The Gathering

by Fiore, L. A.

“Who the hell is this?” Aine screeched.

  He smiled at her. “I’m the grim reaper, and I’ve come to take you home.”

  “No! I won’t go,” Aine cried.

  “Hades has prepared Tartarus,” Grim said.

  “It’s only temporary.” It broke my heart, but she couldn’t be trusted.

  “No!” Aine screamed.

  “The Valkyrie are coming,” he added.

  “Good. We’re going to need them.”

  “I’ll return for you.”

  “I’ll be ready.”

  I heard Aine’s screams as they disappeared. My heart twisted, but she would be alive. We’d find a way to bring her back. I felt eyes on me and scanned the field until my gaze collided with Brock’s. Fury warred with hope because he’d seen Aine being taken away and knew she was safe for now. He nodded his head in thanks then threw himself back into the fray.

  “Lilith…”

  She appeared, an apparition in white. It then dawned. “You’re the lady in white, the one the McKinnons saw.”

  “I was unable to help them.”

  I had been very wrong about Lilith. “You tried.”

  She nodded her head, though pain weighed her down. I understood because in order to reset things, we had to end things. It was with a heavy heart that I made the request. “Summon the horsemen.”

  “Are you sure? Once they are unleashed, they will not stop until they have finished it.”

  “When they arrive, I’ll reseal the borders. They won’t be able to spread their work across the land, but they are free to do what they will here.”

  “And the humans?”

  “They will be spending some time in another realm. A favor from a friend.”

  “And you?”

  I inhaled and looked around at the ugly that Chaos had brought to our world. His kind of evil was a sickness. Perhaps my kind of goodness was too, but this world was for the humans and the supernatural, not the gods. We needed to leave them to it. I glanced heavenward, my heart ached, but I was ready. “I think I’ll spend some time with the stars.”

  “As you will.”

  I looked back at the battle, my eyes finding my mom and dad, Jareth and Brock, before settling on Bain, a god who had given it up for me. We truly were destined, two souls drawn together through the ages. I touched my ring and closed my eyes. A love like ours didn’t die. I glanced around me one last time at what came from that love. Ours would live on. I felt his stare; our gazes locked, so much was said with that one look. I touched my fingers to my lips, my love reaching out to him, and then I turned for the plantation house. It was time to go home.

  Bain

  I tasted his fear. He was weaker in this realm, but he was arrogant and still he was strong. His claws dug into my chest as he yanked me close.

  “You die, brother.”

  Before the fatal blow, pale riders came on the wind; the fighting stopped as the horsemen appeared and behind them were the Valkyrie. Chaos released me. I stumbled backwards.

  “What is she doing?” he demanded. “She’s killing them.”

  The fairies appeared. The summer solstice, beings could pass through the veil. Pride and love swelled. She was magnificent. Anguish stole over me, tearing me apart from the inside out. She was protecting what was hers through the ultimate sacrifice. I would find her; somehow, I would find her again, even if it was just the twinkle of a star in the heavens, a reminder of how for just a little while I had dared to walk where dreams were made.

  “No, she’s killing you.”

  Ivy

  I felt them leave, taken safely to a realm untouched by Chaos. Not dead but waiting in a place that was safe from the ugly that had touched their world. The horsemen finished with what creatures remained, the Valkyrie collected the souls of the humans that had fallen. There was only one thing left to do.

  The man in black appeared. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes.”

  It had been so long ago, but I remembered the words to the spell that would finish it, killing Chaos and giving humans the power of sight.

  “Are you sure about how?” he asked.

  “My mystical signature was fire. It seems fitting that should be how I die.”

  “It’s going to hurt.”

  “Birth often does.”

  “I’ll be right here.”

