Sylvia
“Promise you won’t disappear again.” Hazel’s whispered plea made me tighten my hold around her. She was trying to sound brave, but the wobble in her voice betrayed the tears she was undoubtedly blinking back.
I smoothed a hand through her hair as I cradled her. “We’re free now. No one is here to banish us ever again.” Kissing the top of her head, I gave her a final squeeze. “Nothing will tear us apart. This is just a physical change. Nothing more.”
Sniffling, Hazel gave me a solemn look that was beyond her years. “I… I’m glad Father won’t have to be alone in being human anymore.” But fresh tears continued to pool all the same.
Mother alighted on the table and gently pulled Hazel away. She cupped my cheek, her thumb brushing against my traitor mark. As I met her eyes, there wasso muchburied within. Warmth, yes, but an equal measure of grief that was reserved for whatever outcome of this transformation.
“I love you.” Her voice shook nearly as much as Hazel’s. “But I will never approve of this.”
The words punctured me. After everything, her lack of approval lit a bitter fire in my chest.
Nonetheless, I forced myself to understand her sorrow. Of course she could never come around to the idea of losing another loved one to this transformation. She would make no effort to hide her desire that I choose my fairy form in the end.
If I weren’t worried about inspiring an argument, I might have curtly wished she would encourage me to choose my own happiness, no matter which form it took. But there was no changing what she thought. She was here, and even if she didn’t approve, she wasn’t standing in the way of my decision.
“Will you stay?” I asked instead.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Mother promised, and comfort seized me despite everything.
Another buzz of wings approached. Ben was the only other fairy left in the room. Zia and Rowan had vacated to give me privacy. Although Zia had quite sweetly wished me luck before leaving, I wasn’t surprised that Rowan still eyed me like I was a madwoman.
As Ben landed before me, he didn’t seem to know what to do with himself. Then he haltingly stepped forward and buried me in a hug. I stiffened, then wrapped my arms around him in return.
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” he murmured, and a shiver ran through my body as I recalled how it felt to allow my energy to flow into his ruinous glamour attack. “If you’ll allow me to stay, I can help if the gem magic isn’t enough.”
My eyes stung. “You’re allowed to stay with or without your magic.”
When we released each other, I found that Delilah had finished laying out a vast silken sheet for me on the floorboards. I steadied my breath and looked around the room, nearly overwhelmed by the sight of everyone who insisted onremaining by my side. My family. Jon and Cliff. Delilah, Lee, and Ben.
Trancelike, I followed Delilah’s instructions to lie bare under the sheet. The floorboards were cold against my wings and back. I stared across the fabric, trying to wrap my mind around the understanding that I would soon fill out so much more of it. If I survived.
If.
Delilah knelt, dragging a piece of chalk across the floor to form the rune. As each drawn line brought me closer to the start of the transformation, I sensed a faint buzz from the piece of chalk, like it had been forged with her power. Anxious as I was, Delilah’s spellwork spoke for itself. She was capable. She would take me through this.
But it could still go wrong, this cobbled-together thing.
Icy fear snaked through me like the scrape of the chalk. As I scanned the room once more, my eyes settled on Jon and Cliff, who stood back and observed me with reverence. My heart swelled with love for them. This was happening. It washappening.
My trembling worsened, but not from sheer terror. Even if something went terribly wrong, I couldn’t imagine a more beautiful end than being surrounded by the people I held dearest in my heart.
But I’m not going to die. I’ve fought too hard for this to die today.
I would make it through. I would see my loved ones again shortly.
Delilah finished the rune with a resolute stroke of the chalk, then sighed in satisfaction. “Ready for this?”
Swallowing hard, I nodded. “I am.”
Jon approached, careful not to smudge the chalk. He reached into his pocket and produced the ruby. It pulsed like a heart ashe handed it off to me. Settling back, I hugged the gemstone to my front. I nearly forgot where I was for a second, focused on the tidal wave contained in my arms that begged to be released.
But the sight of Jon drew me back to this moment. He stayed knelt over me for several moments more, eyes brimming with countless words that couldn’t seem to find their way to his lips.
“When I finish up with this,” I said softly, “what’s first? Teaching me how to drive, or how to shoot?”
He gave a startled chuckle before finding his voice. “Let me decide which of those scares the shit out of me more, and we’ll go from there.”
