Shadow of the Day (Wolf Moon Sequel)

Chapter 64: Into the Woods

Lila POV

Natasha jumped back in surprise as Joe's body collapsed down to his knees, all of us stunned as we watched him crumple to the ground.

"No," I whispered, before I even registered the knife was nowhere near my sister, that she was safe, unharmed, alive. Still here, in the protection of my arms where I could feel her breathing and keep her far from danger.

Joe's blue eyes flickered to black, face contorted in pain as a shriek tore from his body, black smoke billowing like we were caught in a wildfire. I threw myself on top of Ivy, shielding her from it the best I could where I had already failed so harshly, even though Devin no longer had any power to hurt her ever again.

There was nothing we could do as Joe died in front of us, his was a wound no one could fix. There was nothing left of this mess but a broken body on the cold ground and blood seeping back into the earth from where it came.

Ivy struggled against me to get to his side, pushing me off and coughing even as smoke filled the air, what once was Devin, blew and screamed as it whirled across the ground before blasting right through it, disappearing like it had never existed in the first place.

"Dad?" Ivy choked the word out as she scrambled on hands and knees to get to him. For so many years she had struggled and pretended he hadn't existed, and now he was real but gone where no one else could reach him. There were no last words as his life faded away. There was no comfort. No triumph that the evil was gone.

It was a waste of a life, of a second chance for two people who deserved so much better.

"Ivy." I fought to get her name out, to be the brave one. She never should have had to face such darkness or heartbreak. I'd spent so long protecting her from this and in the end it hadn't even mattered. I couldn't protect her from anything, least of all this--Devin had made sure that hurting her had been inevitable.

"No," she said, huddled over his still body, the blood bloomed across his shirt staining her pale hands and jacket. "Bring him back. There has to be a way to bring him back."

"Ivy," I said on a shaky breath, because I couldn't tell her. It was too cruel. She knew the truth, but she couldn't face it yet and I didn't have the heart to make her. This was just another truth I didn't want to tell her but had no choice in.

"No! Wyatt came back so bring Joe back too!" She yelled, clinging to Joe's ratty old jacket. "All this magic and you can't fix this? What's the point?"

There wasn't one. How could anyone justify the death of someone you cared about? Joe had made his choice and protected his daughter the only way he could have for the first time in his life. He had saved Ivy, saved all of us, but in the end he was still gone. They would never get the chance to figure things out, to talk, to get their closure. It would forever be this open wound, of opportunities they were once again robbed of.

I dropped to my knees beside her in the slush and mud, the smallest patches of green fighting through the dirt and melting snow. Joe's face, for once, was relaxed. His head was tilted to the side and I reached out with a shaking hand to close his wide blue eyes so he would look like he was sleeping. I had no love for this man, but he'd done the right thing for Ivy for once in his life and I was grateful for that.

"He did it for you," I said. Nothing could fix this, but at least she could go on knowing Joe had been truthful that he had wanted to try and mend what he had broken years ago, be close to her. A lifetime of cowardice had ended with him proving to Ivy she had mattered to him in some way.

"Lila please," she whispered out, so small where she was curled up in my arms like a child. I leaned my cheek against the top of her head, rubbing her arms as she shook violently with sobs. "Please. There has to be something, anything--"