"Will he be back?" Cassandra asked.
Ash gave an odd half-laugh. "I don't know. He's one of the few creatures beyond my powers. But like he said, it's not over. He might be back in a few months or a few centuries. Time passes differently where he lives."
Kyrian, Talon, and Julian came into the room.
"The Daimons have all vanished," Talon said. "We killed some, but the rest..."
"It's all right," Ash said. "Thanks for the help."
They nodded, then walked out of the bedroom, into the chaos of the living room.
"Man, it's going to take days to clean this up," Chris said, looking around in disbelief.
Then, before their eyes, the destruction was cleared. All that was left behind were the bodies.
Zarek snorted. "You better stop while you're ahead, Acheron."
"I'm not ahead, Z. I can't fix what was really damaged here tonight." Ash's gaze went to Shanus's body.
Wulf shook his head as he picked up Shanus to carry him to the town's center.
There were Apollites everywhere, crying and screaming over their dead.
"They didn't deserve this," Wulf said to Acheron.
"Who does?" Ash asked.
A woman came up to Wulf. She had the bearing of royalty and it didn't take much to ascertain who she was.
"Shanus?" she said, her eyes filling with tears.
Wulf laid the body down for her. "Are you his wife?"
She nodded as her tears glistened in her eyes. She cradled his head in her lap and wept quietly.
Cassandra moved forward. "I'm so sorry."
The woman looked up, her eyes filled with hatred. "Get out. All of you! You're no longer welcome here. We helped you and you destroyed us!"
Zarek cleared his throat. "That might not be a bad piece of advice," he said to Wulf, looking around at the others who were directing killing glares toward them.
"Yeah," Ash agreed. "You guys help Wulf and his family get out of here. I'm going to see about someone."
Wulf knew he meant Urian. "Do you want us to wait for you?"
"No. There'll be a couple of SUVs waiting for you topside. Head home and I'll catch up later."
"SUVs?" Kyrian asked.
"Again, I repeat, don't ask questions you don't want answered," Zarek said. "Just accept the fact that Acheron is a freak of nature and let it go."
Ash cast him a droll glare. "I may be a freak, but at least I don't throw lightning bolts at my brother."
Zarek laughed evilly at that. "At least I haven't struck him with one... yet."
Ash watched as Zarek led the group out of the city.
He stood in the center, surveying the damage around him. He started to clear it out just as he'd done with Wulf's house and the apartment, then stopped. The Apollites would need something to focus on other than their pain.