Page 60 of Alice and Her Shifters (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 2)

She struggled to stand again as I crouched beside her. I watched her struggle for several moments. I felt nothing but pity for the woman.

“What are you staring at?” she gasped out. She tried to shake the fear that filled her eyes, but it was no use.

“I pity you. Whatever happened to you that made you this twisted and callous is beyond me. Regardless, you will live out the rest of your days behind bars,” I said. “Where you will have plenty of time to rethink your life choices.”

“You’re better off killing me,” she said.

I shrugged. “Maybe. But that would be giving you mercy when you have shown none yourself.”

She started to scream profanities and threats. I ignored her and stood from the ground, turning and facing the men and women who had chosen to follow her. “The same goes for each of you. In time, with good behavior and penance, you’ll have the opportunity to prove yourselves and be free.”

One of the men charged forward. Milo stepped in and snapped his neck. He met my gaze and nodded once. I frowned.

“There will be no more killing!” I announced. “Enough lives have been lost, and enough blood has been shed. Enough is enough!”

I turned toward Calvin and Aidan. “See to it that these men and women make it safely to a cell. I’ll escort Camelia myself. Milo, come with me.”

I picked her up and led her back down the stairs to the cells. With Milo’s guidance, I ensured there was no way out. I also took her rings and amulets, so that she had no way of using her power and escaping from her imprisonment. Though Milo had betrayed me, he knew more about magic than I did and relied on his knowledge to ensure the woman he desperately wanted me to kill had no way to escape.

As I closed the door to her cell and locked it, I settled my attention on her. “I hope that one day you will understand the errors of your ways.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” she said.

I frowned. “Suit yourself.”

Milo and I left her on her own and returned to the foyer. Several of the men in black worked on cleaning up the mess that was made. Calvin rushed to me, pulling me into his arms.

“I’m so glad you are okay,” he said.

“I’m happy you are all okay as well,” I said and faced Jasper and King. “Thank you for your help. I’m grateful and will do whatever it takes to repay you for everything.”

They both nodded. King said, “I owed him a favor. No repayment necessary.”

“Speak for yourself,” Jasper said and chuckled.

I met Aidan with a hug and then turned to face Milo. “I’m grateful you both made it through the fight, relatively unscathed.”

“You are?” Milo asked.

I nodded. I still cared about him. Though I questioned my sanity on that one. In the end, he pulled through. I had to give him credit for that. However, that in no way made up for the betrayal. “Don’t let it get to your head. I still don’t trust you.”

“Of course, Alice,” he said and went to help clean up.

I let out a deep breath. Soon I would be home, and this nightmare could finally be behind me.

24

AIDAN

Later on, that night, we sat in a sitting room, in front of the fireplace, within Camelia’s estate. It had been a few hours since the fight, but I still felt on edge. I sucked in a breath, letting it out in a sigh. Everything had happened so quickly. The fight was a deadly one. I nursed a few bruises of my own, not to mention a broken rib. I almost considered how everything ended too easily. But so far, there was nothing to support the feeling.

That didn’t mean my nerves weren’t still on edge though. Perhaps the reason was simply because, now that our goal was accomplished for the most part, Allison would be going home. I didn’t want to say goodbye to her.

But we weren’t at a total loss. We celebrated our victory by sitting around the room together. Even Calvin’s friends decided to stay a little while longer. It seemed to make Calvin happy reconnecting with them. I was unsure about what had separated them for so long, but Calvin was the most relaxed I had seen him. So little allowed him to smile, yet he had done more of the tiny action today than in the entire time I had accompanied him. Though Allison was most certainly one of the things that made him smile, his old friends were another. They were like family to him. That much was easy to see.

And I believed as though I had found a brother in him, too. He deserved what happiness he was able to get. Even if King and Jasper had only decided to stay long enough to make sure there was no immediate retaliation. I was sure Calvin was grateful for what time he could get with them.

There was so much to do still, and with Allison leaving soon the most important thing to accomplish was finding someone to leave in charge of things.

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