Chapter Forty-Five #3
I look up and see Dante in full claw and fang mode. He’s
covered in blood and looks like he’s had enough of out-of-control familiars for
the day.
“We weren’t done,” Dante says.
Relief floods through me as Dante hefts the cat off. I pull
the trigger to finish off the hag, but Ain bought Liadan just enough time.
Liadan grins up and thrusts her hand forward.
I fly back, and this time my head cracks against the log
where I previously found safety. The world goes woozy, and I see stars. My
vision starts to fade at the edges.
You stay awake. The voice is ferocious now. It
slaps at my mind and forces my eyes open. It won’t let me go under.
Liadan falls on me. She sits on my waist, holding me down
with the bulk of her body, and wraps her good hand around my throat. I try to
move but I can’t get my legs to move under the heavy weight of the witch.
“I need more blood to get through that fucking wall the king
erected,” Liadan explains with a ghoulish grin.
I feel for the cool metal of the .357 Magnum. I dropped it
when I hit my head. I claw through the mud, desperately trying to find it.
Liadan’s hands threaten to choke the life out of me. I fight for breath, but
the hag tightens her hold.
“Do you know what I’m going to do to those boys when I get
to them?” Liadan moves close enough I can smell the blood on her breath. It
turns my stomach. “I’m going to gut them. I’m going to pull their insides out.
Why don’t I give you a demonstration?”
The witch cackles and pulls back, showing off the way her
fingers change into thick, dirty-looking claws.
I drag in air the instant I can. Liadan pulls her clawed
hand back just as my fingers meet metal. Pulling the gun up, I bring it between
my chest and the hag’s.
I pull the trigger right before those knives on the hag’s
fingers meet my flesh. The report booms through the forest.
Liadan looks down at the hole in her chest dumbly before
falling over dead.
I’m shaking and trying to drag air into my lungs as I force
myself up.
Is it really over? Did I just do that?
Dante walks over, holding a limp body in one clawed hand.
His handsome face is a map of scratches, but his clothes already mended
themselves. The nanites are fast suckers. I kind of wish they worked on
throats. Mine is going to be sore for a while.
“You okay?” Dante growls down at the cat’s corpse before
hurling it through the forest.
“I’ll live.” But just barely. I stare down at Liadan’s body.
The flesh of the hag’s face is wrinkled and desiccated, as though the body
before me has lay dead much longer than a few moments.
“If I never see another familiar, it will be too soon.”
Dante offers a steadying hand. “It didn’t even taste good. It tasted evil.”
I manage a hoarse laugh. Adrenaline is still coursing
through my system, making me feel jittery even as a fierce joy curls in my
heart. I am alive. They are alive. My husbands are still breathing. “What does
evil taste like?”
“A little mangy,” Dante replies. “I’ve decided I’m a lover,
not a fighter. I’m rich, damn it. I’m the only son of one of the most powerful
families on my plane. From now on, I’m paying poor people to fight my battles.
Better yet, next time tell Beck to handle his own shit.”
My hands shake, but it doesn’t matter now. All that matters
is them. “I’ll tell him.” I turn to the cabin overrun with vines. “Better yet,
tell him yourself.”
I manage a smile as I look toward the sanctuary where my
husbands lie in safety. They’re still weak, but I feel them deep in my mind. I
feel Beck’s love deep in my soul, and then Cian’s joy washes over me.
They know I’m coming for them.
Dante sighs. “I’ll go get the chainsaw, but I warn you,
those damn trees are dangerous. It’s like they have a mind of their own.”
“I won’t need it,” I say with utter certainty as I walk
toward the small cabin.
The trees aren’t afraid of me. They know me. They are
waiting for me. As I approach the cabin, the vines recede quickly, unveiling
the small, dilapidated hut Cian hid them in. The sun comes out from the clouds,
flooding the whole forest with bright light.
“You know, you might have a career ahead of you as a
landscaper if you can do that on a regular basis.”
“I can shoot you, too, you know.” This is serious business.
Dante smiles and wisely closes his mouth.
I push open the door and immediately see my husbands. They
lie side-by-side in complete stillness. Light from one small window filters in,
illuminating my men. Had I not been able to feel them in my body and soul, I
would think they’re dead. I would weep over their lifeless bodies.
Instead, I know exactly what to do.
I place myself in between them and put a hand on each. Their
flesh is cool, and not a breath seems to come from their bodies. I’m not sure
how they’re alive, only that they are, and I’m the key to wake them.
