by Alyson Noel
“Gratitude is the Upperworld currency, you know.”
“What exactly are you?” I say. “My guide or my fairy godmother?”
“Today, I guess I’m a little of both.” She lifts her shoulders and grins in a way that curls her lips, widens her cheeks, and makes her eyes gleam a glorious silvery/pink.
“You’re serious?”
The nod that follows confirms that she is.
So I take a moment to ponder the long list of things I could ask for, then I turn to her and say, “Bring me Chay’s body so I can give him a proper burial.”
She shakes her head. Her tone as final as her gaze, she says, “No. Absolutely not. My intention is to grant a wish that serves you—not someone else.”
“But that’s the thing. It is for me. Chay was my mentor, my friend. In a lot of ways, he was like a father to me, and I let him down. If you’ll just see it within you to grant me this wish, I’d feel a lot better, which would benefit me immeasurably.”
“First of all, you didn’t let him down. Chay died doing what he’s always done best, which is helping others. While I admit, when things got hectic up here, we lost sight of all of you down there. But eventually Eagle managed to get through and alert us, and it wasn’t long after that Chay’s guide went down to greet him. He’s in a good place now, I promise you that. They buried his body near that spring you like so much down in the Lowerworld.”
“The Enchanted Spring?”
She grins. “I know it’s one of your favorites. Which is one of the reasons we chose it. That way you can visit him whenever you want. Though, as I know you already know, you don’t have to go there to find him . . .”
“He’s a part of everything now.” I allow myself a ghost of a smile. Another one of Paloma’s lessons. “Though, as I recently discovered, you don’t have to die in order to achieve that—we are all of us connected to everything around us.”
“You’re a good student,” Zahra says. “And an even better Seeker. Still, there’s one last thing left to do.”
I squint, having no idea what she means. The Richters are gone. The three worlds are in order. What could possibly be left undone?
She points to the tourmaline ring on my finger. “Use it to release the residents of Enchantment. We guided them home, but they’re lost, confused, running on empty. As the Seeker, it’s up to you to restore them to their former selves and help them find their way.”
“How?”
“You’ll figure it out.” When she smiles, her entire being is illuminated. “In the meantime, please consider my offer. And when you’ve decided on a wish that’s entirely for you, ask Lita for the eagle feather and I promise to see that it’s done. Actually, in light of all you’ve accomplished, I’m feeling generous. So, how about I offer a wish for each of your friends as well. But for now . . .” I look at her. “I don’t mean to be rude, but it’s time for you to go back to your worlds. The portals will close soon, and if you stay here much longer, you’ll be staying for good. You know how to return?”
“Follow the same trail I arrived on?”
“Yes. Only now you won’t find the journey nearly as treacherous.”
When she turns to leave, I’m overcome with the strange sensation of loss. And before I can stop myself, I say, “Will I see you again?”
“I’ll see you every day. I’m always with you, Daire. But, if you can manage to stay out of trouble, I don’t expect to see you in these parts again for a very long while.”
I have so many things to ask her, so many puzzles to solve, but before I can get to the words, she walks a few feet away and disappears into a wondrous burst of white light.
FORTY-EIGHT
DAIRE
It’s not until we stop in the Lowerworld to pay our respects to Chay that I decide on a wish just for me.
The thing about being a Seeker is my gifts of healing and insight are mostly geared toward helping others. When it comes to my own stuff, I’m as clueless as anyone, left to rely on a gut I’m still learning to trust.
Still, it’s the only thing I can think of, and, if I place the right parameters around it, it might prove to be fun.
But first, I’ll let my friends have a go. So after asking Lita for the feather, I hold it before me and relay everything Zahra told me.
“Trust me,” Lita says, happily nestled in the shelter of Axel’s arms. “This is an opportunity you won’t want to waste. That feather is magick.”
