Demona sat beside Goliath on an uncomfortable, steel bench for the ride back to the castle, lost in her own bitter thoughts. The young ones watched her with silent apprehension, for she seemed almost catatonic as she stared into an empty corner of the hovercraft's cabin. Goliath seemed almost equally affected by whatever had happened on the island, though he didn't tremble as she did, as he stared at the dirty floor.
He'd had the wherewithal to notice Macbeth had found a seat on board and ask why he was coming along.
"I'm merely catching a ride to town," Macbeth had assured him, "After that, I'll trouble you no more."
As the hovercraft approached the eastern seaboard, Luach stood awkwardly and wobbled quickly to her side, as if afraid of losing his balance from the unpredictable movements of the massive flying machine. He grabbed her forearm in his hands to steady himself as he sat beside her and confessed,
"Please forgive me, my dear friend. I didn't mean to cause you any trouble with your kind. I know not the true cost of what you did for me, but I do know that you saved my life!"
"Nevermind Luach," she told him in a surprisingly even voice, "It seems that paradise was not meant for the likes of me anyway."
Luach didn't understand the cryptic reply, but he was relieved that she was speaking and didn't seem angry with him.
A cry broke out at the head of the cabin as a sea of golden light seemed to appear on the horizon.
"What could it be?" Thorn asked in amazement as they all gathered at the windows to get a better look.
"It's a city!" Lexington explained, bemused. That glow is thousands of little lights all shining at once."
"Is it New York City?" Linnet asked him.
"Not yet. Just wait until you see that!"
Indeed, there were more gasps of amazement as the hovercraft began to fly over what seemed like thousands of perfectly straight streets, each lit with hundreds of street lamps, headlights, and buildings. Before long, that was all they could see in every direction; endless patterns of lights, and beyond that, the darkness of the sea.
"Oh, Brothers!" Linnet exclaimed breathlessly, "What have we gotten ourselves into now?"
In dismay, Demona sighed and turned toward Goliath.
"Promise me you won't force them," she pleaded in a soft, defeated voice. Goliath looked back at her in surprise for he wasn't accustomed to such humility from her.
"I thought promises were traps for ensnaring fools," he reminded her of her own words and she looked down, dismayed.
Gently, laying his claw on hers he told her,
"I can promise you that no one will be forced or coerced to do anything. What I can not promise is that your charges won't choose on their own to live according to their nature, when the opportunity is presented." Demona sighed at this response.
"So it must be," she agreed reluctantly, "I had to learn to tolerate our daughter taking up your misguided mission. She is of age and fully capable of choosing for herself. These warriors are no younger than she was and arguably have more experience in the world than she did then. It should be their choice. And it must be, for I can't very well dictate their lives from a prison cell, can I?"
Goliath snorted and tightened his grip on her claw.
"I suspect your influence will find a way to make itself known," he said with an exhausted smile.
Demona shrugged and looked away, only to catch the gaze of Elisa, who was watching their interaction with a strange expression on her face. As soon as Demona caught her watching, she looked away, only to glance back a moment later and find Demona staring intently back at her with a somewhat calculative look in her eyes.
Elisa gave an exasperated look and said, "What now?"
Demona smiled tauntingly at her.
"It's been such a long time since we've had a talk, Detective," she scoffed, "One would think you didn't like me!"
Elisa rolled her eyes.
"Don't roll your eyes at me, woman," she scolded, still maintaining an eerie smile, "I'm in earnest. After the sun rises and everything settles down, you must come visit me in my lonely room and we can have a little chat."
"Leave her alone," Goliath chided her, but Elisa replied,
"I think I'd rather have hot oil poured down my back!"
Demona laughed aloud at this statement and retorted, "I am afraid I don't know much about your human beauty regimens, but I'm happy to help."
"Enough," Goliath warned her gruffly, firmly gripping her claw in his own, and she fell silent for the rest of the trip.
As the hovercraft finally lowered itself to a stop in the courtyard of the castle, Demona noticed with some apprehension that only Brooklyn and Xanatos were waiting to greet them.
"Welcome home," Xanatos greeted them with his most enthusiastic showman smile, while Brooklyn approached them with undisguised relief.
"You have got to stop doing this to me!" Brooklyn told Goliath in exasperation as he grasped Lexington's arm affectionately.
