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  I grinned, feeling lighter, more alive than I'd felt since I'd resurrected in the Nether. "Okay. Time to go." And I took my first step through the gateway and back into my world.

  Home.

  Chapter Twelve

  When I came out of the gateway, I was hit with both intense relief that I'd ended up right where I'd meant to (I was imagining coming out in the middle of someone's bedroom or something) and the fact that my connection to Brennan blared brighter, brought to full strength again by my return to my own world. The strength of it took my breath away, brought tears to my eyes.

  I stood in my back yard, one of the few places in the entire world I'd ever felt much peace. It was evening, the sky just barely lighter in the west, stars bright above. My garage stood to the right, and the lawn was longish, but had been mowed recently enough that it still looked like someone lived there. The huge oak that shaded the main part of the yard stood tall and sturdy, its now-brown leaves making a crackly, wispy sound as the cool breeze blew through them. Red and yellow leaves littered the grass; the maple and birch tree in my yard were nearly bare.

  So, autumn. It had been at least a year, then, since it had been October when I'd been pulled into the Nether. The thought of a year passing in the lives of my friends and loved ones, a year in which they'd gone through god-knows-what, scared the hell out of me. Was everyone even still alive?

  I couldn't feel my bond with Nain. What did that mean? I'd expected that to flare to life again now that we were both in the same realm again. I didn't want to think about what it might mean. If he was dead, his death was on my hands.

  Again.

  I turned around and looked at the immortals who had come through with me. My parents smiled, though I could sense tension in them, too. They weren't any happier than I was about the fact that the immortals would have free reign in my world now. And at least a few of them would be only too happy to pay me back for making them bow to me. I'd deal with it later.

  I glanced at each of them. "Okay. You're here. Don't fuck up or I will come and find you. Bye." And with that, I kicked off, rose into the air with a few strong flaps of my wings. There was one person I wanted to see, and he definitely wasn't one of the immortals I'd spent too much time with. I focused on my connection to Brennan. He was somewhere to my south. Not tremendously far away, I didn't think.

  My stomach twisted in anticipation. I was home. I'd see him again. I'd tell him about how he'd saved my life, kept me sane. As I flew, I looked down at my city. Parts of it were dark. I wondered if they'd always looked this dark from above, or if that was something caused by the war between the Aether and the Nether. It was quiet, and the evening air was cool against my skin. I looked around. I could see the Renaissance Center; the Fisher Building, glowing in the distance.

  I grinned. If it were possible to hug a city, I would have been wrapping my arms around Detroit at that moment.

  I was home.

  I kept flying in the direction where I sensed Brennan. Not far now. As I neared where I felt him, I surveyed the area, and realized where I was, and where he would be.

  I landed, and the deserted Packard Plant stood in front of me. Dark, dilapidated. A lonely place; haven for hipsters with cameras, site of one of my worst recurring nightmares. The place I'd killed Nain (or so I'd thought.) And the place where I'd lost my life trying to protect my home from the destruction the immortals would have wrought.

  And the best thing in this world or any other stood inside. Confused, happy, nervous. I brought up the enchantment again to hide my wings. We'd deal with that little addition later.

  I walked through the gaping entrance into the plant. He stood not even thirty feet away, near the spot where the old gateway used to be. He looked… wow. He looked better than anything had in what had felt like an eternity. Same blond hair and beard, same slate-blue eyes. Well-worn jeans, flannel shirt over a white t-shirt. And he was staring at me.

  "Tell me this is real," he said, his voice low, hoarse, full of emotion.

  I stopped walking, unable to trust my wobbly legs anymore. The power I'd expended at the gateway, my flight, and now seeing him was more than I could handle.

  "Hey," I said, and I felt tears spring to my eyes. For once, I didn't care. "What are you doing here?"

  He took a few steps toward me, stopped. He stared at me like he was sure I would disappear. "Waiting for you. I come here every once in a while, figuring that you left this way, and you'd be back here someday."

