Last Gasp

EVERETT

Those children are mine. ~Mine,~ to protect, to look after, as surely as if they’d been my pups by blood~.~ How dare he threaten them, use them in this way. He’s utterly despicable.

As long as the kids are here, he’s going to keep using them like magic batteries. Every spell he casts could be the one to cost one of those precious lives. We need to get them to safety.

But there’s no one who can. The fight with Nemesis’s rogues weakened us too much. My warriors are too busy defending the dead and keeping the remaining rogues in line to do anything else.

We need help, and there’s no way to get it. I can’t plan, not while still fighting Xander. He’s pressing me again, throwing vines and rocks and lightning, a vicious grin on his face.

I can’t do more than dodge, not while keeping an eye on the kids. The rogues have scented an opportunity and are targeting the orphans, probably to take hostage.

I see a movement out of the corner of my eye. ~What’s going on?~ I thought to myself. I see one slip past the line of warriors keeping them back, then another. Then, I’m needing to roll under another barrage of icicles. I’m panting and bleeding. It can’t keep up like this.

I need to do something. Save the kids, help my warriors, kill Xander. My attention’s being pulled in too many directions. If this goes on, I’m not going to be able to do any of it.

A snarl rips through the air, followed by pained yipping. The rogues are fleeing like ten seasoned warriors are after them. I risk looking away from Xander to see what’s happened.

Reinforcements have arrived, but it’s not ten warriors, or even one. It’s Nellie, wearing her fluffy pink robe. She must have realized her charges weren’t in their beds and gone to look for them.

She might not be a trained fighter, but she’s as much a wolf as any of us, and she came for her kids. I wouldn’t want to test her, either.

She scoops the two littlest to her chest, one in each arm and seems to be trying to figure out how to pick up the rest. Xander is furious. I can see him preparing a spell.

“Lucius! Help Nellie!” I don’t have time to make sure he does, or give more orders. I need to keep Xander busy, distracted, focused on me so they can get the kids out of here.

I shift into wolf form and sprint toward Xander, covering the distance in seconds, faster than I knew I could go. I slam into him just as the spell goes off, sending a blaze of magic off wild.

I try to pin him down, but my charge was too uncalculated, my momentum carrying me too far past him. He scrambles up, tries to go after Nellie again, hands raised and face twisted in rage.

I’m on him again in an instant, harrying and worrying him so he can’t look away without risking being bitten. He slaps me across the face with a fistful of magic. I just growl and snap at his hand.

We’re trading blows recklessly. I take a chunk out of his leg. He slashes a line into my flank. I claw at his face. He sends another painful jolt of lightning through me. It’s a blur of agony.

Finally, we break apart, both injured and exhausted. I see him spin wildly, looking for Nellie. I shift, because Chaos’s right front leg is broken but in human form it’s just my arm, and I run.

No time to figure out what everyone’s doing, no time to strategize. I just push myself to my limit and beyond, trying to get there, to get between him and the kids.

I take a fireball directly to the back. It’s like putting my hand on a stove, but a million times worse. I swear I can feel the blisters bubble up and burst, feel my shirt adhere to my skin.

My legs just collapse, body giving up under the onslaught of pain. This is it. I can’t move. Xander’s on me, holding up a glowing orb of pure energy. His eyes are wild with triumph.

He drives his fist into my chest—and nothing happens. The energy he’s built up in his hand fizzles out. They must have gotten the kids away.

“No! This can’t be happening!” Xander cries, trying desperately to gather more sparks into his hands. The funny thing is, if he just choked me, he’d probably be able to kill me.

Guess he’s just not a practical man. But I am. I draw my knife with my left hand and drive it deep into the side of his neck, then yank it out. He gurgles as his blood gushes out of him and collapses.

I have just enough strength to shove him off of me, but I keep a grip on him. I’m not losing track of his corpse again. I have plans for it. I lay on my back, light-headed as the adrenaline fades.

It’s over. The rogues have fled. Xander is dead. My head is pounding, vision a little blurry at the edges. But I recognize Aurora as she leans over me, her green eyes shining.

