The Wailing Woman

72. The Collector Comes

I gently closed my father's eyes and held his face, pressing my forehead against his. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I murmured, my voice turning brittle as my tears stained my cheeks. "It should've been me, It should've been me..." I rocked his body to and fro in small waves. I could've sworn I felt him here with me, but the moment vanished into a thin whisper.

And Nicolás Del Luna's soul left this world quietly.

The trees rustled nearby. I snapped my gaze and lifted my hand. The water shortly rippled.

Dilara and Rose rushed out in disheveled states, covered in soot and blood from head to toe. Breathless and mildly wounded. No burns but several cuts were marked on their faces. At least they survived. I dropped my hand into the water. It didn't take long for them to register what they saw. Rose pressed her hand over her mouth as she saw my father. Dilara's gaze shifted between Lucas' floating corpse and my father.

She cautiously asked. "Is he?"

I looked down at my father, his eyes closed. People also close their eyes when they're sleeping. I tried to swallow that lie and it rose. "He's dead." I choked as another heavy tear raced down my chin.

There is a venom in my throat licking at my cords, demanding to spit out what pains inside of me. I restrained myself andit burned. I didn't want to scream. I didn't want his death to come true officially. I just found him. How could I ever let him go? I bit my tongue.

Dilara took a couple of steps forward. "Nora, I'm so sorry for your loss." she then, swallowed. "But we need to leave. You heard Lucas, he has two hundred and fifty marvos and this was only half of them. The rest are headed their way and we are not enough to stop them." I closed my eyes.

I didn't want to think about the marvos or face them. Could the world not spin for a moment? I opened my eyes, lifting my gaze at the Moon. Her brilliance milked down at the river's ebb and flow. She shines despite her loss. She looked alone up there. The clouds slowly gathered around her again, her presence concealed. No more coddling, she said.

Off into the distance, a stampede of marvos could be heard. They truly came to kill my father—all two hundred and fifty of them.

"Nora," Dilara firmly pressed.

I couldn't leave, at least not yet. "My father," I rasped, looking at her. "He needs to be properly buried." She knew I would not leave him. They have to pry him from my dead cold hands. She opened her mouth, but she then turned her gaze to the chorus of marching warlocks and witches gaining closer to us. Besides, Dilara, there was only one person I could trust and count on.

I uttered his name hoping he didn't hear me at all. Phantom winds rustled the trees and grazed over the river into silence. Before he arrived, he beckoned the shadows and came out of the darkest corners and holes. They slithered impatiently, ready to welcome their master. The air was then layered with the smoke of Hell's fire, thickly.

My nose wrinkled. "Your Majesty," Rose announced, startled.

I could not look at him yet.

Hans landed with a loud thud, close enough to Dilara that she stumbled a few paces back. He tucked his black wings. She was surprised to see him, but I was not. Wherever Grimm went, Hans would not be far behind. The demon gave Dilara a quick look, and his jaw tightened. He turned and stared ahead where Grimm stood on the other side, opposite of him.

"Raven..." Grimm muttered as his eyes assessed the disaster. When his gaze met mine, a horrid of emotions flickered through him. Pain, guilt, fear, until he settled for anger. He took one step forward with a determination I'd never seen on him before.