Page 105 of Ignited Spirits
Cain holds out his hand. After I place my hand in his, he leads me out of the closet and into Levi’s room. We’ve been crashing atInfernussince everything went down as we all recover.
Eventually, I know I’ll have to go back to Hawthorne Grove and deal with the fallout there. But not right now.
From what Dad has told me, everything the council had been doing, with draining lower mages for centuries, came out. Lower mages are agitating for change and to have more of a say in what happens. I don’t know if anything will actually be different, but at least it’s a start. With Dad being the only surviving council member, that also bodes well for change.
When I walk through the doorway, Bishop is on me instantly, pulling me into his arms. “You okay, sweetheart?”
To say he’s been overprotective since the battle would be an understatement. He and Luca had to watch everything go down from afar, and me getting hurt when he wasn’t there riled his protective instincts.
When I collapsed into the water after somehow summoning the spirits of the Styx, Luca and Bishop both came running over to me, uncaring about what would happen to them. They weren’t harmed because of the bond, thankfully.
“As okay as I can be, St. James,” I admit quietly.
I haven’t really been okay since we lost the first person in the fight. Although, with all my mates and family safe and sound, I have hope that I will be okay one of these days. Just not today.
Bishop doesn’t say anything more. Instead, he leans down to press a kiss to my forehead and lends me the strength I’ve felt like I’ve been lacking the past few days with his tight embrace.
“Want me to open a rift, little raven?” Levi asks me with a small smile when Bishop finally releases me. Like all of us, Levi has been struggling with the friends he lost in the fight with Lua. I wish I could say something to make it better for him and the rest of my mates, but I don’t know how.
I nod, not trusting my voice to stay steady.
Levi opens the rift toLaEsperanza. I let Cain go through first. Then I take a deep breath and prepare to walk through.
Archer grabs my hand before I can get very far. When I look at him in surprise, he just smiles down at me. “You don’t have to do any of this alone, sunshine. We’re all here for you to lean on—right now and any other time you need it.”
I return his smile. His hand in mine makes me feel a little lighter.
Archer’s eyes turn purple for a beat, letting me know that Legion is also there for me. I squeeze his hand, wordlessly letting him know I also appreciate his support. His eyes slowly fade back to his normal teal color.
With his hand in mine, I again walk toward the rift. When I feel someone else grab my other hand, I huff a laugh before looking up at Luca.
He shrugs and grins down at me. “What? Am I not allowed to hold your hand, wildcat?”
I give him a droll look. “You’re allowed to, wolf boy. I just sometimes feel like a chew toy that you guys are fighting over.”
He rolls his eyes at my making a doggie reference but doesn’t say anything else as the three of us walk through the rift together.
I don’t know what I expected for the celebration of life, but the loud music, laughter, and people dancing everywhere was not it.
Aggie floats over and levels me with an unimpressed look. “Took you long enough to get here, kid. The party’s in full swing. Your family and tall, terrifying, and scary two got here a while ago.”
I snort, and the laughter and joy feel good after a week of such heartache. “I’m sorry we didn’t get here faster. Next time, I’ll make sure to run my plans by you.”
“You do that, kid.” She gives me a serious nod before floating off to keep enjoying the celebration of life that feels more like a full-blown party, which was exactly what Mateo wanted.
While they try to figure out who the next alpha ofLa Esperanzais, Joseph and Mateo’s second-in-command, Tomas, are running the city together. I guess the mage we rescued made quite an impression on the jaguars for him to be jointly in charge of everything.
I can see Joseph’s huge grin from across the dance floor, and it makes my battered and bruised heart happy. He deserves to be surrounded by people who get him and accept him for who he is, after a lifetime of having to hide his true self.
Along with Joseph, my parents and brothers and Hades and his mate group are hanging out across the large open space in the middle of the town.
A cheery fountain with a jaguar at the top bubbles in the center of the square. Colorful banners are strung from the fountain to the surrounding buildings. Tables full of food line the edges of the space, while a makeshift dance floor dominates the center.
Once Levi and Bishop walk through the rift, I start to make my way across the dance floor. It’s slow going because it seems like every jaguar we pass wants to thank me for what I did. Idon’t even begin to know how to respond, because it feels like all I did was get people killed.
Sure, we defeated Lua. As far as we know, she was dragged into the Styx and turned into a damned soul. At the very least, we know she’s dead because her hold on the damaged souls snapped when she was fully submerged.
So, I technically saved the universe but at the cost of real people. It’s hard for my heart to reconcile those we lost with what my brain knows we prevented.
