77. Re-Discovery

[Alaric]

"Be safe on your travels home," I said as I pulled William into a hug, clapping him on the back before doing the same to Bartholomew. After pulling back, I looked around the yard to see where Mercy had gone, as she was by my side only moments ago. It took a moment for me to find her on the front steps, engaging in a group hug between her and her sisters.

*'They always act as if they will not see each other for years when they part.'* I thought as I chuckled, stopping myself once I thought more about it, and realized precisely why they'd always reacted that way. *'They are the only family they have left, other than Anissa, that is. They may not have known each other for very long, but their bond is stronger than most.'*

"Aye, be safe," Maeve said from the driveway where she was leaning against Sinclair's car, practically as far away from the rest of us as she could be while still being somewhat closeby.

"Is this spot taken?" I asked her, motioning to the passenger side door, next to where she was standing. I could tell she was going to ask me why, so I pulled a pack of cigarettes and showed it to her, chuckling when she stepped to the side and motioned for me to join her.

"Give it a lash, then?" Maeve asked as she took a cigarette from the pack and lit it, eyeing me suspiciously, then groaning when she saw my confusion. "Give it a go, I mean. I'm not thick, Alaric. I know you want to ask me something. Someone always does."

"You are a puzzle to me, and no matter how hard I try to figure you out, it only seems to raise more questions," I said honestly, as I didn't see the point in lying. "I did mean that in a complementary way, though it may not have sounded like it."

"What about me is a puzzle? You know who and what I am. You know where I come from." She responded, watching me in a mixture of confusion and curiosity.

"You never show emotion, for one. Not once have I been able to tell what you're thinking, and to be honest with you, that's never been much of an issue for me until now. I know the reason I cant is that the fae in you is meant to be a mystery, so it's impossible to breach your borders without you letting them down." I said, then laughed as I took the cigarette from her, watching as Mercy said her goodbyes to William and Bartholomew, finally breaking away from her sisters after what was easily a thirty-minute hug.

"You're confused by me because you can't use your vampire senses to read me? Get in line, fella." Maeve responded with a laugh, clapping me on the shoulder before taking the cigarette back.

"Actually, I think I figured out why something about you feels familiar," I said with a chuckle, nodding as I watched Sinclair for a moment, then looked back at Maeve. "It's the way you talk! It's been irking me since I met you that something seemed familiar, and I've finally figured out what it is."

"You mean my accent? Bollocks. To me, and where I'm from, you lot are the ones with the gammy accents."

"No, not just your accent. It's the way you talk, as in, the words you use. You may not realize this, but your slang reminds me of my earlier years. I was raised in England as a human, so your accent and the way you speak, it reminds me of home."

"Raised in England? Wheres your accent gone?" Maeve gasped, visibly giving me a once over, eyeing me curiously.

"I practiced to stop using it, then after a century or so, I found that I'd gone too long faking an accent, that I lost my real one."

"That's brutal," She snorted softly in amusement, then cocked her head to the side, narrowing her bluish-green eyes as she watched me. "Is that really why you're having a lash at me, or is it because of what Sinclair said about the thing in the tunnels?"

"You got me," I said, holding my hands up in a show of surrender, nodding my agreement. "You are impervious to the abilities of other beings, but not that thing? It's... I can't stop thinking about what sort of being it is in order to have that much power. Not to mention, if it has enough power to take over your mind, does that mean that it has the ability to kill you? We know something can, as fae were being hunted, but we have no idea what that thing is. Does none of this worry you?"

"Aye, of course, it does. I don't care how much something scares me. I can't go down without a fight, not after everything I've been through. If it's going to kill me, then I'm going to give it a hell of a time doing so." Maeve said, crossing her arms over her chest before readjusting how she was leaning against the car, sighing before saying anything more. "I will go down swinging. I almost died at Edward's hand, not fighting, just dying. When I die, for good, I'm not going to go down so easily."

