“You can take the genie,” I decide. I want to make sure that she has someone to protect her from her protector.
She scowls at me. “Don’t be ridiculous. I can handle one prince and a bossy know it all disembodied entity.”
“It would make me feel better.”
“I’ll take the capons,” she reasons. “They still have a strange attachment to Charming since their pairing.”
As if choreographed, Hamish snuggles under Charming’s hovering butt like it’s her favorite place.
I sigh and nod. Charming stumbles to his feet, and I crouch to give Hamish and Eugene the stink eye. “Any funny business and you pluck his eyes out. Clear?”
Hamish pecks my hand, and Eugene squawks. I’ll take that as a yes.
“Why is Lorraine here?” Hart wonders as he scratches the mare’s ears. She eyeballs me like I’m her next snack.
“That would be my fault,” I admit. “She brought me here.”
All three knights blink at me. “She rode the untameable mare?” Nash mumbles.
“Of course she did,” Hart says with a shake of his head.
That stable boy put me on a crazy horse? Rude. Sucks to be him, because we have something special.
“We did things, saw things, heard things... and now we are bonded,” I say, strolling closer to her.
She snaps her teeth at me, making me jump back. “Okay, so it was a one-time thing.”
“You can ride with me,” Nash decides.
Everyone mounts their horses, and Charming and Gwyneth go in one direction, while the knights and I go in another. I glance over my shoulder at the same time as my sister and share a smile.
I’ll go rescue my dragon, and then we... are going to upend this world? Destroy it so that it can be rebuilt? Give everyone the freedom they deserve to live their own lives? Yes, that’s the right one.
Nash kisses my temple, bringing me back to the moment. “You are remarkable, you know that?” he tells me.
“How so?”
“I show you the darkest part of me and you stride over and kiss me when I look like that.”
I shrug. “We all contain a little darkness, Nash. I’m honored you feel comfortable enough to show me yours.”
The genie appears in a puff of purple glitter, spectacles perched on the end of his nose as he floats backward and flips through a book.
“What are you doing?” Malachi asks.
I eye the sword at his side. Excalibur has been quiet since my return, but the sense of connection isn’t lost. I think it’s sulking or feeling guilty for its part in my demise.
“I’m figuring out if I’m still bound to Daphne since her resurrection.”
Good question.
“What’s your conclusion?” Hart asks.
Genie slams the book closed, sneezes—sending glitter flying everywhere—and glares at me. “It depends.”
“On?” I wonder.
“If you still want me.”
