Page 80 of Heavy is the Crown
Demon curses, noticing it. “Kallen, what have we talked about?”
She rolls her eyes. “Yes, yes, ‘try to keep the crazy contained.’” She looks at Arcanna again. “Apparently, my smile makes people uncomfortable.”
Arcanna only shrugs. “Men seem to get uncomfortable very easily in the presence of a powerful woman, don’t they?”
Kallen cackles. “I like you!”
“Jesus Christ, there are two of them,” I mutter, which only brings Arcanna’s cold eyes back to me.
“I’m here because we need to stop Oisin. As you are the king here, I expect you to help.”
“Who’s watching the Forest while you're here?” I ask, leaning against the desk.
She shrugs. “I have help.”
A growl echoes out of me as I think about who could be helping her. Is there someone warming her bed at home?
As if she knows where my mind went, she gives me a wicked smile. “I havea lotof help.”
All I can hear is Kallen cackling as rage pours through me. But I tamp it down, pinching the bridge of my nose and taking a deep breath. “Good. I’m glad.”
It’s the wrong move, because her face turns even colder, the temperature in the room dropping with it as ice seems to form around us. And for a moment, I wonder if she even realizes her powers are creeping out. Her breath puffs out in a cool cloud that turns to ice and falls to the ground, and the sound of it shattering is what pulls her magic back into her. She shakes her head as if to clear it before dropping her hands from her chest to wipe ice crystals from that green skirt.
“You’ll be helping me, Jackson, and I won’t be leaving without you. So, either you make this easy or I’ll fucking drag you out of here.” She whirls around and storms back out of the room in a rage. “I’ll be in my room—if that jackass left it alone, that is. Come find me when you’re ready to leave,” she yells over her shoulder before leaving us alone in silence once again.
Demon clears his throat awkwardly. “Who was that?”
“That, Demon, was my fucking wife.”
EPILOGUE
(“Marjorie” – Taylor Swift)
To most humans, death is scary. We fear the unknown and what might become of our immortal souls. But to those of us raised in Hell, or raised in Death’s embrace, we do not fear it. We know the peace that can come with it. We know that death isn’t truly the end, it’s simply the next step. Death is peaceful, when your soul is finally freed, and when you arrive in this Forest, you are finally home.
“I didn’t not expect to see you here.” The voice behind me brings tears to my eyes as I turn around and take in the beautiful Lady before me.
“I did not expect to be here like this,” I reply. She raises an eyebrow at me, and I shrug. “Okay, maybe I did, but I had hoped it wouldn’t be this way.”
She nods in understanding. She moves up next to me, her dark form glowing in the evening. Almost as if she is the moon and the woods are her sky, with each of our souls the stars that move around her. We both look out over the once lush, green forest, but now, portions of it seem to be rotting away, as if they are being taken by the mountain range that separates this placefrom the Land of the Damned. While the Forest is a place of healing, the city within the Land is something else entirely.
“What will you do if I allowthemhere with you?” she asks, her voice soothing.
A smile spreads over my face. “We will help you restore the Forest.”
“How?”
The peaceful smile I had turns slightly wicked. “We have a personal vendetta against the ones doing this.”
Her black hair shifts in the wind, those stormy eyes twinkling as she nods, then she snaps her fingers. She turns to me, planting a kiss on my forehead, as my body seems to materialize. Suddenly whole again.
“You will remain here and take care of things while I gather reinforcements,” she says as I smooth my hands over my body as though it might disappear again.
I look up at her, holding those storm-gray eyes for a moment, and take her in fully. Her hair is long, wild even, and the black eats up the night sky around us. She’s dressed in linen overalls, a white tank top underneath, and her feet are bare on the forest floor. If she weren't holding the massive glaive in her hands, she could be confused for a simple gardener. But it’s the overwhelming sadness that stands out the most. “He missed you,” I whisper.
She cuts me a hard look. “Then he should have come for me.”
It’s all she says before she snaps her fingers, opening a portal to our old home. “You should meet them at the gates. I don’t want the little remaining forest to be burned down because they don’t know how to get to you.”
I nod and watch her disappear, wait for the portal to close, before I speed off in the direction of the Forest gates.