20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

As we drew up to the mansion, I pulled the orb from my bag. It felt smooth and somehow warm, even though my skin was telling me it was cool to the touch.

It is holy, Esme said, her tone reverent. It will change everything. The Great Pack will finally be restored! Her eagerness was palpable.

‘You don't have to do this now,' Greg said. ‘You've been through a lot today. The orb has already waited a couple of hundred years, it can wait another twenty-four hours.'

‘No,' I said firmly. ‘I do need to do this now. If I can get the orb to work, Xander's sacrifice will mean something.'

‘It means something anyway,' Greg said firmly. ‘Ben said he saved you.'

I closed my eyes. ‘He saved me from fire, which I could have absorbed. He died for no reason.'

‘You don't know that you could have absorbed it. Not for sure. Dragon's fire is hot, Lucy. Really hot. '

In my mind's eye, I saw Xander's bones crumble into ash. I grimaced. ‘Yeah. It was.' I rubbed my hands over the orb.

When the car pulled to a stop, I turned to our passenger who was still riding in the boot. ‘Tarkers, are you okay? Do you need to see a witch?'

‘Nah, I'm good, Your Maj. Thanks.'

I grimaced: the ‘Your Maj' was back. Yay.

‘Glad to hear it. I'll help you out.'

I released the naked man from the boot and he hopped out of the car. I looked down at the wrong moment and caught sight of his wang: it really was impressive, especially for such a slim, athletic guy. My cheeks warmed and Tarkers shot me a cheeky wink.

‘Just because she saved you, doesn't mean I can't kill you,' Greg called, making Tarkers bark a laugh. He strolled back to the mansion with a fair bit of swagger – a swagger that I could honestly say was pretty justified.

Debbie was driving the other car. He parked next to us and everyone climbed out. Impulsively, I hugged him and Wakado. ‘Thanks for all your help,' I said. ‘Now, go inside, all of you.' I turned to Daniella. ‘Daniella, find David. He's been out of his mind with worry.'

‘Really?' she asked hopefully.

‘Really.'

She smiled and went inside with the others right behind her.

I licked my lips and thought about the Devon Pack inside. Thea would be gutted to hear of Xander's death – and she wouldn't be the only one. I'd have to announce it.

Greg squeezed my shoulder. ‘Take the orb to Nina,' he murmured to me. ‘I'll notify them.'

‘I should do it,' I said stubbornly.

‘Listen, Xander doesn't even have next of kin – his parents are already dead, courtesy of Beckett. His friends need to be told and I'll do it. It's a second's job to do the shitty jobs for you. Go, see Nina. Restore the orb. Let me lessen the load.'

I blew out a breath and, though I knew it was cowardly, let him take the lead. I didn't want to tell anyone about Xander's death; I didn't want to replay his last moments. I knew I should be the one to inform the pack but I couldn't, not while it was still raw. ‘Okay,' I said abruptly. ‘I'll go to see Nina.'

Greg turned to walk away but I reached out to pull him back. ‘Thank you,' I said as I gave him a quick squeeze.

‘Anytime,' he replied and kissed me gently.

I watched him go into the mansion to do my dirty work then squared my shoulders. In my head, I could feel Terrance's excitement at the prospect of seeing Nina and I felt a little surprise as I realised that his feelings for her weren't just friendly. He was excited to see her the way I was excited to see Greg. Huh. I guess I'd been thinking of him as a crown and her as a house, but in truth they were neither of those things: he was a fire elemental that had been wrested from his body, and she was a dryad turned undead vampyr bound into the tree that served as the heart of the seat of power. Neither one was truly an inanimate object, despite their current status.

I crossed the short distance to the seat of power with purposeful strides. This was a huge moment: we had the orb of Lochlan. After two hundred years of being separated from our air magic, it would finally be restored.

I knocked once on Nina's wooden exterior and strode inside. To my surprise, David was inside my own personal safe haven sipping a cup of tea. ‘David!' I exclaimed. ‘What are you doing here?'

He blinked. ‘You told me to talk to Nina to stop her from being lonely. With all my panic about Daniella, I needed to not be alone, too.'

My mind cleared. ‘Of course I did. Thank you so much for helping Nina. And I have great news – we found Daniella! She's home, no doubt looking for you inside the mansion! '

His mouth dropped open. ‘She's home? How did you get her away from the dragon?' He had been in on our heist talks so no doubt he'd put two and two together. We'd gone to Geneve's to steal the orb and we'd come back with Daniella.

I grimaced. ‘I killed her.'

He stared at me. ‘That's some feat,' he said finally.

‘Yeah, and I'm not feeling all that warm and fuzzy about it.'

‘Did you get the orb?' he asked eagerly.

‘Yep!' I patted the bag on my hip. ‘Now go to Daniella. I told her how upset you were when she went missing.' I grinned. ‘She was pleased to hear it.'

He gave me a faint smile in return. ‘Right,' he said, clearing his throat awkwardly. ‘Well, excuse me, ladies.' He patted Nina familiarly on the walls as he left.

‘Hey, Nina,' I said when David had shut the door behind him. ‘I have big news!' I wondered if she could already sense the orb. ‘We've got the orb back!'

I heard you tell David! Oh my goodness! She sounded giddy with excitement. Lucy, this is amazing!

I pulled it out of my bag and presented it to her. ‘Ta-da!'

In response, Nina ripped away the floorboards and sent me plunging to the room below.