Misty
“Everyone’s okay,” I tell Lexa and Addy, laying them out in the center of Ryan’s bed, side by side. Both babies scowl up at me–Lexa, for not being her mother, and my own son for showing another baby attention.
Lexa’s face scrunches. She puffs her cheeks out in the threat of a wail while Addy picks up on her energy and begins to whine. I cover my ears, taking the deepest breath I can handle, and scoop both screaming infants into my arms for the hundredth time in the last two hours.
“They just won’t sleep,” I say, rounding the corner into the living room where Sarah is still camped out with her new babies, and Sydney is pacing like a madman in front of the windows, looking for any sign of Kenna, Ryan, Aviva, and the kids.
Sarah’s fast asleep with her brand new twins resting in a floor cot nearby, but Sydney has free hands, so I thrust Lexa against his chest without saying another word.
“Freya’s supposed to be coming up to help,” he says under his breath, still looking worse for the wear, but he has some color returning to his cheeks, finally. “And Mom’s coming, apparently. I’m not sure Sarah and the girls can travel home like this.”
“So we’ll have help?” I ask, my voice strained. This is far too many babies to handle, and I’m starting to feel a little claustrophobic as Addy roots against my chest.
Sydney nods. I don’t ask about the logistics of how Mom’s getting here, whether she’s bringing Blake and Liam or if they’re staying behind in Crescent Falls with Dad, but I don’t have the chance to, anyway, because my mate ducks through the door with Aris riding on his shoulders.
Aris is the spitting image of Evander but with dark hair like Kenna. It’s wild to see, honestly, and reminds me that babies do, in fact, grow up. Aris’s head bobs, and he blinks rapidly before rubbing his eyes.
“Where’s Brie?” Sydney asks, tilting his head toward Aris, who is desperately trying to stay awake but failing miserably, his head nodding as Cole comes to a stop with a sigh.
“She’s asleep in our bed back at the cabin,” Cole says to me, then turns to Sydney, motioning to Lexa with his elbow. “Freya’s coming to get her any second now.” Cole looks back at me with a soft smile. “I have some news.”
Sydney straightens from the wall, glancing between us. “What? Are they back?”
“Not yet,” Cole says, gently lifting Aris, now fast asleep, off his shoulders and cradling him like an infant against his chest instead. “But they just made it in range of the mind-link. I just spoke to Ryan, and they’ll be home in an hour or two, Kenna’s resting her powers for a moment.”
Sydney and I heave sighs of relief. Both of us have exhausted our powers over the past day and a half tending to Sarah, who needed a lot more than the herbs and tinctures the midwife could supply to heal. My powers are barely a flicker. I couldn’t shift if I tried, and the mind-link is practically useless right now.
I turn to my brother. “We’ll take Aris back to our place. If you need me, just let me know.”
“I will,” he says, exhausted, bouncing an increasingly irritated Lexa in his arms.
“Jacob and Andrew are going to come up to help get Sarah and the girls back to the cottage you were staying in. She needs a real bed, and you need sleep, Sydney,” Cole adds, cocking his head to the door. “Everyone’s going to be okay now. You can shut your eyes for just an hour, and it would still do you a lot of good.”
Sydney looks like he’d rather sit here and stare at his mate to ensure she’s still breathing but nods along nonetheless.
The sun sets on Silverhide for the second time since Ryan and Aviva left yesterday morning. It’s a quiet, calm night. The first hints of cool weather descend on the pack as shadows creep over the fields and valley beyond.
I wait for the rush of energy Kenna creates when she jumps from place to place, but after laying Aris down beside Brie, and finally getting Addy down for bed, the air stays still and unbothered.
So, I wander around the cottage, bouncing between checking on the kids and checking in on Cole, who’s been scribbling like mad in his notebook, likely recounting Sarah’s birth into his written memory. I’ve had the notebook rebound twice since the war ended, adding new paper each time. It’s huge, and notes are constantly falling out of it, but it’s a reminder of the Cole I love to remember–before I really knew him. The Cole who kept notes about me during those weeks under his care in the fortress.
“You know what?” I ask, moving in his direction to where he’s seated on the couch, sprawled out with his notebook on his lap.
“What?” He looks up at me as I move in on him, settling on his legs.
“I think,” I begin, smiling as I adjust my position to fit more comfortably with him despite the fact he’s making no moves to give me some space on the couch, “I think we should stay here for a few more weeks, until after the Harvest Festival.”
He arches a brow and sets his notebook on the coffee table. “What changed your mind?”
“You.”
“I’m more than ready to go home–”
“I don’t think that’s true. I think we have unfinished business here, in Eastonia. I think you need to learn what you can from the midwife, and then visit Endova, and spend some time in Moonrise at their hospital–”
“And what about you?”
I tilt my head toward his notebook. “I need to finish writing about the war. You were right about that. It’s what I wanted to do before everything happened–be a historian… so, I might as well start now, before I get so busy as Dad’s record keeper at the castle that I forget.”
He pulls me toward him. I lie down with my head on his chest, and he pulls a blanket over us. Within minutes, I’m drifting off to sleep with my cheek squished against his ribcage, his heartbeat the lullaby that finally settles my nerves.
