by Kelly Hall
Ignis followed without saying a word. He was ready to be far away from the family drama.
Canter took Katie by the hand. “Let’s get you packed,” he told Jarreth, knowing he’d need time with Delilah and his father.
Jarreth looked at Delilah, not knowing what to think. Then he felt his father’s hand on his shoulder. “You’re making the right choice, son. You go with the Immortal Huntress, honor your vows, and be the man I raised. We all have to follow our own paths. And when this thing with the Church is done, you know you have a place here with me. You and your friends.”
Jarreth nodded. “Thanks, Dad. Call Mom, would you? Give her the divorce.” He gave his father a pleading look. Holding on to a grudge was only making things worse, and he knew it too.
Brock nodded. “Okay. I will. But not for her. For you.” He looked over at Delilah. “For both of you.”
As Canter and Katie walked out of the rooms with their packs, Jarreth knew it was time to go. “Take care of her,” he said, gesturing to Delilah.
“Always.” Brock clapped him on the back. “I’ll call for that car.” He turned and went for his phone, which was plugged into a charging station on the bar.
Delilah took a step forward, hoping to tell Jarreth goodbye, but he turned to the door without a word or a look. He didn’t think she wanted him to drag things out, and so he was only trying to honor that.
When he got to the door, she called out to him. “Jarreth?” Did he hate her? Maybe that was for the best.
He stopped and looked back, knowing it was only going to break his heart more. But there weren’t tears in her eyes, only the lost look of hopelessness. “Goodbye, Del.” The I love you went unspoken as he shut the door behind him.
Rebekah was on the porch, and she stopped him. “If you feel, even for a moment that your place is here with her, I’ll understand.”
“No, Huntress. My place is at your side, just as I vowed. I am not choosing this path only now. I did so the day I took this mark.” He put his hand over his heart. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m prepared for what could.”
Rebekah put her hand over her heart too. She looked into his eyes and really hoped that when it came down to what had to be done, he’d still feel that way.
Chapter 26
After a long flight that came complete with Aziel failing to meet them at the airport, Rebekah and her hunters arrived in Dublin at nearly eleven that night. By the time they made their way across the country to where Rebekah’s castle stood proud and tall—and creepy, according to Jarreth and Katie—it was nearly two in the morning.
Rebekah had called ahead, and Frankie was waiting at the main entrance with Lulu when they pulled up in the rented van.
Rebekah opened the passenger door as Ignis killed the engine, and the others hopped out of the back, all looking up at the enormous castle with amazement.
“This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in person,” said Katie as she squeezed Canter’s hand. She leaned in close. “I wonder how soundproof our rooms will be.”
Canter chuckled and pulled her closer to his side. “If we’re lucky, better than the bathroom on the plane.”
Jarreth tried to ignore the two love birds. He was happy for them, sure, but he couldn’t help but miss Delilah and wonder what she would think about the place. It was gorgeous, unlike any other home he’d ever seen, and he’d only seen it in the dark of night. “I bet it looks even better in the daylight.”
“It does,” said Ignis. “I’ve really missed it here.” He couldn’t wait to get to his lab and library. He had a whole new book filled up for the collection.
Rebekah turned and shook her head. “Says the mage who couldn’t wait to leave the last time we were here.”
“You have to admit that our trip to Las Vegas sucked.” He had wanted to go out gambling and have a good time. Instead, he’d been tied up with trainees and that damned hologram room. He hoped he never had to see one again. The Church had always managed to suck the fun out of everything.
Frankie and Lulu met them halfway to the door. “Rebekah!”
Rebekah took a step back and reached out to pat her belly. “You’re getting bigger by the day!”
“Yes, and thankfully, I haven’t outgrown a few of my dresses. My pants are much too tight.”
“We’ll have to order you some new clothes.” She knew how Frankie didn’t like to spend money, and it was the nun in her that thought she had to be so damned practical. Rebekah looked over at Lulu, who yawned and looked a little less enthused by the hour. “Lulu, are you holding down the fort?”
“I’m doing my best, Huntress. We spent the day getting rooms ready, and to be honest, I’m ready to get back to mine.”
Rebekah knew how tired they must be with the hour, so she put her arm around the old woman and led her back inside. “How are things with Liam and Mace?” she asked as Frankie and the others followed.
Frankie spoke up. “Liam has already explored every corner of this castle, and Mace has barely come out of the laboratory in the dungeon. She’ll be glad to see Ignis.”
They walked inside, and when they got in the great room, another person was there to greet them.
“Aziel? I thought you were waiting on the next flight.”
“It seemed kind of a waste of time, seeing as I could fly over on my own and save you the cost of airfare. Thankfully, Michael agreed.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re here.” She turned to the others. “I’m glad we’re all here. Thank you all for supporting me. It means a lot that you’ve chosen to stand by me.”
The hunters put their hands on their hearts, and before anyone could feel too emotional, Lulu cleared her throat. “No offense, Huntress, but could we save the heartfelt speeches for breakfast tomorrow? I’m a tired old woman, and I get grouchy when I’m sleepy.”
“You’re grouchy when you’re awake too, Lulu,” said Canter, walking over to give the old woman a hug.