"I do not doubt that in the slightest. I've seen how hard you can fight when you choose to." I said after a few moments of watching her, then looked over to Sinclair, who was looking at us, smiling as he'd heard what Maeve just said. *'We thought her turning anodyne would give her a different personality, as dark fae are known to be infamous killers, as they simply love to bring death and destruction. It looks like becoming an anodyne has made her into a chaotic neutral, instead. Hmm, Sinclair will very much enjoy training with her as this drive of hers develops.'* I thought as I watched Sinclair walking towards us, as Bartholomew, William, Kerr, and Octavia had just left.

"We should get out of these clothes if we're going into those tunnels. The twins have made it quite obvious that they cannot wait any longer to get down there." Sinclair laughed, motioning to Azeneth and Ciaran, who were sitting on the front steps, impatiently fidgeting as they looked around at everyone, waiting for us to be ready.

"Yes, we should get going before we learn the hard way what they are capable of." I agreed with a chuckle as I nodded to Sinclair and Maeve before making my way to where Bast and Mercy were engrossed in conversation. "Mercy, let's go and get changed."

"Okay," Mercy agreed happily as she put her hand in mine, letting me lead her back to our cabin, where I laughed when I saw the mostly destroyed door after managing to forget about it.

"Mrs. Vincent, I know this isn't our home, but I shall carry you over the threshold nonetheless," I said as I pulled her into my arms ceremoniously, grinning as I stepped into the cabin.

"I love it so much when you call me that. I don't think I could ever get tired of it." She grinned as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders, giving me a soft kiss before jumping out of my arms to walk into the bedroom, where she pulled clothes out of the duffle bag, setting a change of clothes for both of us on the bed. "I have to know. How did you know about the amber stones, or why did you pick this color?"

"When you were a young child, you used to think you were made out of clay, and your mother gave you ambers for eyes, and that's why your eyes were different than everyone else's. I choose ambers both for your lifelong love of them and because of what you are." I responded as I took off my jacket, watching her as she struggled to pull her dress over her head, nearly tripping on her own feet as she did so. *'Oh, kitten, so clumsy.'* I thought as I crossed to where she was, helping her pull her dress off.

"I know I'm going to regret asking this, but how the hell do you know that?" She asked as she sat on the edge of the bed to pull off her flats, tossing them off to the side as she watched me.

"I did some research on you, as I didn't want you to know I was buying you a ring, but I needed to get more information about you, to know what to buy you. Are you upset for me for digging into your past?"

"No, not upset, but still curious how you could find out stuff like that about me. It's not exactly something that was published in a newspaper." She asked as she pulled me to sit on the bed before sitting in my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck as she leaned back to watch me.

"I used a forager. I know that you have not heard of them yet, but I will give you the summarized version. Foragers can go through a person's memories, emotions, and past to retrieve what they want. I used one to go searching through your old teachers throughout your school years. That is how I know so much about you." I said, waiting for her to freak out and start yelling at me, but I found myself surprised that she gave me an unsurprised shrug and then giggled.

"Foragers sound like assholes, but useful. Please tell me that you didn't do anything bad?" Mercy hesitantly asked, then sighed when she saw the confusion on my face. "I mean, like, going through old boyfriends' heads or stuff like that."

"I hired the foragers specifically to gain knowledge only of things that would assist in helping me buy you a ring. I swear to you, I did not retrieve any other sort of information." I said with a shake of my head, setting my hands down on the bed to lean back, watching her as she leaned down to bring our lips together. "I'm surprised you aren't questioning that."

"I want to ask a million questions about them, but at the same time, I really don't want to know." She sighed with a shake of her head, watching me as she unclasped her bra, throwing it to the side before leaning back down to bring our lips together. I groaned against her lips as I laid back on the bed, then rolled so she was underneath me, pulling her legs up so I could lay between them.

"In a rush to consummate our marriage, Mrs. Vincent?" I whispered, chuckling softly when she moaned out and tightened her legs around me as if she expected me to try and run away. I started to unbutton my shirt but stopped with a laugh when I heard Ciaran yelling from up the yard. "I cannot wait until our honeymoon... Shit."

