Page 124 of Endless Terrors
Collith. Collith was the one who’d woken me.
“What happened?” he bellowed, shaking me. I blinked groggily, my head jerking back and forth. I grabbed onto him, words of panic rising to my lips. It was then I noticed the scorched footprints leading away from Emma’s bed. Big, bare feet that had left such deep indents in the floor the cracks spread far beyond them. Whatever I’d been about to say faded.
Heilel was free. Heilel was here.
Collith’s fingers bit into my shoulders, bringing my gaze back to him. His eyes were wilder than I’d ever seen them, and that was the moment I realized how bad this was. What had I done?
His voice was rough with urgency. “Did you give him permission?” he demanded.
“No,” I whispered, holding his arms in a white-knuckled grip. My heart was a hammer as I thought about every word I’d said, every interaction we’d had. I shook my head adamantly. “No, I didn’t.”
What had changed? How had Heilel gotten through?
Collith kept searching my eyes, my face, and his lips were thin with tension. He thought Heilel was inside me, I realized dimly. He thought I was a host. But it was even worse than that. So much worse.
My mind was slow with horror, desperate to explain this. To find the signs that I’d missed. As I struggled, a memory resurfaced.
You’re the one who lets him out! It was one of the first things Nym had ever said to me. He had gone into my future and he’d seen the path I was on. He’d tried to warn me, just as he’d tried to warn me of so much else. But Nym’s mind no longer worked as it should have. His messages always seemed to get lost in the haze and the jumble.
I was too dazed to explain all of this to Collith, and I was still trying to figure out when I’d made the fatal mistake. My mind rewound. The last time I’d seen Heilel, we were in the skies of Hell. The spell couldn’t have affected him, not when Savannah hadn’t performed the rites on Heilel and he wasn’t connected to my Court. What happened after that, then? I had returned to my body, and the first thing I’d done was visit Emma. I was talking to Lyari before I fell asleep.
In my mind’s eye, I saw the two of us sitting there, light from the hallway slanting over the floor. I struggled to remember everything we’d said—I had just returned from Hell, and I was still pretty disoriented when Lyari came to the hospital—but there was one part I remembered vividly.
I think I fell in love with the devil.
Wait. My frown deepened. Lyari had been here. I’d only been back for a few hours, and I hadn’t even told my pack where I was going. How had she known? I raised my gaze to Collith’s. “Did you tell anyone you were taking me here?”
A line formed between his brows, but Collith didn’t ask any of the questions I knew were rushing through his head. “No.”
“Will you stay with Emma? There’s someone I need to talk to, and you’re the only one strong enough to keep her safe. The only one I trust to …” I stopped and swallowed. It was just hitting me, the reality of how much danger my family was in. How much danger I’d put them in. Even if Heilel had no further use for me, we would see each other again, and I still had a part to play in all this. Nym had seen that, too.
“I’ll guard her with my life, Fortuna,” Collith said, cutting my thoughts short. I refocused on him. His hazel eyes held mine, steady and unflinching.
I trust him. The realization came quietly, but it felt right. True in a way so few things were. I kissed Collith’s cheek, and then I walked to the door. The keys to the car were on a small table. I picked them up and paused on the threshold, unable to stop myself from glancing back. But the sight of Collith instantly calmed me. He’d already settled in the chair next to Emma, his posture relaxed, as if he was prepared to be there for a long time. His dark head was tipped toward the window, probably listening to every sound out there, too.
There was a warm feeling in my chest as I left.
Once I’d found the car and gotten in, closing the door behind me, I thought about where to go. In the end, I went back home. I probably should’ve summoned Lyari to a place we wouldn’t be interrupted, but I wanted to shower. I could smell myself, and it was a wonder Collith hadn’t recoiled from me. His fae senses would’ve made my stench even worse for him. If Laurie had been here, he would’ve informed me that not only did I reek, I needed to make an appointment at a nail salon immediately. I didn’t even need to close my eyes to picture the scornful look Laurie had given my hands before. More than once.
Morning hovered on the horizon during my short drive. It was that in-between time, not quite night anymore, but not yet dawn. The trees were still bare, but the snow had gotten to that half-melted, dirty stage. The blue-black tone of the world softened those parts, though. For a few brief, beauty-filled minutes, I sank into the silence and thought about absolutely nothing.
Gil was leaning against the barn when I pulled in. The end of his cigarette glowed like a tiny sun. I got out of the car and closed the door quietly, conscious that people with sensitive hearing might be sleeping inside. “What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Just looking out,” Gil said, pulling me in for a brief, rough hug. “The kid is inside with Cyrus and Ariel. Damon wanted to be at the hospital with Emma, and his boyfriend had to work.”
Damon was at the hospital? He must’ve got there just as I’d left. Now that I thought about it, I had gone through the lobby in a rush. I’d wanted to get this conversation over with and return to the hospital as soon as possible. Damon was probably there sleeping in one of the chairs, or getting coffee. It was a good thing he was with Emma, I decided. Not just for her sake, but his own.
I had no idea how this confrontation would go.
Just as I started to feel prickles of apprehension, I realized I was staring out at the trees. I’d been looking for a glimpse of bright, golden eyes or a tall figure striding out of the shadows. Finn was still out on his hunt, obviously. If he’d been home, he would’ve come outside right away. I longed to feel his warm presence beside me or at least know he was nearby.
Gil was still leaning against the wall. I studied him for a moment, thinking how strange it was that I hadn’t known this person my entire life. His features were as familiar to me as Damon’s or Emma’s. The long, sharp nose. The thin lips that were always smirking or smoking. The bleached hair, which had grown out these last few months. “I need something,” I said, hesitant.
Hollows appeared in the vampire’s cheeks as he took a drag from his cigarette. Plumes of smoke left his mouth as he said, “I’ve already given you my favorite throw blanket. Don’t think I didn’t notice that you haven’t given it back.”
“The blanket is mine now and you’ll never see it again. But that’s not what I was going to ask you.”
The vampire heaved a long-suffering sigh. “All right, I’m listening.”
