Chapter 30

Angel snuggled in between me and Killian. The northern Russian nights got cold faster, and she was more than happy to take up the space between us and the warmth there.

"We're never going to be alone again." He smiled to soften the complaint. I didn't mind. This little one was mine, and I wasn't about to let her go any time soon. Feet padded into the room and Bear crawled into the bed at my back.

"Feet are cold," he mumbled, putting the ice blocks against my calves.

Killian reached over and scrubbed Bear's head, ruffling up his hair. "You help me with breakfast this morning, let your mom sleep."

Bear pushed his way deeper under the covers. "Five minutes?"

Killian laughed as he slid out of bed and pulled on his jeans. "Five minutes."

I turned so that I could hold both of my children, keeping them close to my heart. There were moments that I felt the fear too keenly, that they would be snatched from me again. That I would be taken away.

"Never again," I whispered to Bear. "We won't let it ever happen again."

"I love you too, Mom." His scrawny little boy arms were getting long enough to wrap around me and Angel.

A few minutes later he got up and shuffled down to the kitchen on the first floor. I could hear Emerald singing softly in her bedroom. She spoke Russian fluently, so we'd stayed here. To see if we could find her adoptive family.

"You aren't going to give her back, are you?" Dinah asked when I mentioned it.

"It will be up to her," I said. "She's not ours anymore. She is her own person."

My other gun—Galia as she chose—had agreed. "The world will be quiet for some time. The fallen will recoup, there are always some thinking they are better off here."

Which meant I had time to recoup too.

"Why didn't you offer to help, right away?" I asked Galia not long after the fight. "You could have—"

"Because I knew that Gardreel was watching me too. If it looked like I would help, then he would have stopped you from getting the spell. You only managed because he let you."

I didn't like that.

But I couldn't argue either. There had been no way if he'd really wanted to stop us, that he wouldn't have.

I rocked Angel gently. It was not lost on me that Killian had named our daughter pretty much after our ancestors. Even if he hadn't known it at the time. Already on her back there were the soft lines that marked out a set of wings that never would be. A tattoo that was no tattoo.

She nuzzled in close, her fingers tangling in my hair.

Dinah was on the table next to me. "I still can't believe that Eligor saved you."

I sighed. "He was torn. I think he gave the spell to Gardreel out of jealousy."

"And when he saw you about to die to stop the spell, that changed him." Dinah shifted on the table. "Are we going to go practice today?"

"Yes, later. We'll get Bear working with you again."

"Good. He has a good natural aim. Did you see him take out those wolves? Perfect shots!" she crowed. That was a story she still liked. Me, not so much. Watching my son run from the wolves, sending Ruby out after them, finding Angel . . . we were almost too late.

I closed my eyes. Galia was quiet next to Dinah. She was more like Eleanor. Reserved. It turned out she could shoot bullets, much as it was a surprise to her.

"How long, before I have to go to work?" I asked, quietly, not wanting to wake my girl.

"A few months still," Galia said. "You have time to heal, firebird. I suggest you take it."

The question I'd been avoiding. "And will they come for my children?"

"They might," she admitted. "Which is why we must practice. Is the other one coming?"

Easter was on her way, and she was bringing Cowboy. Pete was here already with his family.

Carlos had found his daughter using the Tracker and they were on their way as well. His wife . . . she had died as soon as the Russian mob caught wind of her.

"You are making your own arsenal," Dinah said. "Are you going to make more guns that can kill the fallen?"

I nodded. "Yes, and as soon as Easter is here, we're going to start with the one closest to us."

Galia laughed softly. "You think Ipos—"

"I think he will love to be in a gun next to you, Galia." I sat up, and tucked Angel under the covers. I could still see Ipos in the church, stroking the stained-glass image of my grandmother. Love made you do crazy things. Pulling my clothes on, I set my holsters up for across my hips, hanging from my thighs. "I did some research on him. He was your friend."

She was quiet. "And you think that he would stay in a gun?"

I smiled. "I think that he knew all along we'd ask him. But he wasn't going to get in a gun until he was sure you would. Dinah knows how lonely it can be, to be the only one. He wanted to be sure."

Galia sighed. "Men."

Dinah laughed. "Fucking men."

I rolled my eyes as I scooped them both up and settled them into their holsters. Dinah on the left, my faster hand. Galia on the right. I put my hands over them. "Ladies. Let's kick some ass."