Finally, there was nothing of the originals left inside Que and my filing cabinet was full.
“The souls, Abby!” Eva’s demand reminded me that I wasn’t quite finished.
I was still tethered to Que and could sense the souls trapped just above his skin – he wore them like a freaking coat. There were so many of them and some were very old; they’d been trapped on this piece of crap for many years.
Que had been secretly taking souls from the inhabitants of the seven worlds for a lot longer than anyone knew. It had only been when he’d moved on to absorbing Walker souls that our clans had paid attention. Of course, by that time Que had amassed a lot of personal power through the trapped souls. Now it was time for me to send them home, back to their gods, and on to be reborn.
I tore at the invisible energy shield holding them captive. This was the sticky glue substance which had stopped my tether from connecting earlier. Not this time, though; Que was too weak. I shredded through it with ease, before the warmth of the multitude of life-forces brushed past me.
There were so many of them. As they rose and their joy flowed free, warm tears slid down my cheeks. One after another, falling for each soul. I wasn’t the only one. Eva was a hot mess on the ground, her hands reaching toward the little essences which called and spoke to her.
‘You did good, Abby,’ she mouthed at me, and I gave her a jerky nod.
We had done good, but as much as this felt like an achievement, we still had to face the Seventine. And I had no idea how we could possibly beat them. Beating Que had taken everything, and in the end it was just a lucky series of events that had given us victory. Without … without Francesca’s sacrifice, we would have failed.
As the last of the souls rose in a chorus of light and heat, I sent a silent prayer of goodbye to my aunt and released my tether. It returned to me, to again rest within my mind.
Que collapsed on the ground. His chest rose once and then twice, before stilling completely.
Brace didn’t even glance at his father. Instead he gathered me up off the ground and hauled me closer. He buried his face in my hair and I could feel the slight tremble of his arms as he pulled me even tighter. He was breathing deeply, not speaking, and I couldn’t sense anything in his mind. It was locked down in a red-hot burning cage.
Whatever predator lived inside the Walkers was consuming him. I felt a bucket-load of sorrow to think I’d almost broken this male. He hated it when he couldn’t protect me.
“Brace, man, you might want to ease up. I’m not sure Abbs has been able to breathe for the last few moments.”
Colton’s voice was light, but there was a flick of steel in the tone. He knew what Brace was capable of when he lost control, the special ability he contained which could turn him into a cyclone.
Brace still wasn’t saying anything, but his hold on me loosened ever so slightly. It was enough that I could turn my head to the side. I found Lucy fluttering there.
“You scared me, Abbs.” Her tone was light, but the gold flashing across her sky-blue eyes spoke of how turbulent her emotions were. “Don’t do that again.”
She was trembling.
“I’m sorry,” I managed to gasp out.
Breathing had to take priority over talking right then. Brace wasn’t hurting me, but his hold was firm – yeah, very firm.
His grip loosened even more, and some of the red anger faded from his mind.
“How did you know I needed you?” I asked Lucy.
She hadn’t been on the main battlefield. She’d been with Colton and her mother, fighting on the other side of the field. Brace had kept tabs on them for me, so I’d known she was okay. But still …
“She had a vision and took off before I could catch her pixie butt.” Colton crossed his arms across his chest, stretching out the well-worn, fitted shirt he wore. “I wouldn’t have stopped her from coming across; Lucy and Brace would be impossible to live with if you kicked the bucket, Red. But a heads-up would’ve been nice.”
Lucy’s eyes narrowed, anger darkening her features. “You’re in my head, asshat. I was pretty sure you would catch up eventually. And we all know who’d cry the most if Abby died.” Her head swung around to me. “I would cry the most, but Colton would be a close second. He loves you like a sister.”
Our light-hearted banter was helping Brace. The calm he usually possessed was filtering back through the bond, and I sensed some of his control returning.
Colton growled. “You’re ruining my reputation as a hardass. I would not cry. I might sniffle a little, possibly even get choked up. But I would not cry.”