Page 33 of A Fate of Blood and Magic
I nodded. “I’ll be right back.”
With that, I bent space, and together, Alastor, the lirio, and I stepped into the woods outside Colina. When I returned to Sebastian and his family, I couldn’t see the two lirio who’d stayed behind, but I knew Koa and Agthor were near.
Sebastian’s oldest boy peered up at me, his mouthdropped open and eyes wide. I crouched down in front of him, using my magic to pick up a handful of snow and swirl it slowly in front of him. When he reached a hand out to it, I stilled the snow so he could inspect it.
“Whoa,” the little boy said, smiling up at me. “That’s so cool.”
His younger brother tottered toward me, his attention on the snow I held suspended in the air. When he stumbled, I used my magic to heft him back up. Giggling, he spun around to grab the snow behind him.
I let the boys play for a few beats before I stood back up.
Sebastian’s wife tilted her head. “I take it you like kids.”
“Children are a rare blessing in Niev,” I told her honestly. “What are your names?”
She patted the oldest one’s head. “The six-year-old is Ethan, and that little terror is Wes. My name’s Gracie.”
“Juanita, my youngest girl, is also six.”
It felt right to call the girls mine. I’d known them for as long as I’d known Teddy and had come to love them in a way I hadn’t expected.
The regret for what I’d done to Javier and his sisters’ father still ate at me. While I knew I’d never make up for it, I hoped his father, wherever the afterlife had taken him, saw all the ways I tried to be there for them.
“Is it okay if I pick up Wes?” I asked Gracie and Sebastian. “You two can grip my upper arm, but I’ll need both boys to be touching me so that they come through with us.”
When she nodded, I lowered myself to Wes’s height. I looked around, stilling enough so I could hear our surroundings before I picked him up. Back on my feet, I took Ethan’s hand in mine. When Sebastian and Grace touched onearm, I bent space so that we all walked into the same woods I’d left Alastor.
Immediately, the hair on the back of my neck stood. Alastor jerked his chin toward the tear.
“We must hurry,” he said.
With only two lirio with us, they didn’t offer much camouflage. Still, they flanked us as I hurried Sebastian and his family to the tear. In the distance, I heard numerous voices over the hums of several engines drawing closer.
I ushered the small family through the tear, using my magic to smooth out our footsteps, but stopped to ask Alastor if one of his lirio could guard this tear. We couldn’t afford for the human military to find it. When Alastor nodded, one of the lirio stepped back as the rest of us crossed the tear.
Immediately, we stood just outside my mother's castle, with Gracie gaping at the tall building and the town surrounding it. Ethan walked to a nearby statue of a dragon, our oldest Elder, who I’d come to learn had made the pact with my parents and uncle that would result in an entire species massacred and the start of our endless winter.
The need to demolish it ran through me. I wanted to replace it with one of Nalari and the other dragons who’d fought alongside us.
One day, but not today.
I set Wes down so he could investigate with his big brother.
Without saying anything, Alastor and his lirio headed away from the castle. While the citizens of Reignom had grown accustomed to them coming and going from the castle, the sight of the mage and his lirio still made many uneasy. It was why Alastor did his best to stay outside of the town,although he never shrank away from who he was or what he was despite the unease fae felt around him.
It made me respect him even more.
“Teddy will be sad she didn’t get to see you,” I called after Alastor.
The mage looked over his shoulder with a small smile on his face. “I’ll see my cousin before we head out again.”
I wasn’t sure if cousin was the correct term, but there was a connection. It was obvious in the way Alastor only seemed to relax when Teddy was around.
My head guard rushed down the long, narrow steps that led to the castle. When Pietro reached me, he bowed.
“Your Majesty,” Pietro said, casting an assessing look at Sebastian and his family, that made Sebastian draw his family closer to him.
“Your Majesty?” Ethan asked, his nose wrinkled. “Are you a prince or something?”
