by Jessica Roe
No matter how hard she searched, he just wasn't there.
“Gable?” She turned at the sound of Hue's voice. He stood from the Outcast he'd been tending to, moving over and placing a gentle hand on her elbow. Pity was etched into every line of his handsome face. His hand slid up to push a strand of sweaty hair away from her face and then landed on her shoulder, squeezing comfortingly. “You know I hate to say this, but God, someone has to. Is it. . . Is it possible your friend didn't make it?” He shook his head, and she could see that his eyes were bloodshot with tears he had yet to shed. Tears for all the death and destruction around them. But he wouldn't cry. Not now, at least. He was being strong for the Outcasts. The tears would probably come later. “There's so much carnage, Gable. So many people didn't make it. It's just. . . I'm so sorry.”
Hue truly believed that Sacha was gone, that if Gable hadn't found him by now then it was already too late. Her heart collapsed in on itself just like the buildings around them. She would always be the last to give up hope on Sacha. Always.
Unable to form words, she slid away from him, swiping at the dampness on her cheeks. She hadn't even realized she'd been crying – clearly her body was losing hope, even if her heart wasn't ready to just yet.
Turning, she continued to move. The further she got, the thinner the crowd became. She pulled her dagger out anyway just in case a stray guard tried to attack, wishing she hadn't tossed her gun away earlier.
“Sacha,” she called out with a hoarse voice, though the sounds of crying and celebrations were too loud. He probably wouldn't be able to hear her, even with his wolf hearing. “Sacha!”
She sobbed helplessly, scrubbing her hands across her face. Suddenly she felt so. . .hopeless. It had finally happened. There was no hope left inside her.
They'd all been right. Everyone who'd ever told her she would never get Sacha back had been right. Pablo, Terelle, Zebb. Hell, even Nicky and Hue just now. She'd never been destined to get him back, and now she would just. . .cease to exist. Because what was the point of her without him?
Losing hope. . .it left her feeling weightless and empty. She'd come all this way, had done unspeakable things, had consorted with the very worst of people and the very best, only to lose him at the last possible moment. To never get him back. Fate really was that cruel, especially to people with pasts like hers. This was her punishment for every bad thing she'd ever done for Pablo. And how could she blame the universe? She deserved to be punished. But not like this. . . God, not like this.
Far ahead of her, a fireball whizzed out through the large electric fence she'd noticed earlier, the one that looked like a large pen. Surprised shrieks came from the Outcasts nearby, and if it wasn't for them she might not have even bothered to look up and see it.
She froze.
Her heart slowed.
It slowed.
It slowed.
It stopped.
It started.
It raced.
He was there.
Staggering through the melted remains of the fence, Sacha suddenly stopped and lifted his nose in the air.
Gable knew the second the wolf in him caught her scent. His head whipped around until his gaze landed on her, somehow finding her amidst the masses. Desire, excitement, hope and anguish all froze his body. He mouthed her name, the color draining from his face.
A garbled, breathless sob came from the back of Gable's throat and her entire body went cold. In contrast, the hot tears almost stung as they streamed down her face, but this time she didn't bother to wipe them away. Her heart galloped so fast beneath her ribs that she could hear nothing but its beat in her ears. Everything in her went numb, right down to the very ends of her fingertips.
Everything and everyone else in the entire faerie world and every other freaking world and her whole life disappeared but him. Her dagger dropped to the grass, forgotten, and finally she found her legs and remembered how to move. She half ran, half limped towards him, faster than she should have been able to in her beaten state. Adrenaline coursed through her veins – the only thing keeping her from falling down.
“Sacha!”
He made a move towards her, then stopped, shaking his head and pulling back as she drew close. “Don't touch me!” he yelled, holding up his hands in front of him as a warning. “If you touch me I'll wake up. I don't want to wake up this time.”
He thought he was dreaming again.
Sacha looked unstable, both physically and mentally. His time being held had clearly taken its toll on him, but Gable barely noticed that. She barely noticed the claws or the fangs or the wolf ears poking out of his scruffy dark hair, or even the patches of fur growing sporadically on his thick forearms. She barely noticed the bits of wolf coming out in him. He was just Sacha. He was her Sacha.
He was real.
She opened her mouth, trying to form words but completely unable to do so. There were too many emotions draining any sense from her. Instead, she reached up on her tiptoes and pushed his hands aside, cradling his cheeks in her palms and holding onto him like she'd never, ever let him go again. She wouldn't, she vowed. She'd never let him go, not again. Because she had him back. Despite all the odds stacked against them, they were back together again and nothing in the whole world mattered more than that. She wasn't sure anything would ever matter again.
Sacha gasped as he felt her skin on his, and his eyes closed in sheer ecstasy.
“It's not a dream,” Gable finally managed to whisper. “I'm here. This is real. You're safe now.”
A choked, relived sound came from his throat and his face crumpled. “You're real,” he murmured. All the energy seemed to leave him as he dropped to his knees before her. He wrapped his arms around her waist so tightly she almost couldn't breathe and he pressed his forehead against her ribs. “I thought I'd never see you again.”