"I'm sorry, Brooklyn," Goliath apologized genuinely, "The timing of this quest was not my choice, but it was a great comfort to know that you were keeping the others safe in my absence."
Honored by his mentor's praise, Brooklyn smiled as Goliath passed him to greet Xanatos, but his eyes narrowed as he regarded Demona with a nod.
"I assume this whole thing was your fault," he accused.
"You assume correctly," she admitted, with no outward remorse, and Brooklyn shook his head.
"We were all really worried, you know."
Demona's eyes fell at this confession. She suspected he was being sincere and that weeks of not knowing where his leader and brother were must have been devastating for him.
"Well, I brought them back to you," she replied, trying to hide her defensiveness, "Safe and sound."
"I was afraid we'd lost you too," he told her candidly, "In more ways than one."
His words found their mark but as she couldn't find the right response, she took his claw in her own and led him to meet the four new friends they had brought home with them.
During the introductions, Xanatos approached her with a smile and reached to touch her shoulder, but she swatted his hand away and rounded on him in an angry tone,
"Don't you touch me, you little miscreant! I am most seriously annoyed with you!"
"Annoyed with me?" he exclaimed as if he found the claim a bit too preposterous to believe, "What exactly have I done?"
"Where do you find the nerve to bid on me like a draft horse at auction?"
"I'm not following you, my dear," he replied, smiling as if he found her frustration to be a most amusing joke.
"You may find it humorous, but I will have you know that I am not for sale! I will not be bid on, purchased, rented out, bartered, or commercialized in any capacity!"
"Adelpha," he replied, raising his eyebrows at her ranting, "What in the hell are you talking about?"
"Furthermore, I do not consider myself indentured to you by any sort of sordid, opportunistic transactions you take it upon yourself to make on my behalf, without my consent."
Xanatos openly snorted at this statement and raising his hands in a mocking gesture of surrender he replied,
Okay. I have no idea what you are on about, but I promise I have no intention of posting you on Ebay anytime soon."
"Good," she replied curtly, folding her arms across her shoulders.
"Your arrival has been anxiously awaited in the rookery," he informed her knowingly, and her demeanor changed immediately. She urgently turned to find Ophelia and Linnet who were both being introduced to Brooklyn. Linnet was chattering boldly about their adventures while Ophelia looked on with a quiet smile.
"Come, my young sisters," she prodded them. They were reluctant to leave the handsome, and fascinating Second-in-Command so soon after meeting him, and Linnet began to protest, but Ophelia's eyes lit up when Demona told her that she needed to meet her new sister.
Angela was overjoyed to see them, and though being the last few nights of her pregnancy made her very tired, she stayed awake to ask them questions about their journey. Of course, Demona could not tell her about the mission to Bain Felix and what they'd discovered there, nor could she be too specific about the curse on her and her plan to break it. Her heart ached when her daughter asked her obvious questions that she couldn't answer, as she didn't want her to think that she didn't trust her or was trying to deceive her. It was a small mercy, however, that Angela was far too tired and happy at the return of her mother to poke holes in her story.
They were enjoying one another's company so well, the sunrise nearly caught them all still in the rookery. Broadway proudly lifted his beautiful mate and carried her through the corridor toward the tower where the clan spent the day and the three others followed behind.
"I'm glad we are here in time to help Angela with her egg," Ophelia confided in them.
"So am I," Demona replied, "And Angela will be able to do the same for you in a few weeks." Ophelia smiled at that idea but Linnet looked a little concerned and Demona could guess why.
"Do you think it's because of my traveling through the Phoenix Gate that I haven't started an egg yet?" she asked softly.
"I do not," Demona told her truthfully, "Ophelia came to this world from Avalon, where our days turn to hours, and her time came as normal."
Linnet looked even more forlorn.
"Is there something wrong with me then?" she asked.
