Page 88 of The Time Of Queens

And the heavy tears wouldn’t stop as my watery gaze was rooted to that fountain…waiting… praying… needing my daughter to come home.But before I could question it further, two glorious things happened. The first being Amelia falling through the fountain just like I had done. Her Vampire King was there ready to catch her, as he moved quicker than I had ever seen anyone move.

Even for a supernatural.

Of course, at just the sight of her, I cried out, this time in happiness and great relief, as did Sophia and Pip. Draven’s profound sigh of relief was one I felt against his chest. As he too must have been waiting for our girl to get home. My heart broke for her, and great sobs of anguish echoed in the temple as she clung to Lucius, crying into his neck just as I had done with Draven.

But just before I could voice my other fear, Ella came calmly stepping through the fountain, as if she had just been speaking with Janus himself. As if she was leaving the past with more understanding than when she went in there.

However, the second she saw us both, she ran towards us and Draven’s second sigh of relief was mirrored that of my own. We caught her in our arms as the flood gates opened. Theoverwhelming emotions we all felt came to the surface as she cried in our arms.

“Oh, sweetheart, it’s alright,”I told her, and Draven did the same.

“It’s alright, you made it home… you’re safe now.”

At this her body shook as she let it all out. Which meant the echoes of tears rang out like bells signalling the end. The end of each of our journeys and turbulent experiences with the past. Each of our own heartbreaking goodbyes to the Fated men we loved. And in truth, that was what we really cried for.

All our painful goodbyes.

But for Ella, it was a far bitter ending, as unlike the rest of us, there was no Jared here to catch her. No Jared to hold her close and prove that happy endings still existed.

Because for her…

The end of her Fate, was still left…

Unknown.

After this emotional reunion,we had made our way back to Afterlife. Although Ella had remained in the temple as she said she needed time alone. I could understand it, as she may have returned, but unlike the rest of us, she had returned feeling as though a piece was missing.

In truth, the same could be said for us all, as each of us had no doubt left a piece of ourselves behind. I didn’t know what was harder, the idea that the timelines we left no longer existed, or that they could have remained. That the memories made there would only belong to us and no other.

Of course, as for the Draven I returned to, I knew he was furious. Something all our men were. But, like their king, theywere also keeping a lid on it until the time was right and we were no longer feeling as fragile. Draven’s comment about having the doorway into the Janus Temple sealed up was met with agreement by the men, making Sophia and Pip roll their eyes.

We had already had our teary hugs, but one had been missing from the start and I knew why.

Amelia.

Lucius had taken no time at all before whisking her away back to Afterlife before us all, as her heartbreak seemed to be the worst. I feared about what she had gone through, but as she clung to her Vampire, I knew that time with him would no doubt heal it all.

Meaning it was Ella I was truly worried for, as she looked completely lost. Like she had no idea where to go from here. Because she quickly explained that Jared had been taken, prompting Draven into action, promising that he would soon have his own men on the case so they could search for any news on where the summoner could have taken him. No, she wouldn’t be alone in this, despite where, for the time being, she wished to remain.

Inside the Temple.

I soon realised that this had been her hope all along. To enter the fountain and go back in time a few days so she could have warned him. Yet this hadn’t happened. So, the most I could do, was hug her tight and tell her,

“Fate’s a fucker.”

She had pulled back and laughed through her tears. Then I wiped them away as I framed her beautiful face and added,

“But there is a reason for everything it puts us through… yeah?” At this she nodded, telling me she understood. So, I pulled her in for one last hug before leaving her to her solitude.

Which left the rest of us all in the library, something that felt strange as it was still full of Christmas decorations, that yes,admittedly, I had gone a little OTT on this year. Of course, Pip was the first to notice, saying,

“Oh yeah, I forgot it’s still Christmas.”

“No chance at forgetting that now,”Sophia muttered, making me narrow my eyes at her, as she had been teasing me on my Christmas madness since the beginning of December. Of course, she simply winked in response to my pointless glare, as she knew it hadn’t come with a shred of malice.

Pip, Sophia, and I were just all happy in the knowledge we were back, and we had, for all its faults, seemingly accomplished what we had set out to do. Although it was true this couldn’t be one hundred percent confirmed until we spoke with Amelia. But one thing that had come to light, was the part Draven had played in Ella’s past. Hence why he went to speak with her.

Because she had admitted to me that she believed we had switched times. Although I didn’t have much time to explain that I had instead been shot forward into the future past. Christ, but no wonder my head hurt, I didn’t know how Marty McFly had kept track of it all.

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