  I was scared; my hands shook as I twisted them together. I had wanted to know this world, but I had helped create this world. It was my legacy, and I was ready to do what needed to be done to keep that legacy alive. I walked into the most haunted place in New Orleans. The heat came up through the floors, but without my powers, I felt it, the searing and burning of my skin. I wanted to scream out, but I didn’t. I heard Chaos cry, felt remorse for ending his life, but he was a curse this world didn’t need.

  The fire shot through the city, to every street and alley. It didn’t decimate, it cleansed. On the hill, where once stood a majestic tree, the old stump started to grow. The summer solstice was a time for rebirth. New Orleans would become a new epicenter, but not just for magic and the supernatural, for tolerance, diversity, and understanding; a new world where evil didn’t stem from misunderstanding, and fear and hate weren’t fostered by ignorance. There would still be evil, good and bad, right and wrong, but the beings of the world, all of them, would maintain that balance together. It was a damn good legacy.

  I stood next to the man in black, watching as the plantation burned. He held out his hand. I placed mine in his. He opened his umbrella, and together, we walked off into the sunset.

  40

  Josiah-Two years later

  I stood on their hill. Her tree was reaching to the heavens, its branches long and thick. Leaves of summer green covered the majestic oak. A simple stone rested next to the old weathered one. I visited every day. We had no sooner been pulled into the fairy realm before we were back, but what we came back to was a different place, a better one. We had to rebuild the city, but we had the help of magic.

  One day, the dandelion clocks drifted into town. It was Ivy; her wish was being spread across the world. The wish of sight for all beings was carried on the summer breeze.

  The first reports of the supernatural appeared on the news that very same day. There was fear, but there was more awe and curiosity. It had been two years. School children of all species were taught together. Shops catering to all walks of life, including the supernatural, were popping up all over the world. There was unrest at times and adjustments we were all working through, but she had left it a better world than the one she’d been born into.

  “Hey, Dad,” Aria said as she joined me. She was gifted, had that same timeless quality that Ivy had. The torch had been passed onto her. Unlike Ivy, Aria had a huge family to lean on. “Do you think we’ll see them again?”

  Bain left after the battle. Sometimes, a mournful howl could be heard late at night, the anguish and pain carrying on the wind. I couldn’t imagine what he was feeling. Theirs wasn’t just a love story; it was timeless, everlasting…it was what fairy tales were made of.

  “I’d like to think so, but they’re here.” I touched her cheek. “Aren’t they? You can feel them.”

  Sadness washed over her. “They deserved a better ending to their story.” Her eyes were on their graves. I felt her excitement before her expressive face turned up to mine. “Our last name, Abiviny…it’s an anagram for Ivy and Bain.”

  My eyes jerked to their stones, a little smile touching my lips at the enduring spirit of a remarkable woman who had forever changed my life, a man who never believed in the supernatural and yet my life was so deeply entwined in it. I ran my hand down Aria’s hair. “See? They’ll always be with us.”

  “Some would argue their story isn’t at an end.”

  We turned to see Hecate. She made herself a regular. I knew she did because it wasn’t just a way to honor her daughter; it was her way of being closer to her.

  “I know. They’re all around us,” Aria whispered as
she toed the grass.

  “No.”

  My daughter’s head snapped up, hope burning in her eyes that looked so very much like Ivy’s.

  “To give oneself for others is very powerful magic, and life is a balance.” Hecate looked down at the house that was being rebuilt in honor of two extraordinary beings. “And love transcends everything, even death. No, I think the end of their story has yet to be written.”

  41

  Bain

  The street was stone; it matched the buildings. The yellow hue was broken up by pots of bright red flowers. I walked up the gentle rise; sapphire blue umbrellas over white tables came into view. I came every day, sat at the same table every day. The old man who owned the café wouldn’t take my money; sometimes, he waited with me.

  My steps were quicker in the morning. The city just waking up, the sun rising; my eyes drawn to the fire that washed over the heavens. I felt a bit like an adolescent, eager and hopeful. And every day I watched as the sun moved across the sky, the shadows shifted, people came and went, but none were the one I sought. My stride was slower in the evening; my pain and disappointment an extra burden as I made my way back to the hovel I’d leased.

