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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“ A lex…” Mother Kadris gasps, a broken sob, trying to pull away from him. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

He reaches forward to lay his other hand on her shaking shoulder, supporting her. “What was supposed to happen?”

Her shoulders slump, but she doesn’t shake him off. “I was supposed to make up for what I did. I was supposed to make it right. You weren’t meant to find out who I am.”

I draw nearer, approaching cautiously, but she isn’t accessing her power now.

Satisfied that she isn’t going to try anything, I settle quietly onto the floor.

A stern expression descends over Alexei’s face, an assassin’s countenance. “Explain.”

“It’s a long story,” she whispers.

Alexei glances at me, his stern mouth softening. “We have time.”

Her voice is soft, barely a whisper. “Hundreds of years ago… I was cold and cruel, ambitious. I traded favors for souls without a second thought. Then I met a powerful man and wanted his soul more than anything. He was willing to give it to me in exchange for a particular magical power. I didn’t care why.

I didn’t even ask. I took his soul and gave him what he wanted, but he did unspeakable things to innocent supernaturals. ”

Alexei’s gaze flashes to mine. “You’re talking about the man who created assassin’s magic. You gave him the power that started it all.”

She nods. “Josiah Baines. Slade Baines’ ancestor. I gave Josiah the power over metal that allowed him to rip apart the wings of Valkyrie and Keres alike. He was the first ringmaker. He used his power for evil.

“I couldn’t live with what I’d done. I found a coven that would take me, and I hid among them, only coming out at night, until one day… I met another man—an ordinary man, rough but kind, who ran a boxing ring. Imagine my surprise when I found out I was pregnant.”

She reaches for him. “But I became so sick, Alex. You started killing me from the moment of conception, draining my power until I could barely walk, barely breathe. Your father cared for me…” Her voice breaks. “He was a good man, Alex.”

Alexei’s brow furrows. “Why do you call me that? I’m Alexei.”

She shakes her head. “That’s what your father called you. I named you ‘Alex.’”

“Why did you leave us?”

“Because the other witches would have killed you if they knew what you could do. The nature of your power means you have no aura—you don’t project energy, you take it.

I had to protect you. I told them that you were born powerless.

I convinced them that was why I was so sick.

They told me I was useless, that I was weak because I refused to take any more souls. They cast me out.”

She searches his eyes. “You have never used your power to its full extent. If you wanted to, you could drain the energy from every supernatural in this place. A power like yours is incredibly rare.”

His voice is gentle. “Why are you here now?”

“Because I wanted to reunite you with Tansy. I thought that if you saw each other again, you would realize you were meant to be together. I thought Tansy knew what the rubies meant to you, so she would never take them. I wanted you to…”

She chokes back a sob. “I wanted you to find happiness. Dance. Love. But then, she came back with the rubies. I realized that you would never believe the truth unless you fought for each other.”

Taking his face in her hands, she compels him to look at her.

“You turned Tansy away because you thought you couldn’t love her when actually her love broke your curse long ago.

You just didn’t realize it.” She spins to me.

“And you… Tansy… you locked yourself away, believing that you had nothing to give. When really you have more natural power than I ever had.”

Alexei is frozen beside me. “What happens now?”

Mother Kadris smiles, a real smile for the first time that lights up her eyes, gentle, gray like Alexei’s. “Now, you live your life.”

“And you?”

She draws back on her heels. “I will leave you in peace and live out what life I have left.”

He considers her for a moment.

He reaches for my hand. Then he tips his chin at his mother and says, “Our children will need a grandmother.”

She jolts a little, blinking at him.

I do, too.

Alexei casts me a smile that makes my heart flip and my stomach flutter. I scoot into his side without hesitation, and we stand together, all three of us.

From the corner of my eye, movement makes me turn.

A woman in a black feathered gown watches us from the shadows. She stands tall, a graceful figure, a mysterious smile on her lips. My forehead creases in confusion because nobody else should be moving right now. Unless she’s…

The Proprietor.

She arches a brow at me, giving a gentle wave of her hand in the air, and my protection spell immediately disappears.

Movement around us resumes, the music starts up right where it stopped, and the supernaturals continue their conversations as if they were never interrupted.

When I look again, The Proprietor is gone.

Mother Kadris squeezes Alexei’s hand. “I will find you again soon, but right now… this is your night.”

She steps back into the crowd, quickly disappearing through an illusion of mistletoe that rises into the air above us.

The smile Alexei casts me broadens as I turn into his arms, tilting my head back to meet his gaze. I always feel overly tall around others, but with Alexei… I feel perfect.

He gives me a gentle smile as he runs his hand down my arm to wrap around my waist. He begins to speak, but I stop him with a kiss.

Soon the night will end, and the magic will transport us home. If the stories are true, fireworks will light up the sky before we leave, but nothing will compare to the journey that lies ahead of us. We have a lot to work out, but I know we can make a life together.

He lifts me off my feet, wrapping me up in his arms, and I don’t care that I’m glowing so brightly with happiness that the nearby supernaturals squint against the light.

He loves me, and I am whole.

I whisper against his lips. “Alexei Mason, I’m yours… if you want me.”

“Forever,” he says. “Always.”