“Pain means the portal stamp is taking. Consider yourself lucky, Catori. If you’d been only Unseelie—”
“I heard.” Breathing through the unpleasant sensation, I asked, “When did you pick our side?”
“When Lily Wood disclosed our little secret to her brother.”
My jaw flushed.
“I may not seem like I care about much, Catori, but Faith is my only child, and unlike Linus and Lyoh, I’ve protected her my entire life. That’s why I kept Stella close. She was unfit to be a mother, but she was still the mother of my little girl.”
My skin tickled now, as though Gregor were dragging a compass point over it. “Will you bring her here?”
“Should I?”
“Yes.”
A crooked smile touched those rigid lips of his. “Are you suggesting this to get rid of her in Rowan?”
“Believe it or not, I’ve come to…appreciate Faith.”
“I am aware of that.”
“How?”
“I have my sources.” He lifted his hand from my arm. “It might even have contributed to lessening your sentence. Besides, I enjoy youth. I enjoy its vivacity. Its tempestuousness. Its sentimentality. Its desire to revolutionize the world.”
A circle slashed by five uneven lines now graced my wrist. My key to both worlds. “Has she had her baby?” I asked Gregor, without looking away from the new symbol.
“Not yet.”
“When will you bring her?”
“After her daughter is born. A child born on Earth will always have two homes. A child born in Neverra cannot survive outside of it.”
I frowned at him.
“For us Seelies, that is. If the child is born with only fire in its veins, it could never survive anywhere else.” His hazel eyes fixed my face. “At least not for long.”
Although neither of us uttered her name, Lily’s face flickered in the air between us.
“I need to— I should go.”
“Of course.” Gregor inclined his head. “Keep my daughter safe, and I will keep your kingdom safe while you are gone.”
My kingdom.
As he soared to the loft, he winked at me. Ace must’ve caught the wink, because the second Gregor and Silas were gone, he growled, “He better not have hit on you.”
I almost snorted. “I don’t think anyone would dare.”
He watched the loft as though he feared Gregor were still there.
“Do you trust him?”
“No. And you shouldn’t either.” He scraped a finger over my wrist, over my newest marking. “It worked.”
I nodded. “I am free to come and go as I please.”
He smiled slowly. “I hope you plan on coming more than you plan on going.”
I sighed and leaned into him. “After we get Lily home, I’ll come more than I’ll leave.”
He stroked my hair. “Before we leave, Cat, I have something I want to give you.”
He lowered himself to one knee, then swiped his tongue over his lips. “I know you’re only twenty, and that we met six months ago, and that I might not have been your first choice of husband, and that technically the Cauldron already bound us”—he opened his hand, and a ring shaped like a crown, made up of a stunning web of rose-cut diamonds, twinkled wildly—“but will you marry me again, on Earth this time, so that your dad and Aylen and Cass—”
I bent over and kissed him.
As he rose to his feet, he asked, “Was that a yes?”
I peeled my left hand off his chest, off his thundering heart, and held it out before him. “Yes.”
As though part of him had expected me to refuse, he blinked. But then he latched on to my hand and fit the small crown around my ring finger.
I nestled my chin in the crook of his neck and shut my eyes while he ran his palm down my spine. “Ti ama ut Rowan e retri.”
His hands stilled on my back, and then his voice vibrated against my hair. “Who taught you to say that?”
“I taught myself. Is it wrong?”
“No. It’s right,” he said slowly. “I was just worried.”
“Worried?”
“Worried someone had said it to you.”
“Few people love me, Ace Wood.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is. Why do you think I accepted your proposal?” I pressed away from him. “It might be the only one I ever get.”
He smiled a dark smile full of bright teeth, and then he dragged those teeth along my jaw as his hands tugged me to him. “Shall I remind you that you’re already married anyway?”
Right. I was married… “When did you know it would work?”
“The elder you sent us to meet. He told us that during the first bonding ceremony, the Cauldron takes your essence, but doesn’t wrap it around another until the final ceremony. That at that point, it could mix two untethered essences as long as both were already in the Cauldron.”
“When did you decide to switch with Cruz?”
“When we were walking up the spirals.” His hands slid underneath my tunic to caress my skin. “I wanted to ask your permission. I hated taking the decision away from you.”
For a few long heartbeats, we were both quiet…both motionless…both concentrated on the momentous impact of what the Cauldron had done to us.
“I thought marriage didn’t mean anything to you.”
His face set in a look of such deep concentration that a furrow formed between his eyebrows. I touched the spot with the tip of my finger, and then I pressed onto my tiptoes and kissed him there. I felt his eyelashes flutter against my jaw, felt his heated breaths pulse against my chin, felt his fingers dig deeper into my skin.
“I thought so too,” he finally said. “But then I met this girl. In a police station of all places, and after being exceptionally rude to me”—I flicked him, and he smiled gently, caught my hand, enveloped my fingers—“she showed me there were other options in this life besides the ones I’d been given. And then she became one of those options.”
My heart thundered. He touched his mouth to mine, smiled against my lips, and I saw stars as dazzling and wondrous as the diamonds around my finger. “About the name…”
“What about the name?”
