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EPILOGUE: HER ROYAL HIGHNESS, THE DOWAGER QUEEN

The strawberry-blonde-haired girl meant nothing to me a moment before, but the instant she shifted into a cat, everything changed. I remember her face. The one I saw for only a moment. How could I have not recognized my daughter in her face? She has the same blonde hair and the same striking eyes. Even the strange mix of gentleness and strength.

It was the unbalance of magic in the world that distracted me. Somehow, I have a foot both on Earth and in the rivers of magic that flow in and through all living beings. It’s a tapestry of life that pulls at me, making this place seem like only a shadow to the lands of magic.

But that is no excuse.

She is my blood. The blood of my blood. I should have known her instantly.

Guilt unwinds within me, and the air shifts in response to my emotions. Usually, I pull my emotions back and keep the world around me from sensing it, but I can’t now. They’re too powerful. Too raw. And so, clouds roll overhead, darkening the sky, and thunder crackles, charging the air with energy that builds inside of me.

Within seconds, rain begins to fall.

"Did she shift?" one of the firemen says, sounding dumbstruck.

"But she’s not a shifter, I’m sure of it!" the blond-haired man says.

I almost speak. I almost tell him she isn’t a shifter. She’s a child, cursed because of me.

But I don’t. Those words are for my granddaughter alone.

Will steps before me. "My Queen?"

"I need to find that girl."

The men exchange a glance, but Will is the one to answer. "Why?"

I level him with a gaze, and slowly, the mage crumbles to his knees before me, my power too much for him. "She is the most important creature in existence to me. You three will find her, protect her, and bring her to me."

I’m sorry, Callie. I’m going to have to hurt you again.

Feline the Flames

The Firehouse Feline

Book 2