightly to himself.

A silent understanding passed between us.

“I was going crazy trying to get in, and it was panicking Ava. Ethan and Aiden convinced me to let them try to get in here instead. They said these two needed the time with me before . . .” His eyes drifted down to Ava and David as he trailed off.

I frowned. “Aiden, there’s got to be something you can do,” I begged. “You’ve got the real threat now. Clay won’t hurt anyone. I promise. I can guarantee it. Please?”

“I am very sorry, Lynnie. Unfortunately, my hands are tied by the Tribunal’s decree. If Clay returns to the court, he will have to face his time in the Void.”

“Ten years?” I murmured.

Clay moved closer to me and offered me Ava. I picked up my special little girl and cradled her close to me, holding her with my left arm so that I didn’t damage my hand any further. It didn’t matter whether she would only have her gift until she was seven, I would ensure that she would never be powerless, even if I had to do that alone.

I didn’t want to do it alone though.

“Wait,” Clay murmured, lifting David into a more comfortable position against his chest. “You said, ‘if’.”

Aiden turned his gaze on Clay, and the corner of his mouth twitched up slightly. “You caught that, did you?”

I looked between them. “What if Clay doesn’t return?” I asked, catching hold of the same thread as Clay.

Aiden shrugged. “Neither I nor Fiona have any significant ability to enforce fae law outside of the walls of the court.”

Verity frowned. “Aiden, I do not believe you should be recommending that he escapes punishment.”

Aiden grinned widely at her. “I am recommending no such thing, and I am sure that each of the witnesses here will declare the same. I am merely offering a friendly suggestion to Lynnie that her husband should perhaps avoid the place where he will be forced to endure his punishment.”

“Could Mom still visit him here?” Ethan asked.

Aiden shrugged. “I have no authority over where the queen chooses to go.”

I couldn’t help the smile that lifted the corners of my lips. “So you’re not going to make him go with you?”

“Unfortunately, I am at capacity with this prisoner so I cannot force him to come with me on this occasion.”

I wanted to hug Aiden, but we both had our hands full. “You’re the best.”

Aiden turned his gaze to Clay. “Do not make me regret this action.”

Clay shook his head and grinned at me. “I won’t.”

“Ethan, would you please escort Louise home?” Aiden juggled his hold on Troy, passing the flask to Verity who touched it to Troy’s lips, forcing him to drink some of the liquid within before passing the flask across to Ethan.

“How does it work?” I asked, indicating toward Troy with my chin. “He’s not fae, so how will he be punished?”

Aiden grinned, taking a little too much satisfaction from Troy’s unconsciousness. “The same way as a Fae. Now that he is in the Void, his body will be on autopilot. He will eat and drink as his body needs it, so we can ensure he is well fed with enchanted food.”

“But—” I was going to ask why they hadn’t locked Clay away in the Void the moment his punishment was decided, but then it struck me. Aiden didn’t want me to have to witness that.

Even now, if he asked Verity to use her touch, Clay could end up in the hellish nothingness that made up the Void. I met Aiden’s gaze and tried to communicate my thank you nonverbally. He’s only had your best interest at heart, I reminded myself.

He nodded and offered me a smile of true friendship as everyone said their goodbyes. Before I knew it, it was just me, Clay, and the twins left at home. Clay disappeared for a moment and when he returned, he had an ice pack wrapped in a towel, which he offered to me. I took it sheepishly and pressed my swollen knuckles against the cool surface.

“Why don’t you go to our room and look after these two?” Clay asked. “I’ll clean this mess up.”

“Okay,” I murmured quietly. It had been a long day, one full of surprises and changes, but I couldn’t overlook one simple fact. One word had lifted the shattered pieces of my heart and sent them fluttering around my body in confusion.

He’d said our room.