Epilogue
Henry
“Nana! I’m home!”
Henry bounded through the door, dropping his bag of herbs and books on the table by the door as he hurried through to the kitchen. His Papa was sitting at the table with his laptop in front of him and one eyebrow arched at Henry.
“Uh, hey, Papa. I thought you had school today.”
“I did. When you weren’t home by three when you said you’d be, your Nana got worried and called me.”
Henry groaned and went over to the table. He plopped down in the seat next to Sam and dropped his head on Sam’s shoulder. “Sorry. Did she call Dad, too?”
“What do you think?”
Henry groaned.
“Henry, I know you’re twenty-one now and don’t want to be treated like a child, but you led us to believe you understood the need for extra precautions where you are concerned.”
Goddess, Henry hated disappointing his dads more than anything on the planet. “I’m sorry.”
“What if you’d had a vision when you were out? Nana called the library where you were supposed to be and you weren’t there.”
It had been stupid, really. Henry’s energy had been really off lately, an itch beneath his skin that he couldn’t seem to scratch. Even his magic was being weird, whispering about secrets and hinting about it being almost time.
Almost time for what? His visions were being just as elusive, flashes of things he couldn’t quite see, shadows in the corner of his eye that vanished when he turned to see what had moved.
“I’m sorry, Papa. Honestly. I’ve just been so antsy lately. I can’t sit still. Something is in the air.”
Sam wrapped an arm over Henry’s shoulders and held him close. “I know. We’ll be ready. I’m worried about you, though. The visions have been so bad lately, and it’s taking you longer to recover.”
Henry turned his arm over to reveal the strange circle that had appeared on his skin that night so long ago. He ran his finger over it, drawing his Papa’s attention to it as well.
“It’s almost time,” Henry said quietly.
“I know,” Sam replied. “I just wish we knew what it meant. Your Uncle Meshaq could only find out so much. Stupid prophecies.”
Henry and Sam shared a smile as the back door opened and his alpha dad walked into the room, still wearing the white doctor’s coat he wore whether treating patients of the animal or supernatural variety. He gave Henry a disappointed look.
“I’m sorry,” Henry said.
“You owe your Nana the apology,” Vaughn replied. “You scared her.”
“I’ll go see her in a few minutes.”
“Yes, you will.”
Vaughn walked over and stood behind them, wrapping his arms around them both. He nuzzled Sam’s hair then Henry’s. “Love you.”
“Love you, too,” Henry said.
His dads shared a look, one filled with love.
He’d only just begun to understand that his dads hadn’t been together when they first rescued them.
It seemed crazy to him to think about it now.
He didn’t remember a lot from those days, though.
Most of it was a blur of before. Once his dads had saved him and his siblings, they taught them all what family and pack meant.
“Did you at least do something fun?” Vaughn asked. He rounded the table and took a seat across from them. “I mean, if you’re going to rebel, rebel well, am I right?”
“Don’t encourage him!” Sam pretended to be horrified, but Henry knew better.
“I went to get a couple books and some herbs. Keziah’s friend Rowan told me about these herbs that help with tense muscles. I wanted to make Grandpa a new heating pad for his back but have it with better herbs this time so the smell doesn’t bother him.”
Sam gave Henry another hug. “You’re a good man, Henry. I appreciate you thinking about your grandpa and trying to help.”
Henry tried not to blush. “Of course I want to help Grandpa. I wish his back wouldn’t hurt all the time. It’s not fair that Dad can’t fix it.”
“Can’t fix nerve damage yet. Maybe someday. Ben seems pretty determined to figure it out. My boy in med school.” Vaughn grinned, his chest puffing out with pride.
It had taken a lot of work for all of them, Ben especially, but they’d all taken to school work like ducks to water. Sam had made it fun, letting them do all sorts of experiments, and he even let them pick what they wanted to learn.
He’d taken a few years off from teaching and focused his energy on helping the six of them get caught up. Henry had never been to regular school at all, since they’d never really considered it safe for him.
It didn’t mean he’d spent his life locked away. No, he’d just never really been allowed to go out alone. It didn’t bother him, though. Henry leaned against his Papa’s arm and sighed. He preferred being surrounded by people, taking in their energy as they bustled around their day to day routines.
Alone had never been good for him.
Zaire said it was because air tended to want to be free to roam and explore, but it also needed to be grounded. He still didn’t understand half of what Zaire tried to explain to him. Fire and air were just too different, so her explanations weren’t always exactly what worked or didn’t work for him.
Henry experimented on his own, though, and he’d read as many books as he could get his hands on. He’d wished many times that he could get out in the world and explore, maybe meet some of the other clans and see what they were really like.
Dragons sounded particularly epic, but it just wasn’t safe for Henry to be exposed to the other clans.
It was the only thing he regretted about his visions.
He’d heard of a few other seers who’d been killed since his dads had rescued him.
Uncle Meshaq never hid the truth from him, even when the truth was scary.
It made his earlier decision to go off on his own even more foolish.
He reached for the old leather bracelet and huffed when he remembered it had fallen off a year or so before, worn away from constant worrying.
He’d never taken it off, not even to take a bath, since Meshaq gave it to him and promised to always come when he was needed.
When the strap had finally given, he’d been devastated.
Then Uncle Meshaq had explained that it had just been a symbol.
He could still get help any time he needed it.
All he had to do was call and he’d be there.
