Chapter Forty-Two
Selene, Calroy, and I flew south, wings flapping hard and fast, away from the coast, away from the cities and ports and the noise of Jeju behind us.
The crowded streets gave way to rolling hills, then forest, then open countryside—fields stretching wide in every direction.
A lake appeared below, its surface catching the afternoon light, and beyond it a grand home tucked between two hills, smoke curling from a single chimney, a low stone wall encircling the yard.
Hope, Faith, Sunny, and the other girls chased the chickens across the yard, shrieking with laughter every time one escaped their reach.
The sheep grazed along the stone wall, unbothered by the chaos around them.
The dog followed Hope exclusively, having decided she was the most likely source of food and adventure and was not wrong about either.
Hellena stood in the doorway, arms crossed, watching over the children with the quiet vigilance she had never once set down. Some habits ran too deep to stop.
High in the trees at the property’s edge, Calroy’s winged soldiers held their watchful positions, wings folded tight against the branches. From the yard you would never know they were there.
Selene banked toward the children and began to descend.
Hope saw us before anyone else and froze. The rest caught on and ran toward us.
Calroy landed soft and set me down. Hope crashed into me before my feet had fully settled, arms locked around my waist, face buried against my stomach, holding on with everything she had.
“You came back.” Her voice came muffled against my shirt. “I knew you would. I told everyone you would come back.”
I wrapped both arms around her and held on just as hard. “I never forget a promise.”
“No, you don’t.” She pulled back just enough to look up at me, her eyes gleaming with tears and then something fiercer underneath.
Then Faith and Sunny hit me from both sides, then the other girls, tumbling into me in a tangle of arms, giggles, and happy tears.
Calroy stood back with his arms crossed, that quiet smile on his face, watching his goddess be loved. “What about me?” he pouted.
The children laughed and collectively rushed toward him, arms outstretched, giggling. He caught them with theatrical surprise, staggering backward like the weight of them might actually knock a god off his feet.
Hellena came across the yard at a steadier pace, her eyes moving between Calroy, Selene, and me. “It’s good to see you alive.” She shook her head at the children still attached to Calroy. “Your return means the Seelie queen is—”
“It’s over.” I smiled.
She pulled me into an embrace and sobbed. “Thank you. It’s finally over. The children can live freely as they deserve.”
When the chaos settled and the girls had been persuaded to release us, we sat together in the yard while Selene brought our meal from the kitchen.
“Have you thought about where you’d like to go?” I asked Hellena. “You can go anywhere.”
Hellena looked at the girls on the porch, stuffing their mouths, arguing over the last piece of bread, the dog weaving between their feet hoping for scraps.
“We’ve talked about it,” Hellena said. “We’d like to stay in Jeju. Close to you. If that’s not possible, then with Jina and Minha. The girls feel safe near the people who freed them.”
Warmth spread through my chest. “Jeju is your home now. For as long as you’d like to stay there.
” I looked at the girls on the porch, at Hope tearing her bread into pieces and feeding small bits to the dog without noticing she was being watched.
“Jina will make sure you have everything you need. I promise.”
“Thank you.” Hellena nodded once, her eyes bright. “A star in the darkness will unite us all.”
A star in the darkness. I hoped I could be that for all of them, for as long as they needed me to be. I didn’t correct her. Maybe, this time, I believed it too.