Page 116 of Spirit Storm

Wylder, Sebastian, Asher, Mica, Dae-Jung, and Nolan look rough but solid.

And then there's Garrison.

He transported nine spirit witches, plus Asher, Wylder, Mica, and Tharuzel into some kind of time pocket of the lockstone chamber as the real chamber collapsed around us.

He had enough power to prevent a major demon from leaving, and also from being able to summon its minions.

I have no idea what a rift minotaur really is, but he is powerful. Even now, after all the power he just expended, he stands with his feet planted and his back straight. He’s breathing hard through his broad nostrils, but that hardly reflects on what he's just done.

I don't know what that cost him, but by the set of his jaw and the way he's bracing his weight, he's a man holding himself upright on pure stubbornness.

I cross the grass and square off in front of him. Up close, the effort is written in every line of his face. He looks at me with those round, dark eyes beneath the heavy brow and says nothing.

I wrap my arms around him. It's a bit like hugging a wardrobe cabinet. "Thank you." My voice comes out rough. "Go rest. I've got this."

He pulls back and looks down at me. "I can't just leave. You all need to be tended to and transported to the healers."

"And Asher can get everyone to the infirmary." I hold his gaze and keep my voice low enough that it doesn't carry. "You've done what we needed you to do and more. You were incredible. Now it's time for you to lie down before you fall down."

He arches a bushy brow. "I'm not so frail that I can't⁠—"

"I'm not implying you can't. Just that I see it's costing you. Go rest. You earned it. I'm sure you need to report what happened to someone, right? You can check on everyone later."

There's a beat of hesitation, and then something in his expression softens. He sets one enormous hand briefly on my shoulder. "Well done, Poppy. I take it you can handle things from here?"

I dip my chin. "Yes, sir. And thank you again."

Garrison steps back, opens a portal, and disappears with a gust of cedar and ozone.

I turn back to the hillside. Wylder is flat on his back in the grass, arms out, palms pressed to the earth. I walk over and drop down to my knees beside him. He looks up at the dark Irish sky with his eyes half closed and an expression of pure, exhausted relief.

"You look like you got hit by a bus."

He chuckles. "Perfect. That's how it feels."

"Where's Asher?"

"He took Freya and a few others to the Ireland infirmary. He'll be right back."

I lean over and press my lips to his forehead, one hand resting flat on his chest. Beneath my palm, his heartbeat is steady. Real. Still here.

He tilts his head and kisses my cheek. "I say we get fixed up, lock ourselves in your house, and don't answer our phones or emails for a week."

I let out a long sigh. "It's a date."

I straighten to scan the hillside, and find Sebastian sitting against the cave entrance with his knees up and his head tipped back against the stone. I pick my way over and lower myself beside him. He doesn't look at me straight away, just keeps staring out at the dark tree line below the hill.

"Do you really think he's gone?" I ask.

"Yeah, I do."

"Do you think he'll be able to break free again?"

"I doubt it."

The two of us sit in silence as I let that wash over me. "If I feel this bewildered and numb, I can't imagine how you feel."

He rolls his jaw and glances sideways at me. "I've been fighting that asshole for almost six years. Sealing rifts. Trying to stay ahead of him. Your mother and I almost had him… I think about that a lot. If Laurel had just left us the fuck alone, Tharuzel would've been taken care of then."