With a hole where her heart should be, Lunara nodded.
There was a shift in the room as others pulled closer, familiar power radiating off of them to mesh with her own. The strength of it permeated straight through her skin, a buzzing sensation that rippled in time with numerous heartbeats. She’d known there were creatures around, but the realization ofwhohadn’t truly registered.
“Magnus,” she whispered, refusing to look.
“Aye, lass?”
“Please, for the love of the Sisters, tell me I’m not going to find your entire family around my sickbed.”
“Well, I hate to disappoint, but…” His eyes shifted towards the room before he gave her a pointed look.
Shitting stars. Just what you need. Twice you’ve faced the Imperial Sovereigns, and twice you’ve mauled them.
“I don’t know if I can do it.” Her tone was pleading. “The last time I saw them?—”
“You gave us more excitement than we’ve had in an age, little sister,” he said, smoothing her hair and leaning in a little closer. “You forget we’re your family now. You’re one of ours. We’ve all done far worse than toss each other against a wall here and there—on purpose and just for the laugh—and we still stand at each other’s side when needed. That’s what happens when people love you, witchling. They don’t run screaming just ‘cause you’ve thrown a wee fit. Go on, look and see.”
Tears welled anew, his words wrecking her. He was so earnest as he peered down at her that she had no choice but to trust him. To believe there was a family waiting on the other side of her fear.
Which was how Lunara found herself staring back at the Imperial Sovereigns and their remaining Sons, and sobbing all over again.
Alwyn and Fionerysfell upon Lunara, their arms wrapping tight. She’d never thought to see them again. To face them.
Engulfed in their embraces, she searched for any words that would make it bearable. All she could come up with was, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Itried.”
“Shh.” Alwyn pulled back and swept her hair away, tucking it behind her ear. “No one understands what you’re feeling right now more than we do,” he said, his voice like summer rain. Clipped, powerful, but no less warm for it. “No one, daughter.”
“Beloved daughter.” Fionerys squeezed even tighter, the frost in her hair soothing against Lunara’s cheek. “We’re so relieved to have you back.”
Confused didn’t even begin to cover it.
She’d met them once, accidentally abused them, tried to end herself, and then disappeared in the night, and they were calling herdaughter.
Again.
It helped her regain some composure, the disbelief grounding her—until the empress leaned back with a weighted sigh and the light caught her face.
Damn it all.
Just the other day, she’d finally noticed how starkly Brand and Magnus resembled one another. Now, their parents’ features slammed into her in ways they hadn’t before.
Alwyn’s heavy, bronze-eyed gaze, sitting beneath an arched and furrowed brow exactly like Brand’s. Fionerys’s strong nose, with the same, tiny bump at the bridge. The same regal cheekbones.
Worse when Amunkar stepped forward, his umber stare both devastated and aloof. The loving brother and the future emperor. An expression so like the one Brand had often worn when they’d first met—a male at war with himself—that Lunara had to choke back a whimper creeping up her throat.
“Magnus is right,” he said in that deeply resonant voice of his. “You must understand, we areBlessed.With the exception of our dearest mama, every person in this room has lost control as they came into their gifted powers. You losing yourself was nothing for us.” His smile was sad. “I once set fire to the entire top floor of Argoph. Thestonefloor.”
Before Lunara could respond, Vann chimed in, quiet. “I got stuck in a loop during suppertime while some of my abilities manifested. Everyone in the palace was trapped, watching their food rot and restore itself again. We all relived the same thirty seconds, over and over, for nearly a week. In the end, it was hilarious.”
She had no idea what he meant byloop,but the square cut of his jaw, the way his head tilted to the side… For all of her skepticism surrounding the Second Imperial Son, hefeltthe most like his missing brother. Like she could squint and Brand would appear in shy shades of silver before her blurry eyes.
“Yes,” Fionerys said, huffing. “Magnus was a babe and had just swallowed a bite. The five of us were rooted at the table watching his food go down and back up again the entire time.”
Lunara couldn’t help the tragic sound that bubbled out of her, somewhere between a giggle and a whine.
“It should be noted I was stuck in my wolf form at the time,” Magnus admitted. “It was nearly another year after that debacle before I found my way back to my own body. That happened many times. The worst was when I shifted a few months after Brand was born and was stuck until he was five.Five, witchling. Brand didn’t realize I was his brother. He thought I was nought more than a loyal and steadfast pet.”
“One that followed him everywhere,” Vann said.
