Moxie had never considered herself to be a particularly impatient woman. The Torrin Family’s strict demands and requirements had accompanied her since childhood. She’d spent more hours than she could count waiting with only the company of her own thoughts to stand by her side.

She didn’t mind delays. They were a moment to gather her focus and determine a plan. To figure out how she could navigate what was coming in a way that wouldn’t bring the delicate tower of wooden logs stacked tall around her crashing to the ground.

But today was different.

Perhaps that could be attributed to the world-ending monstrosity that Renewal’s Prophet had just folded up like origami, or maybe it was because Jalen had shown up for just long enough to teleport all of them to a nearby mountain before rushing off with Noah’s body.

Or maybe it was the look in Lee’s face. The way she kept glancing at Noah’s gourd, clutching it to her chest like it was a sickly child. Maybe it was how Jalen and Garina still hadn’t returned with Noah.

Then again, it could have been the fact that the entirety of the Arbalest Empire had been reduced into a screaming graveyard within a few minutes. Destruction on a scale that she couldn’t even begin to comprehend. More Rank 7s dead than she had ever known existed.

Calling this the Apocalypse wouldn’t have been an entirely inaccurate claim. Even from their relatively safe spot that Jalen had dropped them all off at, Moxie could still feel the presence of Renewal’s Prophet in her memories.

There were more questions in Moxie’s head than she could count. And, from them all, there was only a single one she wanted an answer to. There was only a single one that mattered.

She kept her gaze trained to the sky, just as it had been for the past thirty minutes. Every single second felt like it was an eternity.

The urgency in Garina’s stance when she’d snagged Noah’s unconscious body had made it pretty clear that they were hot on Father’s trail. It was unlikely that they were still chasing him. The fight shouldn’t have still been going. Father had been drained, and so had Garina and Noah. Even if Jalen had showed up with a full tank of magical energy to fight with… it should have been done by now.

But nobody had returned.

Not even Noah.

That, more than anything, scared Moxie. Father knew how Noah’s magic worked. She’d seen it in his eyes. Him pointing at Lee certainly hadn’t made the conclusion a hard one to draw. But if Father knew how Noah’s magic worked… then there was a chance he knew how to counter it.

If he’d defeated Jalen and Garina, if he’d found a way to actually kill Noah for good or somehow take him prisoner, there was absolutely nothing she could do. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs N0veI.Fiɾe.net

Moxie’s hands clenched at her sides. Her runes shuddered within her soul, their power roiling through her body in a river that did nothing to alleviate the thoughts beating against the walls of her mind.

A hand fell on her shoulder. Moxie flinched, nearly releasing her magic before she managed to catch herself at the last moment. Her eyes flicked to the side. Brayden stood beside her, his jaw clenched and eyes focused firmly on the ground before them.

“They’ll be fine,” Brayden said.

“How do you know?” Moxie asked, her voice so taut that seemed to only be an inch away from snapping. “Because he always is? Because that’s an argument that only works until it doesn’t. Nobody can always be fine. Father knows! You saw, didn’t you? He—”

“I was a little busy breaking my friend’s neck,” Brayden said quietly.

Moxie bit her tongue. She glanced to the side, her fists clenching tighter still. “I’m sorry.”

“She gave me no choice,” Brayden replied. “Janice made her decisions. I made mine. And Noah isn’t going to be fine because he always is. He’s going to be fine because he’s got people to come back for.”

“You think that’s going to stop Father?” Moxie asked.

“You think anything’s going to stop Noah?” Brayden countered, jerking his chin toward Lee. “From getting back to you? To Lee? To everyone here? I don’t know the full extent of what he is, Moxie. But death itself can’t keep a hold on the slippery bastard. You really think Father can?”

The corner of Moxie’s lips twitched. “No. You’re right. He—”

A blur of darkness in the sky stole the words from her lips. Her gaze snapped up, only in time for her to realize that the blur was already upon them. Garina and Jalen slammed down to the ground before their group with a deep, earth-shaking crunch.

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The Apostle staggered forward, but managed to catch herself before she could fall. She looked bad. There was no other word to describe it. Blood and dirt matted her pale skin, and even her dark clothes couldn’t conceal it. Exhaustion had made deep bags under her eyes.

Jalen didn’t look to be in much better shape. The man’s hair stuck out in every direction like he’d taken a stroll through a thunder storm. Exhaustion hunched his shoulders and the normally jovial light behind his eyes was dim.

“Garina!” Ferdinand exclaimed, pushing to the front of the group as he reached out for her. He paused a foot away from her as he suddenly remembered where he was. And, more importantly, that they had an audience.

His hand started to drop.

But, before it could, Garina pulled him into a tight hug. She lifted him off his feet and spun him in a half-circle before setting him down, though she made no moves to release him.

