Cara notices too. “They’ll be okay, won’t they?” she says, as she turns towards the vampire.
“They are going to be brilliant,” Ned replies.
And I believe it. Everything is going to be brilliant.
The sky hasn’t fallen. The fey haven’t returned to the house. Here at our little oasis, it is as if nothing’s changed.
Even so, Monty’s putting together extra wards to keep the place as protected as possible. Mal and Gray are planning some kind of new barrier system. Pink and Lello are bickering and doing whatever the hell it is they are doing.
All just in case. Everyone is pretty certain the fey are going to keep their word. Even I know that about them. Fairytales are full of stuff about it.
We are safe. Everyone I love is safe. Jade is out of that fucking dungeon. I get to live in a giant, posh and fancy house with a found family who I adore. It is chaos and noise and everything I love.
It feels like life. A real one. Maybe for the first time.
Tomorrow, my parents will get here. The final piece. We’ll all be together.
And I’ve got something big planned. I reach into my pocket and feel the small box there.
Soon. Very soon.
Chapter thirty
Jade
The dining room feels like the heart of a world I never imagined I’d live in.
It’s long past sunset, but the high arched windows are glowing softly with reflected candlelight. Warmth spills from the great hearth behind me, crackling with logs that smell faintly of pine. The table stretches from one end of the dining room to the other, wide enough to seat an army, but it’s full of family. Messy, loud, loving family, and somehow, impossibly, I’m one of them.
There is enough space for three times as many people, but we are all squished in together at one end. We’re all crammed in elbow-to-elbow, passing plates, swapping jokes, refilling glasses. The food is warm and homey. Roast chicken with rosemary and lemon, great bowls of buttery mashed potatoes, sharp apple-and-fennel salad tossed with honey and cider vinegar. I can barely keep up with the offers being slung across the table. “Have you tried the bread pudding?” “There’s still gravy!” “Sorcha, darling, don’t put peas in the candle again.”
Sorcha, perched proudly on a cushion that’s on a chair between Lottie and Oscar, is wearing a paper crown and bossing the entire table like she’s the Empress of Everything. Ned’s boys are dutifully obeying her every decree, while Lottie appears to be planning a quiet coup.
I smile.
To my left, Flyn’s mother is giggling with Brodie over something Red said. Flyn’s dad is deep in conversation with Monty about whether the gardens could support a proper orchard. Across from me, Lello is resting his chin on Carter’s shoulder and rhythmically poking a bread roll with his fork. Every few minutes, Carter sighs and offers his mate a different dish in a clear effort to distract him.
At the far end of the table, Morgan is talking excitedly about something, while Ned offers solemn commentary.
Conversation continues, lively and joyful, and I let myself sink into the rhythm of it. There’s no tension here, no secrets, no fear. It’s as far from the harem as it’s possible to be. That place was silence and control. This is noise and mess and love in every direction.
And Flyn… Flyn is watching it all like he’s been gifted a dream.
He’s not talking. Not right now. Just leaning back slightly, glass in hand, gaze sweeping the room like he still can’t believe this is real. I know the feeling.
He catches me watching and smiles.
My heart trips over itself.
Cara leans closer, nudging me gently with her elbow. “It’s something, isn’t it?”
I glance at her. “It’s… everything.”
Her face softens. “It’s far more than I hoped for. After… well, after the invasion. After I found out magic was real and my brother’s soulmate used to accidentally open portals in his sleep.”
I wince. “Used to.”
“Used to,” she agrees, like she’s proud of me.
