Clavicle

10 Days Later

It's the dead of night when I step into the large bat cave, walking confidently through the dark corridors of a seemingly abandoned cavern.

Five weeks ago, I walked through this same cave entrance and nearly passed out from terror. I didn't know who I truly was. But today I walk this cave with full knowledge of my true past and who I'm meant to be.

Ten days ago, I sat upon my Throne of Bones while a priest placed the Crown of Teeth upon my brow, officially handing the reins of the Spine Empire back to me, and the land shook with power. Mother Terra approved and the entire court bowed. Feasting soon followed, and my first law was to set humans free. Tarsus had already done so, but there was a fear that once the Prince of Ruin took the throne, he would reinforce slavery. Not on my watch.

Basically, Tarsus was such a great ruler in my absence, that life continued on as normal in Jawbone City, just with a different ruler on the throne. However, with the Terra Sovereign on their rightful throne and the Spine Sovereign on his rightful throne, Mother Terra has calmed down considerably. The Lunar Empire has Evergreen and the Aqua Empire has its Queen Seafoam, with Shiloh set to inherit the throne.

The Solar Empire, however, still hasn't caught its stride after Wolfsbane cursed the late Solar Sovereign months ago. Wolf and Hemlock are planning to pay a visit to Hemlock's brother, Prince Baneberry, to officially hand the Solar Crown over, with the hopes the empire finds stability if the rightful heir is wearing the crown. It's one of the many things on the to-do list once the volcano was appeased for her hunger for human blood.

But I have my own to-do list.

When I enter the cavern, the large chamber is alive with bat-folk dancing to strange music, dim torches lining the walls, allowing just enough light for me to see their forms. They bow and greet me as I pass. I'm not as invisible as I was when I was human. I'm nearly as tall as the bat-folk now, especially with my antlers. With my black robes embroidered with gold threads, I stand out like the fucking sovereign I am. And as such, I need to make sure every creature within the borders of my empire is happy.

I find Abaddon on his own throne carved from the cavern wall. His black eyes dart in my direction, and that familiar fang-filled smile eases on his lips. That smile terrified me the first time I saw it. It's feral, unhinged. I find it endearing now.

"Old friend," he says, standing from this throne and walking toward me, ribbed ears twitching. He stares at my antlers in wonder, then his gaze travels down the rest of me. "So the rumors are true. Not mortality, nor death itself could keep the Prince of Ruin down." An emotion I didn't expect to find in the beast flashes through his black eyes. "Welcome back."

Reaching out, I grab the hook of his wing and tug him in for a fierce embrace. "It's your fault I'm back, you old bat."

His leathery wings wrap around me, holding me close to his body. "I have no regrets."

He pulls away, his wings relaxing. "Will you stay for the night?"

Memories of Abaddon fucking me my first night here collide into my mind. I was so scared, yet so fucking turned on. I'm fae now, and Abaddon won't have to be nearly as gentle with me. While what he did to me then would hardly be called gentle for a human, I know he was holding back.

"I need to see Mandi," I say, then lick my lips. "But afterward, I want you to come with me back to the Skull Palace. I think it's time you and Tarsus and Aden make amends."

He doesn't hide the hesitance in his black eyes, the divot between his brows deepening, but he bows. "I'll travel with you back to the Skull Palace when your business is finished. But I can't promise that Tarsus or Aden will want me there. I did try to kill them both."

I find Mandi sitting in the corner of the cavern, munching on blackberries, their fingertips blackened from the fruit. They look so out of place here, a single fae witch among a colony of bats. I'm not sure, exactly, why they haven't sought me out in the Spine Empire, except that maybe they assumed I didn't want to see them after the lies. That's my hope, at least. Because the alternative…that they might want nothing to do with me…it's too painful to even consider.

"Clavie," they say, and I'm not sure, but I think I might actually see a hint of motherly affection flash through their eyes. It could just be my human side's wishful thinking. But then they set the blackberries aside and stand, pulling me into a hug. "I'm so glad you're back. And in your true fae form!"