But what feels like seconds later, I hear Cole say, “Are you all right?”
It’s pitch black in the cabin–full, undeniable night. Brie says sleepily, “I think Mama’s here.”
“You can feel her coming?”
“Yeah,” Brie yawns, and Cole begins to sit up at the very moment I feel that shift in the air, like a knife through the fabric of time and space.
I slide off Cole and gather Brie to my chest, patting her on the head, whispering encouragement as I help her with a flannel jacket I packed with me from Crescent Falls. It hangs off her tiny, almost five-year-old body, but it’s a bit chilly out, and she’s refusing to stay inside.
“Daddy said he was going to meet her over the mountain and bring her back,” Brie whispers on the front porch, gripping my hand while rubbing her eyes with her other hand. “Then we can go home.”
Inside the cabin, through the open door, Cole’s packing up his medical kit in the event of another emergency, but I feel… calm.
Everything is fine. Everyone is coming home in one piece. I can feel it.
A shadow descends through the moonlight, casting a torrent of dark mist across the ground. The mist snakes around the trees, gathering at our ankles, but Brie doesn’t flinch. She stares, owl eyed, at the moonlit landscape and patiently waits for her parents to appear.
I watch her curiously, smiling to myself at her show of strength and maturity. Brie’s a tough kid, a smart one, too. But the second figures appear walking in our direction through the shadows, she frowns and huffs a breath.
Kenna walks up to the porch under the cloak of moonlight, carrying Maeve. Kenna beams at Brie, her lips parting to say something to her oldest child, but Brie cuts her off with a wave of her little hand and points an accusatory finger at Maeve.
“That was naughty, Maeve,” Brie hisses, wiggling her finger. “You can’t disappear like that. We’ve talked about this.”
I blink, taken aback, then make the mistake of meeting Kenna’s eyes. Kenna purses her lips in an attempt to not laugh as Brie continues reading her little sister the riot act, and all we can do is watch and agree with every word the little future Luna says.
“Don’t do it anymore, okay?” Brie concludes, and Maeve flashes her a two-toothed grin before breaking out in peels of giggles.
“Well,” Kenna says tiredly, shaking her head. “That’s settled, then. How’s Sarah? The girls?”
“They’re great. They’re just fine,” I answer but squint past her into the moonlight as four more figures appear, their bodies cast in shadow.
Ryan and Evander are easy enough to spot given their height. Evander steps forward and scoops Brie into his arms, showing more animation and emotion than I’ve ever seen from him… ever. “Did you take care of everyone for us?”
“Yes, Daddy,” Brie says, sounding almost bored. “I’d like to go home now. My dolls are waiting for me.”
“The house is taking care of them, remember?” Kenna smiles.
I picture their strange castle in Veiled Valley with its mysterious magic that makes the place come live, like a spirit lives within its walls.
Evander sets Brie down, turning to talk to Cole, who asks if everyone made it back all right, but I notice Brie staring into the darkness.
I follow her gaze to where Aviva’s standing beside Logan, her arm wrapped protectively around his narrow shoulders.
Logan is staring right at Brie, his eyes narrowed and brow scrunched in confusion. Brie takes a huge breath and plants her hands on her hips.
All of the adults stop whatever hushed conversations were taking place and watch the odd stand-off.
“Did she hurt you?” Brie asks Logan, but he just blinks at her. “Did the witch hurt you?”
“Honey, Logan can’t understand you,” Aviva says apologetically. “He doesn’t know how to speak our language yet.”
“He should learn,” Brie says, matter-of-factly, tapping her foot on the step.
“He will,” Kenna laughs but glances around at other adults. “Be nice, Brie. He kept Maeve safe for us. We owe him for that.”
“Who is he?” Brie asks, pointing at Logan this time.
“He’s family now,” Evander says, nodding at Logan. He just stares, leaning into Aviva’s body like he’s trying to disappear, but his eyes are still locked on Brie. He finally drops his gaze and turns toward Aviva, hiding his face from the group gathered on or near the porch. While Kenna and Evander gather up their kids to immediately take them home and Cole assists, I watch Ryan and Aviva talking in gentle tones to Logan.
Eventually Ryan and Logan walk away, heading toward their own home, but Aviva hangs back, her face washed with confusion.
“Are you okay?” I ask, and she nods, but then shakes her head.
“He just asked how he knows her,” she says, turning to face me.
“What do you mean?”
“He asked why he knows Brie. He said he’s met her before but then got really confused. I had Ryan take him to bed. It’s been a long day of travel, and he doesn’t handle jumping well.”
I chew the inside of my cheek in thought as we stare out over the sleeping village. “He couldn’t possibly know Brie, could he? He was what… seven when she was born, and he’s not from here at all.”
“He’s just tired,” Aviva concludes, but I can tell she’s lost in thought as well. Moonlight reflects in her eyes as a hush falls over the valley, broken by the soft rustling of the wind through the trees.
Aviva and I look at each other.
“Do you feel that?” she asks.
“Yeah,” I reply, taking a deep breath. “It’s over. We can finally just… move on, right?”
She sighs, crossing her arms, blinking up at the stars. “Now what?”