“You beat me here,” I said. “Got to have all the fun before I could, eh?”
Zane smiled and shook his head, but Juniper came closer. The bruises on her were even worse than I thought, furious purple blossoms across her skin. She looked me over cautiously, her eyes narrowed with suspicion, but she didn’t raise the weapon again.
“Where’s Raelynn?” she said.
“Close by,” I said. “Hidden. She’s safe.”
She nodded. “We left no one alive. The Hadleigh family is gone. The Libiri are gone.”
The leaping flames had died down now, but the ashes still smoldered. “Jeremiah, too?”
“He died like a coward,” she said. “You would have loved to see it.”
“I would have loved to do it.”
She laughed, and slung the strap of her shotgun over her shoulder. “I sold my soul for revenge. It was mine to take. But it’s over.” She glanced back toward the house, the reflection of the flames making her eyes almost as golden as mine. “It’s over.”
Faintly, the distant wail of sirens began. Zane came up, and tugged lightly at a few strands of her hair. “We should go. This place will be swarming with people soon.”
She nodded, turned as if to leave, then suddenly turned back and held out her hand. It took me a moment to realize it was a handshake. Strange human comradery thing. As I took her hand, she said, “I forgive you. I really hate to say that, but I do.”
I’d never really cared about forgiveness. It was only meant to ease guilt and bring closure. But as they left, and the sirens grew louder, I took one last look at the smoldering ruins and realized that I needed closure.
I needed to know that all this was finally over.
We only had a little time.
Rae was still sleeping as I carried her through what remained of the house. The flames were almost entirely out now, leaving only the charred skeleton of the house behind. There were several bodies I came across, but I didn’t care about them. There was only one I was looking for.
When I found Jeremiah, he never would have been recognizable to human eyes. He was just a blackened husk, lying among the splintered glass and burnt wooden beams. But I knew him. Even dead and burned, I felt hatred looking at him.
It really was over. Nothing remained but ashes.
Rae squirmed a little in my arms as I made my way back out through the rubble, her eyes blinking slowly open. I felt her stiffen as she looked around, and I said softly, “Don’t be afraid, baby girl. You’re safe.”
“Where are we?” She tried to turned her head to look around. She was missing her shoes, so I wasn’t about to set her down.
“The Hadleigh house.”
“Did you do this? You burned it? How long was I asleep?” Her voice was deeper when she was sleepy, and a little raspy. It was so damn cute.
I almost lied. I almost told her that I did burn it, that I killed Jeremiah, that I made him pay for what he’d done, that I’d taken vengeance for her. But I couldn’t lie to her, even though I felt as if I’d failed her somehow.
“I didn’t do it. Juniper and Zane got here first. She got her revenge.” I could see flashing lights on the road. The fire trucks had arrived. I quickened my pace, jumped down from the back of the house and slipped away into the trees. Rae’s eyes were on me the whole time, watching my face even though it must have been a blur to her without her glasses.
“And Jeremiah?” she whispered. There was fear in her words, and it made anger boil up inside me. She didn’t deserve to feel afraid. I wished I could kill her fear. I wished I could rip it apart and burn its remains.
“He’s dead, baby girl. I wish I could say I’d done it, but they got to him first.”
The rain had slowed to a drizzle, dripping slowly down through the trees. I paused under the shelter of a thick pine, and let Raelynn stand on her feet for a few moments. She was wobbly, and leaned against me for support, her arms wrapped tightly around my chest. Feelings of comfort were relatively foreign to me, but holding her as she clung to me was easily the most comfortable thing I could imagine.
“I’m glad you didn’t have to do it,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “You’ve already had to kill enough. I know you’re tired.” She pressed her face against me again. “You deserve some rest.”
I frowned. “You think so?”
“Mmhm.” She reached her arms up, around my neck, and I scooped her up again. Through her yawn, she said, “I wanna go home and sleep. We can sleep for days, like you did before…and you don’t have to be angry anymore, because Jeremiah is gone and Kent is gone, and…” Another yawn. She was going to pass out again at any second. “We’re safe now. We’re both safe.”