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She huffed a small laugh. “You think there is more I desire?”

“I told you, Little Fox. I will never deny you a thing.”

* * *

An hour later, a thick gold band with small alternating sapphire and diamonds inlaid along the entirety of it was on his finger. He’d asked Arianna to make him a set, and the Beta had again taken his request and made it her own.

Juliette had randomly appeared by the stream—conveniently with Drake, Azrael and Arantxa in tow—and here they stood. The union complete. He had a wife and a queen.

Drake was hugging his sister, murmuring congratulations into her ear. Then he reached to shake Callan’s hand. The moment their hands touched, Juliette sucked in a sharp breath. Startled, they all turned to face her, Callan reaching to tuck Tava into his side.

Juliette was staring beyond them, but when Callan glanced over his shoulder, there was nothing there. Her eyes were a vibrant violet and were nearly glowing.

“She sees things she does not understand,” Arantxa said, stepping between Juliette and the rest of them, a hand on the dagger at her hip. “Glimpses of truth. Glimpses of what could be.”

“Is it like the winds speaking to Ashtine?” Tava asked.

“No,” Azrael said. “This is different. The winds are wild and whisper of whatever they please. The Fates use Oracles to speak for them, to push for a destiny they desire.”

Juliette blinked. The faint glow of her eyes receded, but they remained a darker shade of violet. She swallowed, her throat bobbing with the motion. “When Scarlett took the wards down around the mortal lands…”

Everyone went utterly still.

Her gaze settled on Drake. “Your once-father said you do not understand the cost.”

“I recall,” Drake said slowly.

Juliette looked between the three mortals. “It would be wise to learn that cost before nothing can be done.”

Chapter30

Talwyn

“Come on,” Talwyn muttered, tugging on the tether around Thorne’s feathered neck.

The griffin had the audacity to squawk at her. Fuckingsquawk.He dug his back paws into the ground, his front talons making an awful screeching as he dragged them along the stone path.

“Idiotic beast,” she snarled, glaring at him.

He glared back.

She propped her hands on her hips, the rope still in hand. Huffing, she blew stray hair from her face.

She’d been out here for nearly three hours, arriving before the sun rose. Now it was above the horizon, bathing the world in the first day’s light. Ashtine had been sleeping soundly when she’d left. The princess had been… Well, not better, but not quite as sullen, perhaps? She still didn’t eat much, but she took the tonics Hazel prepared for her without argument. She still slept much of the day, but she accompanied Talwyn down to the aeries every day too.

Talwyn wasn’t entirely sure what she was supposed to do with the griffin. The High Witch just kept telling her she needed to spend time with him to strengthen their bond.

The bond they absolutely did not have.

She was sure at this point the creature had only approached her that day because it had wanted the apple she had been eating.

The plan had been to go for a short flight this morning, but that wasn’t going to happen when Thorne wouldn’t let her close enough to touch him. It had taken her an hour to even get the tether around his neck. It was the first time she had truly missed her magic. Conjuring a vine to use as a lead would have been so much easier than swinging a godsdamn rope above her head and tossing it at him over and over until it finally looped around his neck.

Then there had been getting him to even leave the fucking aerie.

In the last two hours, they’d made it a whole fifty feet from the doors. She was exhausted, sweaty, and irritated as hell.

Not that the griffin gave any sort of fucks.