"Honeymoon? Like, you have one planned?" Mercy gasped as she shot up in bed, nearly bouncing up and down with excitement as she pulled her pants on.

"I do, yes. Of course, the date itself is not planned, but I planned where to take you once we were married. I know you love a surprise, but do you wish to plan it alongside me?" I asked as I put on the suit I was wearing before the wedding, glad once again that she hadn't spilled earlier.

"Hmm? I want to say yes, but I also know how much you love to plan stuff and surprise me with it. Plus, anything you plan will probably end up being ten times better than anything I could plan."

*'Oh no, have I made her upset?'* I thought, watching her for a few moments to try and gauge her reaction, trying to see if I'd upset her, as it was the last possible thing I'd wanted to do. "Mercy, please, speak honestly. Are you upset with me for surprising you with these things rather than planning them with you?"

"No, not at all!" She gasped as she whipped around to face me, her golden eyes wide in shock as she shook her head. "I promise, babe, I love that you do things like this for me. The only thing I'm worried about is that I can't give you as much as you give me. That's what I've been worried about since the first day we started dating."

"Mrs. Vincent, being by your side is all I could ever ask of you," I said as I caressed her cheek with my thumb, gazing down into her beautiful golden eyes with a smile. "I love you, Mercy, that will forever be my utmost truth."

"I love you more," Mercy responded, her golden eyes filling with tears as she watched me, then kissed the inside of my hand with a smile. "Ciaran is going to kill us if we make him wait for a second longer."

"I was wondering if you heard him or not." I chuckled as I took her hand and walked with her out of the cabin and to the right, where I saw the group gathered around what looked like a hole in the ground. "There are tunnel accesses outside?"

"Only this one. So far, this is the only entrance to that thing. I searched through the other tunnels, and while it came close, they did not lead here." Sinclair commented with a sigh, staring down into the hole in silence for a few long moments before looking back up at Maeve, searching her eyes before speaking again. "Are you sure you want to go down there again?"

"I-" Maeve started to say but cut herself off as she shivered, crossing her arms over her chest, hugging herself. "Aye, I have to."

"Are we sure that all of us can fit down there?" Mercy asked.

"The tunnels are wide enough for three of us to stand shoulder to shoulder, so yes, we would all fit. I am not sure if it's the best idea having everyone down there at once, however."

"Let's stop staring at a hole in the ground and get down there already," Ciaran said with a grin, trying and failing to hide the fear I could see in his electric eyes. It wasn't just fear I saw, but hunger as well. *'This thing being something that Sinclair fears? That is enough to warn me against letting down my guard, but Ciaran being afraid of it? That is a different story entirely.'*

"Very well, then. Turn on your flashlights, and be on your guard." Damien said after kneeling in front of the twins, making sure they both understood before he jumped into the tunnel, then held his arms up to catch the twins as they jumped down after him.

I waited until Sinclair jumped down to go down after him, holding my hand up for Mercy, catching her in my arms with a grin. "Hello, again, Mrs. Vincent."

"Babe!" Mercy giggled softly as she nuzzled against me before jumping out of my arms, looking around the tunnels with a growl, her heartbeat accelerating quickly. I understood her reaction, as I felt the same way the moment I came into these tunnels. *'They weren't kidding when they said that whatever is down here is old and very powerful.'*

"This way," Sinclair said after everyone had jumped down into the tunnels, motioning ahead of him and to the left, then walked to the front so he could lead us.

"My god, how did I not feel this before?" Damien growled under his breath, his eyes blood-red as we made our way through turn after turn throughout the tunnels, each one of us on our guard, as the presence felt from this being was too powerful not to be.

"We should all be ready. That wall that Sinclair saw could be like a placenta of sorts. That's the only thing that I thought of that makes a lick of sense. That's the only real way to explain the veins and the fact that it breathes, or breathes with whatever is in it." Maeve whispered, just loud enough for us to hear her, but hopefully not loud enough for anyone or anything else that could be down here with us to hear.

"A placenta? Yes, I suppose that does make the most sense." Sinclair responded with a nod, then held his hand up, telling us to stop. "It's along this next tunnel, here. I don't know how far it reaches, but from what I could see, it was big."

