Chapter 12

None of us know how to break the news to Emrys. We wait in silence outside the pack for Hope and Xandry to come out. Emrys is with Terrin, both of them a few feet away from us, and I sneak glances now and then. How do I tell him that I have no way of saving him except death for one of us? Rather him or me walking into the darkness that might kill me. It killed my family and I know I love him enough to walk right in there. He would die to protect me from Ares, and I’m scared if I tell him the truth, he will end his life just to make sure I’m safe before it’s too late.

I feel like a shitty person by not saying anything, but at least I’m not alone. Lysander, Arden, Grayson, and Terrin all agreed that we should wait, at least until we are back in our world, before explaining the truth to Emrys.

Hope storms out of the pack, Alpha Theodorn on one side and Xandry on her other. I look between Hope and the alpha, only now seeing why he looked familiar. He looks like Hope. Could they be related?

Hope seems different, her movements faster and controlled. They stop a few feet away from us. Hope looks at me. “Next time, make a portal on the ground, not in a hurricane.”

I wince. “Noted. Good to see you.”

She rolls her eyes, but I see her smile. Alpha Theodorn sighs. “Is there nothing I can do to convince you to stay? You were born here, and without a pack in that world, it will be hard.”

Hope touches his arm. “My home is back there, and my pack might be weird with dragon shifters, but it’s still a family. But thank you for everything, for the knowledge, for breaking the magic on me. I needed to come here more than I could have ever imagined. I’ve searched for that missing part of me for what felt like forever, but it was really you. It was really just answers to the past.”

“What magic?” Grayson murmurs to me, and I shrug my shoulders.

Alpha Theodorn nods. “I understand. There’s always a home for you here, but just seeing you alive and well is all the happiness I needed. We both have closure now.”

Hope surprises me by hugging him, and he hugs her back. “Goodbye, brother, and congratulations.”

Hope and Xandry come to stand near us, and I pull the staff through the shadows and near my hand. Theodorn nods. “My mate, Ember, is close by, and she will take the staff. You can drop it on the ground when you leave.”

They are welcome to it. “Thank you for your generosity.” I let the staff snap into my hand, and the power smashes through my soul as the portal rips open to the middle of the spirit castle. I let my power wrap around Terrin, holding his normal form for as long as I can when we get to the other side. I haven’t been home since I got my memories back, since I found out the truth, and my chest warms at the sight of the castle. Between Arden and Grayson, I walk through the portal, back into the spirit castle, and the second I step in, the fifth court music plays loud and clear through the air. “I missed you too.”

The music only gets louder, and the warmth of the castle spreads around me, like I can feel its pure joy. Terrin is the last to come through the portal, and I walk up to it with the staff, pushing it through and letting go quickly, tugging my hand away. It closes shut with a snap; the sound echoing around with the music. Terrin looks at me one last time in this form, in his world, and then kisses me on the forehead. “I’ll fix us,” I vow.

“I know,” he says, taking a step back. He bows his head before walking away, my magic tight around him, and I will only let go when he is outside. I’m watching Terrin leave as a voice calls for me.

“Ellelin?”

I follow the voice I have not heard in so, so long. “Mum?” Thick emotion clogs my throat as I look up at her standing on the stairs. She looks just as she did asleep, long dark hair, slim build, and matching eyes to mine, but she holds herself perfectly now. A queen by all rights, with a black crown perched on her head. I don’t know which one of us moves first, but I’m running towards her before she even gets to the bottom of the staircase. I throw my arms around my mother, holding her tightly and breathing in her scent. After losing my grandmother in another world, seeing my mum was everything I needed to feel whole.

“My daughter,” she whispers to me, leaning back with my face in her hands, kissing my forehead repeatedly. “Oh, you’re so beautiful. I can’t believe we are here together. It doesn’t seem real.”

I don’t dare look away from her, like it might not be real too. “Mum. You’re awake and you’re back home. We are together.”

Her sobs echo mine as we hold each other for a long time, only the echo of the fifth court music playing loud and clear around us. Terrin is outside now, and I let the magic go from around him, dropping my shoulders from the excruciating amount of magic that took to even hold him in this form. A roar echoes to me from outside, his voice filling my mind. “I am near when you need me, mate. I am very happy for you.”

Arden clears his throat. “Queen Elvi. I remember you from when I was a boy.”

Mum lets me go to face the kings. Arden and Grayson have stepped up, but Lysander stands back with Emrys. “Arden, Grayson…oh, you have grown up into such handsome men. You are my sons-in-law.”

“We haven’t had a chance for the ceremony yet,” Arden responds, glancing at me with a big smile. “But we are family either way.”

“Elle!” I look up the stairs to see Livia walking down, all dressed in black. She is not who I expected to see here.

“Livia! What are you doing here?” I ask when she is close, and she isn’t alone. Jinks, our demonic cat, sits on the stairs. Everything clicks into place, how he met Livia and how he must have known she was his mate. I wonder if she knows how much he gave up to be here with her. Jinks winks at me and I roll my eyes.

Livia is holding something long and covered in black leather, as she stops in front of me. “I should never have gone back home to Earth. It was… I’m meant to be here, to help you. I’m a dragon rider and I don’t belong on Earth anymore. I shouldn’t have left, and it was a mistake that Phobos made me realise. He sent me back?—”

I can barely listen to her though as I stare at the thing in her hands. I feel so drawn to it, and everything fades away. “What is that?”

