Page 117 of Savage Sacrifice
“Asher.”
“Silver,” he whispers, his eyebrows gathering as he repeats the motion of running his fingers through my hair.
“You’re okay?” I ask with bated breath, and he nods.
“I am.”
“Everyone else?”
“The Savages are okay, along with Minnie and Beatrice. We’re all here,” he promises, and a sob rips from my throat.
Without a word, he tucks me against his chest, rocking me gently as he comforts me.
I don’t know how long it takes for me to calm myself, but it’s not long before curiosity creeps to the surface. “The curse?”
His eyes widen, a smile on his lips as he lifts his gaze from mine. I follow his line of sight to find Minnie, Beatrice, and Tatum huddled together, while Wylder and Blaze stand side by side, but it’s the wolf looking at me that holds my attention.
My heart races as my breath catches. “Lincoln?” I breathe, and he inches closer. The second I extend my hand, he nuzzles me, making my heart complete. “We did it,” I say louder, projecting the truth out into the world to make it real.
“We did,” Asher confirms, and a fresh wave of tears prickle my eyes.
Lincoln shifts before me, returning to the man I know he is, naked and all.
“For fuck’s sake, Lincoln. My mother is here,” Blaze grunts, wiping a hand down his face, and Beatrice cackles.
“Honey, I’ve seen it all. I changed that boy’s diapers every time he?—”
“Please stop, Beatrice,” Lincoln grumbles, earning another ball of laughter as Wylder tosses a pair of boxer shorts and sweats at him.
Everyone gives him a moment to change, and the second he’s covered, hurried footsteps pound toward us. Rushing to my feet, Asher beside me, I stand defensively, ready for another attack, when Belladora appears on the sandy path, four men hot on her tail, Octantis and Jonah among them.
“Belladora.” Her name falls from my lips effortlessly as she smiles at me.
“Polaris.”
I’m in her arms a moment later, startled, but comforted. “My sister?” she asks, and I grimace.
“She’s gone. They’re all gone,” Asher grunts, taking the awkwardness away from me.
Her eyes fall closed for a moment, and I’m sure she’s going to be sad or mad, but when she reopens them, there’s relief and disbelief.
“You did it. You broke the curse.”
Slipping my hand into my pocket, I take out my coin, watching it shimmer under the sun, and The Savages follow suit. Wylder is the last, but everyone grins with pride when his coin matches the same color as ours.
The moment is disrupted a second later when it slips from my hand, twirling in the air along with the other five coins before they make their way to their original owners.
Belladora and her men remain speechless as they capture their returned gifts, disbelief crinkling their brows. But as five danced their way through the air to them, one goes off toward the treeline, dropping behind a fallen tree.
“What on Earth,” Minnie says, eyebrows gathering as she stares off at the fallen tree, but her confusion is quickly eliminated when a man stands.
Slow steps draw him closer, and it’s only when he’s out of the shade of the trees that he lifts his head, revealing who he is.
“Felix,” Belladora says with a gasp, her hands trembling as the man offers her a soft smile. She leaps through the air at him a second later, wrapping her arms around his neck as he holds her close, breathing her in. All while I gape at him.
It’s not just any man. His soft brown hair is swept back in waves off his face, and the sadness in his eyes…
“The Crow.”
