The room was a wreck,the cocoon was gone, burned to ash and stink. Black liquid ran in lines down the cracked wall and pooled on the floor. My lungs hurt. My hands shook. Alma stood in the middle of it, blade of light fading from her grip until there was only her and the slow glow under her skin.
Rhea lowered her sword first. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and stared at Alma like she was trying to decide if she was a miracle or a weapon. Vesper leaned on the doorframe, rings dim, breathing shallow. Selendra pushed herself up from where she had slammed into the far wardrobe. Her tail twitched once. Her eyes never left Alma.
No one spoke…Alma turned her head toward me. The look hit like a slap. Cold. Exact. Not relief. Not even anger yet. Judgment first.
"You're alive," I said, because my brain had nothing better.
"I had to be," she said. "Your body was about to become a splatter on a cursed floor."
I swallowed. "Thank you."
