I was no longer in a frozen forest, but a meadow. No, it was a field. A field of tulips. That was not what confused me. It was the two men, stretched out on a blanket, bickering good-naturedly with one another.
Garrick’s shirt hung open, revealing the spray of silver hair across his chest. His skin always tended towards golden, but it was deeply tanned now, as if he’d been lying in this field for hours. Every time he moved, one of his huge limbs knocked against the slender tulip stems and sent a ripple through the field.
Beside him lay Syleris. He was naked to the waist, leaving the two chevrons that marked our bond clearly visible on his chest. He was so dark against the bright greenery all around. Yellow and red flowers hung down over him. He swatted one away. It left a little dash of golden pollen in his silky black hair.
The two of them looked so insanely out of place that a giggle bubbled out of my chest. I clapped my hand to my own mouth in surprise.
“This was her idea, and now she laughs at us,” Garrick said, smirking up at me. Dark God save me, I could spend all day looking at that smirk. Maybe kissing it, too.
“As long as I get to participate,”Syleris purred into my mind.
Overhead, the sound of wingbeats filled the air. I looked up to see a massive dragon soaring through the sky. Her scales shimmered nearly white against the bright blue sky. Then she banked to the side, and I caught flashes of lavender and turquoise. Isanara.
Dark God below… I knew dragons got large, but she was massive. With every beat of her wings, she proved how strong and healthy she was, too. She was so beautiful.
“Not as beautiful as you,” Syleris said, drawing my attention back to the earth.
I knelt down to join them. How could I not? They left a space for me on the blanket, right between them.
“This is perfect,” I murmured as I settled down. Garrick extended an arm beneath me. I nestled into his shoulder. Syleris caught my legs and dragged them across his lap.
“This is ridiculous,” he said.
I lifted my hand and sent a lazy plume of ice and snow in his direction. I avoided the flowers—I’d never damage a tulip. But a fat pile of snow surrounded Syleris’ head, and his thick black eyelashes sparkled with frost.
“You shall pay for that, sweetling.” Syleris shoved my legs aside and launched himself atop me. He covered me with kisses while I formed snowballs in my hand and tried to shove them down his pants. Garrick laughed and pushed Syleris back every time he tried to drag him into the conflict.
My power came easily, joyfully. I felt no fear of it spiraling out of control. My chest was full. Heart not beating, but happy. Alive in the only way that mattered.
We collapsed a few minutes later, gasping for breath, more than a little aroused. Syleris rested his head on my stomach. Garrick tightened his hand around my shoulder.
I leaned into him, savoring his warmth and steadiness. Something was poking my leg. I shifted around, rearranging the thick skirts of my gown, but my pocket was full and weighed down.
The talismans.
I couldn’t stay here.
This may beafuture, but it was not the only one, and it did not tell me anything about the present. Nothing here confirmed that Maura and the fae king had been defeated. This could be Velora free of the curse, safe and peaceful, or it could be another continent entirely.
But it would be so easy to stay here. With Garrick on one side and Syleris on the other. With my dragon soaring high overhead, alive to see her adulthood. She was so much more magnificent than I’d ever imagined.
This is not real, I reminded myself.
But it could be. I could choose this. I felt deeply certain of that fact.
I could choose it. But I wouldn’t.
I did not know why I’d waited this long. But that was a lie, and I was supposed to be done lying to myself. I’d hoped that if I kept them, I’d eventually figure it out. Why had Maura and the fae king conspired? What did it have to do with Isanara? But I was just wasting time. The longer I kept them intact, the more chance they had of falling back into Maura’s hands.
I closedmy eyes and breathed deeply. The scent of tulips in bloom. Of Garrick’s cinnamon and wine taste. Syleris and his endless night. I let them fill my senses and give me the strength to walk away. For Velora.
I stood up.
One by one, I pulled the talismans from my pocket. In the end, destroying them was simple. The salt cellar was made of porcelain. I dropped its temperature a few degrees, and all it took was a good throw at the ground for it to shatter into a hundred pieces. Next was the signet ring. Just like the gold locking mechanism I’d destroyed, I cooled it until it was brittle enough to snap in half, then again, a few dozen times. The jeweled comb was the easiest. It was a delicate thing to begin with. It disintegrated in my hand when it got cold enough.
The dagger was the hardest. The swirled alloy of the blade resisted my attempts. I channeled deep into my power, just as Syleris had shown me. I was not afraid of it anymore. I needed it—to destroy the talisman and save Velora.
Finally, the blade fractured in my hand. Three pieces, unlike the dozens and hundreds the others had broken down into. But it was enough. All four of Maura’s talismans were destroyed.
