by Bree Despain
“I love you,” Haden whispers against my hair, sending tingling electricity through my body.
“So, what should we do now?” Tobin says as we leave the hospital. He walks hand in hand with Lexie down a wooded path that leads to the road. Dax and Abbie are with us also. Much to my surprise, Mom had said she was going to stay and sit with Joe for awhile. I think she wanted to give us kids a chance to celebrate without her hanging around, but I also hope she doesn’t plan on smothering Joe with a pillow when the nurses aren’t looking.
“There’s that promise to find Persephone,” I say, “but for now I really need something to eat. I think it’s been days since I had anything other than flower blossoms.”
“Tell me about it,” Tobin says, rubbing his stomach. “Shady—I mean, Hades—was all about those gray flowers, but man, they tasted like bitter black licorice.”
“I promised everyone hot chocolate and muffins,” Lexie says. “I know a good place the next town over, since Olympus Brew is probably closed with the evacuation and everything.”
“Sounds good to me,” Tobin says.
“Us too,” Dax says. He’s got his arm around Abbie. It makes my heart swell to see the two of them reunited. I had worried what Ethan’s reaction would be to Abbie’s announcement about being engaged to Dax, but seeing the way he looks at his lieutenant, Jessica, when he thinks no one is watching makes me think he’ll get over it.
“Congrats, by the way,” I say to Dax and Abbie, realizing that in my worry over Joe, I hadn’t said it before.
“I’m still not okay with this marriage business,” Tobin says, letting go of Lexie and giving his sister a playful shove. She grabs his hat from his head.
“You are, too! Your ears are completely burning!”
Tobin chases his sister up the path. Dax and Lexie jog after them, laughing.
I pull on Haden’s arm, slowing him down so we have a little distance from the others.
“Have you thought about what you’re going to do now?” I ask him.
“What do you mean? I thought I’d stay here, go to school, maybe join a band or something. I read on the Internet that girls like that sort of thing. I thought I’d give being human a try . . . with you.” He looks deep into my eyes as if searching for something. Then he glances away. “Unless that’s not what you want. I assumed when you said you wanted to go home, you meant Olympus Hills. But I guess you might want to go back to Ellis Fields with your mom . . . And leave all of this behind . . .”
“Don’t be addled . . .” I say, using a term he would. “Of course I’m staying here with you. What I meant is that you need to give some thought to where you’re going to live now. I doubt you’re going to want to share a place with a honeymooning Dax and Abbie and with Tobin hanging around.”
“Oh, yes. I suppose you’re right.”
“You know, Joe has an entire empty wing at his mansion. I bet he’s going to need an extra hand around the house—pun not intended. I could ask him if we could have an indefinite house guest? You know, if you don’t mind living under the same roof as me . . .”
Haden pulls me tight against him. “I would like that very much,” he says in a voice so low and soft it makes my heart beat faster. “You know, for a minute there in the Underrealm, I thought I’d lost you. That you had decided to choose a different destiny than one with me . . .”
I shake my head, hating the idea that I made him worry. “I wouldn’t do that. Our destinies are intertwined, you know?”
“I know.” He leans in and kisses me. Electricity crackles between us, warming my lips and sending a tingling sensation down my spine. I kiss him back, running my fingers into his hair and then down his neck and chest. When we part in order to breathe, Haden pants against my cheek, “So what does our destiny hold now, Daphne Raines?”
“Apparently muffins and hot chocolate,” I say with a little laugh against his skin. “And froyo. I could really go for some froyo right now.”
Haden leans in to kiss me once more . . . but a burst of lightning explodes above our heads. I reel around to find Rowan standing in the trees next to the path. He holds a pulsing ball of lightning in his hand.
“I told you to watch your back, little brother!” he snarls, and pulls his arm back, ready to strike. Before he can release the sphere, a large gray paw sails out from behind a tree, swiping his feet out from under him. Rowan slams into the ground. A large, three-headed panther springs out from behind the bushes.
“Brimstone, you’re back!” I sing, matching her growling tone.
With a little pop, the panther shrinks back down to the size of a kitten. Brim jumps up onto Haden’s shoulder. She purrs as he scratches her ears. “I knew you’d find me,” he says. “You always do.” She nuzzles his cheek.
Rowan moans and then collapses against the grass in a faint. Brim hisses down at him.
“Yeah, I know,” I say to her. “I’ve always hated that guy, too.”
“Go home,” Haden says to Rowan. “You’ll find it very different there now, what with Hades’s return.”
“What?” he blinks up at us, I imagine both dazed from the blow and astonished by the news.
Haden pulls my hand to lead me away.
“That’s it?” I ask. “Shouldn’t we restrain him or . . . ?”
“He’s not important anymore,” Haden says. We leave Rowan behind and continue down the path toward our friends. “So this froyo you speak of,” Haden says tentatively, “what exactly is it?”
“Frozen yogurt.” I smile at him. “I forget you still have so much to learn about being human.”
“Is it like ice cream?”
“Yes, it’s like ice cream. And you get to mix in whatever toppings you want. Like fruit or candy or marshmallows or whatever.”
Haden squeezes my hand. “Then froyo is definitely part of our destiny,” he says.
acknowledgments
Many of you may not know that the fate of this book was uncertain for several months in 2015. I was well into the manuscript when I found out that my then publisher, Egmont USA, had decided to close their doors, and that the contract for The Immortal Throne had been cancelled. After hearing the news, I was heartbroken for my editor and the staff of Egmont who had been my publishing family since 2008, and devastated by the idea that Haden and Daphne’s story may not get the ending that it deserved. For the sake of my readers and my love of the characters, I decided not to give up on the story. I looked into other avenues for publishing, and just when I was feeling daunted by the idea of doing it on my own, I got a call from my agent, telling me that Carolrhoda Lab (an imprint of Lerner Publishing) had decided not only to pick up and continue publishing all of my backlisted books, but that they also wanted to publish The Immortal Throne.
This book may have taken a little longer to find its way into reader’s hands than they may have expected, but it’s here (finally) because of the many wonderful people who worked on it behind the scenes:
My editor from Egmont, Jordan Hamessley, and the rest of the Egmont USA crew; my agent, Ted Malawer; my new editor at Carolrhoda Lab, Anna Cavallo, who did a wonderful job of picking up the reins and helping me finish this almost-abandoned story; Alix Reid, who oversaw the edit as the Associate Publisher of Carolrhoda Lab; the designer who made this book beautiful inside and out, Emily Harris; along with Kayla Pawek and Erica Johnson, who also worked on the book.
I would also like to thank my friends who have supported and encouraged me through the highs and lows of this publishing journey, especially J.R. Johansson, Michelle Argyle, Natalie Whipple, Kasie West, Renee Collins, Michelle Sallay, Sara Raasch, Kim Webb Reid, Jenilyn Collings, Rachel Headrick, Colleen Houck, Shani Despain, and a special shout out to Egmont’s Last List (a group of fellow authors who were left without a publisher when Egmont closed), who helped each other through the stormy waters of Egmont’s closure.
Much gratitude and hugs and kisses to my amazing family: my parents, Tai and Nancy; my siblings, Noreen, Tai, Brooke, and Quinn; my in-la
ws; and the plethora of nieces, nephews, and siblings-in-law. And I most especially want to thank my husband, Brick, and our two boys—I love you all right up to the moon and back again!