  It had been two years, and for two years I waited, looking up at the stars wishing that one would wink down at me because then I would know that she had made it home, out of reach, but in her eternal place in the heavens watching over what was hers even in death. The stars never twinkled.

  Children ran past; the pull of magic from some drew a smile. Her wish had come true. Humans, once again, had the sight, and as she hoped, it brought the world closer. She had given it all up for that dream, and she never got to see it.

  A festival in the street pulled my attention, the bonfire that burned, the flames dancing in the air. Drawn to it, I stood close enough to feel the heat, to hear the crackling of the wood. I missed her every damn day. Life without her wasn’t much of one, and she deserved to see her legacy. If I ever found myself at a crossroads, I should look for the dog. She appeared, a dark figure that stepped from the shadows. Walking around the fire, I joined her. Tucked in the darkness, she shifted. Hecate.

  “My life for hers.”

  Compassion moved over her expression. “Why would you take her place?”

  “Ours was just a brief moment in time. Over so quickly, a blink of an eye, but what we had, what we created, it still lingers, it endures, and it thrives. My life since has been like waiting in line, waiting to see her again. Those chances were so few, but they were worth waiting for. She has family, real family. She deserves to spend her life with them; she deserves to grow old, to see her legacy.”

  “And what of you?”

  “I’ve lived so many lifetimes. My kind have all moved on; we are now just a page in history. I stayed back for her, but this isn’t my time anymore. She deserves to experience at least one lifetime without the burden she’s carried for so long.”

  She looked away, wiped at her cheek. “She told us that we could learn something from humans. Told us that they were beautiful because they loved with their whole hearts, even in a life that is so short. She saw what we never did because she looked with more than her eyes. She looked with love, and she loved you.”

  My chest grew tight, the pain around my heart suffocating. I didn’t want to die; I wanted forever with her, but I wanted her to live more. “Life is a cycle. Maybe one day, we will meet again.”

  “You offer yourself freely?”

  “Yes.”

  “With no reservations?”

  “Yes.”

  Tenderness stared back. “I wish I could give you want you ask, but that is beyond even my powers. I’m sorry.”

  She turned to go but stopped. “She gave her life freely, selfishly. There is very old magic that predates many of us that believes when one sacrifices with no thought to themselves, that what was taken can be set right.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that you may very well see her again.” She looked around, a tear escaped her eye. “But she is here, all around you, if only we could all learn to lead with our hearts a little more what a world this would be.” She then bowed to me. Her show of respect hit me right in the chest. And then she was gone.

  A storm rolled in, the kind that cleansed, the kind where the air was a little cleaner; everything looked a little fresher, the sky just a bit brighter. The tables and umbrellas at the café had been overturned; some of them halfway down the street. It was while I helped the old man fix what the storm had tossed that the dandelion clocks swept through town. People stepped out of their stores to watch the swirl of clocks that just appeared. My heart hammered in my chest. She’d used them before. My feet moved without the command from my brain. I followed them as they drifted down the street. Like a pied piper, I was drawn in.

  I walked through town, the landscape changed from urban to rural. Rolling hills of wildflowers stretched for as far as the eye could see. The sun was so bright. The breeze through the trees sounded like laughter.

  The paved road turned to dirt, carved into the side of the lush green hill.

  A breeze stirred, and my body stilled even as my heart pounded in my chest. I inhaled, her scent filling me. Then I felt her. Reaching the crest of the hill, it was like being hit with lightning, the jolt of power so strong I almost went to my knees. A lone figure stood in a field of wildflowers. She looked lost; her black hair fell down her back and blew in the breeze that stirred.

  Awareness stiffened her shoulders seconds before she turned, and eyes like amethyst looked over. There were some constants that link us all: destiny, fate, love…even magic. It was a little of all of those when our gazes collided. The piece of me missing was returned with nothing more than a simple glance.

