(there is a character reference chapter at the beginning of this book if you're still confused after this. just a notice. enjoy xx)

CHAPTER TWENTY

THE LAST TIME EVELYN felt cold, pure terror course through her entire body was when the beasts broke into her home and she watched her mother get snatched away beneath a mouth stained with blood. It was when she heard her father's dying scream of agony, and when she thought she saw Max for the very last time. She hadn't even felt this terror when she herself was nearly dead, the multiple times she'd somehow outran death, but she feels it now, shuddering down to her very core.

She feels terror like no other as she watches Gavriel and Micah stalk towards her, Harry limp between them with his eyes fluttering.

Then she's running and her breath is ragged and her chest is cold. Her hands are trembling when she cups his face and demands to know what happened. She barely hears them when they mention the explosion causing him to smack the dirt. She barely hears Gavriel when he says, if not for the doctor's second operation, he wouldn't have survived the fall.

"He'll be fine," Micah assures her just as she catches sight of a little girl cowering behind him.

"Sasha," she breathes, reluctantly letting go of Harry to scoop Sasha into her arms. The child cries into her shoulder, clutching her tightly.

"Eve, I'm sorry," she whispers. "It was my fault. Harry was only trying to save me."

"It's not your fault," Evelyn reminds her, smoothing down her hair.

"You're not mad at me?"

Evelyn pulls back to gawk at the kid. "Mad? Sasha, I've been going crazy these past few weeks just trying to find you. I'm not mad that Harry saved you. He'd do it again, and I would've done the same thing."

Sasha sniffles and Evelyn wipes her tears away. "I'm glad you're safe," Evelyn tells her, pinching her chin between her index finger and thumb. "I was worried out of my mind."

Sasha smiles and hugs Evelyn again. "I wasn't worried. I knew you'd come."

The explosions have stopped, but Evelyn sees the plane coming down for a landing. She tucks Sasha under her arm and says, "We need to find somewhere to hide."

Micah frowns as he watches the plane descend. "That's not a military model."

"So?"

Gavriel finishes for Micah: "So those aren't experiments."

Evelyn scoffs. "Then who the hell is it?"

Maxie stumbles over behind her. "Friends."

Before Evelyn can look at her in confusion, the plane lands and the door swings open, the stairs popping out with it. It's a standard model used for luxurious traveling, so it is a bit strange to watch men and women in combat uniforms file down the stairs carrying an assortment of weapons. They look dangerous and determined, their eyes scanning the area for threats. When they find a pack of experiments trying to dig their way out of the collapsed stadium rubble, they charge forward, guns raised.

The next person who steps onto the top of the stairs makes Evelyn's eyes widen. It's been months and he has a beard now, but there's no mistaking the gorgeous dark-skinned girl who talks out beside him.

Leo and Monique.

The ones who were at Robbie's gas station camp when a horde of beasts intended to ambush them. Monique had been severely injured and Leo had genuine in sharing the food rations from the station. He had been so kind, even, to welcome Liana and Nive's baby in with open arms. Evelyn chest aches with the thought of them. Are they still alive? Is the Indian woman's baby flourishing as she would've wanted him to?

Surely Leo is still as kind. Surely he'll help them.

"Come on," Evelyn instructs, grabbing Sasha's hand in hers.

Killian is the first to follow her, carrying a sniffling Robbie in his arms with Caroline at his side. Then Maxie tags along, probably with a predetermined sense that it's safe, and Max follows simply because he won't lose his sister again. Micah and Gavriel hesitate, but one look from Evelyn has them both dragging Harry along behind them.

"What about Erik and Locke?" Sasha asks over the noise of the new battle stirring between the Normals and experiments. She flinches with every gunshot.

"Hopefully they'll find us," Evelyn tells her.

Sasha falls quiet, uncertain and nervous, but she clings onto Evelyn tightly.

Leo sees them rushing forward, and his eyes narrow suspiciously. Then, after he assesses the entire group, he must recognize Evelyn and Harry because his eyes lighten and a small smile tugs at his lips. He nudges Monique, who appears confused but seems to remember who Harry is, since he'd been the one to carry her.

"Long time no see," he calls, taking the stairs two at a time to meet them.

"You're an idiot," Evelyn says to him first, coming to a halt and jabbing a finger in his chest. "You nearly blew up the good guys."

Leo holds his hands up. "I know. It was a plan with many flaws, but we had to disable Wolf's army."

"Nice to see you too, though," she says then, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "I was sort of hoping you'd be a knight in shining army and take us away from here."

Leo grins. "This is a rescue mission as much as it is a war strike. Come on in."

He waves them up the stairs, Monique scrutinizing each of them carefully. Evelyn glares at her right back. Her leg seemed to have healed fine, thanks to Shade's makeshift cast. She wonders where Shade and Buffy--Harry's two old friends that Micah had once set to spy on them--are now. Are they still alive?

The inside of the plane has been rid of most it's chairs, though some still remain. The area is open and wide, feeling much more spacious than planes normally did. There's weapons lining both of the walls, though most are currently in use during the battle. A few sheets have been laid out, prepared for casualties, and there's two people standing at the back of the plan in nurse uniforms. A middle-aged man and an elder woman, who's eyes widen when they notice the three experiments entering their safe place.

"He needs stitches," Evelyn jabs her thumb back at Harry. "He'll heal himself, but the wound needs help staying closed so he doesn't bleed out."

Both the nurses look to Leo, who nods approvingly.

"I can do it," the man says, stepping forward.

Evelyn nods and Micah and Gavriel haul Harry over to him.

"And this kid needs a cast for a broken leg," Evelyn tells the woman, who doesn't hesitate once seeing it's only a normal child in Killian's arms. Killian lays Robbie down on one of the sheets so the woman can work.

