The moment the words leave her mouth, the black returns to her eyes, and her face shuts down completely, morphing into a threatening mask while a thicker, ominous air forms around her like a second skin.
I move back a step, watching her intently. The only reason I back away at all is because that little slip proved my Luna isn’t as lost as we think. I'll do as she asked, but I'm not letting her go. She can grieve, but I'll follow her to the ends of the Earth before she ever gets rid of me. My angel needs time to mourn the loss of her best friend, and I'll give her that so long as she comes back to me when she's ready.
On steady feet, I keep moving backward until I reach my brother. He looks dead on his feet, slumping against Noah awkwardly while blood drips down his shirtless chest. His hair is a red mess atop his head, sweat slicking it all kinds of directions.
"What's happening to her?" he rasps, his dark eyes watching Luna with a yearning I feel in my soul. He wants to go to her as badly as I did, but the warning Luna gave me sits heavily on my shoulders.
Grabbing my brother's arm and hooking it over my shoulder, I tell him, "She's lost right now, but she'll find her way. And we'll be right there for her when she does."
Eli nods but sends one more look of longing in Luna's direction before turning away. Noah and Devon glance over at her, Noah looking utterly crestfallen. "We can't just leave her."
"We have to. I don't like it either, but we either get the fuck out of here, or she'll burn us alive with the building," I tell him, my words strained since Eli's growing weaker from blood loss, and I'm forced to hold more of his weight. Noah notices and hurries to his other side, hooking his other arm around his shoulder and helping me move my brother across the room.
From behind us, Devon asks quietly, "If she's going to torch the place, should we take Ms. Frenchie with us? I can't imagine that'll sit well with Luna when she comes back to her senses."
He has a point. My eyes find Luna in a blink, seeing her crouched low in front of her best friend, tears dripping down her face as anger morphs her features into a look of pure hatred I've never seen on her before. A shudder wracks my body, and my heart feels like it's fallen right out of my chest, splattering across the floor with a wet slap.
Luna's head snaps up as though she heard Devon's question, and she snarls in his direction.
"I'm going to go with no," he mutters quietly, hurrying his footsteps behind us.
As a unit, we carry Elijah out of the basement, leaving a part of ourselves with Luna. We haul my brother's heavy ass up the stairs and through the house, finding Brutus lying to the side of the hidden door. The dog raises his head and looks us over as though he's searching for something. When he doesn't find what he's looking for, he huffs through his nose, stands, and descends the stairs before any of us can stop him.
Not a moment later, I hear a haunting sound that chills me from the inside out. Eli shivers, proving he feels it too. A long, sorrowful howl penetrates the air, a pitiful whine following it before another howl sounds out from the basement.
Unbidden, a tear slips from my eye, and I shake my head while navigating my brother through this grotty, downtrodden house and out into the fresh night air. As soon as we reach the outside, Noah and I carefully place Eli on the ground while he gathers his energy. The bleeding looks to have eased a lot, dry blood crusted over his skin. I'm sure I'm in no better shape, though I'm thankful I can actually walk without assistance after the shit Lucifer put us through before Luna showed up.
"You good, brother?" I ask Eli, looking him over while he breathes heavily with his elbows on his knees and head in his hands. I notice a few tear drops fall to the floor, but I ignore them.
Eli nods quickly, muttering, "Yeah, man. I'll be fine."
He doesn't sound very convincing, but I can imagine the same turmoil that's running through me is plaguing him too, so I don't push. I let him have his peace while he gains his strength back.
"What are we going to do about Luna?" Noah timidly asks, turning to face the house with hope shining in his eyes that Luna will come walking through the door any second. She doesn't, and I'm forced to watch him deflate and turn his worried eyes on me.
I look at the house and tell him, "We can't do anything for her right now. The best thing we can do is let her grieve."
"We can't fucking leave her here," Devon snaps, looking as though he's a second away from storming right back into that shitty little house and hauling Luna over his shoulder to bring her out here with us.
My hand darts out before I can even process the action, slapping Devon hard in the chest and pushing him back just as he takes his first step. He stumbles back and offers me an ineffective glare. I glare back, growling, "Our Luna isn't in there right now. Leave her the fuck alone to do what she needs to do. She'll come back to us. You'll only get hurt trying to haul her stubborn ass out here."
It shuts Devon up quickly, even as he turns and punches a street lamp until it folds in half and the light smashes against the concrete road, darkness descending all around us. Not one of us says anything while he releases his frustration on the unsuspecting lamp, leaving him to it. Noah turns his back on the man to offer him some semblance of privacy.
"Should we wait her out?" Noah asks quietly, his longing gaze back on the house.
Shaking my head, I tell him, "I don't think she'll be coming out for a while. We should probably go back to the hotel and pack our shit. Give Luna some space."
Reluctantly, Noah nods, tearing his eyes away and looking down at Eli. "Think you can walk back to the hotel?"
Eli's shoulders slump, and he mutters, "Doubt it."
"Alright. We'll call a taxi," Noah answers quickly like he was expecting as much. I appreciate the man a whole lot more now because I think I'm on the verge of collapsing myself despite being able to walk unassisted.
Devon stomps back toward us, pulling his phone out of his back pocket and handing it over to Noah with a sharp nod and a clenched jaw. Noah accepts and immediately calls a taxi service, checking the street name when he walks away to make the call.
Just as the call connects and Noah quietly makes arrangements, Devon's head snaps up to face the house, his eyes filled with determination. Brutus releases another howl I can hear from outside, making my chest ache that much more. Devon's jaw clenches even tighter, so much so that I'll be surprised if he doesn't crack a tooth or two.
"Don't do it," I warn, knowing exactly what he's thinking and what he's about to do regardless of the shit I've told him.
Devon's jaw is set with his resolve. His eyes meet mine, and he grits out, "I'm not leaving her again. I've fucked up once. I won't do it a second time."
Before I can reach out and stop him, he skirts past me and bolts toward the house. However, just before the stupid fucker can reach the door, there's a loud crash and a whole lot of noise coming from inside. Wood creaks, things break, glass shatters. It sounds like a fucking bomb is going off in there.
Pushing myself, I sprint to Devon, snatch him by the collar, and drag him backward just as a hellacious growl echoes in the night. All before an ear-splitting explosion tears the house apart and flings Devon and me back until we land right next to Eli. Each of us are lying on the ground, winded and groaning with the ache the explosion has left us with.