Stronger Together chapter 247

Magic wasn't the only thing the attack drained from me. I'd been  running on rage and hate and fear and a thousand other emotions, and  when I poured it all into that spell it all just...left. I fell to my  knees, almost boneless. Not with exhaustion mind you, but with the sort  of bone deep weariness that only loss can really inflict. The second the  shield came down my girls were there Raven got to me first, with Kara  hot on her heels. Yang piled on as Barb peeled off her helmet and threw  it aside to hurl herself at me in relief.

I'd  like to say I just hugged them back and stoically held myself together,  but it would have been a lie. When I felt them all around me, I just  broke. The tears came quietly. Not deep wracking sobs but slow tracks of  teardrops across my cheeks as I looked around the now visible  battlefield. I let them hold me a while longer though, I wanted to get  up, to go check on things, but I didn't have the strength to, not yet.  I'd known this could be bad, that things could go wrong, but somewhere  deep down I'd almost expected to pull it off at the bottom of the ninth  like I always had before.

In  some ways I had. I'd saved the world. Saved my girls. I saw Harry in  the distance and I was relieved my mentor was still alive, but today  hadn't been all victory. I held onto my girls for a while longer, crying  silently and trying to get up the courage to go see what we'd lost.  Because I knew we'd lost some. I'd seen a few friends go down, and it  was my responsibility to witness their sacrifices. Theirs and the  hundreds of fae and the dozens of white court vampires we'd lost. These  people had come here for me, and the deserved my sorrow as much as I  did, so I dragged myself to my feet and started the walk out of the  crater.

The  shield had prevented and serious damage to the area, but more  importantly it had kept all the energy inside, which meant the crazy  impacts and insane magic had pretty much vaporized most of the earth  inside, and once the bubble popped there was a big ass hole scooped out  of the ground that we needed to climb out of. The godsteel fist was just  lying there in the dirt, and I didn't want to mess with it on the  admittedly slim chance He Who Stands Above had survived what I had done  to him. We climbed up out of the dirt, the crowd encircling the field  still up in the stands watching us.

After  a bit of scrambling we decided to just have Kara fly me up, while Raven  took Yang and Barb, and we lifted up into the air soundlessly, all set  down gently on the stone steps of the seating. I looked around at who  was here, spotting the missing people as my heart broke all over again. I  hadn't had time to grieve really, during the fight, but now seeing my  friends missing from the crowd was tearing me apart. Before I allowed  myself to feel it though I took stock of who was gone, my eyes scanning  over the assembled masses for missing faces.

First  up was Henry, of course. The kindest man I had ever met. Someone who  was cast out for no fault of his own by the organization he loved and  dedicated his life to and used that scorn as fuel to build a place where  anyone was safe. Henry had dedicated his entire life to protecting  people who couldn't protect themselves, to helping those who were  forgotten and overlooked, and he had died as he'd lived. A hero who gave  himself in service of those weaker than he was, shedding his blood to  protect the civilians of the city he loved.

Fix  too, I had seen die. I hadn't known the cheerful man well, but I'd  liked him. He was an outgoing person and he'd lit up a room when he was  around, no pun intended. The only small comfort I took in his death was  that I could see Lily here, having survived where she would have died in  the original timeline, and I knew even from our brief friendship that  Fix would consider that a hell of a deal, to sacrifice himself for his  friend and Lady. She met my eyes and I saw pain reflected in the green  cats eye orbs, and I dragged my gaze away from hers out of cowardice of  what I might see.

But  those weren't the only losses. Bernard, the darkling in my service, had  died in the battle, sacrificing himself to save his friend Samuel. Hana  the kitsune, who had been a foodie with a loud sense of humor, had been  cut down in the fighting. There were other names, other faces, people I  didn't know but still felt sorry for, summer fae that had come here out  of duty, white court vampires here to protect their family. But there  was one other body that I recognized, and it broke my heart when I  walked over to stand next to Sam as she cradled his body.

His  huge form was tattered and bloody, the sheer number of wounds he'd  managed to accrue staggering as I stared in horror at what had been done  to my friend. Cinder was holding Sam against her as she cried, looking  down at her teacher with pain and grief shining on those burning amber  eyes.  Strength of the River in His Shoulders, shaman of the forest  people, member of the Sky Path, father of Irwin, and my friend and  comrade, had cast his last spell. My tears picked up as I stared down at  him, his wounds making it clear that he'd fought far past the point  where anyone would have expected him to be able to function.

