“I know, you told me. But like I said, miracles happen,” Bast said, his smile strained but definitely his smile.
A million options ran through her head about how he could be alive. Was he even alive, or a zombie? Or demon possessed? Were there such things as demons? Had Jack or maybe even Nevyn brought him back to her?
Jack, in that eerie way he had of appearing from nowhere and knowing what she was thinking, emerged from the darkness. “It was not me, nor was it the boy.”
She turned and stared at Bast. His hands were warm and dry, not at all zombie-like. She slapped him, hard.
“You fucking asshole! This is the second time you’ve done this to me. Do you have any idea how fucking much it hurts every time I think you are dead? A lot. I swear, the next time you decide to fucking die, I’m going to kill you myself.” And then she pulled him close and listened to the steady beat of his heart. “You’re alive. Really alive.”
“Thanks to you,” said a voice from the darkness. A voice that spoke to her very soul, washing away her sadness. Danu had arrived.
“Yes. Now that I have used you as a vessel, it makes it easier for us to communicate.”
“Can everyone see and hear you right now?”
“They can see me, but they still get the same pictographs as you used to, although they can understand your speech.” Hushed whispers echoed around the clearing as Danu stepped into the light of the fire. Jack created an orb of light above her head, bathing her in a warm, celestial glow. She gave him a fond smile, and Jack grinned back like a giddy fanboy.
“Goddess.” He bowed deeply before the woman.
Danu’s face was more solid now, less the burning light of serenity that threatened to scar her retinas when they’d first communed. But Azar would still struggle to describe her to anyone else, as her face slowly transmuted every second, her skin getting darker until she looked Eurasian, before darkening again so she looked like a mother from the very depths of the African jungle. Her eyes would shift colors, her nose would lengthen, or widen, and her lips would plump and then thin, all in tiny increments before her eyes. The whole time Azar stared, the Goddess’s face continued to change, until she looked like every woman and no woman. It was fascinating, and Azar could have watched the slow process for hours. But she couldn’t wait hours for answers.
Now that she was over her shock, her brain caught onto the Goddess’s original words. “I hate to contradict you, Goddess, but I would have noticed if I had the ability to bring people back from the dead. So many people have died…”
Danu stopped in front of Bast, and he tried to stand. She placed a hand on his head. “Rest.”
He bowed his head and allowed himself to slump down onto his back again. But Azar couldn’t sit, couldn’t rest. She stood before the Goddess with too many questions.
Danu stroked her face. “He wasn’t dead, at least not in the spiritual sense.”
“I felt his body go cold with death. I’m sure he was dead.”
Danu’s gown fluttered around her legs, drawing Azar’s eye almost involuntarily. It was a deep blue that warmed to purple, then pink, orange and yellow right at the hem. She realized that it was perfectly reflecting the sunrise that was happening behind the Goddess’s back.
“There was still that spark in his heart, and you used the gift I gave you to help fight the disease that was trying to consume your lover’s body. You fought death with life.”
“What gift?” She tried to think of anything that Danu had given her. There was Jack, but he’d already said it wasn’t him, and there was no other token that the Goddess had granted her.
“Use it wisely,” Bast whispered, and the answer hit her like a jolt.
“When you healed Mira with your light, some of that transferred to me?”
Danu nodded, her face showing pride. That look began to heal some of the scars in Azar’s heart.
“It’s only a one off, I’m afraid. I used you as a conduit, and your body was filled with the healing gift. But now you have expended it, there is no more.” She looked down at Bast and shook a finger. “I suggest you avoid jumping in front of anymore sharp objects.”
He laughed and bowed his head again. “I promise, Goddess. I’ll try to avoid dying in the future.”
Any residual fear she had about Bast being a zombie vanished. She wrapped her arms around Danu’s slim shoulders and hugged her.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“You are welcome, however, nothing comes without balance, Daughter of my Blood.” She waved a hand and thirteen woven baskets appeared at her feet, each one filled with a tiny infant, swaddled tight in muslin cloth against the cold dawn air.
Nothing could have surprised Azar more in that moment, not even if Finlay suddenly appeared and danced an Irish jig before the firelight.
“What….?”