Mandi rarely showed affection like this in all my years growing up. I got affection from my human dad. But the fact that Mandi is hugging me—willingly—makes something hot and fierce swell in my chest.

Blinking back fresh tears, I pull away. "Why didn't you return to the palace when you heard I took the throne?"

They huff. "You don't want me there, Clav."

"Why wouldn't I?"

They tilt their head, eyes narrowed in obvious confusion. "I kept that secret from you all those years. Then allowed you to lead an army into a battle you knew nothing about. I didn't rescue you when Tarsus held you captive. And I didn't stop you from throwing yourself into the volcano."

My lips twitch into a smile. "You are possibly the worst mother ever." Their face falls, but I reach a finger under their chin and tilt it up. "For humans. But I'm no human, Mandi. The secret allowed me to live a full human life. If I hadn't led an army into battle or been held captive in the Skull Palace, I wouldn't have met my fate. And if I didn't leap into the volcano, everyone I love would be dead." I chuck their chin. "You did exactly what you were supposed to do."

I have never seen Mandi cry. Not once in my entire life. But now tears blur their pupils.

"My biological mother watched my father beat me," I say, "and did nothing to stop it. But you…you were the only one who cared enough to take me away and look after me in the human realms. Only you stuck around, feeding me as a babe, tending to my needs when I was a child, and taking my raging hormonal teenage years without flinching. You left your life to stay with me. Whether you like it or not, you are more my mother than my biological mother ever was."

Those tears break loose from their lashes and stream down their cheeks, and I pull them into another embrace.

"I love you, Clav," they whisper.

And now my own throat closes, my chest heave with sobs I was sure I'd left behind with my human form. Maybe they held back all these years because they felt guilty that my whole life was a lie. Maybe they didn't want to love me, because they were afraid of what I would do to them when I learned the truth. I don't know, and I don't need to know. Because they're here now—all of them. Wholly and vulnerable, with no secrets between us.

And they love me.

I tighten my embrace. "Aden and I are having a baby."

They jerk back and stare at me with those silver eyes, as though not believing.

"You're going to be…you're going to be a grandparent," I add.

Their cheeks tug up in the biggest grin I have ever seen on her. "You'll let me be the babe's grandparent? I promise I'll be better, Clav. I swear it."

They lift a pinky, but I cover their hand with mine. "I know you will, Mom."

Their eyes soften at the old title I used for them for twenty-three years.

"Dad is still in the human realms," I say. "You have him in some sort of glamour, but Mom, he still misses you."

They roll their eyes and swipe a tear from their cheek. "I never thought it was possible to miss that insufferable bastard, but I do. I miss him terribly." She pats my hand. "But he's better off where he is."

"Is he? Dad has no family to speak of. No demons to fight. His church has given him the cold shoulder because they think he's lost his mind."

They push a strand of bone-white hair behind their ear. "Could you see him here in the fae realms? He would die of a stroke the moment he opened his eyes."

I shake my head. "Mom, Dad is a warrior. He battled eight-foot bats for two decades." I lower my voice and add, "Successfully capturing, torturing, and freeing most of them. Don't you think he could survive the fae realms? Perhaps even thrive here."

They blink, their silver eyes wandering as they think.

"If he hates it, you could always send him back and re-glamour him."

Mom nods slowly.

"I'll go with you at dawn," I say, wiping another tear from their cheek. "We'll bring him home together. I have a room in the palace where you could both stay, if you want."

"I think I prefer a cottage to the palace," they say, and we both laugh.

"A cottage it is. Right outside Jawbone City. With flowers and twisting vines and an oak tree for shade. Dad will have the time of his life running off sprites and goblins."

This brings another laugh out of Mom, wild and free. The first laugh I've ever heard from them. I feel like I should be bitter, angry even, that they never revealed this carefree side of themself to me.

But they were stripped from their world to live in a foreign realm. And now they're finally home.