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She blinked once, her lips parting with awe. Then her eyes narrowed as she stormed toward me, where she slapped me as hard as I think anyone had ever been slapped before.
“Don’t you ever worry me like that again, you miserable little cow,” she fumed, unable to reveal her true emotions, or she just might die after all. “Do you know what kind of torment you put me through? I thought I’d lost you for good; I almost died from the—”
Throwing my arms around her, I hugged her to me, glad to have her back in my world. “I missed you too,” I whispered in her ear. “I love you, Aunt Melaina.”
She shuddered in my arms, a small sob working up her throat. Then she pushed me away. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? We are not the hugging sort.” Glaring at Indigo, she pointed. “Way to go, you fucking High Clifter. You turned my perfectly tough little girl into a soft-hearted pansy.”
He grinned at her and saluted. “And you’re welcome for that.”
With a sniff, she turned back to me, looking me over severely, probably searching for wounds. But Indigo had healed them all. Finally, she settled for a sneer as she took in my shaved head. Reaching out, she barely touched the stubble. “And what motherfucker took all that gorgeous hair? I want to personally rip his throat out with—”
“Your son already beat you to that honor,” Indigo cut in, causing Melaina to whirl toward him with an incredulous glance.
“Say what now?”
We explained everything to her: where I’d been kept and what had happened to me, then how Qualmer had shown up, impersonating the King of Lowden.
And at the end of the tale, she merely nodded, saying nothing about the fact that Indigo had killed her son. Just, “So I have three grandchildren out there somewhere in the Outer Realms, huh?” She sighed sadly, gazing out at nothing. “I can’t say I’m surprised.”
When Indigo tried to tell her about his idiotic, unsound plan to send both me and her to Earth with an amulet, and him empty-handed, however, she shook her head immediately.
“No,” she said. “That’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard. You two will go with the amulets,” she instructed, taking off the one she’d been carrying from around her neck. Then she thrust it at Indigo. “I’ll go with you this trip, of course, but now that I know I have grandchildren here, I can’t leave permanently. I need to find them, and you know, protect them. Or some shit like that.”
Blood glistened in the corners of her eyes, letting us know she was lying, but she controlled it this time, clearing her throat and stiffening her spine. “Besides, Taiki’s lovemaking is much more aggressive after I’ve been gone for a while. I can’t let our relationship go stale by hanging about indefinitely.”
“But…” I shook my head. “You have grandchildren on Earth too.”
Questa had a little boy, and Quailen was the father to five—none of their names beginning with an R.
“And I plan to keep visiting them,” Melaina reported with a nod. “But they have Taiki there to be their grandmother. The three here have no one.”
“Are you sure?” Indigo said softly as he slowly took the amulet from her. “Because—”
“Boy, if you question me one more time, I’m going to stab you again. For old time’s sake.”
Indigo wisely shut his mouth. When he turned to me, he looked uncertain though, as if I was being forced to decide between him and my aunt. I smiled and cupped his face. “I like this plan,” I told him. “I like it best.”
Grabbing my hand, he kissed the center of my palm. “Forgive me for my selfish honesty, but I like it best too.”
We smiled at each other.
From overhead, the caw of a descending raven echoed around us.
“What in the world,” Olivander murmured in awe. “That’s not one of our birds. If it even is a bird.”
Indy, Melaina, and I looked up. Spreading its wings, the purple and pink-striped bird flew straight toward Indigo and landed on his shoulder. Another raven—this one pure black as every other raven out there was—settled not far away on the roof of the cottage Melaina had been kept in and croaked his own greeting.
Indigo blinked at the colorful beast on his shoulder before his lips twitched.
“Holly?” he guessed.
Instantly, the bird turned into a lime green and blue panda and slid off his shoulder so it could wrap its arms and legs around him and hug him.
“What the—?” Olivander lurched back, gaping at the animal. “What is happening?”
Chuckling, Indigo hugged Holly back and petted her flashy coat. “Vander, this is my, uh, special friend. You can call her Holly.”
Holly glanced at the prince and waved a paw.