The others laughed, and Lulu pinched his cheeks. “You’re lucky you’re my favorite,” said the old woman.
“Hey,” said Jarreth. “I thought I was your favorite.”
“I love all of my children.” She glanced around, and her smile faded. “Where’s Delilah?”
“I’m sorry,” said Jarreth. “She’s not coming.”
Lulu gave a nod, and then her eyes grew misty as she cupped Jarreth’s face. She didn’t have to say anything for Jarreth to know she felt bad about Delilah not being there for him and she missed her too.
“Goodnight, son,” she said, turning to Katie and giving her a smile, and then the others. “Goodnight, everyone.” With that, she retreated to her room.
Frankie stepped forward. “I made it easy by putting a sticky note on your doors. But Katie will have to take Delilah’s room until I can dress the bed next door to it.”
“That’s okay, Sister Frankie. I’ll stay with Canter.” She gave the woman a wink and pulled Canter’s arm. “Come on. Let’s go see if it’s everything we expected.”
“Goodnight, everyone.” Canter retreated with his woman, the two laughing all the way up the stairs.
“Well, it’s good to see him so happy,” said Frankie, not sure how she felt about the two of them together. She hadn’t expected to see Katie.
Rebekah walked over and sat on the couch to look up at the portraits of her parents. “Could you help Lulu prepare the formal dining room for breakfast in the morning? I’d like to have a meeting with everyone.”
Frankie smiled. “That won’t be a problem. She has been waiting for an excuse to use it and already has everything planned.” Frankie yawned.
“Go get some sleep,” said Rebekah, patting her on the back.
Frankie didn’t argue. She said her goodbyes, and then Ignis got to his feet. “I’m going to my lab. I have a feeling my little mad scientist is still there.”
Jarreth waited until Ignis was gone to walk over and sit on the couch. “I wonder what Talia thinks of Mace.�
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“Probably not very much,” said Rebekah. “You should go on up to bed.”
“I think I’d like to sit here a bit if you don’t mind.”
Rebekah looked over at Aziel, who gave her a nod to assure her he’d talk to Jarreth and make sure he was okay. She gave him a pat on the back and then squeezed his shoulder. “Take all the time you need, and make yourself at home.”
When Rebekah left, Aziel walked over to sit with Jarreth.
“You don’t have to stick around, angel. I’m not going to climb up to the top of tower and leap off of this castle or anything stupid like that.”
“I thought you might want to talk about Delilah and why she isn’t here. I thought for sure you’d convince her.” Aziel’s heart had sunk a little when he noticed her not there.
“She’s a stubborn girl. Always has been.” He took a deep breath, hating what had to come out of his mouth next. “Things between us are over. She chose to stay behind and find herself.”
“I’m sorry. Maybe it’s what’s best for her.”
Jarreth let out a long breath. “I can’t see how. And not just because of me. Not just because I want to be selfish and have her with me, but I really don’t see how she can give up everything to stay with my father’s camp. She isn’t going to be happy. And in the end, that’s all I really want for her. If I thought she could stay there and be happy with the choice, I’d still hate it, but I’d be better about it.”
“Well, maybe it will all work out, Jarreth.”
“It will take a miracle, and no offense, but I’ve just about lost all faith in everything lately.”
Aziel smiled. “Things that are meant to be have a way of working themselves out.”
Jarreth sighed. He didn’t really want any of the angel’s advice or reassurance. “How was your little love detour? Did things work out with you and Cleo?”
Aziel shook his head. “Actually, no.”
“No?”
“Cleo let me down easy and admitted that she was falling for a hunter from her training camp.”
“Ouch. That must sting.” He was glad that at least Delilah hadn’t left him for some other man. He’d be a miserable fucker for sure, but Aziel just shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “You don’t seem upset about it.”
“I’m not. Since I had a little time, I visited a new friend I met in New Orleans.”
“Yeah? What’s her name?”
Aziel wasn’t sure if he should tell him but decided why the hell not. “Tula.”
Jarreth’s eyes widened. “Tula the naiad?” He never expected him to say that, not in a million years.
“Yeah, I know. She’s a bit odd, but I like her. She’s funny.”
“You know she’s a monster, right?”
“Hey, watch it. She’s a nice girl, and that’s all I care about. Besides, it’s not too serious. She understands we’re from two different worlds and that I have a job to do.”
“You know I made out with her, right?” asked Jarreth unapologetically.
“That makes two of us.” He gave a wicked smile, much too shocking for the fact that he was an angel, and Jarreth laughed and shook his head.
“I wouldn’t share that with Ignis.”
“Don’t worry,” said Aziel. “I’m not stupid.”
“You’re not so bad, I guess. But I’m tired and not really in the mood for any brotherly bonding.” He and the angel would probably never be the best of friends, but he was getting used to him being around. Jarreth closed his eyes.
“I feel you, man.”
Jarreth opened his eyes once it went quiet in the room and saw he was all alone. Creepy. Jarreth looked up at the pictures on the wall of Rebekah’s parents. “Creepier,” he mumbled. When he realized how quiet it was, he took out his phone. Since they barely had any signal, he was stuck looking at pictures. All were of Delilah, or worse, him and Delilah.
