Chapter 230: Caleb
I shoved a young girl along, just past the tree line and scanned my surroundings. There had been no sign of Leon or Grace, and I debated whether I circled back to find them or not. But every single person from that prison, all 32 people, had been freed and had made it. I could see Rhys’ people supporting them as they ran. Many of them couldn’t shift to keep warm, at least not right now. They were too weak, and they hadn’t been able to afford not eating a few meals, and that sucked. They had chosen to move together at least as best as they could. I had often raced ahead, marked a spot, and then back tracked to make sure every single person made it to that mark, just to do it all over again.
The journey itself hadn’t been too terrible all things considering. A couple of people threw up due to overexertion and fatigue, but they had all made it, and there was something to be said for that, even if the group did not include Grace.
With one finally glance around, I decided I needed to cross the border to my brother. He might not understand the choices we made, but it was better he killed me than anyone else. That’s part of why I was glad Leon had chosen to go after Grace. I had sins to atone for. If Rhys killed me for not bringing back his wife, then I understood. I just hoped I’d get to hug my daughter one more time. Gods, I couldn’t wait to go home, if I got the chance to, so I could just lay eyes on my daughter. Gods, I missed her. She was the only reason that I did hate this plan, at least a little. She was my everything, but one day she would understand the choices I’ve made as a grown adult. She would know my mistakes, and hopefully, she would learn from them. I wanted her to be brave like her mother, not a coward like me.
The run had taken everything out of me. My exhaustion as I reached the border, teetered on dangerous, but I had no choice but to keep going, my mind wandering back to whether Grace and Leon had made it or not.
I stumbled as a different type of magic hit me as I reached the Golden pack and let myself fall to my knees. I just gasped for air, and a medic approached, standing right in front of me.
“I’m okay,” I gasped. The medic dropped a blanket on my shoulders, the winter chill finally slipping into my bones, but I didn’t care. I might not live through Rhys’ wrath, but I did it. All of these people were safe, in large because of me, and that was something to be proud of.
A new pair of boots entered my vision, but I was too tired to look up and see who they belonged to.
The person dropped to their knees in front of me, and before I had any time to process, two arms reached around me, and pulled me to him. I tried not to flinch, but it hurt, even though Grace had managed to heal a lot of my injuries, I still was sore. I wrapped my arms around my brother when he didn’t let go, and for a moment let myself feel his embrace, knowing it might be the very last one I got before he killed me.
Finally, he let me go, and I did my best to stow away all my emotions, my longing for my daughter and the life I would never get to live.
“Are you okay?” Rhys asked, surprising me by meeting my eye.
It wasn’t the cold glare I had been expecting. It was worry and fear that I saw swirling in his dark eyes that made me feel even worse.
I nodded. “Sore, but alive.” I answered after a long moment.
Rhys nodded, pushing his emotions back in a way that I had never quite mastered like he had.
“I’m glad to have you back, brother,” He said, still searching for something before hesitantly asking, “Do- do you know if Grace is still out there?”
I rarely heard my brother ever sound hesitant, and I sucked in a sharp breath. I didn’t want to be this person. I didn’t want to have to tell him that I didn’t know. I didn’t want to be the person that broke his heart. But that’s why I took this assignment, but now, I wasn’t sure if it was the right choice.
“I haven’t seen her in a couple of days,” I admitted sadly. “She was taken from the cells after she tried to heal everyone on too little food, water and sleep. She was unwell. We followed her plan; we knew the timeframe and discussed it at length before she had been taken. We modified the plan. I led the group out of the cells, and Leon went after Grace. I waited as long as I could for them, but I had to save the people I had.”
He took a deep breath, and I knew my twin well enough to know he was trying to stow his emotions away before he talked.
“She was unwell?” He asked.
“Yes.” I breathed.
“Thank you. Go inside. You look like shit.”
I bristled at the dismissal. He didn’t care? He wasn’t going to kill me for leaving her behind? I mean, we made a choice... I did everything I could to make sure she’d have a chance, but I still had expected him to kill me for it.
I walked inside still lost in my thoughts. The warmth of the house hit me so hard, I hadn’t even realized how cold I was. Only that I was alive.
“DAD!” A small voice shouted happily and lunged from her seat into my arms which I barely opened in time to catch her.
Oh goddess, this couldn’t be real. She was here. My sweet, sweet, Sammy who I was so sure I would never see again, was here. Not only here, but in my arms. Holy fuck. My mind couldn’t quite believe that any of this was real. Maybe I really had died in that stupid prison, and this, this was my heaven.
“Oh Sammy, I’m so sorry I left like that. I missed you so much, sweet girl.” I murmured as I soaked her in. She had definitely grown in the last few weeks or however long I had spent in that hell hole.
“Is Aunt Grace back too?” She asked eagerly, lifting her head up slightly to look around, and in the background, I saw Heather looking at me expectantly, wondering the same thing about her husband.
“No sweetie, she’s not.” I said loud enough for the both of them to hear, and I felt my heart break all over again.