“I’m going to break it in three. And we are going to end all of this in secret right the fuck now. We take back power in secret. I don’t give a fuck if Fae think it needs to be ceremonial. It’s now or never.” Ash leaps out of his way. “I have a whole court to wake up. Tiana has a court burnt to a crisp. And Kestra? The Unseelie? No one has heard from Moros and that’s a bad, bad sign.”
“Gimme. I’ll bite it.” Vanessa launches herself at Ash and they go tumbling over a table.
I rush across the bar to the tangle of limbs. Ash is laughing, sitting up, the stone sits broken by her fall.
In three pieces. “Fate agreed,” Ash says.
“You broke my stone.” Dagda looks surprised even for him.
“Tiana? Kestra?” Ash glances at them.
“Honestly, I agree with Ash.” Tiana toes off her sandals and Kestra is already on her second boot. “Fuck everyone else.”
“I like these queens,” Macha says, chomping on what looks like a bone.
They stand in a circle each with a foot on a stone.
I step forward toward Kieran and Orion.
Orion grips the Cauldron with both hands and shoves it into his chest like a man trying to put his own heart back.
The sound he makes. I don’t have a word for it. Not pain. Not relief. Something between the two that lives in a place language hasn’t reached yet. His knees buckle for half a second before he catches himself. His gaze flares orange-bright. The heat rolling off him doubles, triples, and my shirt singes at the collar.
“Little guardian,” Dagda murmurs, and his voice is the softest I’ve ever heard it. “Welcome back.”
Orion doesn’t answer. He just stands there breathing like he’s remembering how.
There’s a sadness to the air that I think only the three of us can feel. Kieran’s jaw is set in that way that means he’s already said goodbye to something and doesn’t plan on talking about it. Orion’s gaze is bright. Almost feral. The part of him that was always too wild for any court has finally been let out of its cage.
And me. I keep waiting for the grief to hit and instead there’s this lightness in my chest that I don’t have a name for. No longer Seelie. No longer hers.
Wild Court.
I’ve never said those words about myself before. They taste the way a first meal tastes after a long fast.
My entire life existed in the Seelie Court. A home that never truly felt like home. A place to go when the days were lonely andthe nights sleepless. Even though it never truly felt like one? It was mine. And now? To sever it.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“My Cauldron.” Orion holds his hands out.
“For now,” Dagda says. “One court must not own all the power.”
I tilt my head. The Crown whispers.
“It’s time.” I exhale, knowing one day I’ll need to find someone worthy of carrying this. But not today. Today it’s mine and it’s going to help me protect the people standing in this room.
I reach for Orion’s hand and his warm fingers close around mine. Steady and sure. The Cauldron hums through him and into me and the Crown answers, harmonics layering on harmonics until the air between us vibrates.
Then I reach for Kieran.
His fingers are right there. The bond mark pulses at his wrist. His shadows reach back toward me like they know what’s coming even if he doesn’t.
An inch. Maybe less.
And then I’m gone. Simply fucking gone.
The air tastes like ash. Not her. Actual ash. Smoke and char and something sweet underneath that I don’t want to identify.
