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The Healing Souls
Normalizing
Normalizing2017words
Update Time2024-11-01 09:41:28
[Carmen]It took a while for things to normalize after the fight with the demon. I was happy that Gemma let me be there for her while she was healing from losing Austin. I split my time between her and the pack hospital.Mom never left Mike’s side, even when she heard about Dad. I could tell she was broken up about his death, but putting on a brave face. Mike told me once, when she stepped out of the room, that she cried when she thought he was sleeping.We used to hate when she used tears to control us, but now we wished she would cry and let us comfort her. Even if she rejected him, he was her mate for many years and she loved him. I knew she was hoping he would see the error of his ways and come back.Because I wanted her to know he had changed and he was hoping to come back, I told her about everything that had happened while we were in the caverns. Dad would have come back with us. He told me while we were in the truck that he wanted to see Mom again and that he needed to apologize to everyone.He was so close to being able to redeem himself but was gone in an instant. Oddly, I didn’t feel as guilty about his death as I did about Austin’s death. It made me feel like a terrible person. They both died protecting me, but I couldn’t mourn them the same.Trent made an exception for my dad and let us bury him in the pack cemetery. We held his funeral two weeks after he died. It gave Mike enough time to heal so that he wouldn’t need to sit for most of the service. All of Dad’s friends came and had nice things to say about him.Rock stayed near me the whole time and held my hand throughout the service. He knew how much I needed support. The couple of months of badness in my relationship with my dad didn’t erase all the good.Gemma buried Austin a week after he passed. Everyone who knew him came to his funeral: work crew, fae friends, family, and wolves.The service for Austin was beautiful. Ash and Roald came for it, and I was grateful Gemma had someone other than me and her cousin to lean on. Ash hadn’t been here. She hadn’t been part of the whole situation. She was ‘clean’ of all guilt. That was what Gemma needed more than anything else.When Gemma was ready, I told her about everything from the moment they kidnapped us until the moment I blacked out from the pain of the demon’s attack. She was so proud of Austin for his bravery and for kicking Oberon off that cliff, even if it made the man focus on Austin for revenge. She laughed and said she would have done the same.She cried a lot, but never pushed me away and never blamed me… out loud. There were times, especially in the beginning, when I felt like she was forcing it. I wished she wouldn’t, but I didn’t point it out. If Gemma felt this was what was best for her, then I would support her. Even if she had wanted me to never talk to her again, I would have supported it.We lost more than that. People I didn’t know, people I’d grown up with, people I’d met since marking Rock, and others who I knew in passing. Elbio ended up getting shattered in the fight.Rock reassured me that within a year, he’d be fine and back to his full height. Apparently, trolls could patch themselves up with stones that weren’t made of the same type of earth as they were, but to rebuild after a shattering, they needed to have the exact same.One of the good things was that Rock’s magic, calling stone, could be used to call body parts from trolls. After the fight, he’d spent a couple of days out where the fight happened, calling pieces of Elbio’s body, and the parts of several other trolls, to him. Someone collected them and took them to the fae lands.Trolls who hadn’t joined in the fighting helped to reattach things. Rock’s connections with landscapers and suppliers helped get the stone needed to put people back together again.Part of me wished it was that easy for other species. We were lucky to have the resources we did. While everyone else fought, Echo and her brother Val were responsible for taking care of the injured people who were trapped. She couldn’t leave once the barrier went up, and neither Victor nor Gray wanted her anywhere near the fight.Cam had tried to get Harmony to go with her siblings, but she refused. I knew Harmony wouldn’t back down. She didn’t get hurt, but she was grumpy that she wasn’t able to do more to stop Oberon or the demon.I felt awkward about planning a wedding to happen a month and a half after such a sad event, but Rock told me that we couldn’t put off our future. Bad things happened, and it was the good things that made them more bearable. His mom was even more eager for it. She’d hit him a few times while scolding him about putting himself in danger. I knew Eru was worried about Rock and I agreed with her. I never wanted him in that situation.She knew I was afraid of losing him, too. Rock promised both of us that he would avoid danger unless someone threatened me. It was the best we could get from him. No matter what, Rock said he was going to protect me.The other trolls in the fae lands were treating him differently. All the trolls and other fae who were fighting told stories about Rock and what he did. Taking out a giant demon was enough to impress some of them a lot.It didn’t change everything. At the end of the day, trolls were assholes. They might not have treated him as if he were weaker and an embarrassment to their community anymore, but they teased him about other things.Apparently, he had flown in on shining wings. There were a lot of jokes about that and about using a sword instead of his bare hands to kill the demon. The teasing didn’t seem to bother Rock all that much.A month after the fight, I was working in the office. We’d lost a couple of people in the fight. We honored them with a memorial in the lobby, but we still needed workers and hired more people. Things were still a little bumpy, but we were almost there.