They were shivering. God. This was not the best way to introduce them to Earth. I took a closer look around and confirmed we weren’t in the same spot as before. This location had a frozen creek about fifty feet from us. There weren’t any supernaturals living nearby.
Micah popped through the portal. He was still a bloody mess, but his wounds were already healing. As he took his first breaths of fully-oxygenated air he began to look even better.
He came straight for me with just a slight limp. “Get the coordinates and call Derrick. He’ll bring the buses so we can get these people out of here.”
I nodded and dug through my pack, pulling my GPS and a map. Micah didn’t know I’d identified his daughter yet, but since she hadn’t come through I thought it best to wait. We needed to worry about getting out of the cold first.
Checking the coordinates, I discovered we were only about a quarter mile from the nearest highway. At least that wouldn’t be too far to walk. I made the call, arranging our pickup location. Derrick promised to meet us in fifteen minutes.
My senses noted a spike of magic. I glanced over and caught Lucas holding his hands up. He was attempting to form a bubble around the huddled nerou—one that would heat the area immediately around them. It melted the snow at their feet, but they still shivered.
“Are they immune to magic?” I asked.
His brows knitted and he ramped up the spell. “Yes and no. They have a moderate immunity to it, but with enough power it can be overcome—especially if they don’t fight it.”
“Can they break spells like I can?”
His hands shook as the bubble expanded to cover new arrivals. “From what Ivan told me, no.”
All his work wasn’t making a difference—most were still chattering their teeth. I mulled it over and came up with an idea.
“Hey everyone. Lucas is trying to warm you guys up, but you’ve got to let your guard down for it to work. I know this isn’t the sort of welcome you expected here, but once we get you all to someplace else it will get better. Just relax and let the spell do its job.”
Ivan stepped out of the group and turned to face them. “Clear your heads. I know you can sense what the nephilim is doing. Let him help us.”
Many of them had frightened expressions on their faces, but at his words the tension dropped a few degrees. They respected Ivan and trusted him. Within a minute the shivering lessened and sensations of relief took over.
“Melena,” Lucas called me over. “I must maintain my concentration on them once we start moving toward the road. You will have to lead them.”
At this point, less than half the nerou had made it through, but the woods around the portal were getting overcrowded. No matter how close we gathered them, they still took up a lot of space—especially with the trees and vegetation in the way.
“We need to make room,” I said.
“If you take this group.” Micah joined us. “I’ll bring the rest once they come through.”
He was in no shape to do a warming spell on them, but the last half wouldn’t have to stand in the cold as long.
I met his gaze. “There’s something you should know. I believe Olivia—known by the nerou as the woman who has visions—is your daughter. She’s the right age and her blond hair is the same shade as yours. Plus she’s got your nose. I haven’t sensed her come through yet, but I thought you’d like to know.”
A smile spread across his face. “Thank you. I will look for her.”
“And you will allow me meet her properly,” Lucas said through gritted teeth—his power was draining fast. “It’s bad enough you kept my niece a secret from me for this long.”
“Of course, brother,” Micah replied.
Their eyes met and in that moment there was no animosity. Just an understanding that family was family. Lucas had to know who I spoke about since he saw Olivia in Purgatory, but I hadn’t had a chance to tell him my suspicions. There was a sense of pride coming from him now that he knew she was related to him.
“Okay, ready?” I asked him.
His hands were shaking worse. “Yes.”
I looked to Ivan, who’d been listening to us. “Let’s get this group moving. We’ve got people coming to help us.”
He called for the group to follow him and joined me. I didn’t move too fast since Lucas had to keep the spell going and the vegetation and snow slowed us down. Steadily, though, we made our way through the woods.
I sensed it when Derrick and the others began arriving up ahead. There were nearly twenty unfamiliar nephilim with them as well. That was a lot, considering how few of their race remained.
We broke through the woods. The alpha and Lorna were the first to intercept us. Both had several backpacks in their arms and as I looked at the others who’d come with them I saw they carried even more. All were either black or green in color.
“I couldn’t do much,” Lorna began, “but I knew they’d need some sort of welcome gift.”
She handed a black one to Ivan. “Please let the others know. These bags have warm clothing, blankets, and other items you’ll find useful. The black ones are for men and the green ones for women.”
“That must have taken a lot of work.” I gave her a grateful smile. “But why black and green?”
She organized a line for them to keep passing the backpacks along. “Bulk order. When you’re asking for hundreds of them, the color options aren’t too good.”
I helped pass a few along. “I doubt they’ll care.”
“That was what I thought. I had to go with sweat suits and windbreakers since they were the most likely to fit regardless of their exact size. It’s too bad I couldn’t do anything about shoes.” She cast a mournful look at the nerou’s bare feet.
“You did the best you could,” I reassured her.
When she tried to take a bag and help I stopped her. After she’d mentioned her heart condition, I didn’t want something happening to her right before she’d finally get to meet her son.
“You can organize, but no lifting,” I warned.
She sighed. “You are almost as bad as Yerik.”
Ten minutes later we had all the backpacks handed out for the first group. After a brief demonstration from the alpha, they took the sweats out and tried them on. Most just pulled them over their tight buckskin clothes, but a few stripped first. Guys either got blue or gray. Girls got red or purple. Lorna had bought the sweats in larger sizes so no one had trouble fitting into them.
“We should get these people on the buses where it’s warmer,” I pointed out.