She’s trembling as she looks over me, pressing her hands to my chest. I must look pretty bad. “Everett, oh goddess, you’re hurt. Let me, here, let me fix it. Stay with me.”

I don’t want her to heal me. She’s still drained from that feat of magic. I can’t believe that was our baby. “I’m fine. I’m a wolf. Don’t strain yourself.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” she snaps at me, angry through her tears. My fierce little mate. “This is too much for you to heal on your own.”

I try to lift my arm to push her hands away, or soothe her, but I can’t quite make it happen. “You’re exhausted. I’ll be fine.”

“I’ve been resting. Just hush and let me do this, love. Don’t play tough for me.” She presses her forehead to mine and I feel my resolve crumble.

Her magic flows into me, cool and soothing. My back stops screaming and I gasp. I hadn’t realized how bad it was until it went away. Energy floods back into me and my vision clears.

Her eyes flutter shut and she sways. She’s far, far too pale. I see her lips move, like she’s trying to say something, and then she slumps over, collapsing onto my chest.

I brush my fingers against her cheek, along down to her lips, heart thundering with fear. But her skin is warm, and I can feel her breath on my hand. She’s just unconscious.

Gathering every scrap of my energy, I stand up and lift her into my arms. My back complains, still stinging, but I ignore it. Taking care of her is the only thing that matters.

RORY

I groan as I come back to myself. How many times have I woken up in the last 24 hours? And not once from a good night’s sleep. My muscles are like rocks. I’ve never been so wiped.

I’m in our bed back at the pack house. And Professor Xander and Nemesis are dead. I luxuriate in that fact, though a part of me can’t quite believe it yet.

Never again will I see those poison yellow eyes, hear that cruel, cold laugh. I feel like I can’t remember a time before she had it out for me, and now, finally, I’m free of her.

I feel a hand on my head and I can tell it’s Everett’s without even opening my eyes. He tenderly strokes my hair as he quietly asks, “Aurora, are you awake little one?”

“Yes,” I say, fluttering my eyes open. They want to close again, but I don’t want to go back to sleep. I want to know what’s going on. I sit up against the pillows, despite my body’s complaints.

Everett’s sitting on his side of the bed. He’s got a tank top on, one that clings deliciously to his thick, muscled body. It also shows the bandages on the wounds he got from his fight with Xander.

I wasn’t able to heal him all the way before I passed out, but at least I saved his life. “How are you? How’s everyone?” I blurt, anxiety already taking the place of the glow of victory.

He smiles reassuringly. “I’m fine, just sore. I’ll be healed up in a few days. You’re fine too, and the baby. The doctor gave you both a checkup. He wants to do a more thorough one when you’re awake.”

I wrinkle my nose. “Which I guess I am, now. But, um, I’d rather not call him right away.” I’m not ready for the doctor voice, for staying still and taking deep breaths and all of it.

Everett kisses me. “We can put it off until the afternoon. I don’t want to overwhelm you.”

“Thanks.” I relax, glad to not have to deal with being poked and prodded this second. I do want to check on the baby, but I can kind of just… tell that they’re all right.

Images from last night keep intruding on me, crowding my brain. The children, pale and empty-eyed. Everett, covered in blood and snarling. My friends and packmates, slumped and unconscious.

I don’t really decide what the first thing I should ask is, it just flies out of my mouth. “Is Freya all right? And Mia? They didn’t wake up after I trapped Nemesis.”

Everett’s eyes turn serious, but he’s still smiling. “Mia and Freya are still out, but they’re alive. We’re not sure when they’ll wake up.”

“I can heal them. Where are they?” I swing my legs out of bed, feeling them protest being made to move … well, tough.

Everett puts his hand gently on my shoulder. “Hold on, there. It’s not a rush. They’ll be okay for a bit longer.”

“What’s the point in waiting?” My stomach rumbles, loud enough that I’m sure you could hear it from space. I blush furiously as Everett laughs.

“Well, I want to give you time to recover, too. And it sounds like we should get you something to eat.” His eyes are sparkling with laughter and I can’t be too mad. It’s too nice to see him happy.

