Morrigan walked forward and laid a hand on Skyla’s shoulder. “What are you doing up here, sweetie? You should be in bed.”
“Something’s happened,” Skyla answered.
Quin looked away from Layla and searched his cousin’s aura.
“I volunteered to tell you,” Skyla went on, “because I wanted to check on Layla.”
“What’s happened, dear?” Serafin urged.
“Agro was in the community tonight.”
Everyone straightened and stepped closer.
“No one was there,” Skyla quickly assured. “And Agro isn’t there anymore, but he left more than fifty dead soldiers behind.”
She reached for the doorjamb, and Caitrin quickly summoned a chair. “Sit down, sweetheart, and start from the beginning. How do you know all this?”
“Grandpa Cat called,” she answered, letting Caitrin usher her into the seat, “about five minutes ago. When he got back to the community after helping you guys find Layla, it was a mess. There are dead bodies everywhere…” she paused, squeezing her eye shut on tears. “And a good chunk of Grandpa Lann’s house burned down. A few other houses were damaged, but not as badly, just busted windows and structural damage to the porches. Some of the trees bore evidence of fire, but the flames had been extinguished by the time Grandpa Cat got there. He said it looks like all the homes were searched, including Layla’s, and most of the pets on the lawn were rendered unconscious. Two of them…” Her chest shuddered as her lungs yanked in air. “Two of them didn’t make it.”
Morrigan sat on the arm of the chair and cradled Skyla’s shoulders. “Which ones, sweetie?”
Skyla wiped away a tear then looked across the room. “I’m sorry, Aunt Cordelia.”
Cordelia furrowed her eyebrows. Then realization hit and she quietly gasped. “Oh. Both of them?”
Skyla nodded, and Kemble took Cordelia under his arm.
“It’s okay,” she assured, wiping away blossoming tears. “Everyone in the family is safe. That’s what matters.”
“But for how long?” Skyla whispered.
Quin flipped his gaze to the bed, making sure Layla hadn’t roused from sleep long enough to hear the guilt-inducing comment.
“We’re always brainstorming solutions,” Caitrin replied, pulling Skyla into a hug. “We’ll do everything in our power to keep our family safe, which is why we emptied the community tonight, and it’s a good thing we did.”
“I guess,” she breathed. “So Layla’s okay?”
“She’ll be fine. She just needs rest and healing. Why don’t you go give your grandpa a call for me? Tell Cat we’ll head that way soon to help with the mess.”
Skyla leaned back and shook her head. “That’s not why I came. Grandpa Cat didn’t say you needed to come home.”
“He wouldn’t, would he?” Caitrin returned, smiling down at her.
“But Layla,” she objected. “She needs you.”
“There’s not much more we can do until she wakes up,” Serafin noted.
“Besides,” Daleen added, “we take care of all our members, not just one. What’s happening at home is a big deal and hard on everyone. We can help out while Layla sleeps, then return when she wakes.”
“She won’t be in pain?” Skyla pressed, peeking at the bed.
Quin could tell she didn’t really want to see, and he couldn’t blame her.
“No,” Serafin assured. “I’ll make sure she can’t feel a thing.”
“Okay,” Skyla agreed. “I’ll go call Grandpa Cat.” She crossed the room and hugged Cordelia. Then she let Caitrin and Morrigan walk her to the door.
Quin waited for her to leave the room then looked at Serafin. “How can you be sure Layla won’t be in pain?”
“I’ll numb her,” Serafin answered. “From head to toe. It’s our only option. We can’t leave Agro’s mess for a handful of people to clean up, and it’s unsafe for our relocated members to offer aid in the matter. We also need to do what we can to evaluate and replace what Lann and Rhiannon lost in the fire.” He moved to the bed and floated over it, starting the numbing process at the tip of Layla’s toes. “If she wakes up before we get back, make sure she stays immobile or the spells will break. Keep her calm and still, and give us a call. We’ll return right away. Come here; let me show you how to do this in case she breaks one of my spells.”
