Page 64 of Devastation
"You boys are good for a woman's ego," she laughs in response.
"Hey! I don't need them to make me come visit you. I love you and will of course pop in to see you more once all of this is over," Lana defends.
Grammie walks the few steps to Lana and places a palm against Lana’s cheek, "Be careful my dear. I can't lose you again."
Lana brings her hand up to cover Grammie's as she swallows back the tears I see forming in her eyes.
"Any of you, for that matter!" Grammie amends her previous statement and turns her glare to all of us.
"Yes ma'am!" Hale responds, ever the polite one.
"Do you hear me?" Grammie fixes her stare on me, assumingly because I'm the only one who hasn't voiced my agreement.
"You have my word we will all fight with the goal to see you again," I vow, crossing my hand over my heart.
"Good. I expect to see grandbabies soon as well—" she's cut off as Lana shrieks, "Grammie!"
At first, all of us men look shocked to our core, but it only takes a few minutes to warm up to the idea.
"We would make cute kids," Luke admits while wagging his brows at Lana.
"Oh my goddess, we're leaving," she says, her cheeks flaming in a deep blush as she hurries to summon a portal back to the witch realm, clearly wanting to get away from this conversation pronto.
She drops a kiss to Grammie's cheek. "I love you, and I will see you soon."
Hale and I give the woman a hug and a kiss on the cheek before we head back. As I'm about to walk through the portal with only Lana remaining here with me, Grammie calls out, "Tell Ash I'm excited to meet him when all of this is over!"
The smile on Lana's face at Grammie’s words warms my heart as I grab her hand and ask, "Ready?"
She nods and we step into the portal together, ready to go to war.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Lana
My portal in the witch realm opens directly to the oak tree in front of Serenity's house, and I quickly glance to where we left Ash and Elizabeth. Relief crashes through me as I find them there, in the exact same position as when we left.
I thought we were quick in the fae realm, but sometimes it’s hard to track the passing of time when traveling through the realms.
I give Zedd's hand a squeeze and pull him toward Ash and Elizabeth,the rest of the guys following closely behind us. Letting go of Zedd’s hand, I approach the spirit guide and ask, "How's he doing?"
She gives him an appraising look before answering, "I have a suspicion he's getting exactly what he needs right now."
That's not vague or anything.
Confusion knits between my brows and I huff out eloquently, "Come again?"
She ignores me, looking over my shoulder and instructing, "Please come forward so I can check on your soul, child."
Fallen leaves crunch beneath Hale's feet as he walks past me and kneels in front of her. Without a word, she holds her hand out and he quickly places his hand in hers. Her eyes close, and she hums appreciatively. "You've done a tremendous job of protecting your soul. It shines so brightly now, with barely a trace of the darkness shrouding it."
I can't see Hale's face from this angle, but I have a suspicion he's grinning from ear to ear, because I know I am.
"Do you feel any of the lingering traces?" She asks while opening her eyes and focusing on his facial expressions now, clearly searching for any hesitation.
"I...I don't think so. But I don’t really know what to be looking for other than the whispers," he admits.
Once again, Elizabeth hums as she nods her head in acknowledgement. "You have tremendous mental strength to be able to hold so firmly to your light since being shadowkissed. To continue to deny their whispers and dark seduction is no easy feat."
