Good thing, too, because I nearly fainted on the way up the stairs after breakfast. We’d told everyone about our journey, the Unseelie city, and about our battles with the wargs and the sorceress. Recounting it all was nearly as exhausting as living through it.
Ethan and I ended up sleeping most of the day, before we had a quick dinner of corned beef and hash and spent the rest of the evening playing with the twins. As I rested, my mind kept going back to the Crystals, and on what I had to do at the Sacred Gathering.
I must’ve run down to the vault at least five times during the night to check if the Crystals were still there. Sure as shit, all six were nestled safely in the vault, completely untouched.
I was being paranoid, but no one could blame me. I wasn’t letting a single thing go wrong from this point on.
Our birthday party was held outside under the sunshine of a beautiful spring day. Ozzie had baked us a massive cake five tiers tall, and presents were piled beside a table that was loaded with a variety of food and drinks. Everyone was in good spirits, laughing, chatting, and playing games while dancing to the music. I got the feeling that we weren’t just celebrating a birthday, but also, our success at obtaining all the stones.
I was glad we were celebrating. It felt good to give ourselves a pat on the back, after everything that had happened over the years. Twilight began to fall, bathing the estate in hues of purple and orange, stars dotting the horizon.
I was wearing my charm bracelet, along with the special key that came with it. A couple of my friends had gotten me more charms for the bracelet as a birthday gift, so I wanted to be kind and show them off, although I was planning on putting it away as soon as the day was over. We still didn’t know what this strange key did, and personally, I wanted to keep it away from Kalina.
“Did you get what you wanted for your birthday, Arthur?” I asked. I sat beside him, bouncing Kazim in my lap, while Kalina laid on a blanket on the ground. Ethan was in his wolf form, making growly faces at Kalina to make her laugh.
Arthur took Kazim from me and gave a sad smile. “What I really want for my birthday, I can’t have.”
“But you do have us, and always will,” I told him. “Don’t forget we’re always here for you.”
“What about you?” Arthur asked. “Does it feel any different being twenty-one?”
“It’s been a pretty good day,” I said. “But I’ll feel better once I’ve finished opening the portal. Then we can focus all our attention on bringing Droga down, and getting life back to normal.”
“What is normal?” Arthur gave a small chuckle.
“I think… this is,” I said, looking around at how happy my friends and family were. “And I want to get back to it. Whatever’s happened in the past, we can start over again. Maybe we can forget.”
“Some of us can,” Arthur replied. “Don’t know about all.”
I watched Finlay chase Amantha around the gardens, and my heart lifted with a bit of hope for my brother. “Do you think you could move on to find another mate, like Finlay and Amantha?”
“No,” Arthur said immediately. “I could never. It’s just not in the cards for me.”
I didn’t respond, but inwardly, I prayed he’d change his mind eventually. Arthur was so young— too young to be alone for the rest of his life, even if he’d mated with a goddess. If he couldn’t move on from Vara, at the very least, I wanted him to move forward, and find someone else. Even if it took him years to do so.
Arthur dropped his voice to a whisper as he said, “Are you ready for tomorrow?”
“Yes,” I told him. “I’m not afraid anymore. I know it’s what meant to happen.”
I’d convinced everyone that we needed to head to the Sacred Gathering tomorrow. One day of rest was good enough, and if my powers weren’t back to normal by then, screw it. I was doing it anyway. I wouldn’t take chances when Droga was still out there.
“Ozzie! Jasper!” Odette called out, giving a little hiccup. She twirled around the party, and nearly fell over onto Theo. “Has anyone seen them?”
My friends had gotten drunk and had run into the woods to play a game of hide-and-seek.
“Oh, bother, we’ve lost them,” Theo complained. “Not that we can see straight, anyway.” He giggled.
“What are you talking about?” Delmare asked as she put a coat on Isaak. “They went into the woods with you.”
“Yeah, but we can’t find them now,” Alexei slurred. “And they aren’t coming out, either.”
“I can still smell them,” Ethan said. “They were just here not too long ago.”
“Well, then, they’re damn good at hiding!” Odette put her hands on her hips. “And we’re done playing, so it’s time to come out!”
I hadn’t seen Ozzie since he’d brought the cake out… and come to think of it, that was hours ago. He must’ve slipped away to fool around with Jasper when they were playing hide-and-seek.
“If you can’t find them in the woods, they must be in the house,” I offered.