"We want to see it!" Azeneth gasped as she ran up to Sinclair, then took hold of his leg, holding onto it as she peeked around the corner. "I wonder what it is?" She whispered, then turned around to look up at Damien; her green eyes widened softly as she began giggling. "All I can see is a bunch of red and gold eyes. You guys look scary like that."

"Good," Damien growled softly as he took Ciaran's hand, holding his free one out to Azeneth. He waited until he had a firm grip on their hands before walking towards the hole in the wall, helping the twins step over the large chunks of dirt scattered throughout the tunnel. *'Maeve did this with her bare hands? Holy shit, that thing really did a number on her.'* I thought as I watched Maeve look around the corner, her blue-green eyes going wide with shock and horror when she saw it.

"I was not being facetious when I said you were doing everything you could to get to that thing," Sinclair whispered to Maeve. He took her hand in his before leading her down the tunnel, where Damien was looking into the hole; his blood-red eyes widened in a variety of emotions, but mostly awe as he watched whatever it was.

"Wait, Maeve, take a few steps back!" Damien gasped, furrowing his brows in confusion as he continued to watch the thing behind the wall, then motioned for Maeve to come closer. "Maeve, your presence is what's bring it to life," Damien said before looking up at Sinclair, nodding with his head to tell him to take Maeve further away.

"Lucifer, what are you-" I started to ask him, but cut myself off as he waved the group to the sides, then began pulling at the wall surrounding the hole. *'I see. Have Maeve go further back so that it cannot awaken while we unbury it.'* I thought as Sam, and I stepped forward and helped him, throwing the chunks of wall flying into the wall behind us, gasping out in shock as the black leathery wall came into view before us. It was just as Sinclair said it was; a black leathery wall with veins running through it. I could see why he thought it was breathing, as I could see the wall rising and falling, the heartbeat behind it faint.

"Sinclair," Damien called over his shoulder, telling Sinclair to bring Maeve closer, to test his theory about her presence further. I could tell immediately that he was right; as the closer Maeve got, the stronger the heartbeat became. The heartbeat pounded menacingly in my ears as I watched the leathery wall began to shift to the left, stopping once it was about halfway opened, bringing a man into view.

"Oh my god, that's not a wall, and it's not a placenta," I whispered, unable to stop myself from gasping out, as what I saw was beyond words. The black wall came from the man's back, arching out across both sides, making me realize that it was not a wall at all, but the man's wings. *'I've heard of beings with wings, but I always thought they were tall tails or rumors.'* I thought as Damien, Sam, and I stepped into the now open space before the man, hesitantly walking forward to get a better view.

The man was covered head to toe in dirt, sitting on the floor with his knees pulled to his chest, his eyes closed. I wasn't entirely sure if it was indeed a man, as his features weren't discernible, but something about his presence made me feel as if the thing before us was a man. I'd thought that the wings were a wall, as did we all, but after stepping into the small clearing, I saw that the division began from his shoulders and created a sphere around him, using it as more of a shield than as a wall.

"What is it? We can't see, daddy!" Azeneth cried out in a harsh whisper, trying to peer around the side of the hole in the tunnel, but the wings hadn't retracted enough to be able to see without being in the small clearing.

"It's a man," Damien gasped out softly as he took a few small steps forward before crouching before the man, inspecting his face closely. "That isn't a wall. It's his wings."

"Wings? The book said that fae used to have wings. It's an ancient fae!" Azeneth gasped happily as she tried to run past Sam and me to stand next to her father, but Sam and I put our arms out, blocking her from doing so.

"Lucifer?" I asked him, bringing his attention from the man's face and to Azeneth, who was still trying to get past us.

Damien looked past us to Bast, waiting for her reluctant nod of approval before motioning for us to let Azeneth by, holding his arms out to her. The second she was in his arms, he pulled her against him, holding her back to his chest so as not to allow her to get too close. "I believe if Maeve comes closer, it will awaken him. Azeneth, you must stay back. We do not know what this man is or how long he has been here. If he wakes up and attacks us, I don't know if there is anything we can do to stop him. I need you to stay as far away as possible, just until we can get some more answers. Okay?" He asked her in a soft whisper, pleading with her to understand.

