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Light spirals in gorgeous colors around us, a sparkling collection of crystals stretching in the place of crumbling marble and chipped rocks. The Bridge doesn’t just repair itself. It transforms and grows, widening and lengthening until its cobbled amethyst, jade, and citrine path leads to the dragon’s four legs and climbs to its chest, its neck, and finally its head—transforming the creature into a statue almost as if it has become a prismatic, multicolored version of my gargoyles when they would turn to stone.
The sudden victory has Jace shouting to put out the fires, and gargoyles rush past me, raising their fists to their hearts in salute.
My mates don’t leave me. Neither does Huey. We stand on the Bridge, bracing for another fight that doesn’t come. Slowly, the reality of our win sinks in.
“You did it,” Atticus says, a smile stretching his face from pointed ear to pointed ear, fangs flashing.
“We did it,” I correct him.
Jace scoops me up and spins off the ground, wings outstretched. “And you’ll stay?”
I take in my mates, my soul guardian, my new family, my new life, my new role as queen. “Always.”
“Rosemarie?” A voice I haven’t heard in months calls, and my heart pounds.
“Lala?”
My great-grandmother walks around one of the dragon’s massive rose quartz and aquamarine legs. “I like what you’ve done to the Bridge. The dragon guardian adds a nice touch.”
“Lala.” Her name leaves me in a rush, and I hurry toward the woman I’ve missed so much. My gargoyles move with me.
“I brought company,” she says and waves her hand. A beautiful, young woman with light brown skin and dark hair touched with copper accents appears next to her.
“Dyphena,” Jace whispers.
“You found your mate,” she tells him with a grin. “I’m glad for you both.”
Atticus sounds as if he’s strangling on his long tongue. I touch his arm, and he wraps his tail around my waist. His voice comes out rough and halting. “We didn’t know?—”
Dyphena shakes her head. “I have a much better afterlife than anything I could’ve dreamed of. Be happy. I am.”
Lala opens her arms. “Come give me a hug, darling girl. We can’t stay long this time.”
“What? No.” I hurry to embrace her soft skin and cinnamon scent. “Don’t leave me again, Lala.”
“We have to.” She nods toward the flames. “You have things to take care of, and now that you’re queen, we can meet at the Bridge whenever you need me. I’m only a wish away.”
“A wish?” I try to memorize her face, wanting to soak up the details I’d lost already. “I gave up my wish. I don’t understand.”
“No,” she says. “You sacrificed it to save the Bridge. The goddess will grant the wish you gave up for centuries to come. Your new life with your handsome mates starts now. We’ll return soon.”
“Wait.” Panic has me hugging her close. “I didn’t get to ask you what you were going say at the end, and I’ve missed you, and I need you to stay.”
She chuckles, a laugh that’s been one of the things I’ve missed most. “I’m proud of you. You’ve become the strong, brave queen I’ve always known you to be, even as a little girl. I’m always close. I promise.”
Huey flies upside down to flutter around her, but his tiny owl form looks different. Gone are his grey and white feathers. Now, he flaps glorious technicolor wings in bright blue, gold, and pink.
“Huey,” Lala exclaims, gathering him to her. “I knew you would watch after our girl.”
He gives a soft, sweet hoo, and she pets him before passing him to me.
“Be well,” Lala tells me. “And above all, be you.”
With that, she and Dyphena disappear. I let my mates fold me into their arms and wings. I won’t be sad, not now when she’s always so close, when I have my mates, when I have my life’s work ahead of me. The Bridge sings a song of joy that wraps around me as much as my mates’ love.
Atticus frowns at the fires, the newly renovated Bridge, the crystal dragon. “I didn’t plan for any of this.”
Jace whacks him on the back with a snort. “Better than expected, huh?”