I open my mind wholly and let them invade every inch of my
soul. I sigh as the connection opens and floods through me. Everything the hag
took from Beck was safely stored in Cian. Now his magic flows through the
connection, seeking its true home. Beck receives his magic with great
satisfaction, and Cian lets me feel his relief as he releases all he can not
handle.
When it’s over, I let my head fall forward in exhaustion. I
want to sleep, but I have one final task.
“Come back to me,” I demand as I press my lips to Beck’s.
His eyes flutter open.
“Come home, Ci.” I kiss Cian. His lips tug up. I’m rewarded
with loving, gray eyes.
It’s enough.
It’s my last thought as the world goes dark around me.
As I fall into a deep and restful sleep, their arms are
there to hold me.
I wake to bright sunlight and the wonderful smell of
breakfast cooking. My body still aches, but it doesn’t matter. I’m home, and
I’m never leaving again. Tears prick at my eyes.
This is home. I searched for it all my life. I just never
realized home isn’t a place. Home is a person—two in fact. Home is Beck and
Cian.
I force myself to sit up. Voices filter in from the living
room.
“What do you think she does with this?” Beck asks.
“It’s underwear, idiot,” Dante cracks.
Cian’s voice sounds sweet to my ears. “It’s pretty, but I
can see through it.”
“That’s the point,” Dante replies. “Seriously, you two
should have spent more time on my plane. If you would have come with me on my
tours of the better brothels, you would know all this stuff. Don’t put that on
your head. It’s a bra.”
I get to my feet. Though I’m unsteady, I’m not staying apart
from them one moment more than I have to. I pull my robe around me and walk out
of the bedroom. Sure enough, Beck is holding my super-sexy demi-cup Victoria’s
Secret bra.
“What are you boys doing pawing through my undies?”
“Megan.” Beck tosses the bra aside.
He crosses the room in two strides and pulls me into his
arms. His mouth is on mine in an instant. His tongue invades, and his mind
reaches out to mine. I open myself and exchange my love for his.
Cian’s arms go around my waist. “Don’t ever leave us again,
wife.”
I smile and turn to look at him. “I won’t. You get into
trouble when I’m gone.”
I press my lips to Ci’s and find myself pleasantly squished
between their big bodies. I never feel safer than when I’m surrounded by them.
“It was awesome, Meg,” Dante says, laughing. “You should
have seen them when we walked by Liadan’s corpse. She was all shriveled and
shit. Beck went green.”
“Well, she didn’t look that way when…” Beck’s mouth becomes
a stubborn line.
Cian grins brilliantly. “I never slept with her. I’m the
smart one.”
“Yes, you are, baby.” I reward him with a kiss. It seems
impossible that I’m here. If this is a dream, I never want to wake. I turn back
to Beck. “We don’t have to worry about Beck’s bad taste in women anymore. He’s
taken, you see.”
“I am,” Beck says, kissing my forehead. “Forever, wife.”
“Le chéile go deo,” Cian whispers.
“Together forever, I promise,” I vow.
Flanna walks in, her small face glowing with happiness.
“Your breakfast is ready, Your Highness, but I fear you have no time to eat.
The village has been informed you’re awake at last.”
“They camped outside the cottage, waiting for word on your
health,” Dante explains with a grin.
“Really?” I left one plane where no one noticed I was alive,
only to find this one where a whole village waits to find out if I’m all right.
“They love you, wife. They want to see their queen.” Beck
holds his hand out.
For the first time, I begin to believe I am worthy of their
love.
I brush away the happy tears that spring to my eyes.
“How could they not love you?” Cian asks, taking my other
hand. “You’re their queen, their brave, kind, and beautiful queen.”
Flanna opens the door. The brownie didn’t lie. The entire
village is standing outside. A cheer goes up as I join my people.
This small piece of heaven is my kingdom. These are my
people, not because someone put a crown on my head. They’re mine because I love
them.
I look out across the crowd and realize that there are many
decisions to be made in the coming years. Torin will try to kill my husbands
again. Beck and Cian will be under pressure to take back their homeland. There
are hundreds of things that can go wrong. But in this moment, as I walk among
my people, the sun shines down and I am surrounded with love. The future will
come with all its uncertainties and danger. It won’t matter.
I will fight for it if I have to, but I will have my happy ending.