“If I might intervene,” Lucien ventured. “I experienced capture and degradation myself. I also want to help them, and Oz, I see that you want to help too, but it’s not right. You have to walk away from this. We,” he glanced at the others, “will do this. There are enough of us to make sure the girls get home or go wherever they want to.”
Estelle smiled at him. “Thank you, Lucien.”
Shadow reached for the coffee and poured herself a mug. “I agree with Estelle. We will deal with this. If you want to make amends, Oz, help us track down The Brotherhood.”
He nodded, resigned, and accepted a mug of coffee that Barak offered him. “All right. We can do that. We know most of them, between us. Although, if the jewels no longer have power…”
Gabe glanced at Ash and Barak as he said, “We find them anyway, just in case. You know where they have been moved to?”
“Yes, mostly.” A renewed determination settled over Oz as he said, “Yes, I like that idea. We will do that, and then chase up any remaining members of The Brotherhood in Venice.”
Barak asked, “What about the dead Nephilim?”
“They are already in the sea. We carried them far out last night and dumped them. Nibal and the others are cleaning up the villa today. It’s ours now, to do with as we please. Jiri bought it years ago, when he tired of living in Portoferraio.” The capital city of Elba – the city that Barak had seen in the images at Moonfell. “It’s a good place to rebuild.”
Barak mulled over what he’d briefly discussed with the others the previous night. “Oz, it may be that we can put you in touch with someone who can offer you work, if you need it. It’s not always honest,” he said, laughing, “but I think you’ll find it more honest than what you have been doing. We’ll have to discuss it with our contact, but his organisation might want to use your skills.”
Harlan might want to discuss it with Romola, too. They would see how they would fair with The Brotherhood first. See how trustworthy they could be. From his brief interaction with Oz, though, they all felt they could trust them. They had, after all, helped them defeat Belial.
Oz smiled, and it transformed him. “We would appreciate that. We have some money, but we’ll give most of it to the women. Then, yes, we’ll need work. Thank you. We are all curious to see this paranormal world you speak of.”
Ash shook his head, perplexed. “You really haven’t met many other paranormal creatures?”
“Very few. Jiri didn’t want it. It’s been an isolated existence, for the most part.”
As the conversation changed direction to talk of the paranormal and the life they led, Barak realised they had been lucky with their new friends, and he wondered how his brothers were faring in London.
Zee pushed his empty breakfast plate away and reached for his coffee. The noise around the table was loud.
Everyone except JD and Anna was present in JD’s dining room that overlooked the rear terrace and the battered marquee, and a range of conversations were taking place. Harlan, Jackson, and Maggie were debating how old Anna might be, whether the emerald cave would send JD mad eventually, and if he would ever actually leave it to help Jackson at The Retreat. Certainly, he had showed no sign of separating himself from it yet.
After their success at breaking Belial’s control the previous night, they had helped JD put the slightly battered lab to rights before he shooed them out. He was a peculiar little man, no doubt, but Zee felt he owed him a debt that he could never repay. They couldn’t have banished Belial alone. Now, Zee was eager to get home.
He and Eli would leave soon, needing to return to work in White Haven, but it seemed Nahum was staying in London for a while. He sat next to Olivia, and they leaned into each other; it was clear that they had come to some sort of accord. The early beginnings of love, perhaps.
Zee spoke to Eli, keeping his voice low. “Do you think Nahum will ever return to Cornwall? For good, I mean?”
Eli shrugged, smiling as he watched him. “Hard to say. Right now, I think not. Shame, really. I’ll miss him, but change is good.”
“But if the worst happens…” He didn’t need to say what that would be. Eli knew. The death of their daughter was a distinct possibility. Sooner or later, it happened. It always did.
“Then we deal with it, but let’s have a little hope, brother.”
“I have a lot of hope, and so do they. That’s what bothers me.”
“They have Morgana and JD. Having met him, I now think he could do anything. But we have work to do when we get back, and I don’t mean with the witches. The dryads need us. It’s spring soon. Ostara. Nelaira has plans.”
