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“Can you bring the others back instead? The ones who were lost along the way? Mikael, Thea, the shifters and witches who were lost in battle? Let us move on and give the chance back to them.”
Her face fell, sad understanding setting her mouth into a frown. “No child, I cannot. They have moved on and I cannot reach them.”
A wave of grief and guilt rolled through me, my arms wrapping around my knees as I dropped my forehead down and cried. When I finally calmed enough to speak, I shook my head as I looked up at her.
“I don’t deserve to be the one who lives.”
She tutted at my words. “If that were true, I would not be making you this offer. Either way, the question you need to answer is a simple one. Do you want more time in this world with your mates?”
Her gaze pulled me in, the endless, profound being shining through and making me feel like a trivial speck in the immeasurable enormity of it all. All I needed to do was answer a single, basic question, not decipher the whys or hows, and when it came down to it the choice was easy.
“Yes.”
She beamed at my answer and nodded, pushing back to her feet. “Good. Take your life, daughter of magic, and find happiness. You deserve it.”
Turning back to my mates, I felt the sparks of life flutter down our bonds as her power began to do its work, and I finally allowed hope and joy to blossom fully in my heart.
“I don’t need to look for happiness, I’ve already found it.”
I slammed back into my body with a painful thud, feeling like I had fallen from a tall treetop as the wind was knocked out of me. I wheezed in a breath as I rolled onto my side, trying to calm the hammering of my heart and appreciate that I could feel my physical self again.
“Fuuuuck,” came a pained moan nearby, and I whipped my head up to find the guys groaning as they woke.
I was up and moving before the thought even had time to process, launching myself into Noah’s arms and making him grunt from the impact. He enveloped me in his arms as I wrapped myself around him and buried my face in his neck, breathing him in as my body shook uncontrollably.
“Hey sweetheart,” he murmured as another hand sank into my hair.
Looking up, I found Liam looking down at me with confused concern and threw myself at him instead. He cursed in surprise as I wound my limbs around him and overbalanced us, sending us tumbling down so that I was sitting in his lap.
“Talk to us, Princess,” he demanded, his voice a little strained. “Preferably before you flatten us.”
I pulled back and scowled at him. “Rude.”
A deep chuckle sounded to my right and I turned to leap at Zeke, who was wisely ready for me and holding out his arms expectantly.
“Nice to see you too, gorgeous,” he mumbled into my neck as I dug my fingers into his hair and held him tight, my bonds settling as I finally accepted that all three of them were here and whole. “You want to tell us what’s going on?”
I sighed as I pulled back and he set me on my feet, Noah holding out hand to help Liam up so that we were all standing together in the dazzling rays of sunlight that were beaming through the shattered windows.
Fingers plucked at my torn shirt, which was covered in the dark stain of blood that was rapidly hardening. I grimaced, lifting it to show them the smooth, untouched skin underneath.
“I’m ok.”
“What happened?” Liam asked simply, brushing a shard of glass from my leg. “I don’t remember anything after you drawing blood runes.”
“Uh, we died,” I said sheepishly, my cheeks warming.
“Again?!” Noah joked, his grin not quite disguising the uneasiness radiating from all of them.
I slapped the back of my hand against his gut. “Funny.”
Zeke tensed a split second before the others did, their heads whipping around to face the main throne room doors as they began to creak open. The heavy wood shuddered a little on its hinges as the debris hindered its progress, but it was clear that a small crowd was about to push through.
“Apparently I’ll tell you later,” I murmured, flexing my fingers as I called on my power.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that, not only was my body back to full health, my magic had also been totally replenished. Sending up a silent prayer of thanks to the Mother, I glanced around at my mates.
“Everyone feeling good?” I asked quietly. “I have no idea how they’re going to react, but technically I just killed their queen.”
