“I meant Wes.”
“Hey,” Wes protests.
The table dissolves into laughter. Even Thane’s mouth twitches.
Later, when the plates are cleared and Mairen’s dessert has been demolished and the conversation has wound down to comfortable silence, I push back my chair.
“I want to show you something.”
They follow me without question. Through the kitchen, out into the garden, past the crystalline daisies that chime as we pass. The path leads to the hill—the same overlook where we first saw the sanctuary when we came back from the Void. The highest point in the grounds, with a view that stretches for miles.
The sanctuary spreads below us like a living thing.
Lights flicker in windows. The training grounds where Rhett teaches fire control are empty now, but I can see the scorch marks from today’s session. The library has grown three times the size since winter—Theo swears he’s not doing it on purpose, but the Ether has opinions about his book collection.
Houses. Gardens. A fountain the Ether made two weeks ago, complete with fish that have strong feelings about water balloon fights.
A place where Feeders can exist without hiding. Where families can raise children without fear. Where magic and humanity tangle together into something new.
“Four hundred and twelve,” I say softly.
“Four twenty-three, actually.” Theo’s voice is quiet. “Three new families arrived this afternoon.”
I turn to look at them. My men. Arranged in a loose circle around me, faces lit by starlight and Ether-glow.
“When we first came here, this was ruins. Broken stone and dead gardens and a magic that had been sleeping for generations.” I swallow. “Now look at it.”
“You did this,” Rhett says.
“Wedid this.”
“You started it.” Gray’s voice is steady. “You woke it up. You made it possible.”
I shake my head. “The Ether made it possible. And you. All of you.” I look at Thane, at Stellan. “You didn’t have to stay. After everything—the politics, the history, the fact that nothing bound you here—you stayed anyway.”
Thane’s silver eyes hold mine. “Where else would I go?”
“You had options.”
“I had excuses.” His voice is quiet. “There’s a difference.”
Stellan’s mouth curves. “Besides. Someone has to keep you all from making terrible decisions.”
“That’s rich, coming from you,” Jace mutters.
“I makeexcellentdecisions. They just occasionally look terrible from the outside.”
I laugh. It catches in my throat, turns into something bigger.
“I’m proud of what we built,” I say. “All of it. The sanctuary, the families, the—” I gesture vaguely at the lights below. “Everything.”
“But?” Wes prompts.
He knows me too well. They all do.
I take a breath.
“I haven’t been back since before. Since the crown, since everything changed. And I think—” I stop. Try again. “I think I need to.”
