Page 154 of Tracking Snow

He gave them the full truth. Every person he took. Every place he delivered them. Every order Queenie gave him. He turned over the laboratory records, financial accounts, HAM contacts, and the names of every person who helped conceal the experiments.

Then he announced his intention to turn himself in.

Red pointed out that he took a bullet protecting her and could have left her and Brexley to Queenie’s men. Goldie reminded everyone that he freed us, restored my magic, and gave the investigators enough evidence to dismantle decades of Queenie’s work. Rap begrudgingly admitted that Poison Apple would have been completely burned to the ground if it weren’t for him, and she, Geanie, and I would have been tinder in that flame. Cinder said those choices mattered, though they didn’t wipe out the ones that came before.

Queenie was locked away in a specialized prison, not only because she is being prosecuted for countless heinous crimes, but because with her magic Midas touch, she can’t be allowed to go free.

The irony of it still hits me in a bone deep place. I’m just grateful The Seven have all turned the corner on blah blah magic is bad bullshit. They are learning to really lean into the fun of what they can do, and what I can do now.

The Seven have been cooperating with the investigation into his mother and will accept whatever comes from it, but nobody allowed him to walk into a police station and take full responsibility.

Also, he’s my boyfriend now. So everyone and their boyfriend have been informed that murder is off the table.

Brexley asked if maiming counted.

I told him it did, and he did, in fact, already chew up The Seven’s arm really good, so count it.

Forgiveness has come in pieces.

Goldie forgave Five first after he sneezed three tiny pigs into existence and spent an hour chasing them through the bar before she gathered them in a shoebox. Red currently tolerates One, mostly because he took the bullet. Ariel has accepted coffee and baths from Four while maintaining a detailed list of his remaining offenses.

Kiki returned to work at Pumpkin Coach Club, but promised to come to the reopening party, then informed The Seven that her forgiveness would depend on the quality of the apology present he selected.

I accidentally mirrored her divination power when I last saw her.

For three seconds, I knew exactly which gift he should buy her and that Lucifer would vomit inside my left boot the following morning.

But once I’d done it, Kiki pointed a finger in my face. "Do not touch my powers without asking."

I placed my boots on the fire escape that night.

Lucifer vomited on my pillow instead.

Cinder calls my name from the other side of the room and tosses me a hammer. I catch it, teleport behind the bar, and drive in three nails with One’s speed before Rap can tell me where they go.

Rap looks at the crooked row.

"You’re fixing that."

"I did it very fast."

"You did it wrong at an impressive speed."

"I’ll fix it," a voice says behind me.

I turn to find purple-eyed Two approaching the bar with a battered folder tucked beneath one arm.

"Good," Rap chimes in. "You can phase through the wood and push the nails back out."

I smile despite myself, then glance at the folder. The faded Brightpath House emblem on the front wipes my smile away.

"What’s that?"

Two shifts it behind his back. "Something we need to talk about."

I follow him into the employee locker room and close the door behind us.

Bubblegum-pink lockers cover one wall, painted by Goldie years ago. Across from them, a long vanity stretches beneath a row of bright bulbs. Makeup, hair products, and abandoned jewelry litter the counter. Several pink velvet chairs are pushed beneath it.