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“He’s dead,” I announce.
The cheer that rises up is feral and joyful all at once, and I can't help the smile that spreads across my face in response.
It's done.
CHAPTER23
There’s clean-up to do, of course. Some of the shades have been imbibed with enough of that weird half-life that they’re still wandering around, only now they’re randomly attacking things and causing destruction. We have to take them down.
We also have to assess damage to the island. The world actually looks like it has color around us again, but the foliage itself is still blackened and dead. Roanac sucked the life force out of all of it and it didn’t just go back in when he died. But it no longer feels like we’re standing in a nightmare world.
And at least now he can’t do any more damage. He’s dead. It’s all done with.
Raven, Cain, and North all walk up to me. Raven’s limping a little, I think he landed too hard after he flew up to throw Cain’s blade at Roanac, and both Cain and North also look exhausted. They still have the bruises from the ropes earlier. But they’re all alive and okay.
I hug them, the three of them enveloping me. They don’t say a word, and neither do I. We don’t need to. We just hold on to each other. They’re alive, and I’m alive, and we’re all together. The fear that I had is finally over, and that vision can’t plague me anymore. I beat the odds, we all beat the odds, and we actually defeated the bad guy. Holy shit.
I’m so wrapped up in my men that it takes me a minute to realize how quiet it is around us.
We pull back, and I look, and see that the fae are all staring at me. The vampires and shifters stare as well, but equally at me and at the fae, like they’re waiting for something.
Then, in a ripple that begins with those in the front, the fae all get down on one knee and bow their heads toward me. Every single one of them, in a gesture of respect and genuflection that I can’t possibly deny is for me and me alone.
I feel kind of like that moment at the end ofMulanwhen she’s standing on the steps to the emperor’s palace and the entire crowd bows to her in a wave. Did she feel this overwhelmed and unsure? I don’t feel like I’m worthy of all of this respect, this awe. I’m not a leader. I’m just the person who got saddled with this bloodline, and I’m glad I was able to put it to some good use. But I’m no warrior, and I’m no queen.
Still, I don’t want to be rude and reject such a gesture. I can feel the connection between myself and the other fae flowing freely, both with the fae from Tiorelle’s settlement and the fae who came to join us, even the hybrids, all of us connected together as one, and I can sense the respect that they have for me.
I bow deeply to them all in return. I don’t know what else to do. I want to show them respect and thank them for their hard work and, in the cases of those that fell in battle today, sacrifice.
After I bow, the fae all rise to their feet again, and we slowly make our way back to Tiorelle’s settlement.
The fae open portals and we’re led back through in groups. The shifters have to return to their packs, although North admits to me privately he’s not sure how it’s going to go for them, since while some are full packs that came here and just need to be returned to their territory, or had the blessing of their pack leader, others like Hudson came against the will of their pack leader and will probably have a tough time of it when they get back.
“Well, if that’s the case, maybe they all need to form a new pack,” I point out.
North gives me a small smile. “Maybe they do.”
After North thanks the shifters and they’re sent through portals back to their respective homes, it’s time for the vampires to leave. Willow and her men are helping to organize the vampires so that they can all be sent back to the various places they came from, since not all of them were with Willow at the castle.
“Thank you,” I tell her as we approach. “You didn’t have to come and help us.”
“Of course we did.” Willow smiles at me warmly.
The fact that she thinks that she had to, that of course she would, that staying by themselves and looking after only their own kind wasn’t even an option in her mind, shows me what kind of person Willow is. A loving person, someone that could truly help to lead the vampires in a better direction.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” I tell her, “but I like you, a lot. I think we could be friends.”
“I’d like that.” Willow then surprises me again by hugging me.
For a second I just stand there, too shocked and unused to hugs to do anything, and then I get my body back online and hug her back. Who would’ve thought that I’d get along with a vampire, and like her well enough for her to hug me, or for me to want to hug her back? In a way that feels like the craziest miracle of the day.
Maybe there really is hope for a better future between vampires and fae. For the first time since my parents died, I feel optimistic about it.
Willow pulls back, her hands resting on my shoulders. “We’ll see you around, all right? You have to stay in touch!”
“Okay.” I have no idea how to do that. I can’t even think past the idea of going to bed tonight. But I’m sure we’ll find a way. Phones exist after all.
Willow and her men, along with the vampires who live with them, take portals back home. The fae who have been getting everyone back home, including returning all fae who came here from other places, are exhausted. Everyone looks like they just want to sleep for a week.