"I highly doubt it," Demona informed her, "When it comes to eggs, nature doesn't ask more of us than our bodies can give. When I was young, our clan endured a terrible winter just before what should have been the first rookery summer for my rookery sisters. We starved through that winter, sometimes living for weeks only on pure will and sunlight. What little food we could procure was given to the humans first, and then the youngest and the most elderly of our clan. Spring brought some relief from hunger, but not quickly. There were no eggs that summer, but the following rookery season, we were all healthy and eagerly filled our rookery again. I suspect it will be the same for you. The months you and your brothers wandered Scotland, sacrificing your own food to save Luach, may have taken a toll. But don't worry. If nothing else, you will eat well in this castle and soon be up to your full strength again. You may carry a late egg yet this summer, but even if you don't, it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you. At least nothing that a few weeks of Broadway's delicious cooking won't cure."
Broadway, turned over his shoulder and smiled at the compliment.
"How would you know?" he asked snidely, "You never eat anything!"
The sun rose and Demona endured her transformation. She was content to walk about the courtyard for a moment, gazing up at the tower where her loved ones slept, but Owen soon came meddling and reminded her that the boundaries on her implants required reprogramming, so she reluctantly went indoors and was surprised to find Xanatos still playing host to Luach and Macbeth.
"I had almost forgotten you were here," she admitted.
"We've been having the most fascinating discussion," Xanatos informed her with his infamous exuberance, "We've been talking the whole night. My wife is probably wondering where I am!"
Demona's eyes narrowed with suspicion as she studied the faces of the three men.
"This whole room smells of conspiracy," she observed flatly, "Luach, what new plot is this madman hatching now?"
Luach gave her a sheepish smile, but Xanatos laughed dismissively at her accusation and replied, "Nothing concrete as of yet, Adelpha. Would you join us for breakfast?"
"I won't. I'm exhausted," she told him with no gratitude for the invitation, but she turned toward Luach and said in a gentler tone,
"I suppose you'll be leaving soon. I don't know how to simply say 'farewell' after all that has happened."
"Let it just be 'good morning' then," he suggested, "Father has a home here in the city, and I intend to stay near for a while. I'll come see you, if you like."
"I would, I think," she replied after a thoughtful pause, then scowled at the unfettered reaction of surprise from Xanatos, as he nearly aspirated his coffee.
Wearily, Demona made her way down to her rooms, looking forward greatly to a few hours of rest. She was quite surprised to discover the entrance blocked by Detective Maza, who stood somewhat impatiently, arms crossed as she waited.
"Why, Detective! You came! I didn't expect you would so easily."
"Yeah, well, I figured it would be easier to find out what it was you actually wanted so I could tell you 'no' and get it over with."
"Fair enough," Demona admitted, "I want you to contact Canmore for me."
"Contact him? I'd arrest him, if I knew where to find him. What do you think we've been doing for the last month?"
"Not him. Jason Canmore. The one with whom you've spawned this awkward friendship that's an outright betrayal of the clan you claim to protect."
"What? Why?" Elisa demanded, "Haven't you caused him enough suffering for one lifetime?"
"No, I haven't. I need to cause him a bit more suffering if I'm going to ever break the spell that torments us both. And I can't very well go looking for him, so I need you to find him and get him to meet me."
"First of all, I haven't had contact with him in over a year," she argued, and Demona noticed a flash of hurt on the detective's face as she explained, "The last I checked in on him, he had split town and didn't feel the need to leave a forwarding address. Even if I was able to track him down, why in the world would he want to come see you? Even if, for some insane reason, he did agree to see you, what makes you think Goliath would allow it?"
Demona sneered at her protests.
"And they all told me you were clever. Neither Goliath, nor Camnore need know ahead of time. That would only serve to complicate things."
"You can't honestly expect me to let you have open access to attack a disabled man that you've hated from the first moment he existed!"
"I don't," she said with cold disdain, "I'll be in my human form and you will be armed and have control of my implants. I'll be completely within your control the entire time."
"What would be the purpose? Why in the world would you think for one moment that I would agree to go behind Goliath's back and-"
"Because he believes you care about him," she snapped in response, "And this is for him and the others. The Hunters can't kill me. You know that. They can only destroy me from within by hunting and murdering my kind until I am the last. And so they will, ruthlessly and relentlessly, until this curse is broken. If you truly care about them as you say, you will let me put an end to this."
"Why am I even having this conversation?" Elisa asked herself out loud and Demona glared at her.
"I'm tired," she declared, "If you won't help me. I'll find another way."
With that, she left Elisa at the doorway and made her way to her bed.