  I could barely breathe. The love, and need, and happiness washing over me, from him, was overwhelming in every way. There were other things, too. Anger. Guilt. Sadness. Anxiety.

  "Brennan," I whispered, and that was when he closed the last few steps between us and pulled me into his arms. His embrace threatened to suffocate me, and I didn't even care. It wasn't close enough. I put my arms around his waist, rested my face against his chest. And then I did something I never do.

  I let myself cry. He held me tight, and I could feel his heart pounding, feel his chest hitch once or twice as he struggled with his own feelings. We stood, and he let me cry without murmuring all of the usual "it's okay, you'll be all rights," because he knew better than anyone that it wasn't okay and I wouldn't be all right. But I was home, and I was with him, and it was enough. He just stood, and held me tight, and I felt his love wash over me. Once I felt spent, I took a few deep breaths, forcing myself to calm down.

  "It's really you," he said, and I pulled away, wiping my eyes.

  "Yeah. I'm so sorry, babe."

  He stared at me. "You're sorry?" he asked in disbelief, his voice still hoarse. "For what?"

  "They had you. And I couldn't save you and they hurt you and--"

  "No. No way. You don't have a single damn thing to apologize for," he said, cupping my face between his hands. "I've been dreaming of this moment for so long. Every moment since you've been gone." His gaze bored into mine, and then his lips met mine, and it was everything I'd remembered: warm and demanding, soft and insistent, all at the same time. I nibbled his lower lip gently as he kissed me, and he groaned, and I felt him smile against my mouth.

  His hands were in my hair, holding me close, and I clung to him as we devoured each other. "I am never," one soft kiss, "letting you," another soft kiss, "out of my sight," slightly harder kiss, "again," he said, and he followed it up with a hard, hungry kiss that left me leaning against him for support, clinging to him.

  When we finally came up for air, I pulled back slowly, reluctantly, and looked up at him. He had that near-crazed, hungry look in his eyes that he got sometimes when we were together, and I knew it was mirrored in my own.

  "How long was I gone?" I asked him, not sure I wanted to hear.

  He folded me into his arms again, rested his forehead against mine. "A little over three years," he said after a few moments.

  I tried to pull away, and he held me tight. "Three years?" I asked him.

  "Yeah."

  "I… oh, shit."

  "Yeah."

  I stared at him, trying to wrap my mind around that. Thee years.

  "How is everyone? Are they all still alive?"

  "Yeah, they're alive. They're all around. There have been so many changes since we lost you, Molly," he said, and I sensed anxiety in him again.

  Oh.

  "Have we changed, Bren?" I asked, afraid of what I'd hear.

  He reached out and took my hand, pressed it to his chest, right over his heart. "Not as far as I'm concerned. There's so much I need to tell you."

  I stayed like that, my hand clasped in his. His answer made me nervous for some reason. I didn't want to deal with it right that second. I just wanted the bit of happiness I'd fought so hard for to stay as perfect as it was. I let it go.

  "Okay. What about everyone else?"

  "We've had some issues," he said, and he pulled me toward the exit.

  "Of course," I said.

  "The most pressing of which is that right now, Nain and Chief Jones are being
held in the Wayne County Jail."

  I looked up at him. "What?"

  "Remember that underling of the Chief's? The one who was hell-bent on proving that supernaturals exist?"

  I nodded. Chief Jones had officially declared the question of supernaturals closed after Nain's death and all of the enemies I'd killed in its wake. Mostly because Jones was one of us. But he had a few guys on the force who didn't quite buy it, and one in particular who had made it kind of his life's work to prove the existence of supers.

  "Okay." He held my hand as we walked around to the opposite end of the plant site. "Well, after we lost you, shit got crazy. We had storms, and sicknesses, and rioting. We didn't have power here for months. And in all of the chaos, a few dumbass supernaturals decided to flaunt what they were. And that gave Jones' guy all the incentive he needed. Nain and Jones and I did a decent job of shutting down any issues that came up, so the guy was just kind of frustrated at every turn. He couldn't prove anything. And then a few weeks ago, he called the chief for back-up, saying that there was this big fight going down near Six Mile. And Nain was with the chief at the time on patrol, so he went with him. And when they got there, they were ambushed by the guy and a few of his buddies."

