“Eric got out,” my mother confirms, her expression grim as she looks at me.
“Yes.” My voice comes out rough. “And you were right, Ma. He doesn’t care about me.”
She holds my gaze and something moves behind her eyes. She doesn’t say I told you so.
“They are going to the humans to get help,” Amir tells us. “They are going to try to restore dark magic.”
My mother stiffens. “Well, we have to go find them now.”
Amir shrugs. “Going on a witch hunt is pointless. They are probably where they want to be right now, and we all know where that is.”
“Brookstone and Blackburn Enterprises,” my mother and Amir and I say together, and the fact that we all land on it at the same time tells me this has been coming for longer than tonight.
“What do we do now?” I ask.
“We wait and prepare,” Amir says. He steps toward me and rests a hand on my shoulder. His grip is steady. “You are the future king of Wintermoon.”
The words hit me and I just stand there. My mouth opens and nothing useful comes out. I knew this was coming. I just didn’t think he’d say it here.
My mother takes a moment to process. Her voice goes sharp. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Amir turns to her with that smug smile. “The agreement was, Angie, that my rulership was for a time. Do you think I plan to sit on the throne of Wintermoon forever? Absolutely not. Your children are of age, and since you don’t want to do your job,your birthright, then the position goes down the bloodline of Blackwoods.”
“You motherfucker,” my mother spits.
Amir’s brow furrows. His ears twitch. “I cannot fuck my Mother Fate.”
My mother huffs and turns to me. “And you’re agreeing to this?”
I shrug because I genuinely don’t know what to do with any of this right now.
“He’ll make a fine king,” Amir says. “But right now, we have more pressing matters.”
Then, he teleports away.
“Oh hell no, he’s not just walking off after dropping that.” My mother stares at the spot where he stood. Then she turns to me.
“Don’t think we aren’t going to talk about this.” Her dark eyes bore into mine. “All of it.”
She doesn’t just mean the kingship. She means the Glen, Eric, whatever she’s already pieced together that I’m not telling her.
“Jacob!” She rips a portal open. The royal island is on the other side. Jacob looks at us with an exasperated sigh and follows my mother through. The portal snaps shut behind them.
Torin approaches me. “Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not.” My voice is low. “But thank you, brother.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “Thank you for coming here to help defend me.”
“This is my journey alone,” I tell him, and I look toward the sealed cottage where the darkness is still pressing against my mother’s barrier. “I’ve been dreaming about this happening for a year, almost as if Fate was warning me it was coming. I’m going to have to kill my father, and I’m going to have to destroy the Witching Glen.”
I don’t look at him when I say it. Wolves catch scent shifts. I keep my breathing even and pray he doesn’t feel the lie sitting underneath every word. Torin doesn’t need the truth. He needs the version that keeps him out of this, and a warlock nearly killed me tonight so I’m damn sure not dragging him any deeper.
“Can you save Ellie for me?” Kade calls from behind us.
Leah slaps her arm hard enough to make her wince and curses at her under her breath. Kade rolls her eyes but takes it.
I give her a smile but my eyes don’t follow. “We’ll start clean-up in the morning. Let’s go check on the children at the Academy. I know they have to be spooked.”
I flick my wrist toward the burning stalls and my magic smothers the flames before we leave. It’s the least I can do, considering I’m the reason they’re burning.
