Page 42 of Legendary

The tension now made sense between Elise and Leah.

“Lilith ordered you to kill her?” Dani’s eyes widened.

“Oh please, don’t act like you haven’t gotten your hands dirty, Soul Seether.” Elise grumbled, clearly annoyed.

They were both silent as they stared at each other from either side of thecouch.

“Are we not going to get more elaboration on this or what?” Reese looked from Elise to Leah as if waiting for one of them to speak up.

A cracking sound came from around the corner telling me that the glamoured door was being opened. No one spoke as we waited, listening to feet shuffling and the door closing shut.

“We’re in here, Garrett,” Leah said, getting up from the couch and turning towards the opening of the room.

A male voice answered back. “We? What are you talking about, we?” He got to the threshold when he stopped, taking us all in. It only took him a moment to zero in on Elise. His eyes became narrow as he balled his hands into fists. “What the hell isshedoing here?”

Leah walked around the back of the couch and over to Garrett, wrapping as much of her hand around his bicep and using her other hand to turn his face towards hers. “It’s okay. Beetee asked them to come.”

He seemed to visibly relax, at least it looked like he was. He scrubbed a hand down his face, collecting himself. “Apologies. I’m Garrett.” We all introduced ourselves, Elise remaining as quiet as can be. Garrett had dark skin with a few tattoos peeking out from his shoulder beneath his t-shirt sleeve. His hair was done in a multitude of long braids, which were wrapped in a thin ribbon and ended at his lower back. He had a thick silver bar pierced in the shell of his ear and a stud in his ear lobe. His eyes were a golden color and they threw me off being such a contrast to the dark color of his skin. His thick eyebrows drew together as he scanned both Reese and I after our introductions.

I moved to the arm of the couch so that he could sit next to Leah.

“Where are the littles?” Leah asked him.

“Outside with the big beast.”

Reese coughed. “Wait, you have kids? And you let them play with that thing outside?”

“He’s not a thing, he’s a hellhound. Get it right, Blondie. Don’t and I’ll make sure he eats you,” Elise threatened.

Garrett pointed at the window. “Axel is actually really great with kids. Believe me I was quite nervous at first, but our two little warriors weren’t afraid of him at all.”

I craned my neck to see two children jumping on top of Axel and giggling. “It’s safe for them to just be out there like that?”

Garrett nodded. “He’s only a menace and a monster when he’s threatened or is in protective mode. He’ll keep them safe.”

“Well, we definitely know he didn’t get his soft side from his mother,”Reese pointed his index finger at Elise. “But, how about we circle back to you killing Leah, shall we?”

We all could feel the instant tension in the room from Garrett alone. Leah placed her hand on his knee, and I watched as her fingers flexed, squeezing.

“Lilith wanted to test his powers and she needed Leah dead to do it. It was motivation for lack of a better word.” Elise shrugged.

“Motivation?” Garrett leaned forward, his breathing getting a little more intense.

“What does that have to do with you killing her and her now being alive? How does he come in?” I questioned.

Dani tilted her head to the side. “Resurrection?” It was more a question for Garrett and no one else.

The Enchanter flicked his eyes to Dani as if he was surprised she even knew what that word meant. After a minute he condescended, nodding. Reese placed both his hands on either side of his head and pulled his hair in both directions. “Resurrection as in necromancy? As in one of the few powers that have been legitimately outlawed, like it’s written on paper outlawed.”

“That’s the one,” Leah confirmed. “There were very few before Jonah’s father and the fight and now Garrett is one of the last remaining ones.”

“I guess there isn’t a need to ask why Lilith would see that as important.” I ran my fingers along my chin, thinking.

“Exactly. Resurrection is tough on the body and the mind; it takes a lot to focus. You are quite literally reconstructing someone’s soul back together, their entire being. And I refused to do it, I would rather her kill me than have me use it for her own bidding. She had the upper hand though; she knew what it would take just to see me use it once.” Garrett wrapped his arm around Leah’s shoulders, pulling her close.

“Damn, Elise. Just fucking up people's lives left and right, aren’t you.” Reese snickered.

“Lilith has made us all do some shitty things okay, whether we knew we were doing it or not, so let’s just move the fuck on.” Elise seemed agitated, more than usual. It was hard to tell if she was actually remorseful in her own way, deep, deep down somewhere in her subconscious. I knew she cared about Dani, and I knew she had her reasons for lying to her, so maybe this was something she had actual emotions about as well. It was fucked up, but Lilith had had a hold on her, so maybe giving her the benefit wasn’t a bad idea.

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