Page 27 of Fates of Monsters

“I have somewhere to take you, my queen,” Emerson responds, wrapping me in his arms before his wings spread out. Everyone near us jumps out of the way as Emerson springs into the air with me, flying us out of an open archway window. My stomach lurches and a tiny bit of fear trembles in my throat every single time he does this. His dark chuckle echoes in my ear as he flies us up and up, over the mountains and down the side of the mountain overlooking the sea. He lands us on a beautiful black marble balcony cut into the mountain itself, and from here, all I can see is the sea.

The sun is gently setting as he lands on the balcony. I turn around to see a cavern with a field inside full of Stardaisies flowers. Hundreds, thousands of them, and a small cabin right at the back with a fire lit next to it. Fae lights fill the ceiling, hundreds of them. He remembered I loved that flower, and he made me a meadow of them.

“I wanted us to have a place we could go away from the city, from the titles that mean we can’t be just us there,” Emerson whispers in my ear, tugging at my cloak until it falls. “No one else comes here. It’s protected. No one else can step in other than us.”

Emerson picks me up, carrying me to the meadow and laying me down in the flowers, tugging at his collar. Desire snakes up my spine, burning me to life. “Monster or fae this time, my queen?”

“Monster.”

Epilogue

POSY

“She makes cakes.” Paxton protests another complaint with a huff that only a child could make look cute. I ruffle his green hair, which looks darker from his months within the mountain. We are sitting outside a little brick house nestled deep in the Wyern fields, far inside the mountains. Most of the farmers live out here. It’s quiet, peaceful. Rows and rows of farmland that smells like animals and wheat. There is nothing for him to get himself in trouble with. I arch my eyebrow at him. “Do you not like cakes?”

He kicks a rock, and it bounces away into a straw field in front of us. “She’s just too nice. People aren’t that nice.”

I pat the space next to me on the wall, and he jumps up, sitting at my side. I pick up his hand. “People can be kind without cause.” I keep my voice gentle. “I know you’re not used to it, but these people are nice. They won’t hurt or use you.”

He rolls his eyes. “They are fae.”

“They’re both from the city I came from. I think they used to bake there, too.” He still looks wary, looking over his shoulder at the house. His foster dad sits on the porch, singing a lullaby to Emily, who’s happily asleep in his arms. I looked for months for a good foster home for both of them, knowing I cannot be what they need. I’m too broken to be a mom to them, and they need a stable home. I don’t even know how to look after a kid. They need loving parents. Both of these fae are just that, parents I trust. I met these two when they signed up for the new adoption call out a few months back. Calliophe made a call out for homes due to the many children who were left orphaned after the war and the orphans that were brought in from the cities. Most had been allocated, and they traveled into the city to offer their help. I just knew after seeing them that this place is perfect for Paxton, who is too special to be in the city.

He needs quiet.

“I want to be with you. Take me back to the castle, and I—”

With a sigh, I shake my head. Every time I come to see him, he asks to come with me and bring Emily. I know it’s just fear, fear of the unknown, that makes him ask. He wasn’t happy in the castle with me. “It’s not safe in the castle. For you or for me, but particularly for you. We aren’t the same as them.” I nudge his shoulder. “I’m not leaving you alone. I’m going to come back to train you in your magic every other week. I’ll always be your fun cousin and friend. But I can’t look after you like you need.”

He leans his head on my shoulder, stretching out his hand. Flowers burst out of the ground, climbing up in the air until a bunch of purple roses are left for us to look at. “Your control is better than mine. I’m impressed, cousin.” He still looks like I’m leaving him forever. “You’ll be safe, I promise. I wouldn’t have left you here with them if I wasn’t absolutely certain of that. You’re my family.”

“They aren’t.” He crosses his arms tight.

I wrap my arm around him. “They can be family, too. You choose your family. You don’t always get to be born into it.”

He whispers low. “My father is out there. Sometimes I feel him in the earth beneath my feet. Like he’s checking on me.”

“My mother’s still out there, too.” I close my eyes, almost feeling her in the air. Sometimes I swear I see her in the sky. “They disappeared, which is good for everybody, but we both know he can’t come for you, Paxton. He wouldn’t dare come and take you. It would break the oath he made in blood.”

“I think he will break it one day,” Paxton admits. “I hope I’m stronger when that day comes.”

Sometimes, he speaks so much more maturely than he should have to. I want him to be a kid. He deserves a childhood. His foster mother, Lady, comes out of the house and walks over to us. She brushes her fingers across the roses. “Oh, Paxton, these are so lovely!”

“They aren’t for you. Purple is Posy’s favorite color,” he sharply replies.

She hides the hurt. “I’ve made lunch. I made your favorite.” He doesn’t look at her with open hostility, just wariness before he nods. Paxton jumps off and looks at me. “Are you coming in?”

“In a minute,” I tell him. I stand up off the wall before he gives me a quick hug before running inside. Lady watches him go. “I hope I get a hug like that soon.”

“He’ll come round,” I tell her. “I’m not stopping for lunch. I need to get back. Things to do.”

“You will be back, though?” Her cheeks brighten. “I mean, Paxton needs you. We’re looking to adopt them both permanently. I know Paxton will remember that I’m not his mom, but Emily, she calls me mom already. I’m hoping Paxton will come around to the idea, eventually. We intend to protect him, love him, give him a sense of normality here, away from everything.”

“You know how to contact me if you need me, but I will be back. Tell Paxton I had to go.” I pause. I can be nice, I remind myself. “He likes the baking, by the way. Though he might not say it. I know he does. He was too skinny when we met, and he loves food.”

Her eyes fill with tears. “Then I’m going to cook for him as much as I can. He is a precious boy.”

“Special.” I nod in agreement.

---