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A single tear escaped the corner of her eye.

Her final breath came on a whispered, “Father.”

Dagda closed his eyes, his head dropping forward. His daughter’s skin faded from its porcelain white to a deathly gray, her hair turning a similar shade of gray as the light of life left her. After a few moments, his back straightened. He extracted the dagger from Daeanna’s chest and carefully set her on the floor. A smoky haze began to envelop her body, encasing her in a cocoon until Shaye could no longer see her through the barrier.

“I gave you life, Daeanna, and today I take that life from you and deliver you back into the trusted hands of the Goddess. Farewell, my daughter.”

The cocoon shrank until it disappeared with one last whisp of gray, leaving the floor at Dagda’s knees empty.

Dagda lifted his head, the regal king returning. A small circle of red stained his otherwise pristine robes directly over his heart. His sun-blazing gaze met Shaye’s and he gave a slight nod. As the silence stretched between them, Shaye’s arms instinctively tightened around Moira and his sons.

No words needed to be spoken. Dagda’s gaze said everything.

For the first time in his life, the burden of worry lifted from Shaye’s shoulders completely.

’Twas over.

45

Bryce hesitated at the door, glancing back at Rihanna. She smiled a familiar serene smile, her violet eyes bright. She touched his cheek with two fingers, a reassuring caress before she nodded.

“’Tis fine, beloved. ’Tis something you’ll regret if you don’t do it now,” she said quietly.

His little bird. Always so wise and patient. So understanding and kind. It was an honor to stand beside her, together. The events of the last few hours had certainly left him with a new view on life, realms, magic and power and all the things he’d once thought to be fantasies and fairytales.

Rihanna?

She reinforced the significance of Fate. Renewed his belief in goodness and the promise of happily-ever-after.

Rihanna pressed up on her toes and graced his cheek with an airy kiss. “Go, before ’tis too late.”

Bryce sucked in a breath and pushed open the simple wooden door.

It was a small room with little décor other than a plain table and a single chair beside a basic twin bed. A thin whitesheet was pulled up over the occupant, who whimpered as the Fae healer whispered soothing words, guiding a wooden bowl to her patient’s lips.

“Drink to help you heal. ’Tis a remedy from the Seelie king’s own healer.”

Bryce cleared his throat, announcing his arrival. The healer carefully lifted the bowl away and eased her patient’s head down on the single pillow.

Kate blinked at him, her dark eyes filled with pain and regret. Her expression shattered and she looked away, sucking her bottom lip between her teeth. Her arms were wrapped in damp bandages up to her shoulders, small patches of sanguineous drainage staining the fabric.

The healer stood up, bowed her head toward him, and quietly left the room, closing the door behind her. Bryce took the healer’s seat at the bedside and picked up the warm bowl containing a thickened liquid. Then he waited for Kate to face him. He glanced over her unkempt hair and bruised face, so unlike Kate.

After several minutes of awkward silence, Bryce sighed. “I heard that had it not been for you, the king wouldn’t have been released in time to keep a massacre from taking place.”

He barely caught the flinch that crossed Kate’s face. Kate Felton, the woman he’d known never to fall, never to break, lay broken by her fall from grace. The confident and overbearing woman he’d known all his life appeared to be weak, helpless, and utterly vulnerable. This was not a version of Kate he knew how to approach. This was a version of Kate he pitied.

“Here. Why don’t you drink a little more of the medicine? Is it helping with the pain?”

“Are the children safe? The baby?” Kate asked, her voice scratchy.

“Yes. All the children, including the baby, are safe and have returned to their families.” Bryce leaned forward, cupping the bowl between his hands. “You know, Kate, what you did was selfless and brave. You risked yourself to save others. People you don’t even know. You put everything aside—”

“I’m so, so sorry Bryce.” Kate’s shoulders heaved on a silent sob, one that he barely heard but recognized from a handful of times he’d actually seen her cry. She turned her head to him at last, her eyes glistening with tears, her cheeks stained with old tears and shimmering with new. Her chin quivered as she tried to stave her sobs, but they broke through her defenses in splintered sounds. “I never meant for any of this to happen. I had no idea who she was and when I realized her true intentions and how easily she pulled me in using my emotions, it was too late. All I wanted was for you to come back to me. That’s all. I never wanted to learn about faeries and different worlds and magic and wars. I never wanted people to get hurt. I was just…just…”

“You were grieving our breakup. I understand, even if the way you went about things wasn’t right. And who would’ve ever guessed all of this actually exists?” He lifted the bowl. “I mean, magical healing drinks? I think I’m going to embark on a new path of medicine.”

Kate’s lips barely curled in a small grin before it was washed away by another stifled sob. Bryce shifted from the chair to the edge of the bed, wedged his hand beneath her head, and lifted her off the pillow.