Page 134 of Legendary

The High Priestess clasped her hands in front of her body. “We are so glad you’re back, safely.” She worried her bottom lip as if she didn’t know what to say to me, but I helped her out as best I could.

“We’re all safe. That’s what matters.”

My father ran his hand through my hair, his face finally calming. “What the hell happened? Daya and I are getting ready to eat dinner one minute, and the next, you all come barreling into my living room. The addition of three more people than you left with was a shock.”

“I don’t know. I must have blacked out. I remember giving Reese the key so that he could take us home when I…” I trailed off, running that moment in my head. Dani’s death, my need to want her back, and then her reanimation.

“You were completely out when we got to you. We rushed you and everyone else here. You haven’t woken up once until right now.”

Natalia nodded in agreement. “He should know, he’s been here the whole time.” I pushed myself up and grabbed my dad’s shoulder. He understood what I wanted, letting me wrap my arms around him in a hug. There was so much tension in his shoulders that released the minute we made contact, and I wondered how often he was stressed while I was gone, how many nights he went without sleep because of his worrying.

He pulled back when Xander came back around and rubbed someointment onto the side of my head, then over places where gashes were open or scabs were starting to develop. Natalia peeked down at my arm, noticing the three scars Dimitri left me. “What’s that?”

“A present from a Son of Hell.”

My father’s eyes widened, as did everyone else’s. “Son of Hell?”

I gave a dutiful nod. “Yup.”

“You got into it with a literal spawn of Hell. You are way cooler than I thought you were,” Xander said, shrugging innocently when Natalia shushed him. “I’ll go check on your blonde friend. Let me know if you need anything, hero boy.” He winked at me, his last words inflecting with his accent as he walked out of the room.

“You should rest, Nicholas. I’ll get Daya and Alex from the house so you can see them.”

I licked my lips. needing to ask the question that was currently at the forefront of my mind. “Ariel?”

Natalia and my father gave each other a knowing glance, and Natalia slid her hands down her golden dress. “Ariel is taking matters into his own hands, claiming his place since the previous executive’s magic has yet to reveal his successor.”

“He can’t do that.”

My father sighed. “He can, actually. There is a ceremony that can be done, and it has only happened once in the history of this realm, but itcanbe done. Unfortunately, there isn’t much any of us can do about it.”

I groaned in frustration. “That’s just perfect.”

Natalia giggled. “You have made quite an impression though, coming back in one piece. He was a bit stunned. You’ve gained much attention due to this mission. I don’t know if that’s what you were aiming for, but well, you’ve got it now.”

I huffed, my head reeling from waking up, but I was happy to be back home. I thought about what my father had said. “Garrett and Beetee, how are they?”

Natalia answered me quickly. “They are both okay, still very much alive. I gave the pink haired one a little sleeping tonic so that her broken ribs would set. The other one, the Enchanter, well…” She looked down at the floor.

“What?” I pressed, sitting up even straighter.

“Like I said, he’s okay, but one of his arms is pretty mangled. It’s from the inside though, like they burned him. His entire left arm is charred on the inside. We are trying to figure out how to fix it if we can.”

“Fucking Dimitri.” I muttered under my breath. My father filled a glass with water and walked it back over to me. I happily took it, downing theentire thing. “Elise?”

My father answered this time. “She’s a little beaten up, but still the same little sour puss. She was running back and forth between Dani and…uh…what’s her name? Beetee? We told her to rest, but I’m pretty sure she gave us the middle finger.”

Natalia rolled her eyes, as if she was remembering that exact moment. A small smile played at her lips, but it was gone as she looked at me again. “Elise brought Isabel back.”

My eyes widened. “Where is she?”

“Somewhere you don’t need to worry about, you have my word.” Her face told me a million different things, mainly that she was trying to be regal when all she was thinking about was making Isabel know pain.

I cleared my throat, gaining my father’s undivided attention. “Where isshe?”

One side of his mouth tipped up. “She’s two doors down.” I had never moved so fast in my entire life, and I regretted it almost instantly when I wobbled a bit on my feet. My father raced around the bed and caught me, his tone scolding. “Nicholas, lie back down.”

“I’ll lie back downafterI see her.”

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