Chapter 46
Chapter
Forty-Six
FINLEY
The air outside tasted different as our summer months drew to an end too quickly. While we still had a few weeks left to enjoy the warmer temperatures, the approaching frost made everything outside smell sharper.
Ashara stretched beside me, her scales glistening against the sun as she lowered her head to nuzzle my stomach.
Across the field, Brenton argued with Hoshiko, though from the grin on his face, I doubted either of them meant a word of it.
“I’m no mount for a youngling’s delight,” Hoshiko grumbled.
“Not a mount,” Brenton agreed too easily. “But you could be Niev’s very own summer spectacle.”
“Think of the children,” I added, wondering how long Hoshiko would keep the banter going.
Although he hadn’t said it aloud, I felt it when he had agreed. He would serve as a mount or spectacle as much for Brenton as for the younglings at the orphanage. Through him, we’d learned the dragons and hatchlings back in Vistos were fully healed. Not even one of them remained ill.
“I think I’ll find a cave here in Respandora,” Hoshiko said, huffing a plume of smoke that curled in the air. “Alastor would never ask this of me.”
A couple of days had passed since we’d freed Blaise, and we remained in Respandora. Teddy and Elias had gone back to Niev to speak to their people about the restored magic. From Brenton’s home, I felt the fae’s joy. Bright, uncontained, a celebration that rippled across the cities.
Yet I hadn’t wanted to join in Niev’s festivities. Instead, Etienne, Brenton, and I had stayed with Alastor, sharing a quiet meal a neighbor had brought us.
With the freedom Alastor’s offer had given me, to use my magic as I wanted, without anyone dictating it, I wasn’t certain I wanted to return to Niev. Especially when Respandora felt like more than just a respite, but home.
I wasn’t certain if Elias and Teddy’s quick return was for that same reason or to be near Alastor.
Luana darted between Ashara’s legs, tail wagging as she tried to convince my dragon to chase her. Ashara dropped her head to the ground, and the puff of breath she let out sent Luana stumbling backward.
I laughed, rubbing my palm against Ashara’s smooth scales.
The yard brimmed with life. Teddy and Elias sat cross-legged, one twin on each of their laps, while the eldest children climbed over Alastor like he was their climbing post. And Etienne was content on the patio step with Frisky swiping at his pants.
When he laughed, my heart pinched.
To think I’d believed loving Brenton meant losing the only other person who felt like home. But Brenton, stubborn, golden-hearted Brenton, never asked me to choose. He simply made space.
And somehow that space kept growing.
As with our time in Vistos, Alastor had folded himself into the quiet corners of our days, his dry humor and unspoken loyalty weaving into more than friendship, into family. The rest of Brenton’s family and friends had claimed a place in my chest until it felt crowded in the best possible way.
Maybe that was why I never went to my mother, demanding answers about Eiran or the male who’d called himself my father.
Why I didn’t need a ceremony or their approval to make what Brenton and I had real.
Etienne’s letter of refusal for our intended contract was already on its way to both of our parents, inked and sealed.
It was proof that we were choosing for ourselves this time.
Thunder crackled above, and when I peered up, I saw Sama and Javier guiding two other dragons and their riders to us. With their wings wide, they seemed to swallow the sun for a few short beats before they descended onto the yard.
They landed with an earth-moving groan. Kassidy jumped off Solana with Javier and Callan landing a breath after.
I straightened, and with Ashara’s breath hitting my cheek, Hoshiko and Brenton made their way to me.
Brenton took my waist and guided me so that my back pressed against his chest. Jasmine, Juanita, and Victoria raced toward Javier, Juanita lunging for him for a strong embrace, while Victoria waited her turn, and Jasmine hung back.
The twins toddled after them, Elias and Teddy sharing a mirrored look of worry.
I angled my head to kiss Brenton’s cheek, brushing my nose against him once, before stepping toward Kassidy. Her gaze swept over me, lingering on the jagged ends of my new haircut, to Brenton who stood on one side and Alastor and Etienne on the other.
