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Over the course of the week leading up to Nate and Maura’s wedding, the rest of the crew came forward and used the cauldron.

Kierse still hadn’t managed to figure out her magic, not even for a small glamour to hide her ears—so she’d gone with a carefully concealed hairstyle for the wedding day.

She’d been curious what everyone else had received out of the cauldron, but in the end, it wasn’t really her business.

Laz and Schwartz promised their treasure-hunting days weren’t over—the payout was only ever half the fun.

Edgar, Isolde, and George had looked insulted when Graves had promised them an early retirement.

Lyra hadn’t had any interest in the cauldron, after all.

She only wanted her parents’ photograph and called it even.

She had an audition that afternoon and really needed to get back.

Walter was still around day and night. He’d moved in upstairs when Graves had offered to continue his training.

After Nate’s nomination went through and he was officially going to the Monster Treaty convocation, he and Maura came over to thank Graves again for his help lifting the curse.

“Why haven’t you used it?” Kierse finally asked Graves as she walked into his bedroom dressed in a simple pink floral dress. Graves had left it on the bed in a designer bag. She’d realized immediately why he’d picked it from the collection of wildflowers embroidered across the print.

“Used what?” he asked as he knotted his tie.

She took it out of his hands and fixed the knot. “The cauldron.”

“Ah, I did.”

“When?” she demanded. “I’ve been waiting all week.”

“I used it after Gen, when we were waiting for you.”

She bit her lip as she tugged the tie into place. “Can I ask what you wanted from it?”

“Magic.”

She rolled her eyes. “As if you don’t have enough of that. You’re a fucking ocean of magic.”

He grinned. “Careful, or I’ll think you like me.”

“Well, it’s your lucky day,” she told him, straightening the tie and stepping back. “There. All done.”

He reached for her hand, and she let him take it. Things had been…tense the last week. Lorcan was no less present. Where she had once been uncomfortable with intimacy because of Jason’s abuse, now she was raw all over again from a new invasion.

She wanted Graves. She wanted all of him. And yet…

“I made a mistake,” he said simply.

“With what?”

“I went after the sword first,” Graves explained.

“How was that a mistake?”

“The mistake was where I went to get the information on the object.”

She raised an eyebrow and waited.

“I traded for the info in Nying Market.”

“Oh.” She frowned, seeing where this was going. “Wouldn’t that have been…expensive?”

“I thought I was prepared to pay. I had objects that they wanted. I was confident that I knew what I was getting into.” He paused. “I was wrong.”

Was this why Graves had been so against her walking into the market alone? He had known the costs they could enact, because he had already paid them.

“What did they take?”

“My Druidic magic.”

Kierse’s mouth popped open. “Can they…take that?”

“They did,” he said flatly. “Seventy years ago.”

“Oh god,” she whispered.

Suddenly, it made sense. When they had started on her memory work, she had delved into his magic.

She’d felt the full depths of his power as this massive inexplicable force.

And yet there had been a piece missing. She hadn’t understood it at the time.

Hadn’t even known it was possible for magic to be missing and not be able to be rejuvenated.

He glanced away from her. “I did it to myself. That’s what the cauldron said.”

The cauldron had refused him. His heritage. His connection to his mother. The years of training. All gone in a blink. He likely hadn’t even known how deep that connection went until it was gone. So like Kierse, now that her magic was missing, too.

Lorcan’s words came back to her. That Graves wasn’t going to get what he wanted from the cauldron, just as he hadn’t gotten what he’d wanted from the spear, or the sword. He’d been right.

“It was a long shot anyway,” Graves finally said.

“Is there a way to get it back?” she asked. Her mind went back to the time they’d been in the Dublin market. Rio had said what he’d given was in their book. Did that mean his Druidic magic was still in the market?

He considered. “What would we trade to return it? What could either of us lose that would be big enough for it?”

She didn’t have that answer.

“Nothing,” he said finally. “If the cauldron can’t even return it, then the market will be no more generous.” He reached for his suit jacket and slid it on. The conversation over. “Shall we attend your friend’s wedding?”

“I’m afraid to tell you, Graves, but I think he’s your friend, too.”

He wrinkled his nose. “Don’t remind me.”

Kierse laughed, and it almost felt as light as it had a week earlier. She was still getting used to this new normal. She didn’t know if it’d ever feel right again. But she was trying. She was still fighting.

They took the elevator to the limo and drove across town to the Dreadlords’ headquarters, Five Points, in Chelsea.

The nightclub had been shut down for the weekend to accommodate the wedding of their alpha.

The festivities were on the rooftop, which was currently bursting with flowers and plants of all varieties.

It was a riot of color and foliage. Wooden chairs were set up in rows on either side of a long aisle.

At the end was a circular arch bedecked with flowers.