"Are you going to bring him out of the tunnel?" Azeneth asked after a few moments of thought, turning her gaze to the man to her left, biting her lip with a groan before nodding. "I understand, daddy. You aren't allowed to die or get really hurt, okay? None of you are."

"I swear to you. I will do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen." Damien agreed, locking his pinky around hers, then kissed her on the forehead before motioning for her to leave. "Samantha, would you mind?"

"I- Sure," Samantha agreed after a moment of reluctant hesitance, as she wanted to see it just as much as the kids did but decided to take them to the surface nonetheless. *'She must understand that a newborn vampire may do more damage than good if we are to get attacked.'*

"What do you think the chances that his joy will overcome him from being freed?" Bast offered jokingly with a shrug as she leaned against the wall, locking her attention onto the man, ready to lunge if need be.

"We shall see," I growled as I stood on the left side of Damien, crouching down at the ready as Sam did the same on his right side. I listened as Maeve's heartbeat grew nearer, watching as the man's wings began to fold themselves back until they stopped, spanning about six feet on either side of the man. Once the man's wings had stopped retracting, I could see that they very closely resembled the wings of a bat, his wings like staring into a bottomless abyss of emptiness. *'What the hell could he be? I've never heard of a being with wings like this! To be fair, I've only heard one person speak about a being with wings, but that was once, and he was telling me a story that had been passed down through generations.'*

"Steady," Sam growled, bringing my attention out of my thoughts and back to the matter at hand. Maeve was standing on the other side of the wall, taking minimal steps into the room, doing everything she could to force herself forward, as I could tell how hard each step was for her.

I turned my attention back to the man, watching as he started to stir beneath the dozens of layers of dirt holding him in place. *'I thought he was covered in mud, but it's more like a tomb shaped to the form of his body. It's amazing that even with the tomb, the wings, and the wall, that we could still feel your powerful force. I can only imagine how much stronger it will be once you are truly free.'* I thought as I waited as the tomb surrounding him crumbled to the ground, and his eyes flew open.

When the man opened his eyes, they were like looking directly into the sun, glowing with white light around all that surrounded him, making me flinch away in pain, as it felt like his eyes were like ten thousand suns, burning my body to ashes in mere microseconds. It was as if he was using Maeve's healing power, but a weaponized version of it, through his eyes.

"Stop!" Maeve yelled to the man as she ran in front of us, gasping out in pain as she looked into his eyes, but refused to look away no matter how much pain it brought her.

When the man saw Maeve, he gasped out as his eyes dimmed, relieving the sun-like power he'd shone on the seven of us, then mumbled something in a language I couldn't understand, his eyes like two orbs of sunlight, golden almost like a recreant, with an eerie glow about them.

Maeve seemed to be surprised when she responded to the man in the same language he'd spoken, the two of them engaging into what sounded like a heated argument, lasting for a few long and painstaking minutes as the rest of us watched and waited impatiently. "Sinclair, I need you to trust me. I need all of you to trust me." Maeve finally said as she looked around at the group, her eyes no longer their usual hazel, but now a bright glowing purple.

"Of course, I trust you. What are you planning?" Sinclair asked as she started to walk forward, but stopped when Maeve gasped and held her hand out, telling him to stop, while the man jumped to his feet and wrapped an arm around Maeve's waist, pulling her against him, his eyes locked onto Sinclair with intense hatred.

"Let go of me!" Maeve gasped, wriggling free of the man's grasp before landing a punch on the side of his jaw, sending him stumbling backward. "You have two choices. Behave, or go back to being trapped."

The man didn't seem very pleased by the options Maeve gave him and growled something in a language I couldn't understand before nodding to her reluctantly.