I  put my hand on Cinder's shoulder, squeezing tightly as she held her  friend, and my maiden looked up at me in sorrow. I leaned down to press a  kiss to her forehead and smiled before turning to leave her to her  grief. I visited Lily, forcing myself to prepare for her anger, but it  never came. The Summer Lady just hugged me and cried. I checked with the  darklings, and they were preparing to have Bernard's body taken to  graceland, where he could be buried at the site of one of his finest  battles.

The  rest of the night was a blur really, meeting people who had lost loved  ones and give them my condolences or just thanking them for being here. I  was emotionally exhausted even if I was physically fine, and when it  was all over I turned and made my way over to where Lucifer was  standing, back in the face of a man who I'd thought was my friend. He  was watching the crowd with a relaxed expression, Brynn standing a ways  back from him, giving him space but not seeming afraid or anything.

I  stared at him for a few seconds with a complicated expression, but  finally had to ask. "Was there ever a Dalton Carroway? I mean, I know I  never met him if there was, but I'm curious if my friend ever really  existed." I'd meant the question to sound angry or pointed, but I just  sounded...sad. I'd liked Dalton, and it wasn't fair that I had to lose  another friend after so much death tonight. I still couldn't believe  River was gone, he was just such a big presence, I thought he would  outlive is all. Hell he probably would have if it wasn't for me.

Lucifer  smiled with Dalton's face. "There was. He was an orphan, a friend of  Brynn here." He nodded to the witch. "He got drunk in an abandoned gas  station when they were fifteen and fell and banged his head. They  thought he was fine until he died from the concussion a few hours later.  Went in his sleep. Brynn wanted to keep his memory alive, so she  summoned me into his body. She's something of a legacy if you will. Her  family have been servants of mine for centuries." He smiled fondly at  the witch.

He  turned back to me with a serious expression. "I owe you a favor, little  brother. I didn't notice Nemesis was in Brynn's head. Granted I tend to  compartmentalize my plans so she didn't really know anything important,  but having him so close to me was a danger to my vessel and to  everything we accomplished today. I know that probably doesn't mean much  to you right now, but I just wanted you to know it was on the table.  Despite what my reputation my portray, I am not one to forget my debts."  His voice was as serious as I'd ever heard it in either form, so I  nodded, letting him know I understood.

He  sighed. "But sadly this hand is played. This vessel has been outed  already, and I have a few short hours to put my affairs in order and  leave while the fighting at the gates are distracting the powers of this  world. I'll be leaving the manor and almost all my assets to you. Brynn  has a tidy little nest egg and her own place in the city, and she'll be  in touch in case you need her. There's a book in the drawer of my study  with a bronze lock that contains all my account numbers and a list of  my...less obvious assets."

I  stared at him, torn, before finally asking. "Why? Why, all of this? You  had to have been pulling strings for years to get this outcome. You  were guiding me from the beginning. You arranged for the escapee from  demonreach to end up at your door, I assume you arranged for Barb to  even hear your name. You gave me the information on Fenrir, and Chastel  and tweaked a thousand little things so subtly I barely even noticed,  but what was the point? Why do all of this, was me being here for this  really so important?"

He  chuckled sadly. "It was. You were the only one who could do this. I've  known since I sensed your arrival you would play an important role, or  did you think Odin managed to shield you from the greater forces of this  world all on his own? You were an opportunity to strike a blow to the  outside they couldn't recover from, or at least one that would do damage  it would take them time to repair. All of this was the only way to  strike that blow within the rules we live by. Honestly I was only able  to nudge you as much as I did because of your nature."

He  stared at me intently. "I did enjoy getting to know you Cameron.  You're...interesting. I'm sorry if the way things were done has hurt  you. You didn't deserve that, not after what you did for us. I know it  would be easy for me to vanish into the ether in a puff of red smoke  with a devilish cackle, but I actually do think of you as a friend. I  don't want you thinking I just used you and tossed you aside."

He  chuckled again. "Oh well, you'll believe what you want to. Just know  that I meant what I said about that debt." I was too conflicted to  respond, and I think he got that because he didn't seem angry when I  turned to leave. I made my way back to the girls, but I heard his voice  as if he was still right beside me as I walked away. "Don't discount a  favor from me little brother, there isn't much I can't do. After all,  don't you think your lady loves might like the chance to go home?" When I  spun to ask him what he meant by that however, he was gone. All that  was left where he and Brynn were standing was a puff of red smoke, and  an echoing laugh. I actually smiled at that. What an asshole.