Even though he was busy as the alpha of the hellhounds, his honorary uncle had always made time for him, especially after ‘the incident.’
Henry’d been scared a lot after he’d been taken again, and for a while, a night hadn’t passed when he hadn’t rubbed the red stone and asked for Meshaq to come. He always had. Every single time.
“Can we invite Uncle Meshaq over this week?” Henry asked. “I miss him.”
“Of course,” Vaughn answered. “You better make him brownies, though. Last time he pouted for a week that you didn’t make him any.”
“I remember.”
Something in the air caught Henry’s attention.
His heart skipped a beat.
Everything stilled, the air pausing around him, its breath caught much like Henry’s had.
“Henry?” Sam asked.
The ward pinged, and Vaughn sat up straighter as well, connected to the wards as their alpha.
“What’s happening?” Sam asked.
“Stay here,” Vaughn commanded. “Henry, get your uncle.”
“Vaughn—”
“I’ll be careful. Stay with Henry.”
Henry closed his eyes, and thought of Meshaq, sending the message through the air as he’d done so many times as a child. He’d not had to do it in so long, he’d almost forgotten how. Within seconds, a large portal opened in the room and Meshaq stepped through, his eyes blazing with red flames.
“What’s wrong?” Meshaq asked.
“The wards,” Henry said.
“Vaughn went out there already,” Sam added.
“Stay here,” Meshaq ordered.
“They’re so bossy,” Sam griped the moment the front door closed.
Henry looked over at Sam and arched a brow. “You looking in a mirror when you’re saying that?”
Sam pinched his side and Henry snickered.
“You’re more alpha than dad is sometimes.”
“I most certainly am not.”
But Sam’s face showed he recognized the lie, too. His dads worked because they both were in charge, a partnership formed out of necessity but forged with a depth of love that Henry longed to find for himself.
He leaned into Sam again, preparing his magic just in case whatever was knocking at their wards made it past his dad and uncle and into the house. They didn’t have to wait long. The front door opened, and Vaughn poked his head inside.
“Henry, you have… guests.”
“Who is it?” Sam asked. He continued to hold Henry against him, as protective as ever.
“Come see for yourselves.”
Henry glanced curiously at Sam, but he seemed as confused by Vaughn’s reaction as Henry was. They stood and went to the front door where Vaughn waited. He gripped Henry’s shoulder with a smile.
“Looks like the time has come, son.”
Henry looked across the yard. Two men stood there with Uncle Meshaq. They were outside the gate, but close enough that Henry was able to get a look. “Sweet Mother,” Henry gasped.
“Put your tongue back in your mouth, Henry,” Sam teased.
“But Papa…”
“Yeah. I see ‘em. Why don’t we go out and say hello?”
Henry couldn’t actually remember how to walk. He couldn’t remember how to breathe. All he could see were the two men standing outside his house.
One was blond, and his long, curly hair shone in the afternoon sun. He scanned the area constantly, his eyes moving with the ease of someone used to being on guard. And if Henry wasn’t mistaken, he had a really large sword attached to his back.
The other man was stunningly beautiful, with red hair and a pristine suit that looked like it wouldn’t dream of getting wrinkled.
He smoothed down his T-shirt self-consciously, wishing more than anything he’d not chosen to wear one of Natasha’s old T-shirts that morning just to annoy her. He looked ridiculous, but he’d made her laugh once she got over her outrage.
“Henry?” Vaughn asked quietly. “Is something wrong?”
“No. I don’t think so. I just… I’m nervous.”
Vaughn smiled and wrapped an arm over his shoulders. They’d been waiting for this for a long time, and now his future was finally in front of him.
“We’re with you always, son. Remember…”
“Alphas don’t break their promises.”
“That’s right. And I promise you that whatever the future holds, I’ll be here and so will your Papa.”
Henry took a deep breath and started forward, his dads at his side. He stopped at the edge of the ward and both of the newcomers stared at him. The blond dropped to one knee and placed his right fist over his heart. “I am Andvari of the Passarowitz clan, guardian of the Chosen One.”
Henry gulped as the second man also knelt.
“I am Eduard of the Arimaspia clan, guardian of the Chosen One. We have been sent to protect the seer until the Chosen One arrives.”
“Um. Hi. I’m Henry Jerrick.” He held out his wrist and showed them his mark. “I’m the seer.”
Eduard and Andvari rose and Andvari spoke again. “We will keep you safe until the prophecy comes to pass. It is our duty.”
Both Meshaq and his dad grumbled a bit at that, but Henry stepped forward. He may not understand it yet, but he knew his life had been building toward this. “I dreamed of you,” Henry said quietly.
“And we of you,” Eduard explained. “We knew to find you here.”
A group of crows flew overhead, eight of them, cawing and making enough of a racket to draw Henry’s attention. They didn’t have it long. A vision struck, and he would have fallen if not for Andvari’s quick reflexes.
He couldn’t make sense of everything he saw, some of it too confusing to process.
Black scales that glistened with a rainbow of colors beneath the sun.
A darkness only broken by the sound of water, and then a glimpse of a light so bright it nearly blinded him.
A flare of pain stretched through him, burning as he trembled. A house came into focus for the briefest second, and then peace.
Henry collapsed, gasping at the glimpse of the future he’d seen. Andvari stared into his eyes, searching for answers as Eduard knelt beside him, supporting his head. “We have work to do,” Henry muttered, and then darkness claimed him.
THE END