Ella
I can readily admit I’ve never been good at goodbyes. I left Maddy in the woods during the war, for example, running toward what I was sure was death at the hands of my own mate or to throw myself between him and my brother.
I stabbed my brother in the chest and put him into a magically induced coma rather than tell him I was thinking about leaving and crossing the veil.
And then I ruined his fancy party by having Ryatt create a Goddess-damned portal in the middle of my family’s throne room.
Even faced with being separated from Ryatt by war, I chose to ignore his very valid points about how dangerous King Kane was and fought with him instead of just saying goodbye.
I brought Ryatt here and put my whole family through the wringer instead of letting him die because I couldn’t, and never could, say goodbye for a final time.
I doubt I’ll ever change.
I don’t want to, honestly. I’d rather sneak off into the night than go through… this.
My family looks morose and uncomfortable in Poppy’s grand dining room. We’ve spent the day traveling on a boat, then dancing around the memory of the tense family dinner last night. When we arrived back on Maatua, I found that Poppy had everything about our departure handled. There will be fireworks all over Maatua tonight to celebrate the birth of the new princes of Crescent Falls.
It’s a distraction, obviously, to cover the light-show my powers are sure to produce when I rip through the veil.
If I’m even able to.
I glance at my mate, who is stone faced and murmuring with my dad and Isaac. At least they’re getting along now at the final hour.
My mom and Poppy are talking with Maddy and Hannah while the twins sleep in one of the bedrooms upstairs, looked after by a trio of Poppy’s best maids.
Maddy, Isaac, Hannah, and Cassian are headed back to Crescent Falls tomorrow with the twins. My mom will be following them to spend a few weeks helping Maddy adjust.
Just like that, their lives go back to normal.
I turn my back on the quiet conversations and rest my elbows on the railing of the balcony overlooking the quiet private beach. On the inky dark horizon, at least a dozen boats wait for the impending fireworks show. I’m sure if my viewpoint were of the east side of the island, I’d see the sprawling markets and beachside resorts alive with activity, the busy public beaches full of people milling about in anticipation of what the royal families have planned for them tonight.
All while I try to keep myself, my baby, my mate, and his father alive bringing us home.
I groan, leaning down to press my forehead against the cool stone railing.
“Poppy’s going to fetch the mask.” Mom’s voice is soft and clear over the distant crashing of waves.
I don’t bother raising my head. I don’t want her to see the tears springing to life along my lashes.
I can sense her closing in on me, but she sits in a patio chair and sighs deeply. I peek at her and see that her eyes are closed, and her face is tilted toward the night sky.
“When I was pregnant with you, a priestess from KiloKilo told me you’d have great power. She also said you’d have to make an incredibly difficult choice. What I didn’t understand then is that I’d be the one making the most difficult choice of all.”
I raise my head. “What do you mean?”
She opens eyes clouded with tears. “Letting you go.”
My heart cracks. This is exactly why I hate goodbyes.
“It’s not forever,” I tell her, but she shakes her head.
“Forcing your brother and father to add a stipulation in that treaty about you and Ryatt coming back here once a year is wishful thinking. It very well could be forever. I think we both know that.”
“I wish things were different. I really do–”
“But you love it over there, don’t you?” She meets my eyes, and a soft smile touches her lips.
I struggle to swallow past the lump in my throat, but I nod. “I miss it. I didn’t realize how much I’d miss it and… Ryatt–” I look toward the dining room where Ryatt is still standing with my brother and my dad. He looks so… hollow. That spark of life, danger, and adventure is all but gone.
He doesn’t belong here and never will. “He’s home to me, Mom. I thought it was just Eastonia that called to me. I thought it was something about my powers and my wolf that felt at home there, but it’s him. It’s always been him.”
She smiles wistfully, chuckling lightly as she turns to look out over the water again. “You haven’t had a nightmare since you found him, have you?”
“No. Well, just one.” A flash of memory of my nightmare of King Kane comes to the surface of my mind.
Mom stands and walks to my side. “This feeling will pass. Those memories of what you went through will be less painful overtime. This….” She motions to the room behind us. “Our family? We’re going to be here. We have a way to communicate now. You were meant for more, Ella. From the moment I first laid eyes on you I knew, somehow, someway, you’d be a queen. It was in your blood. I thought maybe your mate was an Alpha King of some far off territory, and in fact, he is, but… the veil can’t separate our family. You proved it when you came back through. Love is truly the most powerful magic of all, and that will never change.”
She squeezes my hand just as Poppy’s voice sounds over the conversations inside, “It’s almost time! The three of you should get going if you’re going to do this during the firework show.”
Mom and I look at each other. “You can do this, Ella.”
“But what if I can’t?”
“You know what to do. You’ve done it twice before. You saved Hannah and Cassian. You saved Ryatt. Now it’s time to go home.”
Home. I’m going home.
I turn to look into the dining room. Ryatt is staring at me, his eyes heavy with an emotion I’ve never seen cross his face before. Resignation, I think. Maybe he’s thinking I’m suddenly having second thoughts about returning to Eastonia.
I know if I went to him and told him I’d changed my mind and I want to stay with my family, he wouldn’t fight me about it. In fact, he might be relieved.
