Then I embraced Annette, meaning it when I said, “We had a rocky start, but you turned out to be good people.”
Her snort was somehow ladylike. “What’s one attempt to kill each other between friends, right, darling?”
I laughed as I let her go. “My thoughts exactly.”
“Can we move this along?” a bored voice stated. “I have places to be and people to shag.”
“Ian, I’m not going to hug you,” I stated as I approached him. “I know you like this better.”
With that, I slapped him hard enough to rock his head to the side. When he’d straightened, he flashed me a wicked grin.
“Finally, you give me what I want. Knew you loved me, Reaper.”
“Oh, from the first,” I assured him, rolling my eyes.
Bones grabbed Ian, hugging him while the two exchanged man-slaps on the back.
“See you soon, cousin,” Bones stated when they were done.
“Indeed you will,” Ian replied, winking at me.
I got bear hugs from Juan, Dave, and Cooper next. Changing over had eradicated most of the damage Madigan had done, but Cooper would always look on the wiry side of thin instead of his normal, bulky build.
“I’ll miss you guys so much,” I told them. “Stay safe, will you?”
Cooper let out an amused grunt. “Bones is having Mencheres watch our backs while you’re gone, so how could we not?” Then his expression became serious. “I’ve been locked away learning how to control my hunger, so tell me one thing, Cat: Is he dead?”
“Yes,” I said steadily. “Madigan’s dead.”
I hadn’t been there to see it. Neither had Bones. Mencheres had executed our former nemesis, taking his head off with a burst of that incredible power. Madigan never knew what hit him, Don had said. One moment, he’d been babbling about crayon colors he liked; the next, he was no more.
The Madigan who’d destroyed so many lives didn’t deserve such an easy end, but all we’d had left was his shell. Making that shell pay for the other’s crimes didn’t seem fair. Granting the mercy of a quick, painless death did. Even the shell knew too much for Katie to be safe.
A dark form appeared in the dusky sky above us, chasing away that line of thought. Then that form dropped down with near-sound-breaking speed, landing with his back to us about a dozen feet away.
I only needed to see the long black hair whipping in the wind to know it was Mencheres. Give it to the former pharaoh for knowing how to make an entrance.
When he turned around, I expected the woman clasped to his chest to be Kira. When I saw short, thick black hair and a decidedly darker skin tone, I was stunned.
“Why is she here?” I gasped.
Marie disengaged herself from Mencheres with regal grace, but she looked as surprised to see me as I’d been to see her.
“You said you had critical business with me, Mencheres,” she said, voice cooler than the brisk evening temperature. “Have you brought me here for vengeance instead?”
“No,” Bones stated, grasping my hand and pulling me forward. “You’re here to be reminded about your word, Majestic.”
He was going to tell her Katie was still alive? Good God, why? We were almost done with our goodbyes and on our way to a clean getaway!
Then I paused. Bones would never endanger Katie, so what was I missing? A shadow appeared in my peripheral vision, and after a glance, I brushed it aside.
Just a ghost. I’d been drawing them like stink drew flies, which was why we were spending a few months on a boat before settling either in New Zealand or Australia. Ghosts didn’t frequent the open water, and by the time we made up our mind where to go—and got Katie to the point where she could interact with people without throwing up big red flags—Marie’s power would be out of my system. Until then, I’d have to send this one away with instructions not to repeat anything he’d seen or heard. Same thing I’d done with all the others lately, and—
“Of course!” I said out loud.
Marie’s brows went up as if to say, are you sharing with the rest of the class or not?
“Bones is right, you’re not here because we want revenge,” I said crisply. “We don’t need it. Katie is alive.”
Marie’s mouth actually dropped, then she looked at me in an odd way, as if wondering if my mind had snapped from grief.
“I fail to see how that’s possible,” she said in a neutral tone.
“Demon shapeshifter who did us a favor,” I supplied. “You can only kill demons one way, and beheading isn’t it.”
Suspicion and disbelief competed on her features before they became perfectly smooth.
“If the person executed wasn’t the child, why would you tell me?”
“You’re the only person who can find us without looking,” Bones stated. “With those filmy minions of yours, no one can hide from you.”