  "They could have gotten away, if they'd used their powers," I said.

  "Right. Except that they would have given him all the proof he needed. So they didn't do that. But they're still being held."

  "How long?"

  "Almost a month."

  "Crap," I sighed. "No one's been in to see them?"

  He shook his head. "We can't get in. They're in solitary."

  "Have they called in anyone else? Feds or anything like that?"

  "No. I don't think he knows what to do with them. He can't prove a damn thing, and you know Jones and Nain are too smart to prove him right."

  "Right. Have you guys tried breaking them out?"

  "We don't really have the firepower for that. Not without outing ourselves."

  I nodded, a plan forming as we walked. We came around the far corner of the plant, and I stopped short. My car, my beautiful jet-black, gleaming 1970 Barracuda, was sitting there, imps standing beside it. I glanced up at Brennan, who looked a little embarrassed.

  "Sorry," he said.

  All right. So I had a reputation for being a little uptight about my car. Everyone has a vice. My car is mine.

  "No, it's okay. What's mine is yours and all that. You didn't let anyone else drive him, did you?"

  "Of course not," he said, pretending to be offended. I shook my head, and watched as Bash and Dahael, my top two imps, walked over to us. Bash had a huge grin on his wizened face, and Dahael blotted her eyes with her sleeve.

  "Knew we felt you," Bash said, bowing to me and lifting a fist to his chest. Dahael was sobbing outright, head bowed. I crouched next to her, rested my elbows on my knees, my chin in my hands.

  "Hey," I said to her, which only made her sob harder. She brought her fist to her chest.

  "Made it back. Started to doubt you," she said as she wiped her face again.

  "Well. You know how stubborn I can be," I said softly, and she laughed a little, though her slim shoulders still hitched with the occasional sob. "It was a hard road back."

  She nodded. "Bad times."

  "Yeah."

  She did something then that she'd never done. Dahael took my face in both hands, looked into my eyes. "Be merciful, Mistress. Be good."

  My stomach plummeted. "About what?"

  She looked down. "You'll know. Remember the good in you. No matter how bad. No matter how angry. Be better."

  Then she released my face, and stepped back, next to Bash. I stood, shaken by her words, by the anxiety I felt from Brennan. I turned to glance at him and he looked away.

  "Ready to head to the loft?" he asked. "They'll be excited to see you, too."

  I watched him another moment as he walked to the driver's side and opened the door for me. Then I walked toward him, and he pressed my keys into my hand. And before I could slip into the car, he put his arms around me again and kissed me breathless, desperately. There was an urgency, stress flowing from him that put me on edge, even as I kissed him back.

  It was over all too soon. He released me, squeezing my waist gently before he walked to his side of the car and climbed in. I settled myself into the driver's seat and pulled out of the gravelly lot.

  Despite how freaked out I was, the smell of old leather, the sound of the Barracuda's engine rumbling, the feel of the smooth steering wheel under my palms felt like home, and I couldn't help but smile again.

  We drove, and it took all my focus to keep my eyes on the road instead of staring out the windows at the passing landscape. Streets I'd walked a hundred times, buildings I'd seen my entire life. Every bit of it was precious to me now in a way it never had been before. I was a jumble of nerves and emotions, and there was an underlying anger that I guessed had to do with what I'd just been through in the Nether. I shook it off, tried to focus on things that mattered.

  "So, tell me more. How about Ada and Stone? Shanti? Levitt?"

  I sensed relief from Brennan. He relaxed back into the passenger seat. "Ada and Stone are still together, inseparable as ever, really. They've been arguing a little lately. I think everyone could use a break."

  I smiled. "They're so damn cute together."

  He laughed. "Yeah. Levitt is still living at the loft. He's still out there, tracking down your lost girls and lost boys."

  "He's been good this whole time?"

