Elias tensed, a wave of ice rushing through him. He didn’t even hide his fear from me. It shot through the bond so quickly, it had me sucking in a sharp breath.
“Are they…” Elias stopped, and I could tell he was staring at the unshifted wolves. The pair we’d met when we first entered the palace. I couldn’t remember if I’d seen them during my time in the cages, and based on Thor’s reaction, he didn’t recognise either of them.
Cyrus bowed his head. “They are,” he said, sounding almost…defeated. “Don’t know if they’ll shift or not. Some of them did, when they submitted to you as Alpha. Your father was a decently strong Alpha himself, which is why he probably didn’t. And your mother, she might be too tuned into him to consider doing it, either.”
Elias remained silent for a moment, arms still folded over his chest. “Will they ever shift back?”
“Maybe,” Cyrus murmured, “but I’ll work with them. Make them remember why they should.”
“Don’t push them.” Elias just shook his head, both disappointed and saddened. “They might be better off the way they are.”
Cyrus nodded without a word and motioned for the wolves to follow him, likely to wherever it was they were keeping the shifters still trapped in their animal forms.
“Well, these family reunions have been depressing,” Damon murmured, hand brushing my shoulder from where he stood behind me, drawing my attention to him.
His eyes were locked on the Elysian demons transporting creatures back to the Underworld.
“Yeah,” Rowan said before I could respond. “They have been.”
“And unwelcome,” Elias growled, finally turning his back on everything else and facing me. His hands went to my cheeks, then to my stomach. “The only family I care about reuniting with is waiting for us on an island.”
Tears burned my eyes, heat swelling in my chest. “The kids.” Over a month of not seeing them, and now all I wanted to do was take them back to the manor and fall asleep with them again. I didn’t even care that I would wake up to sticky kisses from Maisie doused in maple syrup, or have Ginny sprawled out with her feet somehow in my face while she slept—totally unaware of anything around her. Hell, I would giveanything for Eloise to roll her eyes at me again because of a silly joke.
The corner of Elias’s lips tipped in a smile. “Why don’t we finally bring them and Thea home?”
“Please,” I whispered, looking around. “Let’s go home.”
“Home,” they all seemed to murmur in unison. It sounded like a mighty fine plan to me.
109
Ivy
Damon’s shadows dropped us on a beach not too dissimilar to our own. But rather than thick forest surrounding a large manor, the house standing before us looked like an Italian villa plucked right off a beach in the Mediterranean. Beautiful open arches that allowed you to look out over the now calm ocean, dramatic drops as it sat on the edge of a cliff; terracotta tiled roofs with terraces decorated with iron flourishes. The island was smaller than our own, and yet it looked so…cosy.
Someone screamed from a path leading up to the house, the sound prickling the hairs at the base of my neck with how familiar it was.
In the distance, I spotted Maisie standing with Eloise and Adrian’s brother, Griffon, dressed like they were about to spend a day at the beach.
Tears fell freely as I stepped out of the protective circle my mates formed around me. And as soon as my sisters saw me, they ran.
Vampire speed allowed me to be on the path in an instant, and I managed to catch Maisie as she threw herself into my arms. Violent sobs wracked her body as her arms curled around my neck so tightly, it was like she never intended to let go.
“I’ve got you, nugget,” I whispered, smoothing down her hair. “I’m not letting go. Ever.”
Eloise was slow to approach, yet tears streamed down her cheeks. “You won?” she asked, lips quivering. “We get to come home?”
“Yeah,” I said, voice hoarse. “You’re coming home with me. And then you are never, ever leaving my side again.”
Eloise collapsed beside me, and I pulled her into me with another arm, holding both as close as I possibly could. The sound of sandals smacking against stone brought my attention to Ginny, her long wild hair flowing behind her as she ran towards us, Thea close behind.
As soon as I saw them, I broke completely. Ginny was in my arms a moment later, face buried in my shoulder as Thea dropped behind me, resting her forehead against the back of mine.
A piece I knew had been missing since we were forced to say goodbye finally fell into place again. And with it came peace, knowing I’d made the right choice today.
I could never give them up again. Not for anything. Not after what they’d gone through—what we’d all been through. My sisters only had me and needed nothing else. Avalon had a small army of creatures who were better at leading them, who could give them what they needed to rebuild—to survive.
“You smell like ass,” Thea murmured in my ear, sniffling. “Good god, did you not shower before coming here?”
