We were on the top floor balcony, and the world surrounding Delilah’s home had become a veritable jungle. I turned my head side to side, unable to drink it all in fast enough. Impossible leafy vines hung from pines in droves. Flowers blossomed across rocky terrain. Melted snow trickled across the ground like bubbling streams.
I hovered past the railing and brought my hands to my mouth as I took it all in, too frightened of disappointment to allow myself to accept what this meant.
“H-how…”
“Sylv.”
Heart pounding, I turned slowly to find that Jon had laid out half a dozen gemstones on the balcony railing in a tidy line. I trembled head to toe as I flew lower to examine them.
“Y-you…” I looked at Jon in bewilderment. “How?”
“Hey, you know me.” He held up his hands and shrugged. “Can’t help it sometimes.”
Tears blurred my vision. The noise I made fell somewhere between a laugh and a sob. I touched each gemstone in turn, searching. One by one, I pushed them off the rail to land on the balcony inconsequentially. They were nothing to me; just empty vessels. Two sapphires, an emerald, a garnet, a peridot, and…
I landed on the wood railing and dropped onto my knees. My hand rested upon the final stone—a ruby. It was about the size of the gem I’d stolen in Veloria. It pulsed under my palm like a red, beating heart. The raw power within nearly made me swoon. I forced my hand away and looked up at Jon as tears finally spilled onto my cheeks.
“This one. I…I think I can do it.” The impossible admission hung between us, dreamlike. I glance down at the rest of the property, toward the path that brought us here. “Even with Delilah’s help, I was starting to believe a transformation could only ever be temporary, but… Now, withhim.” I shook my head in disbelief. “If Father had the ability to turn back, surely he would have. If I change, it could be permanent.”
As I turned to Jon, the uncertainty on his face tugged at my heart.
“Is that really what you would want?” he asked. “Something permanent?”
My breathing turned shallow as I became dizzy at the now imminent prospect. He cupped his hands around me and leaned down, thumbs brushing along my arms.
“I love you, Sylv,” he murmured. “Just like this. Gem or no gem.”
I leaned into his touch—safe, warm,desired.
“I love you, too. But I want the whole world,” I said, meeting his adoring stare. “Not just a hidden corner anymore. You promised to build me a cabin, didn’t you? You can’t fill my head with dreams about making a home together in this fucked up world and then go back on your word.”
Jon looked at me with such affection that it made everything else melt away.
“I’m going to build you that cabin exactly the way I’ve shown it to you. Down to the last nail.”
My heartbeat pulsed in time with the power of the gemstone beside me. Heloved me.And he was mine, just as much.
The rumble of a distant engine broke us apart. I turned to find a single headlight down below, pulling toward the house.
Father had returned.
26
Sylvia
Uncertainty choked the air as we all crowded to watch Father make his way along the flagstone path toward the front door. Half of us peered through the curtains of one large window, while the others did the same at the adjacent one.
“You said he’s your father, right?” Ben whispered as though there was any chance Father could hear us from this distance and through the reinforced glass. “So why is he…?” He trailed off, gesturing vaguely.
“Between the explosion and the wildfire, I didn’t get a chance to ask,” I muttered.
Just the sight of Father’s painfully familiar face again was enough to make my breathing go shallow, like my lungs forgot how to work. Even though every blink felt more like a dream, the sight of everyone else sharing my anticipation was enough to ground me back into the moment.
To my surprise, Delilah seemed the most rapt. She barely reacted when Lee notched himself behind her with his chin on her head. There was a furrow between her slender brows like she was listening to something no one else could hear.
As Father dusted snow off his boots on the doormat, I wondered if it was the house itself she was attuned to, deciding if these enchanted walls deemed him a threat or not. After that harrowing encounter with the shapeshifter under Evercor’s employ, I could hardly fault her for scrutinizing him so harshly.
Something flickered in the soft light cast around him from the house—wings. Two small figures hovered behind Father’s shoulder, and the fiery hair was unmistakable. Fiery likemine.
