Epilogue

FINN

T hick decay lingered in the scent of wet leaves left to rot after a fall rain. Shadows twisted between gnarled trees clawing toward the darkening sky. Spirits whispered all around, little more than wisps of energy. The path wove us through lit jack-o’-lantern faces hanging from trees as if grown rather than hung. The glow of the moon in full glory crowning the sky far overhead.

This deep into the Autumn realm, my darkest side found comfort.

“Macabre,” Kiran said, his mates at his side.

“I love it,” Toby said.

“Of course you would. It’s like Halloween on steroids,” Nick added.

“Not a vacation spot I’d choose,” Seb said, Liam at his back.

“You like spooky,” Liam said. “I bet you could make cookies like those lanterns.”

“Oh, pumpkin flavored filling would be delicious,” Seb agreed.

I led them through the chaos with ease. I had debated on bringing Wesley, but wanted to show him the entire realm at my pace, and the Winter bitch needed to be gone before I’d trust it was safe for him.

After sitting down with Sebastian and Liam in the bakery, I understood why the wolf had tried to avoid the pull toward Liam, knowing the man was Sebastian’s mate. The two were paired perfectly. But Sebastian stared at me a long time, asking to see Finn . And Finn was who I was at the core, even while Xander would always be a part of me. A hundred lifetimes and we either learned to evolve, or let it destroy us. Liam had been better at that too. I could flip between a dozen personas recognized by a handful of people who still lived, but I lived in Finn’s skin now, and felt at home there, mostly because Wesley stared at me like I mattered.

Wandering through a maze of withering vines and deadfall, the crunch of leaves beneath our feet, I let the shadows gather to me. The ripple of the beast trickled over my skin, though none of the others paused. I’d promised them I had control, much as they did. Sometimes the beast would need to roam free, but the wolf and I worked in tandem with it now, giving small tastes of freedom to the dark to build things like this spooky area of the Autumn realm.

“What’s the plan?” Nick asked. “I’m not sure any of us should absorb the power of the Winter queen, and Xiao’s not ready.”

The Winter realm would wait as there wasn’t much remaining of it beyond fractured ice puddles. I didn’t think the little king needed the trauma of killing the former ruler, as none of us had. Spring, Summer, and Autumn gone long before we were born with the witchcurse in our blood. That Xiao was meant to be Winter, meant he, too, was witchborn of some kind. But we all hoped to spare him the brutal trial by fire we’d all experienced to obtain our realms.

“Can we release her power, like let the weave of magic reabsorb it naturally?” Sebastian asked. “Did you guys find anything in the library?”

“No. But it might have been lost when Underhill passed,” Toby added.

“I’m okay killing her,” Kiran said. “Absorbing her power.”

“Didn’t she raise you?” Seb asked.

“And beat me, and cursed me, and locked me in ice for a few centuries. No love lost. Summer was my mother and I don’t remember her at all,” Kiran said. “Why would I care for the witch who lived to drive a dagger into my gut at every turn?”

“He’s still a bit feral, eh?” I asked.

Seb snorted. “You have no idea.”

“Doesn’t play well with others,” Toby chuckled.

“I play well enough with you and Nick,” Kiran defended.

“Gross,” Seb said. “Don’t make things gross.”

I let them banter knowing it eased their anxiety. The Winter queen had cursed us all, drained magic and crafted a thousand ways to make each of us miserable. My beast still echoed her nasty words as if they belonged to it.

A ripple of magic tugged at something inside my gut, as if something or someone had crossed into my realm. “What the hell?” I said pausing to analyze the sensation.

“What?” Seb asked.

“I felt it too,” Liam added. “Someone entered the realm. Did you call Wesley?”

“No.” As far as I knew he was tucked away in his little office at the bakery, Oberon on guard without my mate knowing it, as my friend sat at a table, eating pastries and drinking coffee, while using their wi-fi to work . If Wesley knew I’d asked Oberon to look after him while I was away, he’d have laid into me. And while his scowl turned me on in a lot of masochistic ways, I didn’t really want to be sleeping on the sofa when I could be wrapped around him.

“The queen can’t break out, right?” Toby asked.

“Not possible,” I said, but raced through the array of trees toward the central gnarl of my magic meant to keep her locked away. The prison came into view, a giant section of earth with braided ropes of trees and magic pulsing like an otherworldly birdcage. But a section split wide, like ribs peeled open to release a wayward heart.

The magic wards and wriggling array of spells flickered, shredded and partially dissolved, leaving wisps of energy floating like fireflies. Someone had broken through the magic in one small section. Had she escaped? Had I somehow underestimated the strength she had left? Her power drained, and without a tether to any remaining living fae, as I’d already hunted them down and severed any bonds, it seemed an impossible feat.

