“Oh, that is so gross,” Braden complained as he spit out the ash that landed in his mouth.
“At least I got to kill one,” Luna lamented as she met my gaze. “Seriously, did you have to bring a glory hog with you?”
I didn’t respond, instead focusing on Cillian, who was slowly regaining consciousness. “I’m starting to think we should’ve called for backup,” I said finally.
“Oh, I was wrong,” Zoe muttered. “You’re the one with the daddy complex. I told you we would be okay and – look! – we’re perfectly fine. Chill out.”
Anger bubbled up but it was quickly replaced by curiosity. Why had her eyes turned black? Was she more than we initially were led to believe? Just how many layers were left to peel through?
MAYA TAYLOR, GRIFFIN’S SISTER AND Cillian’s girlfriend, was a nurse, so I wasn’t surprised to find her waiting at Grimlock Manor when we returned. She descended on Cillian like a protective vengeful angel, and the glare she scorched Zoe with was something straight out of a horror movie.
“How did you even know?” I asked, confused.
“One guess,” Zoe replied, sliding Braden a challenging look before heading toward the parlor.
I cringed as I looked to Braden for confirmation.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he warned, his tone dark. “Cillian could’ve been killed.”
“She saved him, though,” I pointed out.
“He only needed to be saved because she ran into a battle where we were outnumbered,” Braden shot back. “If she’d waited, we could’ve taken all the wraiths down without anybody getting hurt.”
He had a point and yet I found myself irritated. “We told you to go back.”
“Yes, that sounds just like me,” Braden snapped. “I’ll just go hide in the truck with my brother while the woman I love takes on six wraiths with a crazy person and a tyrannical teenager who spends her days feeding the homeless and killing monsters. Why didn’t I think of that?”
I wasn’t certain how to respond and I was grateful when Cormack strode into the room with Lily in her carrier. He’d obviously just returned from somewhere, and he’d taken his granddaughter along for the ride.
“What did I miss?” he asked, resigned. One look at his offspring obviously told him something had happened.
“The blonde is crazy,” Braden hissed. “She almost got Cillian killed.”
“I’m fine,” Cillian argued, gently nudging Maya’s searching hands away from his torso. “There’s no reason to get worked up. I’m here.” He patted his chest for emphasis. “I’m perfectly safe.”
“You were unconscious and barely breathing,” Braden shot back. “She caused that.”
Cormack’s expression was hard to read. “What happened?”
It took me a moment to realize the question was directed at me. “Oh, well ... .” I laid it all out for him in calm terms. Braden broke in occasionally to rant, and unfortunately his statements weren’t without embellishment. When I was finished, Cormack looked legitimately concerned.
“Where is Zoe now?”
I gestured toward the parlor. “She’s probably drinking. She seemed a bit … annoyed with Braden.”
“Uh-huh.” Cormack shifted Lily into my arms. The baby, who had been smiling when they entered the room, now had a frown creasing her forehead. “Don’t let her around Braden. She’ll scream all night if she picks up on his mood. I’ll talk to Zoe.” He started toward the parlor and then stilled. “Just out of curiosity, what happened to the other girl?”
“Luna cut ties with us in Poletown,” I replied. “She said she would find her way back to her usual spot. I don’t think she wanted to be part of the fighting.”
“That was probably smart.” Cormack heaved out a sigh and moved away from us.
I watched him go, worried, and on a whim I handed Lily to Cillian.
“Where are you going?” Braden asked, suspicious.
“I want to make sure this doesn’t get out of hand,” I replied, seeing no reason to lie.
“What’s out of hand?” Braden was clearly in the mood to fight. “I think he should kick her out of the house. She almost got my brother killed. She has it coming.”
I chose my words carefully. “I know you’re upset.”
“You’re right. I’m totally upset. That’s my brother.”
I understood his frustration. His anger was actually coming from a place of fear. That was something he didn’t realize. When he had a chance to calm down, he would see that Zoe had done what she thought was right. There was no way she could’ve known what would happen to Cillian. She did the best she could under difficult circumstances.
And, yes, she might’ve been a little reckless. What Braden didn’t understand was that she had no choice. Zoe had spent the entirety of her adult life fighting off enemies from a bevy of different angles. Those enemies came for her when she was a teenager ... and then as an adult ... and then ultimately as a mother. Zoe didn’t play it safe. She couldn’t.
“I’m sorry you’re so upset.” I pressed my hand to his cheek and was gratified when he cupped it with his own, a warm sense of relief washing over me. “We need her, though. You saw what she did with those wraiths. You saw what Sami did to the revenant. Things are different now. We have two factions working together. We need to figure out how to fight them ... and we’re going to need strength to do it.”
I expected him to continue fighting — he was a Grimlock, after all, and that’s what they did — but his shoulders slumped in defeat. “I know. We do need her. I just ... she makes me really mad.”
“I think you’re mad because she called you a daddy’s boy.”
“Yeah, that was kind of funny,” Cillian interjected, dancing around with Lily
