None of us spoke a word for the next few minutes.

Finally he faced Mona again, clearing his throat. “Thank you for confirming what I… sometimes doubted. It means a lot to me.” His voice was deeper than it had been a few minutes ago.

His eyes traveled from me to Mona one last time before he turned his back on us and entered the waves, wading toward the boat. Mona and I stood in silence, watching as he boarded it, settled himself in and began sailing away into the brightening horizon toward God knew where.

I didn’t care… As long as we never had to go searching for the guy again.

Chapter 32: Rose

When Mona and I arrived back at the black witches’ island, nobody was outside. We headed straight to the castle, walked through the entrance hall and found everyone had gathered in the kitchen. They all looked toward us as we entered.

“Well?” Kiev asked, Magnus’ face lighting up.

“I set him free,” Mona said.

“Good,” he replied. “And… Do you have any idea when I will turn back into myself?”

A smile crossed Mona’s lips. She exchanged a glance with my mother. “I, um… I think we can probably expect within a few days. I pulled a hair from his head, you see.”

“How are Ibrahim and Corrine progressing?” I asked.

“They are down there now, still working,” my father replied.

“Do you know how long they will be?” I asked.

“Hopefully not much more than ten minutes. They have made quite a lot of progress already, or so they say. None of us have been down there. But Corrine has come back up to keep us updated.”

I looked toward the open trap door and moved toward it, poking my head down. I caught sight of the gate. Landis and Ashley stood next to it, and all of the humans were already down there. Most of them were resting against the wall, looking exhausted. I noted that those who were injured had not been treated yet. Ibrahim and Corrine had been in a hurry to start work on clearing out a trail. None of the injuries looked fatal, so I hoped that they would be all right. We would find some time to treat them once we reached the other side.

Someone touched my back, and I turned to see Caleb.

“Come with me,” he whispered into my ear.

Before I could respond, he twined his fingers with mine and pulled me through the exit of the kitchen, out of view from everyone.

Placing his hands either side of my waist, he pressed me back gently against the wall. His lips met mine. He reached his hands up to my cheeks, caressing them as he kissed me tenderly.

When he drew away, he was staring at me intently, his dark hair touching the sides of his face. His seriousness amused me.

“What was that about?” I asked.

He gave me a small smile. “Since when do I need a reason to kiss my bride?”

My bride. The words made my spine tingle.

I reached my arms around his neck and pulled him down for another long, slow kiss. “Since never,” I whispered.

His cool lips began trailing down my neck, soothing my irritated skin.

Our moment was interrupted by Micah. “Come on, you love birds,” he growled. “Ibrahim and Corrine are finished earlier than expected.”

I was annoyed at the interruption, but I was also relieved that we could finally get away from this place. I detached myself from Caleb and we followed Micah back into the kitchen. Everyone was already beginning to pile down into the dungeon. Caleb was the last to enter the dungeon. He shut the trap door behind him.

“I wonder if this will be the last time that anyone sets foot in this place,” I said.

Caleb shrugged.

“I’ll go down first,” my father said, nearing the edge of the gate.

“Corrine definitely said that it was safe to go through now?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “I suggest you all send the humans down after me, and the rest of you follow after them.”

With that, my father leapt through. I turned to the humans—mostly young women—lined up along the wall.

I smiled kindly. “Come on, guys.”

“Where are you taking us?” one of them asked, her voice nervous.

“Back home. You’re all from California, aren’t you?” That seemed to be where the black witches had been targeting the most intensely—at least, according to the news.

“I am,” she said.

“What about the rest of you?” I asked, addressing the others.

“Yes,” they all confirmed.

“That certainly makes things easier for us,” my mother said.

“What is that thing?” several of the girls asked as they neared the starry crater.

“It’s a… uh…” How do I even explain? “It’s a tunnel that will take you back home,” was the best and fastest way I could think to answer them.

Several more questions were asked, but we didn’t have time to answer them.

The girl who had volunteered to step toward first stared down at the seemingly endless abyss.

“Won’t I die if I jump down there?”

“You’ll be fine,” I said. “My father is waiting for you at the other end.”

“Okay,” she said, though she sounded anything but okay.

Closing her eyes, she leaped through, her screams trailing behind her as she catapulted downward. I admired her bravery. To be so trusting of a complete stranger… Then again, they were desperate.

“Who’s next?” my mother called.