In a sign of respect for the elders who have given so much, I offer it first to Leftfoot, but he’s quick to decline. Claiming he has everything he could every possibly want now that he’s lived long enough to see Enchantment liberated from the Richters’ hold, he passes it to Chepi, who clutches it in both hands, closes her eyes, and says, “I wish for my son to find peace and forgiveness for what he’s done.” Her gaze centers on Dace as he squeezes my hand.
Jennika’s next, wishing to never lose sight of the things Django taught her. Then she hands it to Axel, who turns to Lita and says, “My wish is standing right here beside me.”
Xotichl is next, and we watch as she pinches the quill between her fingers and takes a moment to settle her gaze on each of us, pausing as though trying to memorize our individual features. “I wish to be returned to the way I was before I first came to the Lowerworld,” she says.
“Xotichl!” Lita gasps. “You only get one shot—how could you—”
“It’s okay.” Xotichl shrugs. “Really. Most of you have known me forever, which means you should know that I don’t need my sight in order to see. Especially when I see far better without it. True vision doesn’t depend on the eyes. I guess I always knew that in theory, but now I know it for real.”
She leans into Auden and he slips an arm around her, whispers into her ear. So visibly moved by her wish, he needs a moment before he can voice his. “With the Richters dead, we’re probably in the clear, but just in case, I’m asking for Xotichl and me to be released from that contract Luther had me sign. I want to go back to playing local clubs with Epitaph and become successful the old-fashioned way—because we earn it and our music merits it—not because I traded my soul for fortune and fame.”
Xotichl squints at him, her eyes filled with tears, as Auden pulls her tightly to his chest and drops a kiss onto her forehead, and we all turn away, allowing them a moment of privacy.
When it’s Dace’s turn, he simply says, “I want the same thing I’ve wanted since the day Daire Lyons Santos stepped into my life.”
And when he returns the feather to me, I hold it tightly, and say, “I want a glimpse into the future. I want to see one good thing I can cling to if things should ever turn bad again.”
Dace squeezes my shoulder as I close my eyes and wait, trusting the vision will appear in my head, but it’s Valentina’s laughter I hear instead.
Open your eyes, she urges, so I do.
I snap my eyes open, and suddenly, I’m looking at an image of me, but I’m no longer in the Lowerworld. I’m in . . . a sick bed?
But I said one good thing!
Keep looking, she tells me.
I’m sweaty.
Clammy.
Pale in some places, flushed in others.
My hair much shorter than it is now, barely reaching my shoulders.
There are faint traces of lines fanning my eyes, a slim gold band on my left ring finger, and I seem to be in some sort of distress. Or maybe just exhausted, it’s hard to tell.
One thing’s for sure—I should’ve known better.
Should’ve never asked for a peek into the future.
I never allowed myself that kind of indulgence before, so why risk it now? Just because the Richters are dead doesn’t mean this will end any better.
I mean, what’s next? A vision of the Bone Keeper and her sinister skirt of snakes flaying my flesh and collecting their bounty?
Daire, please, Valentina says. Have I ever let you down?
Well, there were times you failed to show . . . but, now I realize you
were always standing by, letting me find my own way.
Which is what I’m doing now. Keep watching . . .
I switch from doubt and anxiety to the scene unfolding before me, and that’s when I see it.
That’s when I begin to understand what’s really occurring.
And before I can do anything to stop it, my face is streaming with tears at the sight of Dace standing before me, his hair cropped short, his body lean and muscular, his features a bit more angular than they are now, but he’s still as devastatingly handsome as ever, if not more so for all that we’ve been through together. And standing right beside him is a young woman I instinctively recognize as a midwife I trained, placing a newborn baby in each of his arms.
Twins!
And they’re ours?
You’re a doctor of holistic health. Dace is the mayor of Enchantment. And this is your family—a boy and a girl.
Enjoy your “something to cling to.” Valentina laughs, circling her arms around me and embracing me with such an abundance of unconditional love I nearly fold under the weight of it. The two of us watching the future fade. And when it’s no more than a memory, she vanishes with it, leaving me sobbing before my family and friends.