  I wanted to run to her, yank her close, kiss her, love her, but did she remember? Like a moth to a flame, I closed the distance between us. Instinct was to reach for her, but I pushed my hands into my pockets.

  It was only two words, two words and my world was made right again. “You came,” she whispered.

  Tears filled her eyes. I itched to wipe them from her cheeks; instead, I fisted my hands in my pockets. “Why didn’t you come back to me?” I asked, my voice broken.

  A single tear rolled down her cheek. “I couldn’t find my way home.”

  I wiped the tear from her cheek; my body burned feeling her skin under my fingers again. I glanced down at her hands, she was twisting a ring on her finger. I brushed my thumb over the moonstone. My own eyes burned. Lifting my gaze, I asked, “Do you remember?”

  “I remember that you are mine and always have been.”

  Those words broke my restraint. I yanked her to me, inhaled her scent that had haunted me, ran my fingers through her hair before cradling her face. “I am yours.”

  My lips crashed into hers, our bodies melting into each other as we remembered. She touched my cheek, ran her finger over my lips. “Home isn’t a place.” She pressed a kiss on my lips, reverence stared out of those beautiful purple eyes. “You are my home.”

  “And you are mine.”

  Epilogue

  Ivy

  I stood on the hill under the shade of our oak tree. The house was teaming with people. It was Aria’s birthday, and we were celebrating. I took a minute, needed to catch my breath. I never thought I’d be here again. I wasn’t sure why I had been brought back, but I was here. I was among my family. I had Bain. I didn’t question it, and I didn’t take a second of it for granted.

  Aria was happy to return the torch; she wanted to be a kid while she still was a kid. I completely understood, and honestly, I wasn’t ready to hand it off yet.

  Our home was a home once again and not just because of the painted and papered walls, the sanded and sealed floors, the fixed fountain that water once again cascaded down the sides of, or the gardens filled with color and scents that tickled your senses. We were all here together, brought together by something ugly, and yet, staying together beca
use of the beauty we found despite the evil.

  I felt Bain before he came up behind me, turned and yanked me close for his kiss. His taste was my most favorite, better than anything Cinder whipped up in her kitchen and better than the ambrosia from home. I was weak in the knees when he ended it. “They’re all waiting.” He brushed his fingers down my arm. My heart raced, and my body tingled from my head down to my toes. His palm met mine, our fingers linked, and nothing had ever felt so natural. What had been was once again…life coming full circle.

  Laughter filled the courtyard. I looked around, and my heart filled seeing what had been forgotten was now a place of love and family. Josiah was talking to Diana McKinnon, at peace knowing that her family was together. She’d see them again one day. Grace and Hope were playing tag with some of Bain’s crew. They had really taken to the supernatural, open minded to the diversity. It was beautiful to witness. Brock hid his heartache, but every once in a while, it would come through. Hades had a team working on reversing what Ellis had done to Aine. We would get her back, but it was the waiting. Brock was not patient, so he decided to find a diversion to help manage his impatience. He became co-owner of Sweet Tooth. It didn’t take away his frustration but staying busy and sneaking éclairs helped.

  Jareth had become like a second father to Aria. They were attached at the hip, which meant he was around Dahlia a lot, but since learning Josiah was a brother in a convoluted way, dedication to family outweighed his vampire nature.

  Josiah had taken on a new deputy, Nick. He had answered the call, but he didn’t share our blood. Who was he and why had he come? It was a question I had yet to ask him and wasn’t sure he even knew the answer. We’d figure it out, and like before, both man and mystic would safeguard New Orleans, and with Jasmine, Doris and the entire stationhouse witnessing what other evil existed in the world...yeah, New Orleans was very well protected. Cyril had left town after the battle despite Josiah urging him to stay, but I knew he would find his way home.

  I hadn’t noticed that Jareth had been called away until he appeared at my side. “We’re needed somewhere.”