77 It Was Really Over

He dug his heel painfully into Dorian's mid-back as he reached down to dig out the core. He squirmed in pain and desperately tried to turn around but the werewolves had him pinned. He wasn't going to be getting that core back; he was finished.

"Come now, surely you know that killing me won't bring your coven back. I admit I miscalculated things. We can call it even; two former coven leaders who lost all of their memb—"

Ash's fist squeezed the core enough to cause serious pain but not enough to kill him. It did shut Dorian up though, which was what he was going for. This was not a negotiation and he needed to know that.

"What you did to me was far worse than what I did to you. I never liked the way you did things but I was content to leave you in peace for the rest of eternity once we settled in different areas. You struck first and brought this upon yourself, crossing my bottom line not once but twice. You deserve everything you're getting Dorian Cromwell," he hissed.

"The fairy is clearly fine so why don't you—"

Dorian wasn't able to finish his sentence because he was dead. Ash completely destroyed his core as he was talking. Somehow it wasn't as satisfying as he had hoped it would be. Maybe he was tired.

Whatever he was feeling, he had accomplished his goal. His coven had been avenged. Or…had it?

"Sirius, status report," Ash said flatly.

The werewolf's ear twitched listening for some signal only his race could hear. A small smirk crossed his rugged features as he followed his orders. "My men have counted fifty-five bodies total and located the baby fairy. She is unharmed and sleeping in a room at the top of a tower."

Fifty-five bodies…including the nine that died before this raid that added up to the total number of Cromwells Blair had given him information on. She knew the exact number because of their blood pill order history.

It was really over. His family and friends could rest in peace knowing their killers would not be able to live on and hurt anyone else.

Ash wasn't happy about it. He felt hollow and worn out. So much death because Dorian was the most selfish fae ever to walk the earth. He thought that killing the Cromwells would make him feel better but it didn't. All of those deaths had been senseless after all, not only those of his family.

No, that wasn't true. He had managed to save Ruby from them.

Ruby! How had he managed to forget about her?! He rushed over to where she was still lying on the floor and inspected every inch, drinking in the sight of her. She was alive. They could go home. If nothing else, that made today a victory.

"I can't move, Ash," she said feebly.

Sirius barked instructions to his men to douse everything in gasoline and light the place up in case humans managed to find it. That was entirely possible now that the blood barrier was gone.

Barriers only lasted as long as either the caster or someone with the blood seal was alive to maintain it. That was further proof that they managed to get every last Cromwell.

Ash very carefully lifted Ruby and carried her piggy-back style so she wouldn't have to work to hold her head up when she already wasn't feeling well. She slumped forward so it rested on his shoulder and he didn't mind one bit.

In fact, he savored the closeness. He almost lost her today. He didn't think he would be letting go of her anytime soon so he had constant reassurance that she was still alive.

He and the werewolves had run here but he didn't think either of the fairies would be up for that. At least he had his wallet in the pocket of his pants so he would be able to get them plane tickets home. He could walk like this to the airport once Ruby was able to cast a glamour again.

"Thank you for your excellent work," Ash told the alpha wolf sincerely once they were a reasonable distance from the blaze.

Sirius shrugged. "Just doing my job. I expect the rest of my payment as soon as you get back home and have your checkbook or I'll hunt you down. You can leave it at the witch coven with Blair; she always knows how to find us."

"I wouldn't dream of stiffing you after all of your help. Rest assured; you will get your money in the next few days."

He nodded and gestured for all of his soldiers to move out. The one holding Flora gently set her down on top of the blanket in a patch of grass next to Ash before following the rest of his pack.

It was then that he noticed there were ankle weights on the baby fairy so she wouldn't fly away. How barbaric! A glance down told him that Ruby was dealing with the same affliction; he hadn't paid attention before in the heat of the moment.

Anger surged in his heart at their treatment before realizing there was nothing to be angry at anymore. The perpetrators were all dead.

He very gently set Ruby down on the grass and snapped both of their ankle weights in half. There were deep bruises and chafe marks on both of them and he pointlessly got angry all over again.

Ruby was awake, though weak, stared up at the sky silently. Ash was dying to know what she was thinking about but was afraid to ask. She might be angry with him for not coming sooner and making her go through all that.

What were they supposed to do from here? He assumed they would be going back home and continuing on as they had been but there was no real reason for that now. He got his revenge. Their deal was null and void aside from his future promise to create a blood barrier for her.

Panic seized his heart. He really didn't want her to go. Would it be too selfish of him to ask that of her after all she had been through because of vampires?