“All right. Pancakes, then healing,” I grumble. My mouth waters as I start to think about food. “And maybe some muffins. Oooh, and hash with sausage. And biscuits.”

“Whatever you want, little one,” Everett says, and makes good on that promise. I eat it all and feel unbelievably better after, even if I did break a cup and spill syrup all over my pants.

He also makes good on his promise to take me to heal my friends after I eat something. Mia’s parents are in the waiting room, and so is Ace. They follow us into the recovery area.

Mia and Freya are in the hospital with machines monitoring their pulse and breath and who knows what else. They look pale and drawn, like they’ve been asleep for years. It’s all my fault.

But at least I can fix it. I take Mia’s hand in my left and Freya’s in my right. I call on my life force, sending it to them. “Wake up, now. Let me wake you up.”

It works. Color comes back to their cheeks and they both stir. I hear Mia’s mother gasp wetly—she’s at her daughter’s side immediately, her mate hovering behind her, watching over both his girls.

Ace looks like he wants to climb into the bed with Freya, but he just holds her other hand instead, eyes shining as he looks at her.

I let them both go and step back. I still want to talk to them, but it can wait. Let them be with their families for now. I give my goodbyes and well wishes and let Everett take me back to our room.

The next day, Everett, Lucius, Ace, and I gather in Everett’s office. Everett wants to wait another day, but I insist on doing it now. He’s treating me like glass, but I can’t really blame him.

Technically, this is a meeting of the Alpha, Luna, Beta, and Gamma, to discuss everything that’s happened and how it affects the pack. But we’re still too raw to be that formal.

It’s more like all of us getting together to support each other, to reassure ourselves that we’re all still alive and to process everything that happened.

I tell them about how Nemesis possessed me, how it felt, what she did, what she said. Everett holds my hand the whole time, looking anguished. When I get to when I died, I can’t fight the tears.

“I met a little girl when I went to the spirit realm—she’s the one I saw in the old pack house, the one that gave me the warning. She was sick, like the others.” My voice fails me for a second.

I take a shuddering breath and pull myself together. They all give me time. “She died. Nemesis took too much of her soul and she died. She wants me to find her parents, to give them a message.”

Everett squeezes my hand, voice rough with emotion. “I’ll help you find them. You don’t need to do it alone.”

“Thank you,” I say, overwhelmed. I’m glad he’ll be there, but I can barely think about doing it. The crying overtakes me again. “Children died this time.”

“All of the kids at the orphanage are all right, though. I mean, they’re not dead, at least,” Ace says, in a forcibly upbeat voice.

“We can go visit them soon,” Everett adds.

I wipe away my tears. Lucius hands me a tissue, and I blow my nose, really getting myself under control this time. “I’d really like that.”

“What about the amulet?” Lucius asks, offering a change of subject.

I take it out of my pocket. It used to be a dark, metallic gray, but after trapping Nemesis’s soul, it’s turned a deep ruby red.

“We should lock it up somewhere,” Everett growls.

“Or bury it,” Ace adds, glaring at it like she can see him.

“I think the best thing is for me to wear it, actually,” I say it as casually as I can, but I still get three shocked looks.

Everett frowns. “Aurora, that’s way too dangerous.”

I put it around my neck, to show that it’s fine. “If I have it on me, I can take it to the spirit realm next time I go there. Then I can leave it there, so no one can ever try and release her.”

“But what if she possesses you again? Or it explodes? It’s an evil magical artifact, it can’t be good for you to have it on you.” Lucius and Ace are looking away, pretending like they can’t hear.

I understand his worry, I do, but he’s out of line. “She can’t. She’s trapped inside, she can’t do anything to me. I wouldn’t do anything that dangerous, Everett!”

He winces and holds up his hands, apologetic. “All right. You’re the expert on this. If you think that’s the best way to deal with her for good, then I agree.”

I sigh and squeeze his hand to show I appreciate him backing down. “Thank you. What about Professor Xander?”

That makes Everett grin, and Lucius and Ace laugh. “We burned Xander’s body this time. He’s got nothing to come back to.”

I’ve never heard sweeter news.