"Are you all right?" Evelyn asks Sasha. "Do you hurt anywhere?"

Sasha shakes her head and wraps her arms around Evelyn's waist.

"Got any ibuprofen?" Max asks Leo, clutching his head. "Those bombs nearly made my ear drums explode."

"Yeah, sorry about that. There's medicine in the back cabinet and some water bottles."

"Thanks."

Leo turns to Evelyn. "I don't think you'd want to join the fight out there, but I always fight with my soldiers. You're welcome to stay in here until it's all over with. We'll have transport ships arriving soon if you'd like to move to one of those since they're bigger."

"Thank you," Evelyn says earnestly.

He smiles and nods, then he and Monique exit the plane and the door shuts behind them.

***

As soon as Micah helps Gavriel lay Harry down on his stomach, and Killian sets the boy down, Killian is up and hurrying over to him. Micah stumbles backwards with the force of Killian colliding with him, shocked and confused. Killian squeezes Micah with his face shoved in Micah's bare shoulder, his eyes burning.

Micah gradually hugs him back, but hisses when Killian's clasped fists skim over fresh wounds on his back. Killian jumps back. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

Micah smirks a little, rolling his eyes. "I'm fine, Killian."

"Excuse me, lovebirds," Gavriel says, sliding between them to get past. He winks at Micah, which makes Micah glare at him as he walks off.

There's no chance of privacy is this open space, but Killian could care less about being discrete. "I would've killed you if you died out there," he tells Micah, pointing a finger in his chest. "Then I would've resurrected you and killed you again."

"That's pretty backwards to want me alive only to kill me."

"I was worried about you, you idiot."

"I'm offended you think I can't handle myself."

Killian shoves his shoulder gently, not wanting to put distance between them. "Of course I know you can handle yourself. I just... I couldn't lose you too, Micah. I couldn't--I can't."

Micah lifts Killian's chin with his index finger, his red eyes sparkling in a way that's oddly comforting. "It's going to take a lot more than a wannabe king to get rid of me."

Killian doesn't care in the moment who's watching when he closes the distance between them, feeling the lips he's savored since the first kiss. He felt like he was betraying Troy the first time, and he hadn't wanted to admit it to himself that Troy may not come back as his. He's allowed to move on and be happy, isn't he? He's allowed to enjoy the taste of someone else, even though the ache of Troy is nowhere near healed, he can at least let someone in to quicken the process. Right?

He convinces himself that this is okay. Troy would not want him to waste away in despair over his lost. Killian rakes his fingers through Micah's short hair. This is real. Micah is real. He has not lost him. He will not lose him. Troy would understand that.

Killian tells himself all of this, anyways.

This kiss is much better than the first. Micah still is tentative with no idea what he's doing, but he follows Killian's lead well. Killian can feel the passion in the kiss, or perhaps it's only his imagination hoping it stirs the same feelings inside of Micah as it does inside of him. It's not Troy's kiss, but it's a lover's kiss all the same.

Killian jolts back with his own thoughts.

Lover's?

Micah looks afraid he did something wrong, so Killian is quick to assure him. "I just got a sharp pain," he says, pointing to his temple. "I think I have a migraine coming on."

Micah almost instinctively runs two fingers over the spot Killian pointed to. "Do you need some medicine?"

"It'll go away," Killian promises with a smile, placing his hand over Micah's to keep his warmth on his face.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Micah frowns, squinting his eyes suspiciously.

"Fine," Killian says too fast.

Micah isn't convinced, but doesn't push it.

Killian kisses him again just to imprint the feel of his lips against his forever.

***

Evelyn sinks to her knees next to Harry on the floor, gently taking his hand in her own. She's acutely aware of the male nurse watching her closely, like she's a freak of nature but she's used to such judgement by now. She's learned to brush it off, because others petty opinions mean nothing when she knows her heart and how it feels towards the man before her. She tried to deny it for far too long, but there is nothing wrong with loving who you love. She's not ashamed of it. She can't say she ever was--just nervous.

"To avoid ridiculous questions," she starts, not bothering to look up at the nurse, "no, he will not wake up and devour you. No, he will not lash out at anyone. No, he doesn't want to suck your blood. Yes, it is possible for one of 'his kind' to be a good guy."

The male nurse swallows and says nothing.

"The other two are just as decent," she says. "But I wouldn't get on Micah's bad side if I were you." She nods her head in Micah's general direction.

The nurse speaks up softly. "You get asked a lot, don't you?"

"Like you wouldn't believe."

"I'm not one that's quick to judge. Just cautious."

"There's no difference," she tells him. "You're scared even now being this close to him."

"I'm wary," the man retorts.

She gives him a look to further say See? No difference.

He presses his lips together and goes back to stitching the back of Harry's head.

Evelyn allows the exhaustion to wear on her. It's been a long day, and it's still only mid-afternoon. She doesn't want to think about the troubles that may still be lurking ahead. She wants a nap. She wants to curl into a blanket next to Harry and fall asleep for the next couple of days. She wants to wake up in a soft bed with his lips on her cheek. She wants to wake up in a house of her own.

She stops the thoughts before they can continue past the point of no return. She doesn't want to start crying in front of these two strangers, or in front of anyone at all.

She wraps her finger around a strand of Harry's long hair, slowly pulling on it. She watches it curl as if she's mesmerized, but she's really only trying to keep herself from falling asleep. It's doing quite the opposite. The action is so comforting, she finds herself lying down on her side next to her, still twisting and releasing random pieces of his hair.

"Would you like a pillow?" the nurse asks her.

"I'm okay."

"Do you need anything?"

She closes her eyes. "Don't let me sleep for too long."

She doesn't know if he answers with a nod or with words. She's already falling asleep, her bones feeling like lead beneath her skin.