Zee nodded. Their promise of guardianship over Ravens’ Wood was making demands again. They would honour it, of course. They had to. Eli also had his own reasons for helping Nelaira. An obsession that he kept under control, most of the time. More and more lately Zee suspected that Eli slept with other women to assuage his need for Nelaira, and he wasn’t quite sure how that would play out.
“As long, brother, as it doesn’t clash with a certain wedding.” Reuben would be devastated if they weren’t there, and so, in fact, would Zee. He was looking forward to it.
Eli laughed. “I’ll make sure it doesn’t.”
Zee sipped his coffee as Maggie demanded Eli’s attention. It would be almost a week before Niel returned home, and most likely Gabe, Barak, Ash, and Shadow, too. Nahum would return for the wedding. Zee decided to take advantage of the lull, and prepare to move into the apartment above The Wayward Son properly.
It was time to see to his own future, too.
It was a week after the fight on Elba and Jiri’s defeat when Gabe finally walked into the farmhouse in Cornwall.
It was now March, and there were signs of spring everywhere. Early daffodils nodded at the base of hedgerows, and crocuses peaked from borders. Here, on the hills that surrounded White Haven, the fields and moors were fresh with green growth, and it soothed his soul. The courtyard was clean, and Eli—at least he presumed it was Eli—had been planting and tidying up the drive and courtyard. The house was clean and quiet, and it welcomed him. And, he thought, inhaling the scent of spiced meats, Niel was home and in the kitchen.
It hadn’t been an easy week. Returning the captive women to their homes had been satisfying but traumatic. There were times when he felt ashamed to be a man, but it was done now. Oz, Nibal, Dorian, Samir, Habib, and Jibril, were fresh on their quest to end The Brotherhood for good. He had taken to calling them the House of Ozan. Oz was their undoubted leader, and they seemed to have forged a new strength together after the end of the House of Belial. They had all sustained injuries, some of them quite bad, but like all Nephilim, they healed quickly. Their mental injuries would no doubt take longer.
Ash nudged Gabe as he entered the hall behind him, carrying his bags. “Get on with it, Gabe.”
“Sorry. Lost in my thoughts for a moment.”
“Glad to be home?”
“Very.”
Shadow followed Ash inside, silent as usual. She poked him. “I can’t wait to tease Niel.”
Gabe smiled. Shadow, as always, had rebounded from their situation with her usual ebullience. If it wasn’t for her stubbornness, he might not be here. “After you, madam.”
She kissed his cheek and wiggled her hips as she sashayed up the hall. She tossed her hair as she looked back over her shoulder at him and Ash. “I believe I won the bet, too! I haven’t forgotten.”
She meant the bet on Niel and Mouse. Gabe grinned as he and Ash followed her. “Some things never change.”
Niel was surrounded by food when they entered the kitchen—bowls of salads, platters of breads, sweetmeats, and other delicacies. He looked up as they entered, a smile spreading across his face. “You’re here already! I thought you’d be hours yet!”
“We caught an early flight,” Ash explained. “Niel, you’ve outdone yourself.”
“Well, it’s going to be the first time we’ve all been together in months. It’s a proper Middle Eastern celebration. And,” he nodded to the fridge, “we’ve stocked up on champagne, too. I don’t believe that we've all toasted to our newfound wealth yet.”
“Or,” Shadow said, “your successful liaison with Mouse.”
He refused to be rattled by her double entendre. “Her name is Anouk. Mouse is her professional name.”
“Oh. So nice you know details now.”
He grinned. “Isn’t it?”
“Hold on,” Gabe said, confused. “What do you mean, we’re all here?”
“Barak arrived last night, and Nahum this morning.” He smiled at Gabe’s confusion. “Barak came back from Estelle’s place and Nahum has decided Olivia can cope alone in London—for a short while, at least. They’re out there.”
Gabe looked out of the window and gasped. “The loggia’s been repaired.”