“Maybe…maybe I should keep my maiden name.”
“Why? You don’t like mine?”
“It’s…it’s not that. But it’s…”
“You don’t want people to know that you’re mine?”
“Yours?” I whispered softly.
“Yes. Mine.”
The four-letter word was a brand, this time on my heart.
Epilogue
At sunset, after an endless afternoon of meetings, Ace returned to the apartment. We would leave for Rowan together. While he would have to return to Neverra every day, I would remain in Michigan until the winter…or until we found a solution for Lily.
Whichever came first.
I would return with Ace from time to time, to attend functions and be at his side to help rebuild and restructure Neverra, socially and politically.
And then there would be the coronation ceremony. Ace promised it would be painless, even though the Cauldron would be involved. Until then I was still Catori from Earth.
Not Queen Catori of Neverra.
I shuddered at the title, which felt fraudulent, which felt like it should belong to another. A woman worthy and desirous of power, who’d harbored dreams of being a princess since childhood at the very least.
I would have a few weeks to come to terms with all of this.
Until then, Lily was my only priority.
When we landed on the magical round doorway that was as thin as a knife blade, I stared at the violet-cloaked immensity surrounding me, at the bustling, fire-lit marketplace down below where celebrations were under way, at the lustrium-filled sky up above, and then I performed a slow pirouette to take in the forest of calimbors, the silver glades with their bobbing volitors, the Hareni now entirely submerged by the liquefied mist, and t
he steel-blue cliffs beyond that.
Two vaporous bodies crested over the cliff, glittery limbs swirling and knitting as they plunged down the steep rock walls.
“Are the Unseelies very disappointed?”
“Some of them are. Some had no plans of leaving.”
Regret still had me pursing my lips.
Ace tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “You gave them their freedom, Cat. They’re so thankful for that.”
“But they wanted bodies.”
“And I’m certain they’ll get them. The hunters are working on it.”
I frowned.
“I charged your tribe with a great mission: finding the lock of the portals so we can alter the combination.”
I sighed. “An impossible mission.”
“An impossibly long mission, but possible. It’s somewhere.” Ace stared around him. “Silas and some of the lucionaga will be working with them.”
“That should be interesting.”
Ace smirked. “Sure you don’t want to stay and oversee the task?”
“However tempting, I’d really like to get back to my old life. For a short while at least.”
“Come on then. Take us back.”
“Me?”
He smiled.
“But I don’t know how to—”
“Press your hand to the silver surface. When your stamp lights up, the portal will soften and let us through.”
I swallowed, then crouched and followed Ace’s instructions. In seconds, the circle on my wrist activated and the portal rippled, and then it pulled us both under, into its starless darkness.
It was night in Rowan, too.
The boathouse was deserted. The lingering scent of wet sand and warm bodies clung to the navy air like a second skin. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply.
Home.
I was home.
Fingers brushed my cheeks.
I opened my eyes to find Ace’s face millimeters from my own. He placed a chaste kiss on my mouth, slotted his fingers through mine, then tugged me outside.
The moon was full and burning brightly over the inky lake. And the stars…there were so many of them, but they were scattered throughout the sky, unlike in Neverra where they streaked the darkness in thickets.
I turned to Ace, whose face glowed again. I blinked in surprise, but also in understanding. “It’s the moon.”
“What’s the moon?”
“What gives me sight. It’s the moon. In Neverra, you don’t glow, and the ink is invisible.”
He turned pensive eyes toward the Earth’s satellite.
Laughter and music broke me out of my considerations. In the distance, tiki torches spilled firelight over a makeshift picnic table. The charred scent of meat had my stomach growling.
“Catori!”
I jolted and squinted in the direction of the familiar voice. A girl with wild bangs careened into me, ripping my hand out of Ace’s and tackling me to the sand.
“You’re back!”
My ears rang from the shrillness of Cass’s voice.
“How was Africa? The pictures you sent were amazeballs. I so wanted to come and visit, but airfare was so expensive.” She bit her lip. “Are you crying?”
I was. “I’m just happy to see you.”
“Aw.” She hugged me tight. “Honey.”
That made me cry even harder.
After another squeeze, she said, “I need to get something from my car. I’ll meet you over there.” She tipped her head toward the picnic table and dashed off.
I got up and dusted my palms on the back of my jeans, trying to make out who else was at the picnic table. When I caught sight of two really tall men and a diminutive blonde, my breaths jumbled in my lungs.
“They’re all here?” I squeaked.
Ace nodded.
“How did they—”
“I might’ve sent someone to inform them of your imminent arrival.”
He extended his hand, and I took it, but then I remembered that no one knew about us, so I slid my hand back out and walked alongside him.
He cocked his head. “The world found out Angelina’s baby wasn’t mine, so we had a public breakup. It was in all the magazines.”
“Even so, if you show up with a new girlfriend—”
“Fiancée.”
“That’s even worse.”
He stuck his hands into the pockets of his jeans and gave me a crooked smile.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
“I can tell you’re thinking something.”
