Yeah, Vali’s pep talk had really helped me. I mean, really fucking helped. But shit if this whole thing wasn’t going to leave me just a little messed up. The fact that I was actively seeking the worst punishment for Simon was a testament to how much I’d changed.
Cole snorted a little laugh; of course he would get where I was coming from. “Probably not as much as you’d hope, Vixen.”
“Hmm,” I hummed, staring back at Simon as he glared daggers at me.
“Would you like me to take care of this, regina mea?” Vali offered in a quiet but deadly voice. He was standing beside me, slightly closer to Simon, and I could already see his fingertips curling into dragon claws.
“Perhaps you might just tear him into little pieces, then let me eat him?” Sam suggested, slithering out of fuck only knew where. “That will guarantee he can’t come back again.”
“Gross, Sam,” I muttered in disgust. “He’s all decaying and shit.”
Sam rose up on his coils to flicker his tongue at Simon. “So? I’m a magical snake. I don’t care so long as it’s meat.”
Sucking in a breath to think this over, I gagged a little on the smell of decay. “Vali, he’s all yours. Just... do it on the lawn. So you don’t get zombie juice all over the outdoor furniture.”
My own callous tone shocked even me, but it was what it was. Simon—the Simon I’d known—was long gone. He certainly wasn’t this decaying thing standing on the porch.
“You sure?” Caleb asked, and I gave him a tight nod. Simon was long dead, and this was the most humane thing to do. Besides, he fucking deserved to die for killing Jonathan.
Swallowing back tears, I held my head high as Cole escorted what was left of Simon down onto the lawn and Vali quickly stripped to turn dragon. I’d made my choice, and I sure as shit wasn’t going to hide inside like a scared little girl while my men did the dirty work.
No, I’d chosen Simon’s fate, and I needed to see it through.
So I stood there on the veranda and didn’t so much as blink when Vali closed his huge jaws over Simon’s decaying head and tore it clean from his shoulders. I didn’t look away as the muscle and sinew shredded at an odd angle, sending one of his arms flying, even as the rest of his corpse dropped into a heap.
Vali then proceeded to torch the body with dragon fire, burning it until there was nothing left but ash on the scorched grass. Once that was done, he looked around and located the head, which he’d spat out, and repeated the procedure.
After there was a second pile of ash on the lawn, he swung his head around as though looking for something else, and I frowned.
“Uh... don’t tell me that Simon’s arm just got up and walked off on its own,” Caleb muttered, looking a bit green.
“Not on its own,” I replied, glaring at Sam who was slithering away from the scene of the crime with a distinctive looking bulge in his throat.
Caleb groaned as Sam joined us back on the veranda.
“What?” Sam hissed at us. “It tastes like chicken.”
It was that one, stupid statement from an asshole snake that finally cracked me. Hysterical laughter started bubbling out of me, and I couldn’t control it. I just kept laughing... until I wasn’t anymore. I couldn’t say at exactly what point my laughs turned to sobs, but the next thing I knew, River was carrying me inside while I bawled my eyes out onto his neck.
Who knew I had so many damn tears left inside me after all?
It was just as River started up the grand staircase with me in his arms that I felt it, that distinctive pop and shift of air pressure. But both twins were here, and they hadn’t said anything about leaving.
“Holy fucking dick cheese,” Caleb breathed from somewhere behind us, and River paused mid-step.
“Wesley?” Cole exclaimed, and I scrambled out of River’s arms to see what they were talking about.
Sure enough, standing in the middle of the foyer as though he’d just entered through the front door was a shaggy-haired older version of Wesley Reed.
“Wes?” I squeaked, hardly believing my own eyes. Was this some sort of fucked up grief delusion? But then the guys wouldn’t be seeing it too... would they?
River’s arm snaked around my waist, holding me back from getting any closer, and his muscles vibrated with tension.
“You’re dead, mate,” he said quietly, his tone laced with suspicion, and I noticed none of the other guys had moved to greet Wes. “You want to explain how this is possible? Or how you found us here?”
I frowned up at River, but understanding dawned when I glanced at everyone else’s wary expressions and defensive body language. They think this is a trap. Of course, that actually makes more sense than Wes coming back from the dead.
“I found you because I helped you pick out this fucking house over the internet and then drew up the contracts of sale for you. Besides, if you’re so worried I’m an imposter, just ask the question.” Wes arched a brow at River in a confident way that had me hesitating. That wasn’t the Wes I knew.
River gave a short nod. “What did you see last Tuesday?”
With a little grin Wesley replied with confidence, “A pink-and-green-striped chimpanzee drinking tea in the sun.”
At this nonsensical response, the tension dropped from River’s body, and he relaxed his hold on my waist. “Crow, you’d better have a damn good story for what the fuck happened.”
River sounded relieved, but I was confused as all hell.
“It’s a passphrase, Vixen,” Cole explained. “We have them set up for any situations where our team might be compromised. Each key word gives a different meaning if changed. For example, if Wes had responded with ‘a green-and-pink-spotted baboon drinking coffee under the moon’ we would have known that he was here under duress and that there were seven people both watching and listening.”
“Oh,” I said, nodding. “So… he gave the right phrase? It’s… him?” I glanced over at the him in question as I said this, feeling a bit rude for talking about him and not to him.
“No idea how,” Caleb muttered. “But yeah. That’s him.”
The missing member of our team gave me a shy smile—Wesley’s smile—and my shattered heart thumped heavily in my chest. I stumbled down the two steps we had just ascended and crossed the foyer to him, pausing when I got a foot or so away.
I scanned his face, desperately seeking some sort of confirmation or denial that he was who we thought he was. Perhaps he was some long lost older brother?
“Sweetheart,” he said softly, his blue eyes capturing my gaze as sure as any radar. “It’s me. I’m home, Kit.”
Hearing him speak, hearing him say my name and call me sweetheart...
“Wes,” I gasped, then threw a solid right hook at his scruffy jaw.
His head snapped back, and he stumbled, clutching his face, before frowning at me. “Ah, okay. Yeah, I guess I deserved that,” he groaned, rubbing his jaw. “You still hit pretty damn hard considering you’re human right now, sweetheart.”
“Shut up,” I whispered, throwing my arms around his neck and clinging to him for dear life while he hugged me back just as fiercely.
There were no logical explanations for how he was back. None. But I couldn’t care less. Wesley was back, my Wesley was back... Maybe this world wasn’t doomed, just yet.
19
The guys had to all but peel me off Wesley, but soon we were tucked up on the couch with a mug of coffee each. When Caleb had produced coffee for everyone, I’d had to shift off Wesley’s lap just far enough that we could both access our drinks without actually losing contact.
“Holy fuck,” Wesley groaned, taking a long sip of his coffee. “You have no idea how badly I’ve missed coffee, you guys. I’m going to start rivalling Kit for crazy coffee obsession.” He said it with a lazy smile and gave me a little wink.
He was so... different. More confident in his own skin and relaxed. I guess that made sense given he hadn’t thought we were dead.
“Wes,” I started, tightening my grip on my mug as my anger started to surface, but River beat me to it.