“I believe that’s Alastor-speak forI’ll miss you.”
Alastor’s mouth curved. “Do not make me miss you,” he said.
“Yeah, yeah.” Javier closed the distance and pulled Alastor in for a hug. “I’ll visit.”
“A lot,” Jasmine said, her arms crossed and chin lifted.
Javier reached over to ruffle her hair. “A lot.”
Kassidy was already waiting near the dragons. Javier hesitated for a few beats before he followed her and climbed atop Sama. He looked back once and offered a single nod before they rose into the open sky together.
The fire crackled low,its embers pulsing against the dark. Around it, laughter wove through the night.
Elias sat between Teddy’s legs, the twins sleeping on their shoulders, and the rest of the younglings playing at their feet. Luana sprawled beside them, tail twitching. Etienne settled cross-legged with Frisky batting at the end of his sleeve. Ryenne and Nate were locked in a ridiculous argument against Sierra and Donnie while Everly and George played a game involving stones.
Beside me, Brenton pressed his leg against mine and turned his hand over to reveal my bracelet. Once broken, now whole. He added a couple of new stones, smooth and perfect, with tiny, dried flowers. He’d given it to me when we were still younglings, trying to make something beautiful out of what little we had.
He studied me for a few beats before he brushed it along my wrist, carefully clasping it back on. Somehow, having it back made me feel complete.
“I still can’t believe you kept it all this time,” he said.
“I don’t throw away things that matter,” I said.
The corners of his mouth angled up. “What do you call tossing me in the river when we were ten?”
“You bit me,” I huffed out, trying to bite back the giggle that built at the memory.
He laughed, but before he could retort, Alastor dropped a handful of marshmallows on a rock near us, handing out sticks. Soon, the scent of toasted sugar wafted through the air.
I leaned into Brenton, resting my head on his shoulder, and looked down at my bracelet. The mix of old and newstones glistened against the firelight, tiny, fragile things that had somehow survived storms that should’ve broken them.
It was a wonder how anything so delicate could endure. How love could endure.
How it could be rebuilt.
Maybe not the same, but something stronger. Something resilient that could bend at the places where it’d once cracked.
Maybe that was what happened when you loved with your whole heart, and not the guarded pieces you offered out of fear. Maybe love wasn’t about avoiding the breaks but choosing, repeatedly, to grow back in ways that made you stronger.
Sitting there, next to Brenton, feeling his warmth against my skin, I realized I wasn’t afraid of the cracks anymore. Not when we were learning how to fill them together.
Chapter
Forty-Seven
BRENTON
Morning came without rushing—justa quiet stretch over the trees and homes of Respandora. The city hummed faintly as the shifter mages woke and the steady rhythm of magic was restored.
I felt my magic with every inhale, the subtle stream between Finley’s and my bond flowing through me in quiet content.
She stood at a clearing in my yard, ready and waiting alongside Hoshiko. Luana barked once, running in circles around Hoshiko’s tail. Finley turned when I approached, her hand moving to touch Ashara’s outstretched wing. The bracelet I’d mended gleamed against her wrist. Old stones dulled by time, new ones glowing like fresh promises.
I reached for her hand, my heart skipping when her palm slipped against mine.
“Ready?” I asked.
She tilted her head, her eyes glistening with mischief. “You’re the one taking a hundred years.”