Alastor’s shadows crawled over my boots before they slinked toward Kassidy and Callan. His shadows were familiar now, centering me and giving me courage to face whatever lay ahead.
Remorse flickered across Kassidy’s features, but she held herself steady, meeting my attention with earnest eyes. “I owe you an apology,” she said. “I was cruel to you. I didn’t trust you. I’m sorry for doubting you, Finley.”
“I prefer groveling over a simple apology,” I said, letting my lips spread into a grin.
From behind me, Brenton laughed.
“Gratitude will be accepted as well,” Alastor said.
I smirked at the way Kassidy eyed Alastor’s creeping shadows, the way her throat moved with her swallow.
“Of course,” Kassidy said. “We appreciate everything you’ve done for our dragons.”
“We’re happy to have been able to help,” I said.
Kassidy’s smile came cautious. “Your new haircut suits you.”
“You mean the one she gave herself, borne from every fierce and defiant bone in her body?” Brenton asked, in a tone that was dry, if not a little menacing.
Kassidy held her own, angling her chin up the same way I often did. “I should never have lifted my blade at you, but the new cut makes you look even fiercer.”
I ran my fingers through my hair and shifted to bump my shoulder against Brenton’s. “You still owe me an ugly haircut.”
He laughed, and the tension between us broke.
But then Kassidy’s attention swept past me to where Javier talked to the younger girls. Where Victoria held her hand against Nalari, brushing along her smooth scales.
A whimper, soft and broken, hitched from her parted lips. She took a step forward before she retreated, her back colliding with Callan’s chest. Callan took her elbow to steady her.
“She . . .”
I stepped between them, blocking Victoria’s view.
“Victoria is exactly where she belongs,” Brenton said, voice stern.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Elias go still, the easy set of his shoulders going taut. Beside him, Teddy leaned closer to Javier, their heads bowed in conversation.
Alastor’s shadows slithered across the green ground, their long ribbons moving like serpents. While he remained unmoving, I felt his protective intent.
Kassidy lifted her hands, palm out. “I don’t mean her any harm,” she said, her words spilling together. “I was told she was dead, but here she is.” She let out an airy laugh. “Alive and obviously well taken care of.”
Teddy and Elias came to us, their hands linked and stepping as one. It was Teddy who spoke first. “Our dragons will teach her your ways,” she said. “And when she is older, she can choose her own path, wherever that may lead her.”
Kassidy swallowed, her gaze drifting past us to where Victoria laughed beside Nalari.
“There is something she should know when the time comes,” she said carefully. “Her father’s dragon still lives.”
Elias went still.
Kassidy’s fingers curled against her palms. “He never bonded with another rider after the battle. We thought it was grief. That he chose solitude. Dragons don’t always let go. Sometimes they wait for what the past left behind.”
Teddy’s hand tightened in Elias’s. “You think he’s waiting for her?”
“I think the choice should be hers,” Kassidy said, emotions threading through each word. She shook her head. “I’m not asking for her. Only for him not to mourn a ghost when his rider’s daughter still lives.” She paused. “May I tell him she lives?”
Choice.
That was what all of this had been about. Every fight, every sacrifice. It hadn’t been about power but choice.
Teddy and Elias shared a look, but it was Teddy who spoke first. “Yes.”
Kassidy nodded, tears brightening her eyes. “Can I meet her?” Her voice cracked. “I won’t—just, maybe she would like to meet Solana.”
“Tori’s never come across a dragon she didn’t immediately fall in love with.” Teddy’s smile was small but thoughtful.
Kassidy let out a watery laugh, which came out fragile and a little broken. With the heel of her hand, she wiped her cheeks and followed Teddy, where Victoria laughed and talked with Nalari.
At Elias and Teddy’s approach, Javier set the twins down, whispering something that made them both giggle.
When he straightened, he stood still for a moment, watching everyone around him, seeming to absorb it.
Then he turned back to Teddy. She and Elias met him halfway.
Before he could speak, Teddy wrapped her arms around him, holding him as tightly as he gripped her.
“He’s really going back?” I asked. “Isn’t he?”
