“What if you were stronger?” Ares asks abruptly and I startle.
Ian turns to face him. “What are you talking about?”
Ares’ face is hard with determination as he sits on the foot of the bed, clenching his jaw. “Pull from me. More energy you have, the stronger you are, right? That’s what the assholes that started this whole thing were after; more power. So take what you need and thenfix her,” he commands, infusing his voice with such power that it begs even me to submit, and I’m just a human.
Ian’s eyes widen nervously. “Are you sure?”
Ares gives him a glare dark enough to flay skin. “Do it.” Then he shuts his eyes, implicitly trusting this relative stranger when he barely even trusts his own kind.
Ian lets out a shaky breath before readjusting his position, moving slowly like it’s a trap. Gradually, he relaxes, and I’m hyper attuned to how unnaturally still Ares is able to remain. When he clenches his hand I almost intervene, but the last thing I want is to distract Ian while he’s rooting around in there.
When he finally pulls back, Ares is pale and doesn’t immediately get up, but is still conscious. When he opens his eyes though, my heart nearly stops. Instead of the bright orange I’ve become so familiar with, his eyes are a dull copper laced with restrained panic.
“You won’t be able to shift for a while,” Ian states gently, his gray eyes swirling unlike before. “But it’s not permanent. It could take a couple of days to a few weeks for your energy to naturally replenish itself, but I promise it will.”
Ares jerks his head in understanding and I work my way over to him. I almost offer a hand to help him up before realizing he should probably stay seated and climb onto his lap instead to cover my blunder. He wraps his arms around my waist and rests his chin on top of my head. The only sign of his discomfort are his labored breaths that he tries to conceal.
Gently, I stroke my hand over his arm.I’m proud of you. I can’t imagine making the sacrifice you did.
“It wasn’t a sacrifice, I’m not stuck like this forever,”he reminds me and I lean back into his embrace.
I meant trusting a mage and risking it. That had to take a toll when you’ve already been through so much, Ares. I know how hard it was for you to go to the towns in the first place, but this? You’re remarkable, you know that?
He kisses the top of my head, tightening his grip. “Would you think less of me if I said I never want to set foot in one again? I gave it a try and honestly? Not a fan.”
A humored breath slips past my lips, but Ian’s hard at work on Sarah and I don’t want to risk distracting him.Even the little shifter-run one?
He mentally chuckles.“I could make an exception for Shady Grove. I just want to stay home and enjoy our lives in peace.”
Cole cuts in.“Are you kidding me? With Rin as our mate, nothing will be peaceful again. She’s far too exciting for that.”
“Okay,” Ian says, breaking the spell and withdrawing his trembling hands. Sarah’s already slumped back on her pillow, unconscious, and he looks about two seconds from following her lead. “Keep her hydrated while she’s out of it and have plenty of food on hand for when she wakes up.”
Freya’s openly weeping now, and she looks at Ian with such gratitude that it hurts to behold. “How can we repay you? We don’t have much, but-“
Ian shares a look with me, smiling softly. “I would have helped if you’d just asked, no need to be dramatic about it.”
Then, with his signature flair, he starts to slump in his chair, pushed to exhaustion despite all of the energy he borrowed from Ares. Osiris catches him, dragging Ian up and getting Cole to help drag him back to the truck so that we can find somewhere for the eccentric mage to sleep it off.
Climbing off of Ares’ lap, I smooth a lock of hair out of Sarah’s face. I may not be anything magical, but right now? Knowing that we’d never be here if I hadn’t taken the risk to run all of those weeks ago and set everything into motion?
For the first time in my life, I feel like that’s enough; thatI’menough. I might not be able to change the world by myself, but I’m not alone anymore.
Epilogue
One Year Later
“Hey, boss, we’re out of, well, pretty much everything again.” I turn to Ian, brushing the back of my wrist on my cheek to scratch an itch since my hands are still coated in flour.
“Shit. Okay, the apple squares should be cool enough to cut. Can you go finish them off so I can get this bread in the proof box?”
He gives me a mock salute before heading in that direction, snagging the icing to drizzle over the top as he passes the table. I adore the fact that I don’t need to hold his hand every step of the way like I do a few of the teenagers we finally were able to hire.
After all, it’d just be too ironic if Happy Endings burned to the ground.
I finish up just as Vin is pulling more donuts from the fryer and toss them in front of a fan on the rack to cool quicker. We can barely keep up today, but it’s an enjoyable sort of chaos. Time flies when you barely have time to take a drink, let alone think.
Ian passes off the pan and I head through the swinging door, sliding it into the nearly empty case and glancing at the line with a mixture of joy and dread.