“I really hope those are tears of joy,” Lita says.
I nod. Swipe the back of my hand across my cheeks, and confirm that they are.
“Are you going to tell us what you saw?” Xotichl asks.
“And spoil the surprise?” I sniff, shake my head, still captured by the wonder of it. “No way.” I grin. “But someday, I promise, you’ll see for yourself.” I wrap my arms around my waist, hardly able to contain the surge of happiness and joy streaming within. Unable to recall a time when I’ve felt so content, I return to the present, the life that I’ve made, the wonderful people gathered around me, and place the feather on top of Chay’s grave.
When it’s done, Leftfoot looks at us and says, “I think it’s time we head home.”
Everyone mumbles their agreement and starts to follow his lead, except for Dace and I who continue to linger.
“Aren’t you coming?” Jennika peers at me with red-rimmed eyes, her hair falling in soft messy waves around her dirt-smudged features. Her filthy, torn clothes a testament to all that she risked to support me.
“Go home. Get some rest.” I move in for a hug. Hoping to convey just how much I appreciate all that she’s sacrificed on my behalf, not just today, but pretty much every day since she brought me into the world. “Dace and I are going to stick around for a bit. We’ll catch up later.”
She nods. Traces a finger over each cheek, and tucks my hair back behind my ears. “Be safe.” She lifts the buckskin pouch from her neck, and loops it around mine.
“Django’s Bear.” I finger the drawstring, about to retrieve it and give it to her. “Do you want it? As a way to remember?”
“I don’t need it.” She grins. “I made my wish. It’s as good as done.”
Dace and I stand together, watching as Leftfoot leads them away. Then he pulls me into his arms, kisses the very tip of my nose, and says, “So, now that they’re gone, will you tell me?”
“Tell you what?” I tilt my head, lift my gaze to meet his, knowing exactly what he’s referring to but enjoying the tease.
“C’mon, just a hint?” He presses a kiss on my forehead, my cheek, before settling onto my lips.
“And wreck the surprise? No way!” My lips merge with his in a kiss that’s soft and affectionate at first, though it’s not long before it deepens into an urgent need for more.
Despite my exhaustion, despite knowing firsthand what they mean when they say bone tired, here, in Dace’s arms, I’m teeming with an overwhelming sense of triumph and aliveness. Finally realizing—really, truly realizing—the enormity of what we pulled off.
The full extent of our victory so much bigger than putting a stop to Coyote.
By working together, we thwarted a prophecy.
Only this time in a way that undeniably eradicates evil and celebrates good.
The world spared because of our capacity to love, even when it wasn’t easy to do.
Dace pulls away, leaving my lips cold in his absence. “Shall we?” He motions toward the spring. Its misty bubbling waters seeming to beckon.
“I think we’ve earned it, don’t you?”
He grins, his icy-blue eyes finding mine, reflecting my image thousands of times. “You look exactly as I envisioned you that day at the cave.”
I cock my head, at first not sure what he’s getting at.
“When I came to you in your vision quest, and described the beautiful, radiant woman you would someday become if you could just hang in there.”
“I remember,” I say, voice thick with the memory.
“You made it, Daire.”
“We both made it,” I say.
“It’s like coming full circle. This is where it all began in the dream we both shared. Only this time, with the Richters gone, the ending is ours to determine.”
We shed our clothes quickly and step in. The waters rising to our waists until we grasp each other’s hand and immerse ourselves completely, only to emerge newly healed and refreshed.
I move toward him, clasp my hands at the back of his neck, and pull him down to me. My fingers stroking the soft spot at the nape of his neck, my tongue seeking his. At first wondering what it is that makes this kiss so different from all the others that came before, but when he cups his hands to either side of my face and gazes deeply into my eyes, I instantly realize the one ingredient that was always lacking until now is the certainty that Dace and I have a future together.
