Ensley shook her head. “Maybe so. But that future is not for you…” She clutched her stomach and made a pained face. “Please don’t make me say it again.”

“Say what?”

“You are a horrible child for this.” She took a deep breath and through gritted teeth she continued, “You belong with the man who loves you.”

"But he didn't say that."

She sniffed haughtily, the sound pushing through the grief cloaked around me. "Men like him rarely do. But I've seen this and he will need you more now than ever. What he has to face now cannot be done alone. You are his omega. You are the light to his dark, and he needs that to keep his meanness at bay."

"You've seen my future? How is that possible?"

A slight smile crept across her face. "Anything is possible. You should know that. Maybe if you’d read your mother’s note.” She tilted her head in the direction of the piece of paper peeking from my pocket. “I’m sure she would tell you to follow your heart. Now go before it’s too late.”

I turned from her to look at the stone where the gate had opened. “It already is. I don’t have Isaac’s blood or the dragon blade to reopen it.”

She scoffed. “We definitely do not need him for that.” She waved her hand and the magic shimmered to life. “Now stop making excuses and go before I push you through myself.”

That definitely made me smile. I didn’t doubt she would do something crazy like that. “Who are you?” I asked.

She rolled her eyes. “What you needed. Now stop asking questions and go. Next thing you know you’ll be crying again and trying to hug me or something.”

I smiled down at her. “I would never,” I lied. “But I think I am going to miss you.”

She immediately covered her ears. “Go. That gate won’t stay open forever.”

I looked back at the rock and watched the magic glimmer enough for me to realize she was right. It had not closed yet, but by instinct I knew it would soon. I started to thank her for all of her help, but she’d disappeared like a puff of smoke. As usual, she was there in one moment, and gone in the next.

Like it or not, she would be missed. She was also right. I had to go.

It scared me to walk through that portal. I'd known nothing but the fae realm, and it wasn't until a fire breathing dragon, who'd chased me through the woods and made me his captive, came into my life that everything had begun to change. We'd already been on one adventure together. What was one more?

Before I could talk myself out of it, I followed my heart one last time...

ChapterThirty-Seven

Kitra

There was a man standing at the edge of the cliff, looking over the edge as I stepped into the human realm.

My heart soared at the sight of him, the man I loved, but he looked off. His clothes were different and his hair shorter than only minutes ago.

Isaac?

He whirled around, his eyes going wide. "Kitra."

That was all he said before he took off in a run in my direction, lifting me off my feet when he reached me and embracing me in a hold that both hurt and felt like the best thing in the whole world. And it was putting my broken heart back together in record speed.

We'd only been separated for a handful of minutes, but it could have been an eternity.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "I thought you couldn't come through?"

"Let's just say I got the extra nudge I needed to face my fears. Plus, I couldn't leave the human realm all to you. No one needs a bad-tempered dragon raging around just because he can."

Sadness broke over his face, and I stroked my hand down his cheek, wanting to wipe it away.

"You are truly the balm that I needed. Goddess, I love you." He buried his face in my neck and breathed deep. Since he still held me off the ground, I wound my legs around his waist and held on for dear life. Because that's what he was. My life. We stayed like this for a long time, simply reveling in the fact that we were together, and would be for the rest of our lives.

Eventually, I moved, using my hands to lift his head and cup his cheeks. "I love you too, Isaac. But what's wrong? Did my spell not work? And why do you look so different?” I brushed my fingers through his shortened hair. “Did my magic do this to you?"