A Crown Of Smoke And Ash - Sloane Murphy Page 0,123
stands as Levi does. We follow him outside, Annabeth and Teddy behind us. The barn looks relatively new, and I hope to the fates that whatever Levi does doesn’t bring this place to the ground.
We follow them inside, Teddy closes the big door behind us, and despite the clutter, there’s still plenty of space.
“This will do,” Levi says, looking around. I watch from where I stand by Annabeth and Teddy, while Levi strides across the space, and drags what looks like an abandoned work top to the center of the barn and motions of Eddie to jump up. He does, and lays down.
I get flashes back to my own ritual, and a pang of sadness hits me when I think of Ben, and that he’s not here. Levi moves towards Eddie, hovering one hand over his forehead, and another over his chest. I can’t hear the words he murmurs, but his wings appear again, and the air fills with electricity. I notice the clouds outside darken as Levi continues with his murmuring, and then Eddie goes stiff as a board, before he starts to convulse. I hold Teddy and Annabeth back as they try to move towards the man on the table.
“He will be okay,” I tell them, and Eddie starts to still. The air becomes less charged, and the clouds start to lighten again. This isn’t exactly how I pictured, it, and Levi looks more worn that I imagined he would. I look at him, and he shakes his head. It takes a second, but his eyes brighten once more, and he comes back to himself fully.
He steps back from Eddie, who’s eyes open and he just lays there, blinking up at the ceiling.
“Are you okay, Eddie?” Annabeth asks from behind me. I move and let them both move forward.
“I…” Eddie says but stops, and just continues to lay there.
“What did you do to my brother?” Teddy practically growls.
“He did what I asked. It’s just… a lot.” Eddie placates him, his voice full of wonder. “It’s all true. Every bit of it.” He sits up, and looks at me with unshed tears in his eyes. “Thank you. I will stand with you.”
“Thank you,” I tell him, and move to stand beside Levi, wrapping an arm around his waist. He leans on me a little as he pops an arm around my shoulders.
“Oh shit!” Eddie says, scrambling from the table and kneels before us. “You’re Leviathan!” He bows his head and Levi smirks.
“You don’t have to kneel. Please, don’t. His ego doesn’t need it,” I tell the man who looks at me like I’ve lost my mind saying such things. He looks to Levi for confirmation, which irks me, but I let it go, he’s going through a lot, and then stands when Levi nods.
“Maybe we should just do it,” Annabeth whispers, and Teddy looks between her and his brother, as if trying to work out if he’s ready for what’s about to happen.
“Okay.” He nods and I look up to Levi. I wish I had a way to talk to him like I do with Kain, but I don’t so I have to take him at his word when he nods, letting them know he’ll unlock their memories too.
I move back out of the way as Annabeth climbs up onto the work top, and watch as he works.
One family down, just god knows how many more to go.
“Hey Remy.” Creek’s head pops around the door to my room while I’m lying on my bed in my towels staring at the ceiling. These last few days have been a lot. We’ve visited every single Hunter family Creek had tracked down, and Levi had restored the memories off all that were willing to join us.
“You okay?” I ask him as he comes in, closes the door and hovers.
“I am,” he says, rubbing the nape of his neck, and his eyes dart around the room. I’ve never seen him look so nervous.
“What’s up?” I sit up, and make sure I’m covered as he starts to pace in the space between the bed and the door.
“So, I didn’t know how to do this, I wanted a better time, a better place, but with everything going on, and us not knowing what’s going to happen, I just figured why not.” His pacing continues as he rambles, but I don’t interrupt. “I figured, I’d just come here, talk to you, and everything would be fine, but now I’m here, and you’re practically naked, and wow.”