Epilogue
THEO
FIVE DAYS EARLIER
Water trickles in little streams down the hill, and the tang of magic brushes against my skin, almost painful. Anticipation prickles along my neck, dancing down my spine.
I’m getting close.
I pick up my pace climbing the steep, ancient path, hoping I’m not too late to save the woman from Bea’s dream.
I’ve hardly slept since I left, stopping only when Rowan, my chestnut stallion waiting below, needed rest. Those hours had been uncomfortable, the pull in my chest to continue onward all-consuming, as if I were running out of time.
The top of the cliffs appears through the trees, giving me the burst of energy I need. I scramble upward, and then, as if the sun is escaping from behind storm clouds after weeks of being hidden beneath their murky gray, the Faerie Pools appear.
My breath hitches as I take in the pure beauty of them.
The impossibly clear water, a shade of blue there is no name for, shimmering as if infused with flecks of pure gold.
Smooth pebbles make up the floor; every color imaginable, stones of pink and green and purple, a field of wildflowers within the depths.
The pools are stacked in levels along the brae, the higher ones cascading down in a whoosh of falling water as soothing as a lullaby. Some of the tension I’ve been carrying eases.
I made it.
I scan the pools, at least a dozen of them, searching for the cabin I was sent to find. It’s hidden at the very top, only a stone chimney peeking out from the rocky outcropping of the highest pool, and my heart thunders as I make my way toward it. What will I find when I knock on the door?
Once again, I wonder, what if I’m too late?
I crest the last pool and freeze when I see her.
A strange ache erupts in my palm as I take in the most stunning woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.
She’s lying on her belly, her long golden hair gleaming in the sunlight, fingers trailing through the water as she tends to the pools.
She’s speaking quietly as if she’s having a conversation, and I glance around, gasping when I see them.
Fair folk. Three tiny winged creatures dance by her arm. On instinct, I take a step forward to get a closer look, and a piece of rock tumbles into the pool, ripples pulsing outward until they meet her submerged hand.
The faeries disappear into the forest in a blink, and the woman freezes, her frost-blue eyes widening in what I can only describe as absolute, undiluted terror.
Her fear nearly destroys me as a single thought enters my mind—it’s you.