He laid me on his bed and positioned us so we were on our sides. His arms stayed around me as I tucked my head beneath his chin and cried myself out. At some point, I became aware of Kaia’s warm body pressed to my back, and I began to feel safe for the first time in many days.
I didn’t know how many hours we laid there like that. Eventually, I stirred, and the first thing that hit me was the stench coming off me. It was so bad I had no idea how Lukas could stand it. I rolled away from him as far as Kaia would let me, and he rose up on his arm to look at me. My eyes were so swollen and scratchy I could hardly make out his features in the dim room.
He stroked my cheek. “How are you feeling?”
“Filthy,” I rasped. “I need a shower.”
“I think we can arrange that,” he said, and I heard the smile in his voice.
He scooped me up and carried me to his bathroom. My emotional breakdown had left me so drained I didn’t have the strength to stand on my own for longer than a minute. He took care of that by stripping us both and getting into the shower with me. After he helped me wash and dry myself, he dressed me in some of my sleep clothes I’d left there and took me back to bed. Curled up with him under the covers, I fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
It was daylight when I woke. Food had arrived, and Lukas made me eat and drink a little before exhaustion claimed me. A few hours later, he did it again. It went on like that for the whole day, or maybe two. I lost track of time. He never asked about what had happened to me in Seelie, and the only words we exchanged were his questions about how I was feeling.
Each time I woke, I felt a little stronger and more like myself until finally, I was able to talk. We lay facing each other in the dark, and he listened as my story poured out of me. He had already heard a lot of it from his father and Faolin while I’d slept, but he knew I needed to tell him everything in my own words. I didn’t hold anything back, and I cried as I described my darkest moment when I’d believed I would never see him again. These were healing tears, though, and I felt better afterward.
“I should have told you about Rhys,” I said later when he held me. “I’m sorry.”
“I wish you had, but I understand why you felt you had to keep your family’s secret.” He rubbed my back gently. “I don’t want you to ever feel like you can’t tell me something.”
“No more secrets. I promise.”
He rolled onto his back, and I laid my head on his chest. “Has there been any word from Seelie?”
Lukas sighed. “Seelie is in chaos. Rhys told their council what Anwyn did to your family. There is no proof he isn’t the rightful heir, but he has stepped aside. Anwyn’s younger sister Coralia has taken the throne for now, but there are already challengers. It will take a while for them to recover from this.”
I thought about my brother. His life had been ripped apart, and everything he’d believed about it had been based on a lie. Then he had watched the person he’d believed was his mother die. I was glad he had Bayard and his other friends to help him through this, but I hoped he would reach out to our parents and me when he was ready to take that step.
“I guess the council here is waiting to talk to me, too,” I said without any enthusiasm.
“Don’t worry about them. They will wait until you are ready to speak to them.” He paused. “Korrigan and Faolin questioned Rashari. She admits to going to see you in the cells but denies any involvement in your abduction.”
I scoffed. “Did they actually expect her to cop to that?”
“No. They’ve started questioning the guards, and they will get to the bottom of it. You won’t have to see her ever again.”
“Well, that’s one good thing to come of this,” I said dryly.
Lukas chuckled. “I have some good news for you. Davian Woods was apprehended in the south of France four days ago. The Agency is holding him until his trial, which I’m told will happen late next year.”
I rose up to rest my chin on his chest. “Does this mean my family can go home?”
His lips curved. “They’ll be back in their apartment today. The team Faolin hired is going to stick around until they’re sure none of Davian’s men are going to cause trouble.”
Excitement rippled through me. Now that the storms had stopped, the king would allow travel to the human world to resume.
“I want to go home,” I blurted.
His hand stilled. “For good?”
How did I explain this to him? I needed to be back in a familiar setting, somewhere I could feel like the old me again. This life had been thrust on me, and I’d never had time to get used to it before I was running around trying to save the world and getting kidnapped. Anwyn hadn’t broken me, but I felt banged up emotionally. I needed to go home to heal.
“No,” I answered. “For now.”
* * *
I adjusted the strap of my backpack on my shoulder and exited Widener Library. Outside, Harvard’s mostly deserted campus was blanketed in several inches of snow and more was falling. Inhaling deeply, I pulled up my coat collar and started down the steps.
Bad to the Bone started to play in my pocket, and I grinned as I pulled out my phone. “I’m leaving right this second.”
“You’re still at school?” Mom huffed out a breath. “I thought your last exam was this morning.”
“I had to return a few books.”
There was a clamor in the background, and Mom called, “No, not like that.”
“What is going on there?” I asked as I avoided a patch of ice on a step.
Mom sighed heavily. “Finch said you were taking too long, so they started decorating the tree without you. If you love me, please hurry home.”
I snickered. “Be there soon. Love you.”
The call disconnected, and I returned the phone to my pocket. The back of my hand brushed against the metal rail, and a shudder went through me. Six months back in my world, and I was still getting used to being a faerie in a human world. Iron was everywhere, especially in the city. I was adjusting and slowly building up immunity to it. Sometimes, I missed my goddess stone, but I didn’t have a single regret about giving it up.
Ducking around the side of the steps, I raised my hands and felt for the traces of magic in the barrier. Creating portals was something else I’d had to learn since coming home. They weren’t as easy when you didn’t have a goddess stone amplifying your magic. I was getting pretty good at them, but I only used them to travel home because they required a lot of magic, especially when you had to shield whatever you were carrying.
The portal formed, and I stepped through it into a familiar courtyard. I immediately created the second portal, and I emerged on the landing outside our apartment. There was a big wreath on our door and a matching one on Maurice’s. Christmas music and laughter came from inside our apartment.
The smell of warm gingerbread and fresh pine greeted me when I opened the door, along with the sight of Bayard leaning against the breakfast bar, eating the head off a gingerbread man. He wore his usual detached expression, but he gave me a chin lift, which was practically a friendly greeting from him.
I dropped my backpack and coat on a chair and turned to the living room where Finch was directing Rhys where to hang ornaments on the tree. Above them, Aisla flitted about dropping pieces of glittering tinsel on the branches.