“Can you? What a shame you can’t tell what it is, though.”
“Oh my God, you told them!”
“I did no such thing,” he said but kept smiling.
I side-eyed him, trying to figure out what he’d done, because he’d definitely done something…
Suddenly a body lurched from the darkness and rocketed into Ace’s arms. A body with a golden mane of hair.
Lily.
He spun her around. “Hey, little sis. Long time no see.”
She grinned, then hopped off him, and startled me with a hug. She pressed away, and then her hands moved.
“Yes. Cat did it,” Ace said, his voice limned with such pride, it made my chest prickle.
Her hands fluttered quickly.
“Mom’s safe. So are Dawson and Veroli.”
Another sign.
“Dad didn’t make it.”
Lily sucked in a breath, and then her gray eyes silvered with tears.
Ace wrapped an arm around her. “Don’t, Lily. Don’t waste any emotion on that man.”
Her shoulders still shook with silent sobs.
“Cat, baby, is that you?”
I looked past Lily. Standing over a compact barbecue was my father. Tanned and healthier than I’d left him, well cared for.
My heart pounced with joy. “Hey, Daddy.”
The tongs slid out of his hand and landed on the sand. He lunged toward me, and then his arms were around me, his grip bone-crushing.
“How I’ve missed you,” he said, smoothing my hair back with his big hands. He held me and held me. “My baby girl is finally home.” He pressed me away and looked at me. Really looked at me. As though to ascertain I was really there, really me. And then, as though one hug hadn’t sufficed, he gathered me to his chest once more and squashed me against him.
“Was it fun? It looked fun.”
“It was…difficult,” I said, stepping out of Dad’s embrace.
“I’m really sorry I never made it out there. I was all booked to go, but then Lily got sick, and well, you know the rest since you were so understanding about it all.”
I cast a glance at Lily, who gave me a sheepish grin. “Glad to see you’re all better.”
“It took her almost a month to recover!” Dad exclaimed.
“You don’t say…” I smiled at Lily, knowing full well that she hadn’t been sick. Before leaving Neverra, Cruz had stopped by to return my phone and fill me in on all the lies that he and Lily had fed my father to keep him from making a trip out to Rwanda.
Behind Lily and Ace, a shadow detached itself from the darkness. Kajika. I smiled at him, but he didn’t return my smile. His gaze darted to the boathouse beyond me, as though expecting others to step out of it, but no one else was coming. At least, not the people he was holding out for.
I walked over to the hunter and hugged him. “I’m really glad to see you.” He didn’t hug me back, but I wasn’t expecting him to. I released him, then in a soft voice, I answered his unasked question. “It’s a one-way ticket.”
A nerve ticked in his jaw.
Voice still low, I added, “Gwen wanted me to tell you that they’re all well. But now that I’m here, why don’t you go find out for yourself?” I smiled as I tipped my head toward the boathouse.
“Why would I go to them?”
My smile faltered. “Don’t you want to be with your family?”
His gaze darted to Lily, but da
rted away almost as quickly. “Someone has to stay in Rowan to keep an eye on the pahans.”
The pahans or one pahan in particular? “I’m back, Kajika.”
“But for how long?”
I looked at Lily, who was smiling at something Dad was telling Ace. “For long enough.”
Kajika folded his arms. “Until they find a way out of the baseetogan, I will stay here.”
Although his reasoning sounded sensible, I couldn’t help but suspect there was more to him wanting to stay in Rowan. Perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps Lyoh had planted a seed of doubt in my mind that had no reason to germinate. Perhaps there was nothing more than a mental bond between Lily and him.
“Thank you. For everything you taught me. Believe it or not, it came in handy.”
His amber eyes flickered.
“I have so much to tell you.”
An arm swung over my shoulder. “Correction. You have so much to tell all of us.” Cass was back. “But first. Here.” She shoved something into my hands.
“What’s this?”
“Your birthday present, silly.”
Delicately, I tore the paper open and extricated a booklet. Dictionary was stamped in bold gold lettering atop a highlighter-pink canvas cover. I held my breath as I flipped through it.
“Do you love it?” Cass asked. “I arranged all the words alphabetically.” Cass had typed up every single Gottwa and Faeli word and their definition. “You’re not mad I took it from your bedroom? I put it back. I just thought, you know, that typing it up would preserve it better. I know how much your ancestors’ books mean to you.”
I made a little sound at the back of my throat. “It’s perfect. I love it.”
Lily signed something.
“You want one too?” Cass asked.
I blinked at Cass. “You understand sign language now?”
“Lily’s been teaching me.” Cass grinned. “Is it okay if I make her a copy?”
“Sure. Maybe Kajika wants one too?” I suggested.
He grunted. “I am well versed in our tribal languages.”
Dad was wiping the sand off the tongs with a wet dishrag. “Maybe I should learn too.”
I shot my gaze to his face. “Uh…”
“That’s a great idea,” Ace said, smiling.
My heart picked up its pace. “It is?”
“Oh my God, what is that?” Cass grabbed my left hand.
Rising Silver Mist Page 37