Lucas had dropped the spell as soon as he saw them trying their clothes on. His powers were nearly tapped out. He just couldn’t fuel the magic anymore.
“Not yet,” Derrick answered. “Most of these buses are going straight to the airport where we’ve got a few planes ready for them, but some of the nerou are stayin’ here in Fairbanks. We’ve got to organize who goes where.”
Right, I still needed to find the healer. He definitely had to stay.
“Hey, Ivan.” I walked up to the nerou, who was calming a few nervous guys. “Do you know which of your people wouldn’t have come to Purgatory until he was sixteen? His father would have been a great healer named Parthenios.”
Ivan froze. “How do you know about that?”
“Well, I heard about it.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Do you know who I’m talking about?”
He exhaled a deep breath. “I am the one you seek. It has been a very long time since I’ve heard my father’s name.”
It occurred to me then that he must have watched his father get killed. Over six centuries had passed since then, but you didn’t forget something like that.
“I’m sorry to bring it up now.” I put a hand on his arm. “There has been another plague outbreak. We’ve been searching for a cure but haven’t found one and people are dying.”
He studied my face. “You want to know if I remember it.”
“Yes.”
“Most of the memories I have of him are from when he was healing. He used to explain everything to me. When I dream at night, I can still hear his words. Though our kind does not get sick, we do get injuries and the young heal slowly. I used the knowledge he gave me to help them.” He paused and met my eyes. “But the method for curing the plague has never left me—even after all this time.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Are there more healers among you?”
“There are.” He nodded.
“Can you gather all of them together? When I take you to the plague patients you’ll need to show them how the healing process works.”
“I’ll look for them.” He glanced back at the group. “But I’ll need some time to find them all.”
That was a point. There were two hundred of them spread out between the trees.
“Send them to me when you do.”
“Of course,” he said and wandered off through the crowd.
My senses told me Yerik and Micah were finally coming with the rest of the nerou. Lorna must have noticed the same thing because she started calling for more backpacks to be brought off the buses
I came up beside her. “I just wanted to let you know your son is coming with Yerik.”
Her eyes misted. “I know. I can sense them together.”
“I hope you have a happy reunion,” I said and moved away to give her space.
A couple of nerou with healing abilities came to me. I directed them to the lead bus. Derrick had designated it as the one for those who would stay in Fairbanks. He helped them get settled so I could stay outside and receive the rest.
An unfamiliar female nephilim walked up to me. She had long brown hair and golden eyes. Her skin was deeply tanned and she had to be close to six feet tall.
“I want to thank you for doing this,” she said, voice genuine. “You risked a lot to bring our children back to us.”
It was hard to believe there was a time when most nephilim would have wanted to kill me—or at least I’d thought they would. Lucas had made it seem that way until we got past our enemy stage.
I smiled at her. “It’s worth it to see them finally where they belong.”
“Do you think you could help me find my daughter? I don’t…” Her voice caught in her throat. “I’m afraid I don’t know how to recognize her with so many here.”
It had to be embarrassing, admitting you didn’t know what your own daughter looked like. She must have worked up the courage first before asking me for help.
“Of course,” I reassured her. “Just tell me how old she’d be now.”
She took a deep breath. “My daughter was born one hundred and two years ago, plus three months and five days. When I saw her last, she some tufts of hair the same color as mine.”
There was a fragile hope in her eyes. I could only imagine all the thoughts racing through her head. Finally, she’d meet her daughter again, but how would she be received?
“Give me a moment.” I opened my senses, scanning for a nerou about her age.
There were only two within the proper age range and gender—my abilities didn’t get too specific once centuries were involved. I walked into the crowd, indicating the nephilim should follow me. The first girl had bright red hair so I kept going. Then I spotted one with brown hair and tanned skin just like her mother.
“That’s her.” I pointed. “That’s your daughter.”
The nephilim’s face lit up as soon as she saw who I’d found. Then she crushed me into a hug. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
In a flash of light, she was gone. She reappeared in front of the woman who’d be her daughter. I watched, eyes getting watery, as they met for the first time. It was awkward at first as they talked, but when I saw them embrace I knew everything would turn out alright.
“Are you Melena?” a male nerou asked.
“Yes.” I forced myself to look away from the reunion.
“I’m a healer. I was told to come to you.”
“Oh, right.” I guided him over to Derrick. “You’ll be going on that bus. Just talk to the big cranky-looking guy and he’ll get you settled.”
“That’s not as amusin’ as you think it is,” the alpha glared at me.
I shrugged. “Maybe not to you.”
Ivan walked up. “That’s all of them. There’s fifteen, not including myself.”
In other words, only about eight percent of the nerou had healing abilities. It was interesting to note. For future reference, if nothing else.
“Get on the bus. It’s warmer in there. If I need anything else I’ll come get you.”
“Thanks.” He headed off.
Derrick went in with him but came out a moment later and walked straight to me.
“Now I need you to find Zoe’s daughter,” he said, eyes hard.
I crossed my arms. “Why?”
“I’ll be taking charge of her.”
“Do you really think I’m going to let you punish an innocent woman?” I asked, giving him a disapproving look. “It’s not her fault she’s got an evil maniacal mother.”
An exasperated expression came over his face. “I ain’t gonna punish her. You should know me better than that. I just want to make sure she doesn’t turn out like her mother, take her under my wing.”
“Then you’re just playing into her plans. She wanted you to be a companion to her daughter,” I pointed out.