I opened my mouth to answer, but Thea cut me off. “There were shadows. They chased Quill into the house and… Why’d your door break, Quill?”
Shadows. Fuck.
I whipped around, expecting to see Alastor there, dreading the reality that I’d lured the gods to the Syndicate house. But he was nowhere to be seen.
The little girl sat on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest. “Because I was mean and Paesha got mad at me.”
I stepped over the larger pieces of wood, moving to her side as I put an arm around her, soaking in the fear. “I wasn’t mad at you. Not even a little bit. I promise.”
“Then why’d you send those shadow things after me?”
I looked up, locking eyes with Archer. I couldn’t still be holding the power from the dead prince. I’d released that magic to break the veil. It couldn’t have stayed with me, I didn’t own that power. But then it must have been Alastor. “Those weren’t mine. And they’re called Remnants.”
“I think they were yours, P,” Thea said. “They came from where you were standing.”
“No. They belong to a god named Alastor. Which means he’s got to be lurking around if he was waiting for that moment.”
Thea leaned on the door frame, crossing her arms. “Maybe it’s time for you to tell us where you’ve been and how you got back.”
“I don’t even knowwhat to say,” Thea said, holding a cup of tea in her hands that had gone cold. “We all agree we hate Thorne, right? Or Reverius or whatever his name is. But Ezra? This can’t be right. We know him. He loves you.”
“Maybe,” I shrugged. “Maybe Ezra has loved me in my past lives too, but I always die at one of their hands. I’ve seen it three times, Thea.”
Archer, now sitting with a shirt on, eyes a little more clear, settled back on the couch. “I was pretty sure Thorne loved her about two days ago, to be fair. Either way, they can’t be trusted.”
Elowen patted Archer on his arm. “I’m so sorry to hear about your sister, dear. She sounds like the kind of person we would have cherished around here.”
He nodded, falling silent.
“Are you mad or sad right now?” Quill asked from her spot on the floor.
She’d been too afraid of Alastor’s shadows to stay in her room by herself, but ultimately, she needed to hear how dangerous the gods could be too. And how hard I’d fought to get back here. Even if we’d left out the part about her burning down the realms. I’d catch the others up on that bit later, mostly because Iwasn’t even sure if it was true anymore. The only thing gods did flawlessly was fuck and lie, it seemed.
When Archer didn’t answer, Quill stood, moving closer to him. Thea all but stomped on my foot to get me to interfere. But there was no point. They’d already been around each other for an hour.
Archer, being the decent man he was, lifted his gaze to the child and forced a gentle smile. “I think I’m a little bit of both.”
Quill took his hand in hers and the rest of us held our breath as she closed her eyes. “All feelings are good to have, but we have to let ourselves be happy too.”
For a second, Archer went rigid. Then he melted into a puddle, his eyes filling with tears as he stared at my girl, and maybe for a moment, understood why she’d been worth every second of my bargain. He smiled. His real, genuine Archer smile that was full of boyish charm, a thief’s distraction, and a gambler’s biggest win.
“There you are,” Quill said, as if she’d been hunting for the man behind the misery. “My name is Quill Vox and it’s very nice to meet you.”
Quill Vox.
She’d given him my last name. My girl.
I knew she felt my absolute joy in that moment because she turned to look at me with a smile. “Is that okay if that’s my name? And Boo too, because we can’t leave him out of the family.”
“Of course it is.” And for the very first time in my adult life, I was proud of that name.
“It’s nice to meet you, too, Pencil,” Archer grinned.
“Hey, that’s not my name.”
“Oh, I forgot to tell you guys the part where Archie is the worst nickname giver on the face of the planet, and if you ever hear him call me Fingers, just ignore it entirely.”
Archer laughed, Quill giggled, and the joy of that happiness filled the room. It was clear we were all high on her emotional roller coaster at the moment, but at least it was something pleasant. Thea laughed and the sound of it filled an ache in my soul, washing away the homesickness that’d settled in there. There were pieces of this place missing, but at least these two ladies were here.