  "Hell, yeah. Those first few months, we barely slept. Everything was crazy. Levitt was a huge help, and he's kept it up since. He was a great addition to the team, Molly. Even Nain likes him."

  I shook my head. "Yeah, that's saying something. Two demons in the same place?"

  "Right. Usually a recipe for endless pissing contests," he said, laughing. Then he sobered, glanced at me. "Shanti moved out."

  I took a deep breath, preparing myself for the worst. "How come?"

  "Remember how I told you things were really different now, with the supernaturals?"

  I nodded, turned a corner onto Warren.

  "One of the big changes has been the vampires. Most of the country was already organized into districts, with a vampire king or queen at the top. They kept their vamps in line, punished those who made things messy for the rest of them."

  "Right. We didn't have that. Ours were all on their own, which was stupid," I said.

  "Not anymore. This region finally has a vampire queen. And she's tough. Terrifying, actually. She keeps the vamps on a short leash. We've had a lot less bullshit since she came into power."

  "That's good news." The vampires always were a pain in the ass. I'd be happy to not deal with them all the time.

  "Yeah. It's helped us out a lot. Shanti decided to join her. She's actually one of the queen's top enforcers."

  "What does that mean?"

  "It means that when a vampire breaks their laws, causes trouble, Shanti gets to go and hunt their ass down and end the problem."

  I smiled. "She is freaking perfect for that." Shanti had been turned against her will when she was sixteen. She had a definite issue with rogue vampires.

  "She is really good at her job. Once you're settled, we'll have to pay her a visit. And introduce you to queen Rayna, too. I think you'll like her."

  I nodded. Okay. So, nothing terrible yet. I'd have to get Nain and Jones free. It didn't explain the warnings Dahael had given me, or the nervousness that came from Brennan the longer we were in the car together.

  "You died," he said suddenly. "Many, many times."

  I took my eyes off the road to look at him. "You could feel that?"

  He took a deep breath. "I felt that. Every time. And the pain you were in beforehand. Muted, because of how far you were. But yeah, I felt it. Every time you died, I was sure I'd lose my mind before I felt you come back again."

  "How long ago was it?"

  He looked at me in confusion
.

  "Time passes differently there," I reminded him. "It only feels like I've been gone a few weeks, a few months, tops. When you said it was nearly three years…" I shook my head. "Shit."

  He was watching me again." It was about six months ago, the last time you died."

  "And how long ago, the first time?"

  "A little over a year ago."

  I nodded. They'd had me a long time. I'd spent a good part of it dead, so I had no idea.

  "Molly. What happened?"

  I glanced over at him, looked back at the road. I turned another corner, onto Woodward. Nain's building was just ahead. I shook my head. "I can't."

  "You'll tell me someday, though," he said, a question in his voice. He rested his hand on my thigh, and just that touch was enough to send shivers through my body.

  "I will someday. When I think I won't lose my mind," I said softly. He squeezed my leg gently, left his hand resting there as I turned into the parking garage.

  I put the car into park, and Brennan and I walked toward the elevator. He pulled the metal gate down and hit the button to take us up to the loft's living area. I looked up at him, and he stepped closer to me, backed me into one of the corners of the elevator. I felt the cold metal of the wall against my arms, his warm body pressing against mine. The look in his eyes, anger, need, sorrow, made it nearly impossible for me to breathe. And then he claimed my mouth with his, and rational thought was impossible. I reached up and tangled my fingers into his hair, brought him closer, always closer, and he groaned against my mouth.

  "I love you, Molly," he growled against my lips. "Always have. Always will. Please remember that."

  The plea in his voice made my stomach turn. He kissed me again, then pulled back, and I let him go. I held his gaze.

  "Do you feel them?" he asked me.

  I sensed, felt for the other beings in the loft. Ada. Stone. Levitt. Another presence I couldn't identify. The first three were confused.

  "They don't know what to think," I said, smiling a little. My stomach was still clenched, mostly because of the anxiety rolling off of Brennan. "Is there something you want to tell me, babe?"