“I thought you said she was contained,” Kiran said.

“Someone broke her out,” Seb said as Liam approached the open area. “Was it a spell or something?”

Liam shook his head. “Power.” He glanced my way. “Can you ease back on the wards so I can examine the break?”

I loosed my grip on the wild array of power locking down the space and the crackling lights of the broken magic faded. Leaves crunched beneath my boots as I moved around Liam to examine the spot myself. The cold energy of her fight to get free clung to the insides of the cage as though she’d been there seconds before. The signs of her power fading away. Not from an escape, but as if it were gone altogether, but that wasn’t possible.

“How?” I muttered examining the area as the last touches of ice and frost melted. “There’s no way she could have escaped.” The shadows squirmed and gathered as I felt the monster rise up inside, fearing she’d gotten away and needing to go after her to protect everyone, Wesley, Sebastian, and even the little king who found solace in Wesley’s tiny cabin.

I held back the change but stalked beyond the cage and into the waiting swell of overwhelming darkness tinged with tiny traces of icicles. The others followed close behind, and while a chill rose in the air, Sebastian poured heat over the group to warm us as we emerged from the thickest remnants of swollen and gnarled trees to a tiny clearing of glowing mushrooms.

A small figure lay curled in on themselves in the center, and for a few seconds I feared it was Xiao, and that the little king had taken the curse of the fae queen and wouldn’t survive it. But the tiny being in the clearing pulsed with wild waves of magic.

“Ari,” Seb cried and stepped forward, but Liam grabbed him around his waist and held him back.

“Wait.”

Splintered crystals of ice formed and shattered around them, darkness sliding over them in pools of shadows that rippled with color and pops of fire, then ice. I recalled how much my own transition had hurt, burning away the worst of the shadows. Was that what Ari was experiencing after taking the Winter queen’s power?

“Baby, what have you done?” Seb called, pleading for an answer from the unmoving being in the middle of the clearing. They didn’t answer, but sucked in a deep breath that we all could see and slowly stood.

They looked like a teen version of Sebastian, though in their eyes power radiated as shadows crossed them as if something dark lived inside. They raised their hands and ice formed in one, fire in the other. They snuffed the fire and focused on the ice, which sculpted itself into a delicate snowflake shape and then into a familiar face, which I recognized as the human form of Xiao.

“He’s mine,” Ari said. “She tried to hurt him.”

“Ari,” Liam said, “We were going to take care of it. We would never let her hurt you or Xiao.”

“He’s mine,” Ari said, voice firm. “Mine to protect. Mine and mine alone.”

Silence stretched through the clearing and we all studied the supernatural being before us. Had a realm ever been made cognizant before? Perhaps it was how all gods of mortal mythology formed as I couldn’t imagine a being more powerful. But Wesley mentioned Xiao hadn’t wanted Ari infected with my darkness. I could only imagine how bad the witchchild would be now that they had absorbed the nightmare queen.

“Ari,” Sebastian said, hesitating as though he didn’t know what to say.

“Do you hate me?” Ari asked in a childlike voice, their gaze focused on Sebastian’s face, and then darting to Liam’s.

“No, never,” Sebastian said and rushed to wrap his arms around Ari. Liam did the same while Kiran and I shared a cautious glance. Would love be enough to save Ari from becoming a nightmare?

I put my hand over my heart and stepped forward to offer my help to keep this baby superpower from becoming supernova and let my magic surge, creating a bond that I knew would have Wesley screaming at me later, but it had to be done. “I vow to protect Xiao until he fully embraces his Winter powers, so long as you keep your grip on the magic within you.”

Kiran did the same, offering himself as another barrier. “Seconded.”

Sebastian gaped at us. “Ari would never…” But they could. Ari could easily overwhelm all of us and bring the entire universe into chaos.

Liam added, “Summer agrees,” his gaze met Sebastian’s. “We protect Winter as long as you continue to learn control and keep a tight grip on your magic.” He narrowed his eyes at Ari. “This is the first and last time you will have disobeyed us. We told you to stay home and watch over the pack. We would have handled this.”

Another wave of shadows flickered through Ari’s eyes, as if demons were waiting inside, ready to break free. But just as quickly, the darkness receded, and Ari clutched the frozen statue of Xiao to their chest. “I accept. Help me protect Xiao and be the mate he needs.”

We all nodded, adding magic promises to help bind the witchchild to humanity. Would it work? Only time would tell, but I couldn’t wait to get home to Wesley, and maybe check on a small white kitten that often seemed to hide in his pocket.

Fin