Right! My vampire. I linked one hand with Braxton and the other with Mischa before dragging them toward the boys.
“His mate was killed,” I said, my words catching. The pain of my loss was dulling now, allowing me to feel the pain of other losses. “He needs us.”
Braxton’s relief was palpable. I was mentally and emotionally back with him and we could now focus on Maximus. This was his brother, his quad; they shared a bond even stronger than Mischa and me.
“Were there any other deaths?” I asked as we made our way to the small gathering around the Compasses.
“The Four didn’t make it,” Braxton said. “One of them was mobbed, and their bond was so strong that to take one out took them all out.”
“I meant any other deaths I give a shit about.”
Harsh maybe, but those fuckers deserved to die. I was just glad they managed to at least help a little first.
“We lost more than half of our people, and I believe that Torag, Julianna, and Galiani were all cut down. Besides Jonathon, Stratford is basically leaderless.”
My heart ached at the death of the demi-fey leader, Torag. He had been a family friend and a good troll. All of the others, especially our leaders, were also massive losses to the supernatural world.
“Louis lost ten sorcerers. No doubt we’d have had many more casualties if it wasn’t for the healers. There are also at least five hundred dead marked, and a thousand injured. All of them should make a full recovery when they awake.”
As more lightning crashed in the magical storm, I was reminded of the fighting that went on above us. “What about Larky’s brothers?”
“When you broke the curse, a step through opened behind us. They were pulled through. I assume they’re in Faerie right now, probably having those stolen dragons ripped from their souls. They were tough bastards, but empty, just puppets.”
The supernatural world was in utter chaos, supes scattered all around, prison towns all but abandoned. New leaderships would have to be called early for all of the towns Larky hit, and I knew what that meant. The Compasses would have to step up. Responsibility would fall on them two years before it was meant to.
We reached the boys, and I freed my hands so I could wrap myself around Jacob. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Jake. I love you so much.”
He returned my hug, wincing as I rubbed against his burns. “I love you too, Jess. Thank you for kicking his ass long enough for the golden dragon to arrive.”
I snorted, enjoying the moment of being wrapped up in the elemental magic of my fey Compass. “He did a lot of the ass kicking actually. But somehow we made it.”
His lips grazed my cheek, a gentle kiss, before I was passed off to Tyson. The wizard was looking a lot better. His magic hummed as I wrapped myself around him.
“Feeling a lot like a sorcerer, my friend.”
I was teasing him, but there was that distinct sorcerer hum to his energy.
“You always know what to say, Jessa babe, to keep a male happy.”
I patted him on his cheek, the one which had no damage, and pulled myself up. Next on my list was Maximus. He was not conscious, but I couldn’t stop myself from reaching down and sprawling across his broad chest. I slowed my heartbeats to match his, and lay there offering comfort for as long as I could.
“We love you, Max. Please come back to us. Cardia would want you to live, to return to your pack. You know we can’t exist without you. You complete us.”
Mischa knelt down beside me, and even though she wasn’t as friendly as I was, she still placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You have more reasons to return than you know, and when you’re ready, we’ll be waiting for you.”
I widened my eyes at her. His baby might be the one thing to snap him out of this massive darkness, but Mischa shook her head. She wasn’t ready to tell him like this; I could sense that the timing felt wrong for her. She was hoping he’d come back on his own and be the father that she envisioned in her head. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that Maximus would never be the same again. She would have to adjust her mindset to fit the new reality of our pack mate.
Jonathon and Lienda were standing off to the side, arms wrapped around each other. I could see in their faces that they both knew of Mischa and I – they were going to go from no grandchildren to two, practically overnight.
Wait a freaking minute … the golden dragon had said twin souls. Did she mean?
“Shut the friggin’ door.” I spun and pointed a finger at Braxton. “Dude, why you always got to be an overachiever?”
I could tell from our bond that he knew exactly what I was saying.
His grin was all the response I needed to jump to my feet and tackle him to the ground. I spent a few minutes pummeling him, and he pretended not to let me win. My wolf was satisfied with our performance, and I was pleased to find out that even without my dragon I was still dominant, still an alpha.
I was still me.
Chapter 20
The next few hours were not fun, like … at all. We gathered up the fallen and laid them out in the town center for one large sendoff to the gods. Each of the races had their own death rituals, but in times of war, a mass burning was always the way it went.
I was walking along the line, Braxton on one side, Mischa on the other, the rest of my family and pack trailing along at different paces, all of us intermingled with other survivors. We were silently blessing the bodies, thanking them for their service to our people. I was keeping my emotions in check … until I was about half way along one of the long rows…