He turned off the phone and closed his eyes, thinking of the night before and their long goodbye. He closed his eyes tightly, his brows pinching together as he thought that could be the last time he ever kissed, held, or touched her.
Before he knew he had fallen asleep, he heard the shuffle of Lulu’s house slippers on the old, stone floor. “You’ve got a perfectly good bed upstairs, son.”
He opened his eyes and saw the old woman looking down at him. “Yeah, I must have fallen asleep.”
Lulu chuckled. “You think so? Figured that out all by yourself, did you?”
Jarreth got to his feet. “What time is it?”
“Time to start breakfast. I’m running late, so you can help.”
Jarreth didn’t want to argue with the old woman, but his days of kitchen duty were long past. “I just need to wash up first.”
Lulu knew better. “Yeah, right. Tell your pillow I said hello.” She wasn’t falling for it and was prepared to take care of the meal herself.
Jarreth went to the stairs, and that was when Frankie, Canter, and Katie all came down together.
“You’re going the wrong way,” said Canter as Jarreth passed by.
“I haven’t been to bed. I fell asleep on the couch.”
Aziel cut him off at the top of the stairs. “Rebekah wanted us all to meet for breakfast.”
“Can’t I use the toilet first?” Why was everyone on his ass? He continued upstairs.
“Don’t be long,” called Frankie from the bottom. She shook her head and went to the kitchen with Lulu, who stared out the window. “How’s it going?”
“Slowly,” said Lulu. “I overslept. The late-night homecoming was rougher on me than I expected.” She still looked weary, and Frankie decided she better lend a hand.
“Let me help you with the food,” she said.
Lulu gave her a blank look. “No offense, but I think you’d be more helpful setting the table.” Lulu looked over Frankie’s shoulder. “Dammit. It looks like we’ll have more mouths to feed.”
Frankie turned to see what Lulu saw. There in the distance, a car approached, winding up the long road to the castle. “Randall?” she whispered. Had he arrived early?
“Let’s hope so. At least I’ve already included Father Timms in the headcount for dinner.” Luckily, the old woman always prepared for extra bellies to feed, but she went ahead and readjusted the amount of eggs she needed in her mind.
Frankie hurried out of the kitchen and ran past the others, who had all made themselves cozy in the living room, including Liam, who was still rubbing his eyes. “Father Timms has arrived!” she said, opening the door.
Jarreth came down the stairs as the others headed out behind Frankie, and when he walked out, the car was just pulling to a stop. All he was thinking was how good it would be to see Father Timms again, and he hoped that once he was there, Rebekah would be ready to talk strategy.
Father Timms climbed out of the car, and Frankie ran into his arms, hoping for nothing more than a big hug. But the man held her and brought his mouth down on hers right in front of the others.
It was such a display that Jarreth couldn’t look. He was happy for the two, but it was just another example of people being together against all odds. He started to turn to go back inside when he heard Aziel’s voice.
“Delilah?”
Jarreth turned to see the angel’s eyes were wide, and he looked to the car to see a very exhausted Delilah get out of the car.
Delilah’s legs were stiff after the long ride on the plane and then in the car. As she stretched, she looked up with tired eyes, not sure how welcome she’d be. She had gotten in touch with Father Timms two hours after Jarreth and the others left the camp, and while she wasn’t sure if she was making the biggest mistake of her life or not, she knew one thing for sure. She was making it for the right reason.
Jarreth was frozen. He wasn’t sure if he was still on that couch inside the castle dreaming, and a part of him didn’t want to get his hopes up only to be let down again if this act of hers wasn’t something that she’d done to be with him but to simpl
y honor her vow.
But her eyes were fixed on his, and until she made a move, he couldn’t.
The look in her eyes held such longing that it hurt his heart, and when she took a few hesitant steps forward, the others seemed to back up and give them space.
Jarreth took a step forward, and that was all it took for Delilah to run into his arms. “I hope I’m not too late,” she said through a broken voice.
“Never. But what made you change your mind?”
“Your father.”
That was the last thing Jarreth expected to hear, but he didn’t care how it had all happened, just that it had. He pulled her close and kissed her with such passion, he heard Canter clear his throat.
Delilah pulled away with tears staining her cheeks. “Where is Rebekah? I need to talk to her. I need to apologize and make things right.”
Jarreth took her hand. “She’s inside.” They turned to walk in, the others all following their lead.
As they gathered in the front room, their heads turned when Ignis barreled down the stairs out of breath.
Father Timms’ face went as white as his hair. He knew that Ignis wouldn’t get that look of panic for no reason. “What is it?”
Ignis took a deep breath. “Rebekah is gone!”
The End
Continue the Saga…
Book 4 will release February 20th!
Stay informed HERE!
Author Note
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for reading The Immortal Huntress. I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I do and fell in love with the characters I created as much as I did. It’s been an amazing start, and I hope you’ll continue on this journey with me as we explore the world of the Seven Sons and learn more about Rebekah and the Hunters in book two of The Immortal Huntress series, The Fellowship of the Hunters.
