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“Who, Michael?”
“What? No, I’m talking about your dad-dad. Y’know, Alpha Koda?”
Cove’s thumb tapped against her chin. “That is a clever idea. If we bring back Alpha Koda, he may have information about Samara.”
Cassian nodded and said, “I agree. I think Alpha Koda is the best option.”
Emily looked around at our small circle, her eyes brimming with tears. “You guys,” she choked out, her words cut short by her sob.
“Watch out, everyone,” Griffin teased. “Old Faithful’s about to spout out the waterworks again.” Emily swatted his shoulder, and he pulled her into a hug, kissing her forehead. I couldn’t help the way my eyes shifted to Cove, who caught me staring and blushed.
It was settled, we were bringing back Alpha Koda. I’m pretty sure Thanat was eavesdropping off to the side because as soon as we agreed, he came back and summoned Koda’s return, his body slowly disappearing and morphing into another man.
“You have two minutes before I return,” he said before his entire appearance changed.
Before us stood a tall, somewhat-lanky man with blonde hair flopped over his blue eyes. He blew his hair back from the corner of his mouth and smiled, dimples on his cheeks.
His head tilted as he looked over each one of us, his eyes glossy with tears. “My god, look at how you’ve all grown!”
He walked up to Emily and me, looking between us and laughing. “Emily, my little moon. And Ember, my sunshine. Oh, how I’ve missed you both! I would hug you, but I’m transient and intangible.”
Surreal. That was the only way to describe this. This man… he was familiar, yet a stranger.
He turned to Cassian and Griffin. “Boys, you’ve gotten big. Cassian, you look just like your father. And Griffin… you look nothing like yours. Besides the hair.” He chuckled at his own joke.
“You know us?” Griffin asked.
“Of course. I was the alpha of the Ash Hounds. Speaking of which,” he said, turning to Cove. “How’s my little scholar doing? I see you’ve become the pack educator.”
She nodded, and he stared at us for a brief moment, almost as stunned as we were. “It’s a good thing none of you recognized me. It means your mother’s spell worked.”
“What spell?” Emily and I asked in sync. We looked at each other with amused expressions.
“Well, I don’t have much time to explain. Your mother visited me once, and it takes a great sacrifice to speak with the dead. I don’t even want to know how you got this opportunity.”
“I wish we had time to explain,” Emily answered. “But we need to know how to kill Samara.”
“We wondered the same,” he said, his tone softer from the sadness. “Your mother had a theory in her journal.”
“The one Alpha Radolph gave me?”
“He still has it? God, I miss Ray. Tell him to cut that damn hair when you see him,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “Your mother and I ran as far from Samara as possible, even to the fae realm. But hiding did no good because Samara began killing off my pack members until we returned. We’d heard rumors of a powerful warlock that could defeat her, but he vanished, never to be seen again. Our next plan was to find that warlock, but we never got the chance. Emily, whatever you do—don’t let Samara get a hold of that journal! It contains powerful spells that, if Samara found, could mean the world’s destruction.”
His body started to disappear, slowly merging and transforming into Thanat. “Time’s up, my children.”
“Wait! We haven’t had time to talk!” Emily shouted, begging him to come back. “I want to know more!”
“I love you, kiddos. I believe in you. All of you.” His gaze followed each of us, paused, and choked up on his words. Facing Emily and me, he smiled. “My little Luna and Sol.”
And he was gone, leaving behind a trail of spiritual dust floating through the air. In a quick motion, I popped off the cork of a vial and swooped it through the air, collecting the “spirit dust.” I capped it and shoved it in my pocket, looking back at the others, who were all staring at me.
“What? We still needed the spirit element.” Cove nodded approvingly, muttering something about my genius. My cheeks flushed in response, something I wasn’t used to. Often, I had the upper hand in flirting and didn’t shy away easily. But Cove had me feeling butterflies, tingles, and all that other romantic shit that you read about in fairy tales.
Thanat had reappeared, Emily’s father nothing more than a memory once again. “I do hope you were able to find some resolution,” Thanat said. “Now, if you do wish to leave the Underworld, you must do so now, or you will be forced to remain here. Which would you like?”
“We’ll go,” Cassian answered. “Do we take the ferry back, or what?”
“I shall transport you back to where you originated. I do wish you well on your realm-hopping excursions.”
The Underworld dissolved, and suddenly we were back in the middle of the bustling Black Hole.
“At least we finally weren’t thrown out of a realm,” Griffin mumbled.
“You know,” Cassian said, “that’s not a bad name. The Realm Hoppers. It could be our new team name.” Emily shook her head, grinning.
But I was too distracted to even hear what Griffin had said. The words still weighed heavily on my mind.
My little Luna and Sol.
Luna and Sol… why did those words sound familiar?