Ferdinand made a noise like something that might have come out of a field mouse being strangled by a snake. He sent a panicked, disbelieving look over her shoulder at Moxie.

Jalen clapped him on the shoulder. “Good luck.”

“What?” Ferdinand asked, still stunned. “What are you talking about?”

“She’s got a very good sense of smell,” Jalen replied, tapping his nose knowingly. “You’re not getting away. Might as well drop the limp fish act and hug her back before she snaps like you like a twig. None of us give a shit that Garina likes her men bald and shiny. We’re not going to tell mommy on you.”

“I…” Ferdinand started. Then he looked at Garina, still wrapped around him. His own arms finally lifted to return the embrace. He, rather wisely, said nothing more.

“Wow. Fast learner,” Jalen said.

“Shut up,” Garina said as she finally released Ferdinand. “Your assistance was appreciated. Stop while you’re ahead.”

“I’ve never been good at that,” Jalen said.

Moxie finally shook the stunned cobwebs binding her thoughts away. Her eyes flicked around in search of any signs of Noah — but there were none. Nobody had come back with Jalen and Garina.

“What happened?” Brayden asked. “Where’s Father?”

“Dead. For good,” Garina replied. She took a step away from Ferdinand. For some reason, her eyes scanned through the small crowd of humans and demons staring expectantly at her. They didn’t seem to find what they were looking for. Her gaze finished on Lee. Then her eyes darkened.

“I don’t smell him,” Lee said. Her arms tightened around the gourd, pulling it closer to her chest as she sent an accusatory look at Jalen and Garina. “You didn’t bring him back. What did you do?”

“Where’s Noah?” Moxie asked, the words catching in her throat.

“We may have killed your boyfriend. Again. If it helps, he didn’t do it to himself this time. That’s an improvement, right? Please don’t kill him. He promised to catch up on…” Jalen trailed off midway through his sentence, the hand he was using to scratch at the back of his neck freezing. “Where’s Noah?”

The ground beneath Moxie felt like it was cracking.

“What do you mean, where’s Noah?” Alexandra asked. Yulin sent a concerned glance at her, then glanced around as if Noah was about to pop out of nowhere. “You had him!”

“He died! You know how he is!” Jalen exclaimed. “He should be here already!”

“He… did seem to do a lot of dying,” Fuyin said uneasily. “But didn’t he come out of the gourd when he died?”

“That’s what he does,” Jalen said. He looked down at Lee’s gourd, then back up to her. “He didn’t come out of the gourd?”

“No,” Aylin said. Worry creased his features. “He hasn’t been here since you took him.”

Beside him, Sticky paled several shades. Edda reached up to take her hand.

“You’re telling us he died while fighting Father?” Tim asked, his normally jovial words sharp and strained. “But… he kept coming back to life a moment ago. What happened to that magic? Shouldn’t it have saved him? How long ago was this?”

“Twenty minutes, at least,” Garina replied. She didn’t have answers for any of his other questions.

Moxie could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears. Her vision felt like it was trying to shrink down into a single point. She strode forward, stopping herself an instant before she could grab Garina by the collar.

“What did Father do?” Moxie demanded. “Some kind of special magic?”

“I don’t know,” Garina said. “He was the one that finished Father off. Jalen and I were both unconscious for the very end of the fight.”

“That’s it?” Moxie exclaimed, jerking the other woman closer. “That’s all you can tell me? Where the fuck is Noah, Garina? Are you telling me your failure to control Father got him… what, erased?”

“Noah wasn’t the one that got erased. Father was.” Jalen said. “Garina couldn’t sense any signs of his soul passing on. Noah just died the normal way. I think.”

Moxie froze. “Is that true? You can sense it?”

“Yes,” Garina said. Shame washed over her features and she averted her gaze. “I should have caught Father far earlier. I was unprepared for how powerful he was, and then I got knocked out at the end of the fight. Noah finished it for us. I—”

“I don’t give a shit about that,” Moxie snapped. “I meant what Jalen said. Can you tell when Noah dies normally?”

“Yes.” Confusion cut through Garina’s expression to crease her brow. “I can sense his magic bringing him back and leaving tiny fragments of his soul behind.”

“And you sensed it this time?” Moxie asked.

“Yes,” Garina said. “Father was gone, but there were fragments of Noah’s soul. More than normal, but I had just thought it was due to the damage. I hadn’t realized he’d just… vanished. I’m sorry. If—”

Moxie released Garina and took a step back.

“He’s just dead.” A relieved breath slipped from Moxie’s lips, and the confusion on Garina’s face grew even stronger still.

“What?” Garina asked. “But he didn’t reform.”

“You don’t understand,” Moxie said with a shake of her head. The faintest grin creased her lips. “His gourd is still here. If there were fragments of his soul left behind, that means there’s some part of him that still exists. And if there’s even a tiny sliver of him left behind… then he’s coming back for us.”