“Looks like it,” Brenton said, his tone sad.
I flicked my gaze to Alastor, who watched them, his expression caught somewhere between pride and grief.
“He’ll be back,” Alastor said.
When Javier pulled back, Elias stepped forward to clap Javier’s shoulder. Instead, Javier pulled him into a full embrace that Elias returned just as fiercely.
For so long, I’d played nothing more than a spectator. But here, I felt like I was a part of this. Of them.
Brenton’s hand swept across mine, his fingers wrapping around my wrist. “Come on.” He tipped his chin toward the others, then gripped the back of Alastor’s neck in that brotherly way of his. “Let’s go before Elias starts reciting some royal farewell.”
Alastor’s laugh rumbled beside me, and I couldn’t help the laugh that came out in response.
As we started toward them, Etienne caught my eye. He gave me a small smile before turning away to go inside, giving us this moment.
When we reached them, Zayne raced from behind Teddy and toward Brenton. He tugged on the hem of Brenton’s pants.
“Up,” he said.
Brenton blinked down at his nephew, his eyes shining with surprise. “You want to come all the way up here?” he asked. “I’m awfully tall.”
Zayne giggled. “Up,” he demanded, insistent until Brenton scooped him up.
The little one’s laughter made me smile.
“Visit,” Elias told Javier. “Don’t make me drag you home.”
Javier’s laugh came out rough. “Maybe,” he said lightly, but the way his attention drifted over everyone gave him away.
“You’ve managed to keep yourself alive this long,” Alastor said. “I expect you’ll keep at it.”
“I believe that’s Alastor-speak for I’ll miss you.”
Alastor’s mouth curved. “Do not make me miss you,” he said.
“Yeah, yeah.” Javier closed the distance and pulled Alastor in for a hug. “I’ll visit.”
“A lot,” Jasmine said, her arms crossed and chin lifted.
Javier reached over to ruffle her hair. “A lot.”
Kassidy was already waiting near the dragons. Javier hesitated for a few beats before he followed her and climbed atop Sama. He looked back once and offered a single nod before they rose into the open sky together.
The fire crackled low, its embers pulsing against the dark. Around it, laughter wove through the night.
Elias sat between Teddy’s legs, the twins sleeping on their shoulders, and the rest of the younglings playing at their feet.
Luana sprawled beside them, tail twitching.
Etienne settled cross-legged with Frisky batting at the end of his sleeve.
Ryenne and Nate were locked in a ridiculous argument against Sierra and Donnie while Everly and George played a game involving stones.
Beside me, Brenton pressed his leg against mine and turned his hand over to reveal my bracelet.
Once broken, now whole. He added a couple of new stones, smooth and perfect, with tiny, dried flowers.
He’d given it to me when we were still younglings, trying to make something beautiful out of what little we had.
He studied me for a few beats before he brushed it along my wrist, carefully clasping it back on. Somehow, having it back made me feel complete.
“I still can’t believe you kept it all this time,” he said.
“I don’t throw away things that matter,” I said.
The corners of his mouth angled up. “What do you call tossing me in the river when we were ten?”
“You bit me,” I huffed out, trying to bite back the giggle that built at the memory.
He laughed, but before he could retort, Alastor dropped a handful of marshmallows on a rock near us, handing out sticks. Soon, the scent of toasted sugar wafted through the air.
I leaned into Brenton, resting my head on his shoulder, and looked down at my bracelet. The mix of old and new stones glistened against the firelight, tiny, fragile things that had somehow survived storms that should’ve broken them.
It was a wonder how anything so delicate could endure. How love could endure.
How it could be rebuilt.
Maybe not the same, but something stronger. Something resilient that could bend at the places where it’d once cracked.
Maybe that was what happened when you loved with your whole heart, and not the guarded pieces you offered out of fear. Maybe love wasn’t about avoiding the breaks but choosing, repeatedly, to grow back in ways that made you stronger.
Sitting there, next to Brenton, feeling his warmth against my skin, I realized I wasn’t afraid of the cracks anymore. Not when we were learning how to fill them together.