Quin memorized Serafin’s process. Then he walked the golden group to the door and said a somber goodbye.
“Call if she wakes up,” Serafin repeated.
“In the meantime,” Caitrin added, “you could try to sleep. Several of our members are staying on the first floor and will alert you of trouble.”
Quin had no intention of heeding the advice, so he didn’t reply. He just leaned in for the kiss his mom placed on his cheek. Then he shut everyone out and locked the door.
He returned to the bedroom and walked to the nightstand, watching Layla breathe as he took a drink of water. After setting the glass aside, he floated to the spot beside her and carefully settled his weight on the bed. He reached up, pausing with his fingertips an inch from her bruised lips. Then he slowly closed the distance and touched the sensitive flesh, healing the dry and damaged cells.
Once her lips were back to their beautiful color, shape and size, he removed his fingers and scooted closer, pulling her scent into his lungs. He could smell Finley on her, which boiled his blood, but he’d breathe the bastard’s scent all day if that was the price to breathe hers.
“You’ll be the death of me,” he whispered, but that was only true because she was his life, and because her existence was so fragile. Should death claim her, the beast would also get the air from Quin’s lungs and the heart from his chest.
Chapter 18
Layla’s foggy brain slowly came to, and her heavy eyelids laboriously followed.
Oh my
. She must have died and gone to heaven.
The last thing she remembered was burning agony as she plummeted toward earth, but now she was lying on something soft, the pain was gone, and she was staring into Quin's dark eyes.
Yes, she must be in heaven. Or a really good dream. Whatever the case, she never wanted it to end. It was perfect… almost, if only her hero wasn’t wearing a tortured expression. With childlike determination, she wanted to fix it.
Keeping her gaze on his face – its strained curves and godlike beauty – she tried to raise her hand, but it was like moving it through thick gel instead of air. She was persistent, and after a few tenacious seconds, her fingertips found his chin.
He gently took her hand and moved her fingers to his lips, giving them a soft kiss.
Her heart sighed, and she tested the use of her left hand, finding it a little easier to move. Her forefinger reached the deep creases of his furrowed brow then slid down his nose to his tight jaw.
He moved her hand from his lips to his cheek, and his gaze grew shiny as he lowered his face closer to hers. He intently searched her eyes, boring deeper than their color. Then his throat flexed as he blinked back moisture. “Layla Love.”
She sighed, smiling inside and out as his voice fluttered her heart. “Quin. I had no idea heaven would customize my eternal home with the man of my dreams. They should tell girls that in Sunday School.”
He continued to stare into her eyes as he tried to smile, but he ended up swallowing the attempt. “You're not in heaven, my beautiful angel.”
He lightly brushed a thumb across her lips, and she ran her tongue behind it, searching for his taste. “Is it a dream? I thought it might be.”
“No, love, you're not dreaming.”
“I'm not?”
“No. You're one hundred percent alive and awake.”
Oh shit. If this was real life, it was full of pain and terror. Her heart rate spiked, and if her body hadn’t felt like a blob of jelly, she would have tensed.
Quin laid a hand on her chest and lowered his lips to hers. “It's okay, Layla. Everything's okay.”
“But the others. What happened to the others? Everyone was hit… and your dad, Quin. Oh my god, your dad was thrown . . . ”
“Everyone's fine,” Quin insisted. “My dad's fine. None of us were seriously injured.”
“But I saw it. You were hit and on the ground.”
“Yes, but we got back up.”
Layla couldn't find comfort in his claim and tried to recall her last moments of consciousness. How had she gotten away from Finley? Finley! Her eyes grew wide as her heart thumped harder. “Where is he?” She tried to look around, like she might find him standing beside the bed staring at her.
“He's gone,” Quin answered, his voice thick and quiet. “He'll never touch you again.”
“He burst into flames,” she remembered.
“Yes,” Quin confirmed.
“But how? Were they yours?”
“Yes, and I’m sorry it came down to that. I shouldn’t have let it. Vengeance impaired my judgment.”
