He waved me to silence. “They’s don’t likes to admit they be so damn critical. But it bees the truth. I thinks I can change that now.” He grinned at me and I bent to hug him.

No more words between us. There was no need. He turned, stepped through the door to Liam’s house, and was gone. Would I see him again? The question wandered through my head, but I had no answer. Things were changing so fast, I wasn’t sure what would shift next.

When we were able to tally the supernaturals left, I wasn’t sure I’d saved enough of us. Species had been nearly wiped out by the pox, and those remaining had fought with us, cutting their numbers further.

In some cases, like Eve and Marco, there was only a pair of each species left. Sas, as far as we knew, was the only ogre left.

Do you still wish to get the children from her? Ophelia asked me about a week after we’d closed the seventh Veil. I nodded slowly and scrubbed my hands over my face. To be honest, I’d lost my desire to wipe Sas from the face of the earth. “I think we have to at least see what the hell she’s up to. If she really is the last ogre, then we need to make sure she’s alive.”

“Agreed,” Liam said moving beside me. He knew me well enough not to fill in what I wasn’t saying. Though the pain of Blaz’s death still clung to me, the anger had faded. Unless Dox’s and the triplets’ children were in danger, I wouldn’t be taking them from their mother.

Even if she was a total bitch.

That didn’t mean we could just leave her out there alone. For Dox, I would check in on his child. With the nice weather, we’d stayed out on the farm, roughing it with tents and the barn as cover. Pamela stayed behind to see if she could track down any supernaturals that survived the pox. So far, she’d only found a handful, but she wasn’t deterred.

Gathering up Marcella and Zane, Liam and I packed for the trip to find Sas.

Ophelia flew the four of us to the West Coast. The trip was not rushed and we took our time, letting the babies play along the way at different stops.

Partway to our destination, I went for a solo flight with Ophelia, scouting out the area. At least, that was what I told her. “Ophelia, I saw Blaz on the other side.”

Her wings slowed and she stilled under me as if we weren’t hovering far above the ground.

You did?

This was something I hadn’t spoken about to anyone, not even Liam. I would perhaps one day, but not yet. I opened myself up to her, and let her see my memories. Let her see those who’d passed so they could fight for me on the other side of the Veil.

Let her see Blaz’s face as he’d spoken to me. “Tell Ophelia I love her.”

The dragon below me let out a cry of pain, and yet there was a flood of joy as well. To be loved, even to lose it, was a blessing I knew all too well. I pressed my hands against her, tears trickling down my face. Shit, I’d cried more in the last week then I’d probably cried my whole life.

Thank you, Rylee. You are right. Love is a blessing that can help us face the darkest hours of our lives. Your love and the bond between us has healed the madness that was eating at me. And Blaz’s love . . . it will buoy me when I feel like sinking.

We spoke no more of Blaz, but I knew we’d have another trip to make soon enough. There was the clutch of eggs Ophelia had hidden away from the demons.

Reaching Mount Hood, Ophelia circled the green spot that Lark created, and through our bond, I could easily feel her heartache. This was the spot we’d lost Blaz, and she was seeing his grave for the first time.

She winged down slowly, landing on the edge of the blooming trees. Marcella was strapped to my chest in a baby carrier, and Zane was strapped to Liam’s back in another. We slid off the dragon and landed lightly. Liam lifted his head and took in a long breath.

“Something is dead in there. Hours at most.”

Well shit, that couldn’t be good. I unbuckled Marcella from my back and put her on the ground at Ophelia’s feet with a couple of toys. Liam followed suit, putting Zane close to Marcella. The two screeched as they fought over a toy they both wanted.

“‘Phelia, you know what to do if it goes sideways.”

Of course. The babies will come first.

Liam and I pulled our weapons and crept into the trees. I tried not to put too much stock into the fact Liam had kept Faris’s cutlass. Perhaps it was a way to honor the vampire’s sacrifice.

My thoughts scattered as we pushed through a tall section of brush. At the edge of a clear pool, Sas lay on her side with her back to us, her violet skin from her back gone. Arrows fletched with demon insignias had been driven through her spine in several places

Liam took a long deep breath. “Witches did this. They tried to make it look like a demon hit, though.”

A healthy squall of a child had me running toward Sas before I thought better of it.

In the crook of her curved body lay three ogre babies. Two violet and one the exact shade of Dox’s blue. I bent and scooped up the blue ogre babe and Liam caught up the other two. Smiling, he shook his head. “Looks like you aren’t done collecting lost souls, my love.”

I rocked the boy in my arms. “Apparently not.”

We left Sas to rot, not bothering to bury her. Considering all she’d done, it was a fairly light penance. Wrapping the tiny boys (tiny being a relative term since they were already the size of Marcella and Zane, who had eight and nine months on them, respectively) into blankets, Ophelia took us into the closest city and dropped us off. Juggling five babies, I let Liam do all the shopping. He brought back a minivan filled with baby seats.