But we have work to do. We have a kingdom to rebuild. We have a mate bond to mend.
And then there’s the matter of his relationship with Westfall, his real father. He’ll need to address tha when we return to Eastonia.
I’m awarded quick hugs and tears from Maddy and Hannah, who make me promise to reach out when I can. My dad simply looks into my eyes for a long moment before leaning down to kiss me on the cheek and to tell me to behave myself, like he used to say when I was just a little girl.
It breaks my heart in two to back away from him and nod while forcing myself not to burst into tears.
I follow Ryatt, Isaac, and Westfall out of the dining room but spare one last glance at my mom. She’s still on the patio, her back turned to the room and her eyes on the stars above. I know she’ll stand there until the last flickers of my powers ebb across the sky and fall like stardust over the ocean.
My mate and Westfall are silent as we walk out of the castle to an awaiting car that will take us to the trailhead leading to the falls, but footsteps behind us catch my attention.
Isaac is walking briskly toward us, carrying an iron box in his hands.
“Is that the mask?” I ask.
Isaac nods and glances back at the castle with a sigh, then meets my eyes. “I’m coming with you to the falls. I need to see this for myself.”
He knows the dangers. I could fail. I could hurt all of us or take him with us by accident. Without Ryatt’s powers at their max, and without his sword, this is all on me.
But, like Mom said, I’ve done this twice before.
“Okay.”
***
Ryatt and Westall are nearly identical in their wolf forms. Tendrils of shadowy power ripples around them, cutting through the moonlight drifting through the towering palm trees overhead. In the distance, the first fireworks are just starting to crackle through the air.
I haven’t shifted. Not yet, at least. While my powers are more concentrated in my wolf form, according to Ryatt, Westfall, and even Isaac, I’m not sure the mask will work if I shift.
I’m reminded repeatedly that I have no idea how any of this works as I follow behind the most powerful wolves in history.
Isaac would love Eastonia. I know that for a fact. Something about that place feeds the powers woven within us and turns them into something new.
Maybe one day this rift I’ve caused between us will be mended, and he can visit, one way or another.
The thought reminds me that despite all odds, I have a future. All was not lost when we defeated King Kane.
The sound of the falls cuts through the dizzying crackle of the fireworks.
It’s time.
The iron box–Poppy’s attempt of keeping the power of the mask leashed–is suddenly heavier than it had been during our walk to the water’s edge.
‘Staying in our wolf forms will be the safest manor of travel, especially with Ryatt still lacking full use of his power,’ Westfall says through the mind-link.
‘You sound like you’ve done this before,’ I reply, setting the box down on the ground and kneeling before it, my fingers undoing the latch holding it closed. I meet Westfall’s eyes–a sharp, glacier blue against his black fur. Ryatt is several yards behind him, silver eyes scanning the trees surrounding the water.
‘Ryatt’s mother did her research,’ is all he says.
Pain laces his voice, and I know better than to press the subject. He’s alive, which means I’ll have time to force him to tell me everything.
Isaac, who isn’t privy to the mind-link shared between myself, Ryatt, and Westfall, says, ‘How are you going to do it?’
Aloud, I reply, “When I sent Hannah and Cassian home, I just imagined them landing here, in the water. I needed them both to land somewhere they could quickly get to help, and they were both in bad shape. I just… imagined the falls.” I turn to my brother, whose golden fur ripples in the soft breeze coming off the falls. “I’m going to do the same thing. I’m going to imagine where we need to go.”
‘The lake’ Ryatt says. ‘The lake at the coven will be the safest option. Or, better yet, the mirror room in Veiled Valley.’
‘Is that where you were trying to take me when I let go of your hand?’ I ask through the mind-link.
Ryatt’s cold, silver stare is all the answer I need. Yes, in fact. It was, before I went and ruined it, leading him on a wild goose chase across the roguelands.
I pull the mask from the box. It looks like a piece of costume jewelry, like something I’d wear to a masquerade ball. Without my powers coursing through it, it looks and feels… cheap. Empty, and cold.
‘Carefully, Princess,’ Ryatt hisses into my mind.
I put the mask on as fireworks crash overhead, turning the sky a vibrant, electric blue. Poppy was right about the celebration being a perfect distraction from what’s about to take place.
The second the mask touches my skin, I feel… everything. Every ounce of my power hurdles to the surface, thrumming over every inch of my skin.
I can’t describe the feeling. It’s the best, and also the worst, thing I’ve ever felt. It’s dangerous and exhilarating.
‘Ella.’
I turn to look at my brother at the same moment Westfall and Ryatt begin backing into the water. The mask begins to glow a bright crimson, the heat of it rushing over my skin.
‘I don’t blame you for what you did during that final battle. I understand why you did it, why you stabbed me. I forgive you. I wouldn’t be here had you not done it. I wouldn’t know my sons. You saved us both. You saved us all. Remember,’ he says, taking a single step toward me, but my feet are already in the water, like I’m being pulled into it against my will, ‘Remember who you are. Remember who used to wear that mask.’
‘Goodbye, Isaac.’
My fingers curl into Ryatt’s fur, and everything goes black.