“Can you bring the survivors—the women and children—over here?” Camille asked. “They’d be safe then.”
“But would they? How long do you think Earthside has? If Telazhar continues to wreak his havoc across this land, you are not safe either. The storm Telazhar’s sorcerers have conjured up can rip a mountain apart. Destroy a palace—you saw that firsthand, Camille. You know how deadly and devastating this creature is. I don’t know how they created it, it truly is a construct of some sorts, but the storm has consciousness and will, and malevolent thought. If they can do that… what else can they do?”
At that moment, a familiar face appeared behind him. Smoky!
Camille let out a little cry. “My love!”
Smoky, her dragon husband, was six foot four, and his silver hair coiled down around his ankles. He was dressed in white, as always, and his piercing eyes were frosty and glimmered with the light of his heritage.
He looked harried, and tired, too. But as usual, the dragon was spotless. “Love, my sweet, I am so sorry about your father.” He looked toward the rest of us. “You, too, Menolly and Delilah. If there’s anything I can do, just ask. I’m here. We are family.”
“Can you bring our father’s body home to us?” Camille whispered. But we could all hear her plainly. All Fae—half-breed or not—had excellent hearing.
Smoky looked at Trenyth, who nodded. “Go ahead. One day won’t make a difference. Not with the chaos that is rampaging through the land.”
As Trenyth moved out of the way, Smoky leaned toward the mirror, staring directly at Camille. “We are still looking for Ben and Venus. So far, we’ve found no signs of them. We’ll bring your father home, then return to continue the search.”
Camille bit her lip. “Can you really spare the time to do this for us?”
“For you, I would spare the world.”
And just like that, the big galoot of a dragon once again proved himself worthy of my sister’s love. I liked Smoky, but he could be a handful and I had no clue how he managed to keep that tremendous ego under lock and key when dealing with Camille’s other two husbands, but somehow, he did. And for that, I gave him props.
Trenyth retook the seat in front of the mirror. “Do not worry, girls. If they haven’t been able to find Benjamin and Venus the Moon Child yet, another day will not matter. Perhaps foolish words, but in this turmoil, there has to be some measure of compassion. I know it’s meager comfort, but you need your father’s body with you.”
Smoky nodded. “Trillian, Rozurial, and I will come home for the night and return here tomorrow. We’ll be there soon. I can bring your father’s body through the Ionyc Seas, and Roz can bring Trillian.”
With that, the fog filled the mirror again.
“Well, that’s that.” I leaned back. “There is no doubt or hope left.”
The whole thing was surreal. Even though our father’s soul statue had been shattered, we still had held on to hope—ill-placed as it was—that perhaps it had been a mistake. That he had survived.
I had to admit that even I had clung to that thin thread, and I was by far the most prosaic and pessimistic of the three of us. Maybe… just maybe, we thought… something else had broken his soul statue besides his death. Maybe a rat or bird or cat had knocked it over. Now that hope was dashed.
Delilah wiped her eyes. “I didn’t want to believe it, but… really… we all knew.” With an inner strength that surprised me, she shook off her tears. “At least we know for sure, and now we can move on.”
“I shall make another batch of cookies and also some sandwiches and soup and bread. The men are bound to be hungry and I doubt if they’ve had many a good meal the past day or so.”
Hanna turned and marched back to the kitchen. A strong woman, she had been through her own losses, and she’d helped Camille escape when Smoky’s father kidnapped and tortured her. Her answer to sorrow was to fortify the mourners with good food, warm clothing, and a soft bed.
Vanzir frowned. “I’m not good at this, but I’m sorry.” He shifted, his eyes whirling with a kaleidoscope of color. They never pinned down to just one—in fact, there was no word for the color of his eyes. It seemed to exist outside the usual spectrum, but still it was there, in the shifting haze that roiled through his eyes. Vanzir could never pass for human, that was sure, even though he took the form. And his natural weapons would give a hentai monster pause.
I gave him a half smile as Camille and Delilah wearily pushed to their feet. “It’s okay. Don’t sweat it.”
Camille turned to Delilah and me. “I thought… I know it’s not usual, but with the war and the fear that Y’Elestrial will be next, what do you think about cremating Father’s body and keeping the ashes for when we can return them to the family crypt without worry?”
Even though she didn’t say it, I knew she was thinking about Mother—and whether our house and land would be standing. Mother was laid to rest in the family shrine. What if the storm destroyed our home? What if our past went up in flames?
“I think that’s a good idea,” I said, forcing a smile. “We’ll have an interment ceremony after the danger has been quelled.”
“If they can stop it.” Delilah turned a bleak look on me. “I’m not feeling very hopeful right now.”
“No, but we can’t let that stop us.” I wasn’t sure what to do next—grief has a way of freezing a person, and I could tell both Camille and Delilah were on the edge of a meltdown. While I’d managed to escape the destruction of Elqaneve without witnessing the worst of it, they’d been forced to journey through the carnage as it was happening and shell shock had set in.
There was a noise behind us, and then, as we turned around, Smoky appeared, a shrouded figure in his arms. Rozurial appeared next, his arm around Trillian. They had come through the Ionyc Seas, silently, without so much as a whisper. As we stood, watching, Camille caught her breath and Delilah gasped. Me? I just stared. I had no breath to catch, no pulse to race… but still, a quiver in my heart told me that I hadn’t fully been prepared for this.
Vanzir moved forward, pushed himself between us and the silent figure of our father. “Here, let’s take him to the studio. We can… he can… we can use one of the bunks for the night until arrangements can be made.”
“I want to see.” Camille stepped forward. “I have to know—for myself.”
“You don’t want to see him, love. He’s been dead for a couple of days, and while the conditions were dry and cool… I don’t think you should witness the damage done. Remember him the way you last saw him.” Smoky pressed his lips against her forehead. “Will you accept my word that it’s him?”
She glanced at me. I nodded. There was no use in going through that—Smoky would never lie to us. At least not to her.
“Very well.” She looked at the shrouded figure, and let out a choked cry. “Now that he’s here, now… it’s real.”
Delilah wrapped her arms around Camille. “Let’s get some tea.” And for one of the first times in her life, except when she’d been attacked by Hyto, Camille’s shoulders slumped and she let Delilah lead her away.
I turned back to Smoky and the guys. “Thank you for bringing Father home to us. I didn’t have a good relationship with him, not after I was turned. But this… I never thought he’d go like this.”
“Death is always unexpected, even when you know it’s coming.” Smoky lifted the body and Vanzir went to open the door for him. I watched them exit.
“So this is it.” I stared at their backs as they disappeared.
Nerissa moved in and wrapped her arms around me, cradling me. “I love you, Menolly. Tell me what I can do. Tell me what you need.” Her voice was gentle against my ears, and her lips tickled my skin.