A future far lovelier than I ever allowed myself to imagine.
“Are we happy?”
I angle my face toward his, not quite sure what he means.
“In the future. In the vision you saw. Are we happy?”
I nod.
“As happy as we are now?”
I grin, snaking my fingers over the curve of his shoulders, across the tautness of his chest where I pause on the key, before moving down the valley of his abdomen, and then lower still. “That depends.” I grin. “How happy would you say you are now?”
His features soften. His gaze grows blunted. “Very,” he breathes. “Extremely happy. And you?” His fingers do their own exploring as he leads me out of the water and onto the soft bed of grass where we lie side by side, staring contentedly at the glorious, turquoise-blue sky draped overhead.
“You know, I never believed you until now.” I turn, prop myself onto my elbow, and rest my head on my hand. “The first time you told me, I thought for sure it was just another one of Leftfoot’s stories. But, as it turns out, I never should’ve doubted you. It wasn’t a fable at all.”
“What’re you talking about?” He trails a finger across the ledge of my collarbone, then toys with the small golden key that hangs between my breasts.
“That.” I watch as he lifts his chin, follows the tip of my pointing finger to the blazing ball of sun overhead. “There really is a sun in the Lowerworld. Who knew?”
He throws his head back and laughs, the sound deep and true. “I knew,” he says, anchoring his leg over mine and pulling me close. “I never doubted any of Leftfoot’s stories, no matter how crazy they might’ve seemed at the time.”
He runs a palm down my side, tracing the curves and valleys of my torso. His touch so intoxicating I instantly melt, though it’s nothing compared to the sensation of his lips following the very same path set by his hands.
I cup my hands to his cheeks, and pull him back to me. The look we share saying more than any words could. The past is behind us, the future sprawling ahead. But what matters most is this very moment. So we immerse ourselves in the present and the absolute wonder of being together.
“So what should we do about our gifts?” Dace asks, the two of us catching our breaths after another round of loving. Fielding my look of confusion, he says, “You know, our magick? Seems wrong to let it sl
ide just because we accomplished what we set out to do. And yet, it seems kind of lazy to use it for mundane tasks like tidying up the house and locating the remote.”
I cock my head, feign a look of deep contemplation. “That’s exactly how I planned to use mine. Do you have any idea how many people wish they could manage a household so easily?”
He plants a kiss on the top of the head, gets to his feet, and helps me to stand. Raising an open palm before him, he says, “Well, if you insist . . .” Summoning my tattered red gown, as I collect what remains of his tux, which, at this point is reduced to a pair of fancy black cutoffs and a torn and stained undershirt.
“Don’t we look ravishing.” I shake my head at the spectacle as I pull a nearly shredded strap over my shoulder.
“You always look ravishing to me,” he says. “Question is, do you look ravishing in the future?”
I playfully swat him on the rear. “You’ll just have to stick around long enough to find out.”
I adjust the plunging neckline of my dress, feeling overly exposed under the brightly shining sun, when the blue tourmaline ring falls from the pocket and I’m instantly reminded of Zahra’s instructions.
“What do we do with it?” Dace stoops to retrieve it and places it on the center of my outstretched palm.
“Zahra told me to use it to release all of the others, though what she failed to say was how I’m supposed to go about that.”
Dace shoots me a worried look, and at first I start to feel worried too. But then I remember how I used the ring earlier to accidentally start the fire that ultimately saved me from being mauled by Coyote. And thinking it might work again, I angle it high toward the sun, centering the stone until it’s absorbing the light.
“You might want to shield your eyes,” I warn. “Just in case. It’s only a hunch, but it’s all I’ve got.”
A moment later, the stone and the band surrounding it become so hot I’m about to drop it when it bursts into a million shards of glitter and dust that spill at our feet.
“Well, I guess it’s safe to say that stone’s obliterated,” I say, the two of us staring at the mess. “Still, we won’t know what became of the others until we return to Enchantment.”