Words echo through the trance. “It’s your father’s sword, and he made sure you got it at the right moment. The cleverest man I ever knew.” My mother’s whisper echoes through the haze as a buzzing noise overtakes my senses. “I know he cast a spell on it for you. Take your destiny, Princess Ellelin of the Spirit Court. Destined ruler of Ayiolyn.”

Livia puts the sword on the floor between us. I can’t hear anything else said over the buzzing, and all my senses scream at me to touch the sword. I kneel down, uncovering the beautiful black blade with runes all over the metal. The minute I wrap my hand around it, the floor underneath me falls away slowly, while covering the ground above as I sink down. I hear my mates shout a warning before even their voice is lost too. I try to reach for them in my mind but something is blocking us.

Suddenly, I’m in a room that I’ve seen before. A room with crowns on cushions on the floor in a circle, and standing behind the black crown is my father. A gasp echoes out of my throat as the fifth court music softly plays, a haunting tune to match the ghost in the room. It’s not exactly him; he’s definitely a ghost or a vision of some kind as he’s nearly see-through. I can barely see his features, but this is a gift. My voice breaks as I look up. “Dad?”

“Off your knees, daughter. You were not born to kneel to anyone.” His voice is soft yet firm. I rise to my feet, holding the sword in my hand. My mates’ voices echo in my mind, and I send a simple feeling back to them that I’m okay. I don’t want to waste a second with my father. “I carved a piece of my soul to make this one message for you, to have this moment with you in the future. I’m so proud of you for fighting, for continuing to fight for Ayiolyn and for your mates. For fixing everything that our ancestors could not. That sword is yours. It is alive, and it takes its own cost to use it, but you are strong enough to rule the sword. I used up most of the magic in the sword to bind our people into dragons. I’m sorry that I have not made it easy for you to unbind them. The only way for you to do that is to go into the darkness below the castle. Use the magic of your blood, and you will be powerful enough to undo the spell.”

I search his features, mentally taking a thousand pictures because I know this is the last time I get with my dad. “Didn’t it kill your parents and you in the end?”

“It will not hurt you if you’re not alone. The magic is strong, but you, my daughter, have bonds much stronger in the name of your mates.” His eyes soften. “You are the princess that we’ve all waited for. You have the blood of the gods in you, and you are far stronger than any heir who was ever seated on the throne. Do not fear it. It will give you a test, yes. But do not fear the magic, as it will be your own. As for your mate, Emrys, there are only two ways that he will be able to live.”

The ground moves and Grayson all but hovers out of it, dirt flicking off his shoulders. His eyes widen when he takes in my father. “I had to make sure you were okay.”

“Stay,” I whisper, holding out my hand. He takes it, standing firm at my side.

My father looks at Grayson, assessing him. “Earth king, I met you as a baby and saw how you would protect my daughter. The only person holding back the mate bond is you. You are worthy of her.”

I turn to Grayson. “Do you think you’re not worthy of me?”

Grayson tucks a strand of my hair aside. “You’ve always been too perfect for my broken soul. But maybe I was wrong.”

“You are wrong,” I whisper, and then I feel it. I feel him. Our bond clicks into place so naturally, like it was just there and waiting.

His eyes widen in shock and joy, and I grin at him. “My mate.”

Grayson looks as amazed as I feel, and I press myself into his side as I look back at my father. “Thank you. How did you know?”

He softly smiles at me. “I never thought for a second I was good enough for your mother, and the second I let myself believe I might be, we were mated.” He clears his throat. “As for Emrys, Ares’s soul is currently like a magnet attached to Emrys’s soul. He can be siphoned into another. There are few people left with this kind of magic and fewer of them who are willing to take Ares’s soul into them knowing they’d have to die.”

Grayson rubs my back. “What if we found someone deathly ill already and sent Ares’s soul into them? Maybe they would be happy to die for a cause as great as saving our world.”

“We can’t ask anyone to do that,” I whisper. “It would be a horrible death.”

Grayson looks at me and nods. Emrys wouldn’t allow it, anyway. “The other way is to have Emrys bind himself in blood to many strong people, like the kings. Ares’s soul will be weakened to the point he cannot take over Emrys. He’ll live, but it will be a hard life. He’ll have to fight Ares continuously until his deathbed.”

I notice him fading slightly, and I know my time is running out. “Thank you for your help. I miss you, dad,” I admit.

“You have your mother now, and I’m watching, always. Always by your side in any battle. I always have been.” Hearing that makes my heart crack open, and I can’t stop the tears. “Take the crowns to their owners. Each one was forged by the dragon kings’ fathers in preparation for this day, and this one is for you from me.” He touches the black crown. “I told them of the future I’d seen, how the prophecy stated that they’d be your mates and that you would become the true ruler of Ayiolyn on your own—the queen, with them as your kings.”

“What about Terrin?” Grayson enquires. “Should he not have a crown when he is her mate, too?”

My dad smiles. “A crown will appear for Terrin when he finds out his true identity. Ask the matron. She has the answers.”

We don’t have time to ask him any more about Terrin, even when I’m desperately curious. “You’re fading.”

“I love you and thank you for being my daughter. The years we had together, I hope you remember them fondly. I tried my best and I loved every moment. Tell your mother that every single second we had was brilliant, the best years of my life, and I regret none of it.” He looks at the sword. “The sword is your weapon, and please give it to your children. It belongs to the rulers of the Spirit Court, along with the crown. Let it protect the royals of the Spirit Court…forever.”

“I will, and I love you too.” I don’t know if he heard me because he is gone, and I let the grief overwhelm me as I fall into Grayson’s arms and cry. I finally got to say goodbye.