The rooftop was full to the brim with friends and family from both sides. Maura’s relatives from New Jersey, in traditional saris and kurtas. Her nursing friends mingling in summer dresses. The wolves in sharp summer suits and floor-length gowns. Kierse loved and appreciated the mix of cultures.

Spending the past week with the couple as they were showered with love and attention had made her heart so happy for them.

She and Gen had been there as the henna had been applied intricately to Maura’s skin at her Mehndi, and through the Haldi, where a mixture of turmeric, oil, and water was applied to Maura’s skin by married relatives.

It had at least kept her from ruminating on her own shit and what exactly she was going to do about it all.

Gen rushed to her side and pulled her in for a hug. “You look beautiful.”

Graves nodded at Gen and then began to slowly pace the length of the rooftop to give them space. He must have reined his magic in, because people weren’t actively bowing away from him. Progress.

“Thank you,” Kierse said with a smile. She held Gen at arm’s length, admiring her shimmery blue dress. “You look amazing, too. Where’s your date?”

Gen flushed and pointed inside. If Kierse angled her head, she could just see Ronan standing sentinel in a dark suit with Finn at his back. “Groomsmen haven’t come out yet, but I came early to see him.”

“Good,” Kierse told her honestly. “I’m happy for you.”

“Speaking of dates,” Gen said, nodding her head in another direction.

Ethan had his fingers interlocked with Corey’s across the room. Ethan’s suit was a cream linen that only he could have pulled off, with a navy tie. Corey complemented him in a navy blazer with a soft blue shirt and yellow tie.

“I’m glad they seem happy.”

“Not Ethan and Corey. They are happy. Obnoxiously so, honestly.” Gen angled Kierse slightly to the right.

“Oh!” Kierse said.

Colette leaned back against the wall with a glass of brandy in her hand. She was bejeweled in a shiny, midnight-blue dress that hugged her curves. Standing next to her was none other than the Roulettes gang leader, Carmine.

A diamond glittered on her left hand. It seemed Collette was no longer reticent about declaring their relationship publicly.

“Is your mother engaged?” Kierse gasped.

“Isn’t it disgusting?” Gen said, pulling a face.

Kierse laughed. “Honestly, good for her.”

“She claims they’re years from getting married, but it takes her off the market. Whatever that means.”

“That’s so Colette.”

Gen made a face, but they both just laughed.

Music started to play, and the partygoers were ushered to their seats.

Graves reappeared at her side, taking an empty seat next to her while Gen sat on her other side.

Ethan and Corey settled in behind them as Nate and the groomsmen stepped into place.

Gen’s eyes were completely on Ronan at Nate’s side, but Kierse did a little wave for Nate, who looked stand-up in a dark suit, transfixed on the point where Maura would enter.

A moment later, she appeared in a stunning red sari with gold embellishments that she’d borrowed from her auntie.

Bangles adorned her wrists, covering part of the intricate henna work that blossomed up her arms. But it was her red-lipped smile that stretched wide at the sight of her groom that made her dazzling.

Her father was at her side, tears in his eyes, as he walked her down the aisle, handing her off to Nate with his blessing.

The ceremony was emotional and a little bit silly. A perfect blend for the day and these people. They exchanged vows that they’d written themselves, eliciting both tears and laughter from everyone in attendance.

Next, Nate retrieved a long, gold-and-black beaded necklace with a diamond at the end—the mangalsutra.

The name translated to “auspicious thread.” It was traditionally given by the groom to the bride to join their souls, like a thread wrapping them together.

Though Nate had warned her about this tradition, Kierse hadn’t considered what it would feel like to see it in person.

As they spoke words of blessings, Nate draped the necklace around Maura’s neck, binding them together.

Kierse gripped Graves’s hand as the final words were spoken. Her bruises from her own binding were still visibly yellow and ugly. Even if this joining was blessed, it didn’t make her feel any less sick about it. Like she was the ill-fated interloper in their midst.

She wished more than ever that she could let her absorption down and have Graves feel what she was feeling. Instead, she endured it all alone. Their connection had been shattered as swiftly as the one with Lorcan was reinforced.

“Are you going to be okay?” he whispered against the shell of her ear.

She nodded. Even though she felt sick to her stomach and wanted nothing but to walk swiftly away from this entire thing. She wouldn’t.

He squeezed her hand and kept it tight in his as Nate and Maura said I dos and kissed.

The crowd rose to their feet, cheering on the newlyweds, Kierse, Gen, and Ethan screaming their approval.

Even Graves gave them an appropriately timed whistle.

Nate continued kissing Maura, perhaps a touch longer than propriety dictated, but everyone just cheered louder.

The cheers were cut short when the doors burst open behind them and in stormed a parade of full-size trolls.