Chapter 19

The Clover pack forest enveloped us in its forgiving embrace, the scent of pine and home permeating through my senses. Callan set Finn down gently before us, a stark reminder of the brutal reality we"d just faced. My heart broke as I collapsed on my knees beside him, my hands trembling as I reached out to touch his cold, ashen skin.

"No, no, no," I whispered hoarsely, the words choked with grief as tears streamed down my cheeks, mingling with the blood and dirt that drenched me. Numbness set in, and I gently lifted my hand, covering his eyes as I closed his eyelids. A shuddering breath left my body as I moved my hand away, and for a moment I could pretend he was just sleeping, his soft snores echoing like they had when we"d slept side by side in the tunnels only days before.

Thin arms wrapped around me as Lily encircled me, pulling me close as she held me tightly against her chest, her own tears mingling with mine as she whispered words of comfort in my ear. Reassurance trickled through my mate bond, but even then, it couldn"t chase away the suffocating darkness that threatened to swallow me whole.

"I know this won"t change anything, but thank you," Lily whispered, as fresh tears fell from both of our eyes. "Thank you for saving me." She kissed the top of my head as she moved away from me, and Callan knelt beside me to take her place.

Gently, he pried my hands away from Finn, where I"d bunched my fingers tightly into his sleeve. I"d gripped the material so tightly that it hurt. Enveloping my hands in his, he set a finger on my jaw, urging me until I turned my chin to look at him. "We can"t stay here," he said gently.

I didn"t answer, looking back at Finn, unable to tear my gaze away from his lifeless form. His once vibrant spirit had been extinguished in the blink of an eye by the merciless cruelty of Queen Tantaii.

Tantaii.

The ring.

Finn.

Seething anger began to bubble up inside me, in the very depths of my being, eclipsing the sorrow that clung to me like a second skin. It churned like a stormy sea, each wave crashing against the swell of darkness that rose inside me. Every fiber of my being trembled with the intensity of my loathing, dark and consuming. My hatred grew stronger, twisting my thoughts until all I could see was the object of my wrath, pinpricks of racing electricity burning under my skin, begging to be released.

Finally, I stood, Callan rising with me as I turned to meet the eyes of my friends. Nia and Lily huddled together, hands intertwined as they basked in the aftermath of their newfound bond. Eldrin and Oliver stood off to one side, their eyes bloodshot. And then there was Engar, my father, looking entirely out of place on the outskirts of our group. All these people, whom I had just let down.

"What do we do now?" Lily asked softly, finally breaking the silence, her voice shaky and her eyes tired. At least the wounds on both her and Engar were healing, now that their magic was no longer restricted by the bars of their iron cages.

I didn"t answer because I didn"t know what to say. We"d lost Finn, we"d lost the ring. What more was there to do? It was over. I"d ruined everything, and there was no coming back from that.

Engar stepped forward then, joining the group where we stood, an unfathomable look in his eyes as he searched for the words he wanted to say.

"Look," he started, putting his hands up in a placating gesture. He cleared his throat, his voice hoarse from disuse. "You have no reason to trust me, you don"t even know me." He looked at me as he said this, and my throat seized tightly with emotion as I looked into the eyes of the father I"d never known. Not as Rowan, and not as Olette. "But this doesn't have to be over. I think I have a plan that could save us."

Shortly after,we sat around a table in the pack cafeteria. It felt like so long ago that I"d been in here for the first time, with Lily and Evie telling me all about shifters. So many things had changed since then, enough changes for a lifetime.

Oliver pulled out a thin cell phone, dialing Wolfe"s number and putting it on speakerphone so we could all hear him. It rang only once before Wolfe"s groggy voice crackled through the speaker.

"Is she okay?" Wolfe demanded.

"I"m fine," Lily said, but her voice cracked, a stray tear sliding down her cheek that she wiped away quickly with the sleeve of the sweater she had put on.

"What happened?" His voice was slightly muffled through the phone"s speaker, but we all heard the panic in his voice at Lily"s tone.

Callan looked to me, but when I didn"t say anything, he took a deep breath, steeling himself for the task as he recounted the events that had transpired. Everything from our journey through the tunnels to finding Engar and recounting Finn"s final moments, to the horrible moment we watched Tantaii jump through that portal with the ring. He sounded strong and steady, but I could feel the turmoil of raw emotions that lay underneath his alpha fa?ade.

Wolfe listened intently, his silence echoing through the phone line as he absorbed the full weight of our predicament. The only sound he made was a muffled sob when Callan recounted Finn"s death, but it fell on deaf ears as most of us did the same. When Callan finished, we waited in silence for Wolfe to say something. Finally, he cut through the stillness, his voice sharp and determined. "Is that it then? There has to be something else we can do."

"It's risky, and it would be very dangerous," Engar started, his fingers absentmindedly scratching at the overgrown scruff that decorated his chin. "But I know where she is headed. We could try to intercept her, kill her before she can destroy the realms."

"What do you mean?" I finally voiced.

He licked his lips nervously, blinking rapidly as he looked at me. "She has to be in the in-between space between realms in order to do this. It"s not as easy as just throwing raw power at the realm and watching it shatter. There are preparations, a ritual."

"A ritual?"

"The in-between is more than just a transitory space for realm travel. It"s a convergence point. Without the in-between, neither realm could exist at all. With the power of the ring and the right ritual, she can harness the neutral energy that exists there, amplifying her power by tenfold and destroying one or both realms as we know it."

"Lovely," I said sourly.

A chill swept through us as Engar"s words sank in, the enormity of Tantaii"s plan becoming all too terrifying. If she succeeded, there would be no stopping her - no realm would be safe from her insatiable thirst for power. She would destroy everything.

"What"s needed for the ritual?"

"The ring, of course," Engar said softly, his voice low. "After that, sacrifices. Magic like this is unforgiving, relentless, and very dark. Legend says she"ll need a life from every royal line."

"That means she needs Rowan?" Callan"s tone said exactly how he felt about that. "Cas is dead, which means Rowan is the last living fae of the lightning fae?"

"That would be correct," Engar confirmed with a solemn nod. You"d think he was giving a book report with how much emotion he showed at talking about the mother of his child wanting to take her life, but then again, we didn"t really know each other. "I"d think it"s safe to assume she has fae of every elemental line, except Rowan."

"That doesn"t make any sense," I argued. "She could have demanded I go with her if that was the case. But she didn"t, she only wanted the ring."

"She didn"t try to kill you, though," Nia mused.

"But she didn"t take me either. Something isn"t right here."

Engar shrugged, exhaustion pulling at him. "Maybe she knows you"ll be coming for her. She knows you well enough to know that you aren"t just going to let this go."

"How do you know so much about this?" Wolfe asked, suspicion carving his words like a knife. I jumped, almost forgetting he"d been on the phone this whole time.

His eyes darkened, a shadow seeming to take him over from the very depths of his soul.

"Because I helped her figure it out."