Will and Alex were the first to reach us. Actually, Alex was the first one.
I stood at the sound of the trapdoor lifting and then a bolt of black fur and long tongue rushed me, bowling me over and licking my face. “Rylee, Rylee, Rylee, Rylee, Rylee.” Actually it came out like “Lylee,” but I suppose that was the best he could do while licking.
“Good to see you too, buddy,” I said, pushing him off me, not unkindly. He continued to bounce around, then came to a stuttering stop when he got close to Anne.
“She’s a stinky one.” He pinched the tip of his nose with two claws.
Deanna climbed up through the trapdoor and I peeked down. “What happened to all the zombies?” She glanced down. “They’re just laying there, dead.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “They were dead before.”
She put one hand on her hip. “You know what I mean. I’m no expert on the dead, it isn’t my specialty. Why aren’t they all doing their zombie shuffle thing?”#p#分页标题#e#
Anne spoke up. “I have released them all.”
I heard the ring of truth in her words. “What now? How are we going to finish this? The stone will only keep the madness at bay for a little while. It isn’t a cure.”
The Necromancer stared at me. “I have lost, I am done. You know what I am; will you let me live? Of course not. The child saved me, but for a moment. My death is inevitable; it is the way of our world. Kill, be killed, or raise the dead. I cannot raise the dead, and killing was never something I enjoyed.”
“That only leaves your death,” Pamela whispered, yet her words carried to all of us.
Anne gave her gentle smile. “Do not be sad, little one. You will see that it is our way. The Tracker will teach you. I see it in her. She is not like the other Trackers I have known. She has a heart that beats to save, to heal, to bring souls home. It is time for my soul to go home now.”
I closed my eyes, my grief for Giselle slipping over my heart, stifling my ability to think. Giselle and Anne, they were two of a kind, their powers stealing their minds. “Is this what you truly want?” I felt the weight of this responsibility fall on me, and truly, who would I give it to? Not Pamela, not Will or Deanna. There was only me.
Anne let out a soft breath. “Let me be with my child in truth. My heart is done with this world.”
Gods, this was not supposed to happen, not this way. Her easy acceptance of her death, her wish for it, echoed Giselle’s final request. To die the way she wanted to.
I walked over to Anne, only a couple of feet away, perfect striking distance. Never had the sword felt so heavy in my hand.
“Pamela, go stand by Will.”
Pamela gave me startled eyes. “But—”
“This is the price some of us pay. Anne has made her choice. I will honor it,” I said.
Anne touched her fingers to her lips as Pamela released her. “Your mentor is proud of you. I feel it in the air around us.”
I didn’t try to stop the sudden onslaught of tears, the loss so keen I felt it to my bones. “Tell her—”
“I will.”
There were no more words, just the slice of my blade through the air, the pause of life as Anne closed her eyes one last time, the thump of her headless body as it slumped to the roof . . . and the tinkle of the opal as it rolled to my feet.
I bent, scooped the opal up and wiped a smear of blood off the chain before slipping it into my pocket.
26
The kids Anne had under her thrall were still in the boiler room when we led the SOCA team there. I Tracked little Sophia, her blanket in my hands. She was in the far corner, her body barely recognizable as human, never mind a child’s. I spread the blanket over her, giving her a final goodbye of my own. None of the parents were allowed to see the bodies, thank the gods for that, and I didn’t have to speak to any of them myself—at least, none except for little Johnny’s parents. They ran into me in the hallway of the hospital, and I told them he’d been found. But not alive.
They were still grateful, and it ate at me, my heart and soul wishing I could do more. For a brief moment, I understood Anne, the desire to bring back to life that which had been taken from you.
Eve was pleased that we were staying. I wished we could go home, but there were too many loose ends, too many people I loved in trouble here.
There would be no closure for me in London, at least not yet. O’Shea was still missing and I’d be damned if I left him out there stuck with Milly. Which brought me to that particular reality. Milly had to be dealt with. Will agreed to help with her, even going so far as to take a leave from SOCA. He figured it would give him the break he needed both from his job and his Destruction, who apparently were pissed as cats being baptized in a toilet for what had gone on with Daniels and Deanna. Enemies and friends, I seemed to make them without even trying.