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“Thank you all so much for what you’ve done for our family.” Delilah hugged Aurora one last time and stepped into the light. It blazed brightly and slowly dissolved.

“Are you okay?” Everly asked, hugging Aurora.

“That’s the first time I ever saw my mother,” Aurora said, swiping at her tears. “We don’t even have a picture of her.”

“We do now,” Ronan said. He was standing behind Fitzgibbon and Jude, holding his camera in his hands. “I snapped lots of pictures of you and Delilah and you and your mother.”

“Thank you, Uncle Ronan.” Aurora climbed back onto her chair and reached for Ronan’s phone.

“Who’s ready for cookies?” Ten asked, pulling the tray out of the oven.

“I am!” Ronan and Jude shouted.

Ten grinned and began handing out the still warm, chocolate chip cookies. He watched Aurora to see how she was handling what had just happened. Like Everly, Aurora seemed unaffected by what had just happened. No worse for wear. Ten couldn’t help notice a calmness that had settled around his niece. A peace that hadn’t been there before. He supposed meeting her blood family had brought the change to Aurora, but couldn’t help thinking it was the combination of her family with her found family that made all the difference.

EPILOGUE

Ronan

Halloween night…

Ronan sat at the kitchen table while Everly applied his princess makeup. He was going as Snow White and Everly wanted to make sure he looked the part. “We haven’t had much of a chance to talk. How are you doing?”

“I’m okay, Daddy. Still bummed about Aurora’s magic not working for me.” Everly shrugged as if she didn’t really care, but Ronan knew she did.

“You know we all have different talents, right?” Ronan asked. “I know how to find clues and solve cold cases. You and your father have your psychic gifts. We’re not meant to have every talent known to man.”

Everly sighed. “I know, it’s just that I’ve been able to do everything I’ve ever tried.”

“I know. Your power and strength are what makes you special. We’ve spent a lot of years watching your talents grow and mature, while Aurora had a front row seat to your progress, but not having anything of her own to compare that with.”

Everly stilled. “I never thought about it that way. Aurora’s been by my side for everything I’ve gone through. I know she’s tried to talk to ghosts and to see into the future, but she never could. I didn’t really think about how hard it must have been for her to watch and have nothing of her own.”

Aside from the chat about the birds and the bees, this was the last conversation like this Ronan wanted to have with his daughter. She was beautiful, talented, and sweet, but how did you explain to your child that she wasn’t meant to conquer the world one paranormal experience at a time? “So, what are you going to do next?”

“Just what Aurora has done for me. I’ll be by her side and help her any way I can.”

“I’m so proud of you,” Ronan said.

“Even though I can’t conjure fireflies or make flowers bloom?” Everly managed a giggle.

“I’m proud of you no matter what. But do you know what would make me the most proud?”

“Tell me.”

“If you were to donate all of your Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups to me. I mean, it’s the right thing to do.”

“You and your peanut butter cups.” Everly rolled her eyes. “I’ll do it, but you have to promise me we’ll always have talks like this.”

“I can guarantee that, honey. I want the absolute best for you in everything. These little talks keep us both on the right track.”

“How do they keep you on the right track?” Everly asked.

“Like I said, everyone has their own special talents. That goes for me, Jude, and Fitz too. There are things that they’re better at than I am and it’s always bothered me that Fitz is a better interrogator and Jude is better at research and connecting seemingly unconnected dots. Thinking about it now, in relation to you and Aurora, I realized that the reason we make such a great team is because we all bring different strengths. We wouldn’t be half as effective if we were all only good at one part of being a detective, right?”

“Right,” Everly agreed. “I’m glad I can help you too, Daddy.”

“I am too, but there’s one more thing we need to talk about.” Ronan wasn’t thrilled at the idea of the topic, but knew it needed to be talked about.