Page 100 of Waltzing With Witches

Richard. Connall. Dirk.

Morgan throws herself into my arms with a sob, bringing her forehead to mine as she feels my face and neck and chest. “Oh my gods, Abe. Are you alive? I thought I fucking killed you!”

I hold her tight as she rakes her fingers down my face and chest. My breaths come short and fast as I summon enough energy to reach up and wrap my fingers around her throat.

“Beautiful,” I murmur. “Mine.”

I’m vaguely aware that the other males now stand in the doorway with shocked expressions.

“To quote the humans, Jesus Fookin’ Christ,” Dirk shouts. “What the fook happened?!”

On cue, Lou yanks her knees to her chest and wails, rocking back and forth with her head on her knees. Her forearms are covered in bleeding gashes, blood dripping down her torn skin.

Morgan turns in my arms, but Dirk slips across the room and hauls Lou carefully into his embrace, cradling her to his chest. “There, there, Louanna,” he murmurs into her hair. “It’s all over, beauty.”

She reaches for Morgan, who throws herself on top of Lou, crushing Dirk in the process.

Richard and Connall cross the room and grab me under the arms, pulling me upright.

“Keeper, are you alright?” Richard’s voice is shocked, dark eyes searching mine with apparent concern.

My legs tremble, and I throw a hand on his forearm for support. “Fuck,” I mutter. “I’m not sure.”

Morgan turns from Lou and slips a hand up my shirt, splaying her fingers over my heart. Storm-cloud eyes focus on mine. “You will be, Abe. You’re free.”

Everyone fades away then as her words register.

Free?

My heart pounds in my ears and drowns out the din around us. There’s Morgan and me and that word.

“Say it again,” I command, gripping her throat gently. My thumb moves to her pulse, that comforting, repetitious rhythm I love so fucking much.

“You’re free, Abe,” she says with a laugh. “The virus is gone. I—”

“Transferred it to Wesley,” I finish as the realization hits me of precisely what just happened. I choke in a breath, pressing a hand to my chest right next to Morgan’s. Where I’ve always had that innate sense of wrongness, it’s simply gone. When I flare my nostrils and suck in a deep breath, it fully fills my lungs.

Ben politely chimes to remind me that every light blares red. I stumble to the keyboard. My fingers fly over the screen to see what happened.

“The wards are down,” I breathe, mashing the buttons to bring them back up. One by one, the red warning lights switch to green. My comm watch lights up with Alo’s name.

When I answer, his gruff voice comes through, “Wards are restoring themselves as we speak. I’m running a search for breaches now. So far we’ve found about a dozen thralls in different parts of Ever.”

“Neutralized?” I bark into the watch. “Casualties?”

“Of course,” he drolls. “And none. Everything alright at the castle?”

I fill him in on what happened as we leave the comm room and congregate in the kitchen. After grabbing whiskey, I pour a glass for everyone as Dirk sets a shaky Lou down on one of the barstools.

Her hands tremble when I pass her the glass. She’s shaking so violently, the whiskey spills all over the counter.

“Oh gods, I’m sorry!” she stammers, setting the glass back down.

“Louanna, yeh’re safe and free,” Dirk croons, rubbing his fingers over the back of her arm. “Morgan saved yeh.”

Morgan drops onto the stool next to her aunt, stroking sweaty hair away from Lou’s face. “Honey, can I check for anything that needs healing?”

Fresh tears make tracks down Lou’s freckled cheeks. “It hurt so bad, Morgan. Fighting him all the time. And w-we killed Le-Leighton!” She sobs and throws her forehead down onto her arms.

---