"We should take him to the surface. We can talk to him up there. But first, I have to help him." Maeve responded, grimacing as she held her hand out to the man, making it very clear that she did not in the slightest wish to be in contact with him but found that she had no other choice. The moment her hand touched his, it was like a wave of healing went through him, spanning from the top of his head to the tips of his wings, ripples going through his body as the dirt fell away, making him gasp out with a small laugh.

I almost couldn't believe what I saw, as it genuinely hurt to look at the man. As if gazing upon his form would burn my eyes from my skull, but I found it near impossible to look away, regardless. The man was a few inches taller than me, with a muscular build much like Sinclairs, in the way that he had very broad shoulders. There was a spiral tattoo spanning the entire right side of his torso, twisting at the tips of his fingers as if the tattoo had taken hold of his hand and spread itself along his right side. He was wearing nothing more than a pair of shorts that looked as if they would fall off of him at any moment, the cloth used and scruffy, showing how long he'd been trapped in this earth. His wings began flapping slowly as pitch-black feathers grew over the leathery flesh of his wings, taking them from something truly horrific and transforming it into something that was, quite honestly, the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

"I-" The man started to say as he fell to his knees, his eyes teary and bright with happiness as he looked up at Maeve with a smile. "I am free" He struggled out as if he'd forgotten how to speak.

"Do you plan on hurting any of us?" Maeve asked him, ripping her hand out of his as quickly as she could, wiping it on her pants as if that would somehow remove his touch from her skin.

"I would never hurt you," The man responded with a flinch, like the very idea that he could hurt Maeve was like a knife to the heart, shaking his head no as he watched Maeve, his eyes narrowing as she walked to Sinclair's side. "The demons, however, are a different story." He added with a growl as he stood, his wings flexing as he took a few steps towards Sinclair.

"The demons, as you call them, are my friends. If you try to hurt them, I'll leave." Maeve responded as she stepped in front of Sinclair, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared up at the man like she was daring him to test her resolve.

"Befriended demons? Repugnant and blasphemous!" The man spat the words out like they tasted sour in his mouth as he looked around the room, first at Damien, then Sam, before he finally landed on me, his eyes narrowing in confusion as he watched me. "What era is this, that blood-sucking parasites are friends with our kind?" He mumbled as he continued to look around, stopping on Bast, then again on Mercy, watching them like he was trying to figure them out.

"An era worth being in. If you call us demons, what does that make you?" I asked him, immediately regretting speaking as the man's intensive gaze locked back onto me. I'd never been a man easily scared, but the being that was standing before me let off an aura so powerful, it's like I was hard-wired to bow to his every word.

"You do not know who I am? Not only are you an era of repulsive relationships, but you are a fool as well?" The man growled to me, his lip twitching in disgust as he straightened his back, his wings rippling as they stood tall and at attention. "I am Rafferty, the fallen."

"Okay, Raffey, I'm Maeve. I would say it's nice to meet you, but nothing about our meeting has been nice. Why are you in this underground tunnel?" Maeve asked, raising an eyebrow as he turned to look at her.

"It is Rafferty." He responded, watching her curiously. *'Rafferty the fallen? Like... a fallen angel? Jesus Christ! That's how fae are so powerful? Do they derive their power from their ancestor, a fallen fucking angel? I guess that also brings to light how the light fae seems so pure and innocent. So I wonder, is a fallen angel like a dark fae, or are they like anodyne, who have the choice to be either good or evil?'*

"As I said, Raffey," Maeve responded, her eyes alive with a mischievous amusement as she saw how upset she was making him. *'Why in the hell is she toying with him? He's a man with wings who clearly hates anything that isn't human. Well, he doesn't seem to hate her. I wonder why that is?'*

"I was cast here, to be trapped until one of my kind came to free me," Rafferty responded, then motioned to Maeve with a small smile, his eyes glowing in what appeared to be happiness as he watched her. "You have released me from my perpetuity of anguish, and for that, I will forever be in your debt." He said as he got down on one knee in front of Maeve, folding his wings back, so they laid on his back neatly, putting his right hand over his heart as he bowed deeply.

