Page 301 of Kingdoms of Night

“Spell, schmell,” said Loren. “We already took care of that.”

“You did?” asked Geraint.

“Of course I did. What kind of best friend would I be if I didn’t take care of a little border spell?”

Beside Loren, Morgan gave the witch a poke in the arm.

“Okay, well, I did have help,” Loren admitted. “Okay, Morgan did most of the work. But I brought snacks and cheered very loudly.”

“You cheered a little too loudly,” said Morgan. “I almost didn’t hear what the tree said to me.”

“The tree?” said Enid. “You spoke to the Welwitschia tree?”

“Well, it spoke to me since it couldn’t reach you. It wanted me to let you know that it modified your spell. Well, it didn’t. Your flower did. Since it’s a part of you, the spell doesn’t apply to you. You can come home.”

Beside her, Enid felt Geraint’s hold tighten on her hand. He took a step, tugging her along with him. It was just a step, but it was in the direction of Camelot, his home.

Her home. Their home. They could go home.

All around them were smiles. People clasped their hands together over their hearts in a show of happiness. A few tears welled up at the corner of eyelids at the happy news. The court of Camelot had all gathered to welcome her home.

“And that’s not all,” Morgan continued. “The tree told me about the first fairy and human offspring. So if you two still want to procreate, I know what to do.”

The happiness fell from Geraint’s face. He looked to Arthur. “Is your wife about to give us sex advice?”

“It’s not sex,” said Morgan. “It’s science, and it has nothing to do with the birds and the bees.”

“Then your husband’s doing it wrong,” someone called.

Arthur’s glare had a few chuckling heads ducking and looking the other way.

Enid tuned the others out. She only had eyes for her husband. Geraint looked down at her. His hazel gaze was a mixture of happiness, relief, and pure love. Enid saw the same reflected back at her because it was everything she was feeling.

“Is this what you want?” she asked him.

Geraint turned Enid to face him. One hand wrapped around her waist, resting at the small of her back and pulling her closer. The other hand he cupped under her chin, tilting her head up to meet his lips. But before his mouth touched hers, he stopped, a frown creasing his brow.

“Wait.” Geraint turned back to Morgan. “Will this involve test tubes and needles?”

“All I can tell you is that it has nothing to do with the birds and bees,” said the witch.

“Worth it.” Geraint turned back to Enid.

His head angled down toward hers. Enid lifted up on her toes to meet him more than halfway. Vines escaped from her fingertips, twining the two of them together. But the vines didn’t bind them too tightly because every part of her knew with certainty that they had forever to grow together.

EPILOGUE

The dance club wreaked of desperation. Which was funny because there was enough sugary alcohol being passed around to get an elephant a ton fatter and clean his large intestines at the same time. Spanx-encapsulated bodies gyrated under strobe lights while hair whipped back and forth, giving flashes of gray roots. The high-pitched squeeing was louder than the thumping beat of the electronic bass.

Yup, Girls’ Night Out was in full effect.

Normally, Loren would’ve been out in the thick of the quarter-life crises crowd, downing free drinks shoved at her by douches that she would later flush—the guys, not the drink. She could hold her liquor, thank you very much. She was holding it now as she wound her way through the club. Her body was maneuvering to keep out of the way of wayward dance moves as she rushed to keep up in six-inch heels.

“You girls are about to get really lucky,” said the douche Loren trailed behind.

He was every stereotype of a Latin lover. He wore a pastel pink shirt and polyester pants. Hmm? Maybe he was more a disco reject then?

He was certainly a dance floor king, having twirled and tangoed Loren around. His hips didn’t lie. He’d likely make a great lover.

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