I thanked him, bowing at the waist.

The things I needed to make the last stand against Orion were here, and even though I was leaving them behind, I knew that their love went with me. From Blaz’s back, my loved ones ranged out. Erik holding Marcella, Daisy holding Zane. Ophelia, Coyote, and Cactus waving at us. Faris leapt behind me and strapped himself in, Peta curled up in front of me, which I knew I would be grateful for once we were in the cold night sky.

“Let’s go. We have to find this Destroyer first, yes?”

Blaz lifted into the air before I was ready, but then, I doubted I’d ever be truly ready to leave. I fixed Marcella safe in my heart, in my mind, and looked across the dark night sky ahead of us, endless in the stars scattered on the blue velvet.

“No, we don’t go after her first.”

“Then what are we doing, Rylee?” Faris asked, irritation plain in his voice.

“First, we go home.”

Blaz let out a roar of excitement, and even I felt the thrill of seeing the rest of my family. Alex, Pamela, and Eve, and Doran. We had a week before the time limit was up on the veil, when it would open once more and the demons would be able to travel easily again.

A week to find the Destroyer.

I grinned back at Faris. “You ready for a wild ride?”

He snorted. “Tracker, you think this hasn’t been a wild ride up ‘til now?”

“You have a point,” I said, and twisted forward to face the future. The wind swept up and around us, bringing a sound that sent shivers down my back.

A wolf’s howl, but how we heard it so far above the earth boggled my mind. Faris tightened his grip on me. “That’s a good omen.”

“I’ll take it,” I said, a hand pressed over my heart.

My heart, though, was in the mountains, with Zane and Erik. With my daughter.

I’ll come back for you, Marcella. No matter what happens, trust in that.