"One of your kind? Sorry to break it to you, Raffey, but I'm not like you. Notice the lack of wings and an enlarged sense of self-importance?" Maeve said, taking a few steps back as she eyed Rafferty suspiciously, groaning in discomfort as he bowed to her.

"Have you not the gift of eternal life? Do you not possess both healing and destructive power? Are you able to harness both the light and the dark forces of nature, bending them to your will?" He asked her, furrowing his brows in honest confusion as he watched her, as he seemed to be genuinely invested in the answer to the questions.

"Aye, how did you- You're saying we're the same kind? So you are a fae?"

"I do not know what this fae is that you speak of. Is it a name the mortals gave my descendants throughout the years?"

"Descendants? Are you saying you're my ancestor?" Maeve gasped, then took a few steps back, shaking her head in disbelief. "I can't," She gasped out, then turned around and ran past Sinclair, back down the tunnels, towards the surface.

"Maeve," Sinclair called as he ran after her, casting a glance over his shoulder at us before disappearing around the corner.

"Maeve!" Rafferty gasped, falling to his knees with a cry of pain, gasping out as his skin began to stiffen, the dirt surrounding him began to form around his knees, forcing him back into the crouched position he'd been trapped in when we found him, hugging his knees to his chest. The dirt continued to make its way up to his body until he was entirely trapped, his wings reverting to their leathery form. I watched in a mixture of awe and horror as the feathers fell from his wings, turning to dust as they fell to the ground. I gasped when I saw that the wing was stretching out and began forming the sphere surrounding the room we were standing in, forcing us to retreat into the tunnel.

"He can't be free unless he's near Maeve," Damien gasped as we watched the wall, or rather, wing slid back into place, sealing the hole in the wall. "That's why he didn't attack us so that Maeve wouldn't leave."

"I was wondering what was stopping him, as it is obvious he does not like vampires," Sam snorted as he walked closer to the leather wall, hesitantly running a finger along the tip of it, growling when the wall rippled from his touch. "His wings are the only thing that remains alive while the rest of him is statuesque?"

"Should we leave him here or carry him to the surface? Oh, what the hell am I saying? We aren't getting this thing out of here unless he walks out." Mercy said, motioning to the black wing covering the doorway with a snort of amusement, rolling her eyes with a long and drawn-out sigh.

"The twins are going to be pissed," Bast groaned, then chuckled with a shrug, motioning down the tunnel before us before walking forward, trying to find her way back to the surface.

"Maeve knows that she's the only reason that thing has awakened, so it wouldn't surprise me if she leaves," I mumbled as we headed forward, hoping that we were going the correct way, as we'd lost our tour guide.

"Do you really think she'd just leave? She seemed so excited to see what it was. Well, excited and terrified, just like the rest of us. She literally just met the man that made her kind possible, and she storms off?" Mercy said with a shrug, looking back at me curiously to see if I shared her sentiments, which sadly, I did.

"Yes, she met the origin of her people. You can say it because it was not one of you. Perhaps you should consider exactly what just happened. Maeve met a fallen angel who said that he was the man who made her entire world possible. He made her entire existence possible. That is a situation none of you could begin to imagine, nor can I," Damien said in a slightly raised voice, making sure we all listened to every word he said.

"Well, when you say it like that." Sam agreed as we finally reached the edge of the tunnels and started to climb back onto the surface, then helped Bast and Mercy climb out after us.

"Samantha, where did Maeve and Sinclair go?" I asked her after looking around the yard but only saw Samantha and the twins.

"I think they went back to their cabin, I think? I couldn't understand a word Maeve said." Samantha said with a shrug, shaking her head. "I swear she gets scarier each hour I spend with her."

"Where's the fae, daddy?" Azeneth gasped as she ran past us to look down in the tunnel, hoping to see the man following us to the surface, pouting to Damien when she saw that he wasn't.

"He's not a fae, and he is trapped behind his wings again since Maeve left," Damien responded as he couched and took Azeneth in his arms, motioning for Ciaran to join them before letting out a small breath of disbelief as he looked between the two of them. "I- I think he's a fallen angel, the father of the first fae."