Page 50 of Cursed
He thanked Caden and Nash and waved goodbye as they headed back to help with the cleanup.
Seth held Evan’s hand tightly as they followed Pax and Tony into the RV.
“We have food,” Evan told him. “There wasn’t much we could do once the drone and audio feed went down, so we cooked. Except I told Tony I couldn’t eat until I knew you were safe. So now I’m starving.”
Seth stopped in the kitchen and took Evan by the shoulders, peering at him intently. “Are you really okay? Is Vernon’s spell gone?”
Evan nodded. “Yeah. I felt it break and knew it was done. It was like feeling a curtain lift. Whatever you did, thank you.”
Tony and Pax were talking in low tones as Tony checked his partner for injuries.
Seth’s stomach rumbled, and he realized that after cheating death all afternoon, he was actually hungry.
“What about Tristan and Kinsley? And Teag and Rowan? Is everyone safe?” Evan asked, and Seth realized how hard it must have been for Evan to wait for a report when he was used to being in the thick of the action.
“Everyone on our side is okay except for some minor injuries,” Seth reported. “Rowan and Teag checked us over before they let us come home. Nash took care of the anchor and the monster meat restaurant, and that helped to turn the fight for us. Tristan sicced the ghosts on the bad guys. Vernon and a bunch of his coven are dead. The others are being taken by the Alliance to be dealt with.”
“It figures that I was knocked out for most of it, so while I’m glad I wasn’t utterly terrified, I don’t have a great story to tell,” Pax said.
Tony slipped an arm around his shoulders. “You came back alive. That’s the only story I need to hear.”
“You both look pretty banged up,” Evan said. “Which do you want first—food or first aid?”
“We should probably get fixed up first,” Seth replied. “Although I’m suddenly starving, and Pax hasn’t eaten for a while, either.”
“We’ll get you taken care of,” Tony assured. “I took a First Aid class in school.”
“I took one because it was helpful to know as a bartender.” Evan reached for the RV’s kit, which had been supplemented for more serious and supernatural injuries. “You’re in good hands.”
Evan and Tony cleaned their wounds and applied antibiotic cream and a special mixture that negated residual magic. Evan’s hands shook, telling Seth just how much his partner had been worried.
“There. All better,” Tony said with a strained smile as he placed a kiss on Pax’s bandaged wrists. “Now let’s get you both fed.”
Evan and Tony laid out a spread of cookies, snacks, sandwiches, and sodas on the kitchen table, urging Pax and Seth to sit on the couch and then taking seats in the other chairs.
“Tell us everything,” Evan urged.
Seth detailed how Kinsley’s witches and helpers held off outside interference, along with Caden’s ex-military friends. He told them as much as he knew about the role Nash and the ghosts had played in destroying the anchor, and how Tristan was essential at the turpentine plant for the fight with Vernon. Seth downplayed the narrow escapes he had inside the plant. Evan gave him a look that suggested he suspected as much. Instead, he focused on Teag and Rowan’s help and gave an abbreviated and somewhat tamer version of the battle.
It’s over and we’re safe. What might have happened doesn’t matter.
“Vernon’s really dead?” Pax asked as if he doubted the witch-disciple could die.
“Very, very dead,” Seth confirmed. “Got pulled through a rift. Rowan, Teag, and Kinsley said they would see to magically decontaminating the area. Teag had connections to a cleanup team who could get rid of the evidence and deal with Vernon’s helpers who survived. Kinsley is also making sure the wounded get treated.
“Caden’s buddies have plausible deniability since they didn’t see any of the coven members get killed,” Seth continued, “but they have a story explaining why they showed up at the old plant and disrupted a drug deal gone wrong. Caden used a ‘disposable’ gun and was going to make sure none of the spent shells were left.”
“It’s over?” Pax sounded hesitant and hopeful. Tony squeezed his hand.
“For Savannah. There are still four more of Gremory’s original witch-disciples in various cities, but that’s a fight for another day,” Seth replied.
He didn’t mention the question he and Evan debated about whether Gremory could siphon power from the disciples he pulled through the rift, and if that might pose a problem in the future. Seth decided he could only handle one potentially world-ending crisis at a time.
Now that the adrenaline had faded, Seth felt every bruise and pulled muscle from the fight, as well as the aftermath of working the spell and channeling that power. Food and coffee helped, but he knew that he would need to crash before too long.
“Thank you,” Pax said again, and Tony echoed his words. “I’d have been a goner without you and everyone you brought to the party. I can’t believe that you two go looking for those disciples. Once in a lifetime is more than enough for me.”
Evan snuggled closer to Seth, and Seth felt a pang of familiar pain. “I promised my little brother,” Seth said. “And I mean to make good on that promise.”