“Carmen, Rhett is here to see you,” Forrest called into the office.“Send him in,” I replied.No one had heard from Rhett or Dolly since the fight. None of the fae who worked for us would reveal where they lived, including Rock. He said it was the least we could do after what they both did for us. I agreed.I could hear the confident strut of the warlock as he came into the office. Viola greeted him cheerfully. Apparently, to a dark elf, if you fought beside them, you were as close as family. I’d seen her being a lot more friendly since the fight. And I was sure that her relationship with Tripp didn’t exactly hurt her mood.My magic was expanded around my desk, so I saw him walk into view and sprawl in the chair across from me. He was dressed in his usual long coat, old-fashioned shirt, tight pants, and long boots. Rhett smiled at me.“How are you and Dolly doing?” I asked. I wouldn’t press him about disappearing. He probably wouldn’t answer, anyway.“She is progressing very well. Apparently, the rapid learning trait isn’t common in goblins, but her angel side more than makes up for it. I’m here because she told me she wants to learn how to do glamour. I know Prince Rosario offered his services, but I figured I would see if Rock was interested,” Rhett answered.I smiled. “Rock would love to. He told me how Dolly saved him. I’m so grateful, Rhett. When he disappeared and the demon told me Rock was going to die in a dark void, I lost all hope.” My smile fell and tears formed in the corners of my eyes at the memory. “I almost let that thing kill me because I thought I lost him forever.”“Don’t cry. She wanted to save him for you. Dolly loves you. She said she could feel you loving her and thinking of her. I guess that’s one of her other abilities. Now that she is feeling secure enough for visitors, I will see about getting that Templar to come talk to us.”“I thought Spencer left a couple of weeks ago. Didn’t he go back with the other Templars?”Rhett laughed. “All I have to do is think of him and I can be wherever he is in moments. No one will stop me from knowing everything I need to know about my daughter.”Shaking my head, I couldn’t help but be impressed by how he had changed. Rhett was the type of person who didn’t really think of others beyond how they could be used in his favor. Having a daughter showed off a side of him others might not realize he had.“Anything other than wanting Rock to teach her how to use her glamour?” I asked with a smile.“She wants you to come visit. Dolly understands that I locked everyone out for her safety and security, but now she wants to have guests. Perhaps the lesson can be this weekend and the two of you can stay for dinner….”He seemed uncomfortable making the offer. It was cute.“We’re having a barbecue on Saturday. Come, please. Bring Dolly. A lot of people are eager to meet her or to see her again. Trent told me to pass a message on to you. He put a good word in for you with Queen Bellamy. You might not need the protection of the collective, but it would benefit Dolly.”“The rogue Queen?” he asked thoughtfully. “Perhaps I’ll reach out to her. It’s not as if she could remove me from the territory even if she wanted to. She might be powerful, but not in the same way I am.”“It would keep you from becoming a target. I heard she doesn’t like dark witches and she might see a warlock as the same thing as a dark witch,” I replied.Rhett nodded. That had occurred to him, too. I knew he didn’t see other supernaturals as a threat. From what I’d gleaned in talking to others, there were only two people in the world strong enough to kill him. But now he had a more fragile person to protect, I was sure he would make the choice that was in the best interest of Dolly.“I suppose it’s something to consider. I will speak to Dolly about coming over on Saturday. She might be interested in that. Goblins don’t mind staying in one place, but it’s my understanding that angels need more freedom than that. Thank you for the offer.”“No problem. You’re our friend, Rhett. You came to help save me and you didn’t give me up when the demon demanded me. I will always value you for that,” I told him with a smile.Rhett seemed surprised for a moment, then smiled again. He was really handsome when he smiled. If only he weren’t so over the top when flirting.In the blink of an eye, he disappeared. Rock told me shadows would swarm Rhett and he would disappear, but I didn’t see shadows with my magic. All I saw was that he was there, then he wasn’t.I sighed and went back to work. It would excite everyone to know that Rhett and Dolly were coming to the barbecue. Rosario and Sean had been particularly interested in ensuring Rhett trusted them and that they could help him.Maybe it would be a regular thing. I wanted to keep them both in our lives. At least this was a start.