Nodding through her tears, Gable stroked his hair, then dropped next to him and pulled his forehead down to rest against hers. His hands touched her all over – her face, her arms and shoulders, her hair, her hands – like he wanted to memorize every inch of her.
Gable didn't care that she was a complete and utter mess. Didn't care that her fingers were broken and her ankle twisted and that she was covered in wounds and bruises. Didn't care that she was coated in dirt and grime and her blood and the blood of others. Didn't care that her hair was tangled and that there wasn't an inch of her that didn't ache.
She had him. Really and truly had him, and this time it was no dream.
“You're not a dream,” Sacha muttered as his eyes devoured every inch of her face.
“No.”
Their tears mingled, marking streaks down their dirt covered faces. They were happy tears, heartbroken tears, tears of joy and tears of lost time.
“Gable,” he uttered, and it was the sweetest sound she'd heard in her whole life. Lifting unsteady hands to grip her shoulders, he squeezed. He seemed to have forgotten his wolf strength and his grip hurt, but Gable didn't say a word. She worried that the second he stopped touching her, he would disappear all over again. “Oh God, Gable. It isn't a dream!”
“It isn't a dream,” she repeated tearfully.
“I went out to get breakfast,” he said, referring to the day he'd gone missing just over a year ago, and he sounded so broken.
She pulled back and looked into his eyes. Those clear, beautiful blue eyes, like the sky at noon. They were duller than she could ever remember, but he was still him. He was still Sacha – he was just buried in there somewhere.
He yanked her back into his arms and held her so, so tight, his chest heaving for air as he started to panic. “Don't leave me,” he begged.
“Never,” she vowed, pressing her face into his warm, familiar neck, damp with sweat. “I'll never leave you. Not ever.”
One of his large hands came up to cup the back of her head, his fingers lacing through her tangled hair. His claws dug into her scalp but she barely felt the pain. “I missed you so much,” he mumbled
into her cheek. “Everything about you.” He pulled her even tighter. “I love you so much. I don't think I'll ever be able to let go of you.”
She nodded through a sob, squeezing him with her arms. “I've got you,” she promised. “I've got you.”
Chapter 33
Fortune
They almost hadn't made it out of the building alive. They'd been so, so close to being crushed that Fortune's heart was still racing uncomfortably fast in his chest, his breaths were still coming out labored and painful. Luckily he'd managed to blast the rubble away from their heads as it had fallen, and they'd made it out with a second to spare.
God, it had been close.
Then one more blast through that accursed electric fence and they were. . .free. They were free.
Fortune couldn't quite believe it. Surely he was dreaming? But – ow. If he was dreaming, then his wrist probably wouldn't be hurting so bad.
It was still chaotic outside, even though they'd somehow managed to miss most of the fight. There was so much going on all around them that he couldn't quite take it all in.
“The Guardians are here!” one Outcasts screeched excitedly, far too close to his ear. Startled, he span to face Callie. Unable to control her powers just like the rest of them, frost kept forming and melting around her feet, though it didn't seem to perturb her. She was holding hands with a teenage girl – Fortune didn't know her name – who couldn't stop flickering in and out of sight. An invisible, he supposed.
“We're saved!” someone else cried joyfully, but he couldn't see who it was through the masses.
Behind him, Eadgar was still helping Gelasius, and a little way away, Fortune spotted Moisey being tended to by a girl dressed in black with wild, curly hair. But he didn't focus on them. There was only one thing he could really focus on, only one thing that kept drawing his eyes back, again and again.
Sacha and Gable.
He knew it was her, didn't even have to ask – not that he thought they'd answer even if he did. They were lost to everyone now, everyone but each other. Even if Sacha hadn't whispered her name, Fortune would have known. It was something in the way Sacha had stiffened when he'd first seen her, and the myriad of pure emotions that had crossed his face. It was something in the way they held one another, like there was nothing in the whole world that could ever break them apart again. Every word of love Sacha had ever spoken about her was evident in the way they gripped each other so desperately.
And seeing them there, kneeling on the floor, wrapped around each other. . . It was beautiful. Breathtakingly beautiful in a way that made something inside Fortune just ache to watch them. It was like everything that had happened, it would never be okay, but seeing them there, together again. . .he suddenly realized that he would one day get past it. That's what the two of them exuded – hope.
Sacha was holding Gable so tight that his claws were digging into her upper arms, deep enough that trickles of blood were running down her skin, but she didn't seem to notice. Or perhaps she just didn't care. She was too busy stroking Sacha's lips where his fangs poked out, and they were gazing into each others eyes so intently that the whole world around them could have completely vanished and they wouldn't have noticed a thing. They were whispering to each other, so quietly that no one else nearby could hear.
Just looking at them, it was easy to see what they shared. Love. Love, in its purest form.
Amidst all the fighting and war and death, the blood and the gore and the horror, the two of them were just. . .beautiful.
And that was why Fortune couldn't tear his eyes away.
Suddenly he felt very, very stupid for ever doubting Gable's abilities. She was every bit as incredible as Sacha had always described. She must have been, because she had found them. She had really found them, just like Sacha had always said she would.
