Chapter 7

Aftermath

Puck's POV

The fight against the Blood Spiral lasted a good while. But something nagged at me while I fought. The kids were safe, as safe as they could be in bunker lined with iron. It wasn't going to collapse, but it was still a fear I had. I was taking care of the danger to them. What was wrong?

We had subdued the last Spiral and I wiped their memory, sending them away. Everyone went inside to nurse their wounds. I went to the bunker and turned into Owen.

Puck's POV End

Owen's POV

Talia's Freelancer recognized me, but didn't back down. It waited for Talia's orders. The door opened and it moved out of the way. They were ok. She gave Alexander to me and sent Freelancer back. She started to walk away.

"Talia." I called out.

Her step faltered, but she kept going.

I stood in the hall.

"Tai sad." Alexander told me.

"Do you have any idea why?" I asked.

"The bad people." He said.

She felt guilty about the Blood Spiral attack.

"Thank you, Alexander." I told him.

"Things might be calm for the moment, but if you don't acknowledge the true problem, it's going to come back worse than before."

What was the true problem? I furrowed my brows together. Alexander touched my lips and pushed upward. I smiled and let out a breath. This had to wait. "It's past your bedtime. We can have our lesson later on." I took him to his room.

Owen's POV End

Talia's POV

I didn't go to my room. I went to the adults. David and Fox were busy with Matt and Elisa. They were hurt. I got them hurt. This… this was ALL my-

"Talia." I looked up. It was Zhalia. "You made a mistake. But this wasn't your fault. The minute Xanatos had those amulets; he put you all on our radar."

"They came-" I protested.

"They came for power they could never use. Your magic is wilder than ours. Stronger than ours. You can outsmart them." She said.

"It's-" I squeezed my eyes shut. "Stop it! I know what you're doing, stop it."

"You knew this would upset you even more. Tal-"

"Good night." I left.

Dad came and tucked me in. He told me what Zhalia told me just before. I closed my eyes and slept.

Talia's POV End

Elisa's POV

I assured Goliath I was fine and we went to the elevators. We got in and pressed the down button. We jumped as we realized Zhalia was in the elevator with us.

"How-" Matt asked.

"I was a spy and a Seeker. I need to talk to you about Talia." She said.

"What about?" I put a fist on my hip.

"Have they always ignored her emotions?" Zhalia asked.

"Pretty much. There's not much we can do. She's almost 18 and as much as I hate it, Xanatos… is determined to keep his family together. Which unfortunately includes Talia. She ran away last fall because they began neglecting her again. Puck is Fae. He doesn't understand what that does to a child." I frowned.

"The Foundation has therapists. They mostly work with adults, but I can ask around see if any will work with teens…" Zhalia trailed off.

"How are we supposed to keep this from Puck? Even if we get her away from Xanatos, he'll try to find her. He's a thousand times more dedicated to her." Matt asked.

"He still has to listen to Xanatos." I reminded him.

"I'm not trying to break up the family. Not yet." Zhalia said.

"Who's gonna pay for it?" I asked.

"We'll figure that out once she actually gets in." She said.

"Who's gonna believe what she says? It'll sound totally crazy, even by your standards. One of her fathers is actually Fae and gave her magic to save her life." Matt pointed out.

"We can't leave her where she is." Zhalia gritted her teeth.

"I don't like it either! I hate this entire situation. A man with power and influence keeping his daughter in check with said power and influence. We know it, she knows it, they know it." He growled.

"I'm giving Owen until he finishes his lessons. He doesn't figure it out by then, Talia's coming with me." She said.

"He's going to kill you if you take his baby." I said, remembering how he barely kept himself from exploding the first time.

"I won't have to if he wises up." The elevator dinged and the doors opened. We walked out.

Elisa's POV End

Owen's POV

Unease still gripped my stomach. The problem wasn't fixed and the consequences seemed very high this time. It had to be about Talia, but she was fine... Wasn't she?

Owen's POV End