I shake my head as I back up from him.
“I’m so sorry, Clarissa,” Lord Wesley says.
“No, he’s not. He was strong,” I say.
“What’s going on?” Sebastian asks.
I turn around in his grasp, and he wraps his arms around me. I sob into his chest, mourning the loss of Kyle. Lord Wesley’s words drip heatedly over my ears, and my heart breaks for the man Kyle could have been.
“After the battle, the Council was re-appointed. That’s why I left last week. To sneak in and see what their agenda was. They don’t know I’m alive, and I prefer to keep it that way. But while I was there, Joel and the villagers led a raid against the building. Their weapons cut through every Primal like nothing I’ve ever seen. And they didn’t hesitate to kill Kyle.”
“No,” I sob.
“Sssshhh,” Sebastian shushes. “He loved you to the end.”
“Why would they do that?” Vlad asks. “Was this new Council already doing something wrong?”
“To them, it doesn't matter. Anger is blinding to humans. It transforms Primals and we have the ability to control it, but it rages humans out of control.”
“How many did they kill?” Theo asks.
“Everyone in the building. And I don’t know if they’re done. Their leader, Joel, was filled with a rage I’ve never seen in any human before,” Wesley says.
“What are we going to do?” I ask.
“What do you mean?” Sebastian asks. “We’re safe here. Right?”
“Yes,” Vlad says. “We’re all safe here. I wouldn’t keep us here if we weren’t.”
“This village is concealed. Camouflaged. They’ll never find us if that is even their intent.”
“When will we be safe?” I ask. “When will our daughter be safe?”
Sebastian pulls me out from his body and tilts my gaze up to his. I can feel Theo’s arms slip around my waist as Toshi and Vlad each take one of my hands. Lord Wesley wraps around and is gazing at me from over Sebastian’s shoulder, but I can feel others moving. Surrounding me. Guarding us and watching. Their stances are protective, and their noses are turning out toward the horizon. Over the village wall as their eyes watch beyond the borders of the city that has welcomed us so fully and so unconditionally.
“Do you see them?” Lord Wesley asks.
I look around and take in the thousands of Primals emerging from their homes. Their rooms. Their restaurants and their massages. Their hair appointments and their dentists and their financial institutions.
“They will have to come through all of us before they get to you,” Lord Wesley says. “This is your home, and here? We protect our family.”
Tears drip down my cheeks as I hold out my arms for my men.
I don’t know if this world will ever change. I don’t know if humans will ever accept us or if we will ever be able to live freely among them again. But what I do know is this: so long as I have the men I love with me in this village in the middle of the frozen tundra, my daughter will never know the bloodshed I know. She will never know the heartache I feel. She will never experience war like I’ve participated in.
She will only know the love that drips from my bones as I hold onto Vlad, Toshi, Theo, and Sebastian will all my might.
“Come on,” Vlad says into my ear. “Let’s get you some food.”
And I beckon for Lord Wesley to join us.
THE END