Nearby, somebody else caught Fortune's attention. A tall, dark haired man, maybe about the same age as him, was watching Gable and Sacha with as much focus as he had been. Only this man, he looked. . .utterly heartbroken. His shoulders slumped, and his face was just broken. His eyes kept pulling away, then flickering back again like he just couldn't help but look at them, even though it was hurting him. Fortune could see that, clear as day.
He heard a grunt behind him, and he turned away from the man to help Eadgar set Gelasius down on the grass. He was deathly pale, and Fortune wasn't sure how much longer he would last. Another guy, younger than Fortune with curly blond hair, noticed them and darted over immediately. He was a Guardian, Fortune presumed, if the air of authority surrounding him was anything to go by. A wince crossed his face when he checked over Gelasius' wound.
“He needs medical attention,” Eadgar told him gruffly. “As soon as possible.”
“Hey, I'm Zay. How're you doing, bud?” he asked, his English accent reminding Fortune painfully of home.
Gelasius grimaced as he shifted. His breaths were coming out shallow. “Hurts.”
Zay nodded. “Well I'm no medic, but I think that's a good sign. Means your body isn't quite ready to shut down yet. Don't worry, we'll have you off this island right away.”
An island? They were on an island? Fortune had never even realized.
“Nicky!” Zay called. “Start rounding everyone up so we can get them out of here.”
The dark haired man, Nicky, nodded. He looked almost relieved to have something other than Gable and Sacha to focus on. For a brief moment Fortune wondered what the story was, but Gelasius groaned and his attention went back to his friend.
Zay stood and moved over to Gable. He placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention as he crouched next to her and Sacha. There was a small smile on his face as he regarded them, like he was truly pleased that they had found each other. Fortune understood that feeling – after hearing Sacha talk about her so often, it seemed like a miracle that they were together at last.
“You got the key?” Zay asked her quietly.
She leaned back from Sacha just slightly and blinked, like she'd forgotten where they even were.
Sacha had been right when he'd talked about her all those times – she was beautiful. Even filthy and covered in bruises and blood, her beauty shone through, from that long dark hair to those big brown eyes to her pouty lips, still parted in slight surprise.
“Oh. . .” She shook her head, as if trying to clear it, and then swiped at the tears staining her cheeks. This was a woman who didn't like to show weakness, Fortune could tell. “Sure. Hold on.” So she could dig around in her pocket, she was forced to pull back even further from Sacha. He put his hands on her waist and held on, like he couldn't bring himself to stop touching her. She pulled out a silver key and handed it over.
Zay held it up and pulled a face. “You sure this is it? Terelle said it was a ball of energy. . .”
She nodded. “I think Pablo must've figured out a way to store the energy in the key. Less conspicuous, I guess.”
“I remember that key,” Eadgar spoke up. “The Spanish prick used it when he and his guards brought me here. You have to coat it in the blood of someone who has already passed through the portal before, which is. . .” He shrugged. “. . .pretty much everyone here.”
Nodding in relief, Zay smiled again at Gable. It was bigger this time, excited. “It's time. Let's go home.”
Chapter 34
Gable
They were so excited to leave that it took a while to get them organized, but eventually Zay and the team were able to begin the slow process of escorting the Outcasts home. The key was only able to take five or six of them at a time, so they started with small groups of prisoners, before moving on to the guards.
The key wouldn't work on magically guarded places like Yarmac & Bogely's or the NYCGD Headquarters, and not wanting to draw attention to the mysterious appearance of so many people, they'd decided to take them to the warehouse Charles and Gable had interrogated Zebb and Uang in. On the first trip back, Zay had called in Terelle. She and a few of her people had arrived
almost immediately to take the prisoners back to Yarmac & Bogely's. He'd also contacted the Guardian Officials to escort away the guards.
Sacha and Gable, who hadn't let go of each other for even a second, waited until the very end with his cellmate, Fortune. They sat together on the grass in near silence, just glad to be together once more.
When the last of the stragglers had passed through the portal, an exhausted looking Zay popped back one last time. “You guys ready to go home?”
Gable nodded. “So ready.”
“I'll bet.”
“You need more blood?” Sacha asked quietly, lifting his face from where it had been buried in the curve of Gable's neck. “Here.” Like it was nothing, he slid one of his sharp talons across his palm. The pain didn't even seem to register with him, and Gable hated to think of how much worse he'd had it over the past year.
“Thanks,” said Zay, pressing the key into the blood. “Make sure you all hold on to me.”
“Uh. . .” Fortune held a hand up. A flamy, fire dripping hand.
Zay grimaced. “Bloody hell. Just hold on to me – I'll get the healer to sort me out later.”
As the four of them stepped closer and held on tight, the blood soaked into the key like a sponge and it began to glow white. The light grew brighter and brighter until it encompassed them completely, so bright that Gable had to squeeze her eyes closed. Her skin tingled and she felt weightless, like she was floating in space. Then her body felt thicker and thicker, like it was jelly, until suddenly the ground was solid beneath her feet once more.
Her eyes opened and she and let out a sigh of relief – they were home. She had never been so happy to see a dusty, dirty warehouse in all her life.
“Gotta say, the journey home was sure as hell more fun than traveling to Zawavia.”
