Page 111 of Witch Queen

EPILOGUE

Four yearslater

“Six giant meatballsubs and four pastrami cheesesteaks with extra bacon!”

Mae finished texting Nikolai and raised her hand. “Here!”

She slipped through the crowd packing the diner and took her order from the deli guy. He smiled as he handed her a couple of large carry bags.

“You’re looking a bit peaky, doc. Everything okay?”

“Yeah. I just finished a nightshift.” Mae arched an eyebrow. “And you know what they say about those.”

Almost the entire diner roared, “Nightshifts suck!”

Mae laughed and waved at familiar faces as she made her way to the exit. A blustery wind cooled her cheeks when she stepped outside. Autumn had come to New York.

When do we eat, my witch?Hellreaver whined where he hung around her neck.

“When we get home,” Mae said firmly.

Brimstone huffed beside her as they crossed the road.He is nothing but a glutton,my witch.

Mae glanced at Hellreaver. “You think he’s gotten chunkier too?”

Hellreaver flinched.

Mae bit back a smile and headed for the garage where she’d left Betsy. She stopped at a red light for the ambulances that were reversing into bays next to the emergency department, her thoughts turning to the future.

With the end of her surgical residency at Grandview in sight, she needed to think about what she intended to do in the coming years.

You can always just be the Witch Queen,Na Ri said quietly.It’s not too early to start training the army we will need at the End of Days.

Mae wrinkled her nose.We have decades left before that happens.

An army does not get strong overnight.

Mae sighed and stepped off the curb.Alright, I’ll think about?—

A panicked shout made her stiffen.

“Rose, no!” a woman yelled.

Movement opposite drew Mae’s eyes.

A black ball of fur bolted across the road toward her. A little girl dressed in pink followed on its heels, heedless of the ambulance about to turn the corner.

Magic sparked through Mae’s veins as she and Brimstone dashed toward the girl standing in the path of the oncoming vehicle with the puppy she’d just picked up.

“Shield!”

The ambulance slammed into the invisible wall of magic she’d raised ten feet to her left. The eyes of the paramedic driving it rounded as the rear tires rose off the ground. The vehicle smashed back down on the asphalt, suspension groaning.

Mae stooped, snatched the little girl up in her arms, and reached the sidewalk where a woman stood shaking, her trembling hands covering her mouth.

Mae carefully handed the girl to her mother.

The woman reprimanded her daughter sharply before shuddering and squeezing her tightly to her chest, the puppy yipping between them.

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