She stopped struggling to move and looked into his eyes. Then she burst into tears and grasped his cheeks, covering his face in desperate kisses. “Oh god, Quin… I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry I left you.”
He let her have her way with his face for a moment. Then he halted her kisses and found her eyes. “You didn't leave me, Layla. You were taken from me.”
“But you asked me to stay and I didn't.”
“Listen to me, love. This wasn’t your fault.”
“You asked me to wait,” she squeaked, recalling his simple request and her inconsiderate denial.
“Neither of us knew what was coming,” he countered. “If we had, I wouldn't have stayed in the shower, and you wouldn't have left the bathroom. But we can't change that now, and I don't want you blaming yourself. You've been through enough torture to last a dozen lifetimes. Please don't torture yourself further.”
She couldn't stem her emotions or the tears. “I thought that was the last time I’d see you. I kept thinking about the last time I looked at you and the last words we said to each other, and it killed me to think about it, because I was so afraid my thoughts were all I had left.”
“Me, too, love. I've never been so scared in my life, and I never want to feel that way again.” He softly kissed her lips then whispered against them. “But you're safe now, and you need to calm down or you're going to hurt yourself.”
She tried to take a calming breath, but she ended up holding it as a new wave of emotions crashed over her. “I was so scared.” She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to erase the memory of Finley's opalescent gaze. “I thought I was going to die. I thought I was going to have to kill myself. I almost killed myself.”
Quin's face flexed as he wiped a tear from her temple. “I should have gotten there sooner.”
“You got there just in time,” she whispered, recalling the moment his blazing aura descended behind Finley. “I was a second away from ending it when I saw you.”
“It shouldn’t have gotten to that point, and I'm sorry it did.”
The oxygen flowed easier now, but the tears wouldn't stop as she stared at his face. It was magnificent, and she couldn't believe she almost lost it. “I can’t believe you found me, Quin. I thought it was hopeless. How did you do it?”
“You. You were amazing, Layla. I heard your calls and followed them.”
Her tears stopped flowing as she furrowed her eyebrows. “You heard me?”
“Several times.”
“But… why didn't you answer? I called for you, but you didn’t answer.”
“I tried, Layla. I swear. I’ve never tried so hard to get a message across, but I wasn't strong enough.”
“He shielded my mind,” she recalled. “How did you know where to go?”
“I didn't. Most the time I traveled on guesswork, but then I heard you again…” He closed his eyes and swept the tip of his nose across hers. “You were so scared, Layla. You told me you loved me, and your voice was frightened and final. I thought you'd died and it almost killed me.”
She searched for the moment he was referring to and was greeted by Finley’s wicked voice and rough touch. “I got away from him. I burned him and he dropped me, but I couldn't fly. I thought I was going to hit the ground, but… he caught me. I didn't want him to. I wanted to die. He was so angry. But you heard me, and that makes it worth it.”
“You did well, love. Without your voice to guide me, I might have gone in the wrong direction.”
“It seemed hopeless,” she whispered, gripping his cheeks tighter. “So I tried to make him kill me. Then I tried to kill myself. But now that I'm looking at you, I'm so glad he didn't. I can’t tell you how good it feels to look at you and touch you.”
“I'm sorry you went through that, angel, and I'm thankful you made it through. I never want to face your death. It will be my own.”
Her chest shuddered, sending a choppy breath into his mouth, and a few more tears ran from the corners of her eyes. She needed his arms around her. She needed her heaven. “Hold me,” she shamelessly demanded.
He leaned back and sadly met her stare. “I can't. It will hurt you.”
“I don't care. Please.”
His hand moved from her chest to his own, gripping the flesh over his heart. “I want to, love. I want it more than I’ve ever wanted anything, but I can't hurt you like that. Please don't ask me to.”
“I can't feel anything,” she insisted. “I'm fine.” She took a deep breath and propelled her lazy body onto her side, and she immediately regretted it. The numbness fell away, and she screamed while rolling into a ball.