Page 50 of Wishing Upon a Monster
“They do. Shit, that’s elven moon flower, the essenceis used to make the street drug Mage’s Malady,” we turned down another empty aisle.
“It looks like everyone who was in here came out to fight,” Cece whispered as we continued to clear the area. Each row of vegetation we encountered revealed more illegal plants. We swept the entire building, not finding a single soul on the ground. Our teams met back at the front exit; each group had recognized illegal plants on their sweep.
Mac floated down with a glowing O’Shea in each arm.
The women looked tired, with deep-set circles under their eyes, their dishwater blonde hair stringy and their clothes dirty.
“They were being used as mystical grow lamps,” Mac said, steadying each woman as they got their footing. “Their light sped up plant growth.”
“Xander made it seem like an easy way to make some money, but they kept upping the hours I needed to be in the warehouse,” Cora said, putting her arm around her mom’s shoulders. “After a while, they wouldn’t let me go home, and they threatened Ma.”
“We’ve got you both now,” Mac said, leading them towards the exit.
We followed behind, exiting the building to see Olan talking with Palmer, Councilwoman Oxendine, Councilman Soros, and Councilman Bailey. Council enforcers were shoving now awake and pissed haints and demons alike into vehicles.
I scanned the area, looking for Kenny, finding him glaring at me from the backseat of a council enforcer’s car, seated behind the prisoner partition as he should be.
Rocio clasped my shoulder.
“Good riddance,” I said, breaking from the group and approaching the Council and Olan.
“If you will excuse me,” he said, bowing slightly to them.
I didn’t fuss when Olan scooped me up in his arms, settlingme on his side so I could claim my favorite spot at the crook of his neck. I took a deep breath, the familiar and loved scent of petrichor.
“I do not like this being separated from you,min elskede,” he grumbled.
“Preserve enforcer Aurum,” Palmer approached with the council at her back, “considering the events of today, you and Olan should go home. You can come into work in a few days to debrief us on the specifics of how you single-handedly rendered forty-five demons and haints unconscious in a matter of seconds.”
“I have told you, Mrs. Duvall, it was her love for me that overpowered her enemies,” Olan scowled at my boss.
“It was a little more than that,” I said, chuckling at the disgruntled sound Olan made, “but love ended up being the strongest weapon I had, yes.”
Apparently done with that conversation, Olan flew us up and onward, turning towards home.
Epilogue
Aurora
6Months Later...
I looked at myself in the mirror, the A-line chiffon ivory lace wedding dress with a daring plunging neckline and large bell sleeves was perfect. The absolute height of cottagecore wedding elegance, the lace was literally made by the fae. Even my golden jewelry, fae forged and worth well over a year’s worth of my pay, was twisted into delicate vines and flowers, adding to the look. TheEverbloomflower crown that Ainsley had purchased for me was in bloom, giving me that forest princess vibe I was looking for.
But was my hair long enough?
Annaliese said she could enchant my scalp to grow another two inches of hair, but her rabbit familiar, Hoagie, was balder than a rex cat right now, and I couldn’t risk it.
I pulled the just-past-my-shoulder-length hair forward, testing the length. I had trusted Essie’s Beauty Potions hair growth formula, and that’s how it grew almost four inches in six months.
Momma clicked her tongue at me. “Leave it alone, Rorie.” She finished enchanting the train so I wouldn’t trip because today,today, my luck wasn’t popping up. I was marrying the love of my life on the Aurum family estate in front of the same gazebo as every wedded member of my family for the last three hundred years.
“You look beautiful,” my momma said, putting her hands on my shoulders, her magic briefly rolling across them.
Her brow furrowed. “Are...?”
“Now is not the time, Momma,” I said, turning and kissing her cheek, “we can talk about it soon? I promise.”
“Alright, baby girl,” she said tearfully. “Would you just look at you.”
