Rick met us at the outside of our fireplace, the only piece of our home that remained intact.
“It was the lightning. Kept hitting the yard and the house until the fire got going. Didn’t set the woods on fire, but the garden is a mess.”
“Oh boy.” I leaned against Garrett and breathed in his comforting scent, which wasn’t that great right now. We all needed to shower and change. I rubbed my eyes. “Even dead, Naberia can be a pain in the ass.”
“She’s dead?”
“Isaiah took her out. We’ll tell him about Kaera later.” I sent to Garrett, Sash and Charlie. They nodded.
“The demi-fey and I managed to get a few things out, but not much. I’m so sorry.” Rick scratched his beard. He was looking pretty wiped out.
“You ran into a burning building? And Sinlae too? I would never have allowed that!” I said, then shrugged. “Forget what I said. I would have done the same thing.”
“We were careful.”
“Nothing is that important. Are the puppies okay?” Garrett asked, drawing me closer and resting his head on top of mine in a very protective way. Exactly what I needed.
“They’re great. None of the demi-fey were injured either. They stayed with us in the villa. We called in Elizabeth and she put up a smoke barrier. The fire department did a great job, but it was too far gone.”
We stared at the burned lot, doing a mental inventory of all the sentimental things we would have grabbed if we’d been home.
“Cars are okay. They’re in our garage,” Rick said. “And I got the paintings. The one Sash did of Jackie and the one of your family, Garrett. The house wasn’t burning when I went in for those. I think Sinlae, Aymis, and a couple others got some jewelry and keys and shit. I grabbed everyone’s laptops too, but not the cords.”
“You got mine?” Charlie asked. It was the first time he seemed to perk up a little.
“Yeah.”
“Thanks.”
“Your safe survived and I pulled out a couple of guitars.” Garrett and Charlie loved to play together. I glanced at my son. Music wasn’t what was on his mind today.
“We’ll rebuild, right? In this same spot?” Charlie asked, a note of pleading in his tone. “I need to stick around here. Can’t move away.”
“Absolutely. Meanwhile, it looks like the Vamp Villa is gonna be Hotel Rogues for a while,” Garrett said.
“With Isaiah back in the DR and him taking all his people back with him, we can spend time at the Carmel Villa,” Charlie suggested. “That might be okay while they’re rebuilding.”
“Great idea,” Garrett said, mussing his hair. Garrett grimaced and pulled his hand away. “Do I want to know what got in your hair?”
“Probably not.”
“Showers and pizza are in order,” Garrett said as we made our way through our ruined garden. We stopped to say thank you to Sinlae and whichever members of her enormous family were in the vicinity. We were so pleased to hear the trees they used as homes had survived, as had the tunnel that connected their homes with our two homes.
Rick ran up the stairs and opened the door to the vamp villa for us. Sash walked in first, giving Elle an enormous hug and a passionate kiss. Garrett and I made it through the door hand in hand, neither of us wanting to let go.
Last in line, Charlie passed Rick, who pulled him close and pounded on his back. “Welcome home, boss.”
I started to laugh, until I saw Charlie’s expression. His smile was a ghost of the original. “No more soldiering for me. I’m done.”
He walked up the main staircase. A few minutes later an upstairs shower turned on.
“He’ll be fine,” Sash said, only half believing it.
“How did his boots get burned?”
My cell phone rang. It was Isaiah. “You called me on the phone?”
“How’s Charlie?”
“Not great. I thought you were in the DR.”
“Send him here to help me. I’ll keep him busy. It’ll be good for him to get away.”
“What do you know? What happened to Charlie?”
“Send him.”
“Tell him I’m coming.” Charlie stood at the top of stairs wearing a tee shirt and jeans. His hair was still wet and dripping on his shoulders. “I’ll be back…let me… I need to think.”
“Charlie.” My heart was breaking for him.
“We’re here whenever you need us.” Garrett wrapped an arm around my shoulder.
“I love you both.”
“We love you too. Let us know…”
“I will.” He left a moment later, wet hair and all.
Garrett and I slumped together, then turned toward the stairs. Too exhausted to do more than shower and sleep, I sent Isaiah a message.
“Take care of him for us.”
“We will.”
“We?”
But there was no answer.