Joy wells behind my breastbone as we surface in the courtyard emptied of enemies, under a sky that isn’t illuminated by a new dawn, but by celestial flares of greens, pinks, and violets. A spectacle of light rendered all the more dazzling by the thousand black wings beating against it.
Though many Crows land and weave their feathers into flesh, I’ve eyes only for one.
Only forhim.
Epilogue
Cathal
“Dádhi, if you don’t stop fussing with your collar and hair, I will magick away your hands,” Fallon warns as she refastens the top button on my stand-up black collar before smoothing a lock that my restless fingers tore out of alignment.
Cruaih winds her long, agile body around my ankles. As I drop my fingers into her fluffy coat and caress, I ask, “What if your mother finds me lacking?”
Fallon laughs. When I don’t, she squats in front of where I sit on the opulent,leggedsofa Zendaya had designed for our bedchamber.
Forme.
“Dádhi”—my daughter has to spread her knees to accommodate her swollen abdomen—“not only are you and Mádhi mates, but she adores you—tetchy side and all.”
I arch an eyebrow and grunt, “Tetchy?”
“Yes.Tetchy. Thank the Cauldron that trait of your personality didn’t bleed into mine.” Fallon pats my knee before rising and readjusting the skirt cinched high around her ribs with a jeweled ribbon.
I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that I’m about to become a grandfather. I’m far more eager for this milestone than I am for the one looming ahead. Though I want nothing more than to live with Zendaya for all of eternity, I want nothing less than to profess my passion for this woman in front of a rowdy horde while she crowns me her king.
I was entirely satisfied with being just her mate.
“Isla,” Fallon suddenly murmurs.
“What?”
“That will be her name.”
It takes me a moment to understandwhosename, but when I do, my gaze perches on the hand Fallon lovingly strums across her stomach.
“It’s the last thing I saw when I flew. The island of Shabbe.” She swallows, blinks. And then she smiles. “It’s perfect, isn’t it?”
I, too, swallow and blink, but even though I try, I cannot muster a smile. Though I’ll forever be grateful to the Cauldron for not only bringing my mate back but also my friend, Erwin—after weeks of canvasing Shabbe with a frantic Liora—a part of me will always grieve the cost of curse-breaking.
“Shall we?” Fallon holds out her arm.
“I love you, ínon,” I blurt out, unsure whether I ever spoke the words out loud.
Fallon smiles. “If this is some underhanded way to placate me so I don’t lead you out there, then?—”
“It’s not. I was just?—”
“I adore you, too, Dádhi. And I couldn’t have dreamed of a better father.”
My throat bobs. My nose stings. Goddess below, I cannot be about to weep. Can I?
“Up.” Fallon joggles her forearm to remind me to stand. As I comply, she adds, “You’ll be so practiced for next week.”
“Next week?” I ask, linking our arms.
“Mynuptials, Dádhi. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten? Then again, you live here and not in the Sky Kingdom, so you haven’t been exposed to the whirlwind team of party planners that is Arin, Phoebus, and Sybille. You’d think an infant would’ve slowed her down, but it just upped her vitality and efficacy. She is exhausting—in the best possible way. Do you know thatBottomis turning such a huge profit, she’s asked to buy a concession on Isolacuori to open a fancier tavern?”
My daughter’s cheerful rambling chips away at my crackling nerves.