“Tuatha Dé Danann, born of my body and the body of one true of heart. They will replace those of my bloodline lost in this battle, and become the anchors that will ensure the Fae remain in the Isles. Hopefully, with Nevyn of my Blood and of the Seelie Fae,” she looked at the boy, perched beside Freya and Donovan on a log near the fire, “and Lorcan, of the Unseelie Fae, a true believer, will allow the babes to grow to maturity before they ever need to defend themselves in such a manner. But until then, I have entrusted them into your care and the care of those whom you love and trust.” Azar gaped. Her eyes kept drifting to the baskets filled with infants, like they would disappear as randomly as they appeared. Then she stared at Danu. Then back at the babies.
Danu leaned forward and stroked the cheek of the infant closest to her. “Thank Cable for his service. He has such an ability to love purely, unmarred by the events of his past. Loyalty and love come easily to him, and the other shifting natives of the earth. The babes will have stronger foundations than my previous progeny. Families to guard them.” She looked grief stricken, and Azar realized she felt every single loss of her previous brethren. Danu turned, bowed low to Oliver, and then disappeared from the night in a whirl of golden magic.
Oliver looked confused, then grinned. “That was totally the woman from my dream! I can’t believe I had a dirty dream about a goddess.”
Azar realized that no one had really understood anything Danu had said, except perhaps Jack, who was standing in the shadows staring at the babies.
“Danu thanks you for your service. And I guess congratulations are in order, because that wasn’t a dream. Dammit, Oliver. Do you have to be irresistible to every female with a pulse?”
She watched the color drain out of his face, turning a sickly green color. He looked at the moses baskets, so many of them, and blinked.
“These aren’t all mine, right? Azar? They can’t possibly be all mine?”
A baby stirred, and she bent down to scoop it up and placed it in Oliver’s arms. His hands came up to cradle the baby automatically, and she knew in that moment that Danu had chosen well. He might be shocked, but Oliver would protect these children with ferocity.
“She is a Goddess of fertility and life, and you are a Were, prone to multiple births anyway. What do you think?” She tried to be gentle, but she was a little shocked herself. She’d just been given thirteen tiny charges, to co-parent with a Werejaguar, a Jann, a scary ass Shaitan, the last Tuatha on earth, and a bunch of wolves.
Donovan, who’d obviously been trying hard to contain his mirth, laughed loudly. “Don’t worry, I’ll give you paternity leave from work.”
Oliver looked how Azar felt. She should explain. “They are anchors, to keep the Fae in Europe.”
Nevyn stood, and behind him walked Lorcan, Hemlock and Enya.
Lorcan came and bowed before each baby, and then in front of her. “We feel the pull already, like a burn in the stomach that is only getting more painful. We must take our leave.”
Lorcan looked emotionally wounded, his eyes heavy with sadness and loss. She wanted to talk to him, help him through his grief, but she didn’t have time. Eny
a put a hand on his shoulder and nodded at Azar. A silent communication passed between them. Enya would watch Lorcan, help him if he needed it.
Azar hugged her, this strong, wounded warrior, and Enya bowed low, disappearing into the night.
She turned back to Lorcan and wrapped her hands around his biceps. “I’m sorry for your loss. Nevyn…”
“Will still be guarded with my life. He did what needed to be done; he did what I’d been unable to do for so long. He has my thanks and my respect, but I still grieve. Hemlock has volunteered to be the Captain of his new guard. He will take care of the Seelie King and ensure he remains the boy you love.”
It was hard giving up responsibility of Nevyn. She loved the strange boy who wasn’t really a boy at all. Nevyn turned to her and hugged her tight, and she felt the familiar comfort of hugging another Tuatha.
“I must go to be King. You are always welcome in the Seelie Sidhes. Don’t bring the babes though. The world of the Fae is still a treacherous one, and they are innocent and helpless. It is best they stay here, protected by you and Oliver and Bast and Donovan.” He kissed her cheek.
She clutched him close. “Be safe. If you need me, I’ll come. You just have to call,” she whispered in his ear.
“I know.” He walked off to say his goodbyes to Freya, who was crying.
Lorcan grabbed her hand and kissed it. “You know you are always welcome in the Unseelie Sidhes. We must go,” he said, bowing low once more.
Hemlock bowed and reached to kiss her hand also. “Still the hottest slave girl I’ve ever seen.” He winked as they flashed out of the clearing in a ripple of magic.
The magic shockwave of their departure woke up several of the babies, and they began to cry in earnest. Then their crying woke up the other ones, until all except one were crying. The littlest one, no bigger than the length of her forearm, slept on quietly. She reached down to check it was still breathing, and just knew this motherhood thing was going to give her gray hair. The steady rise and fall of its warm little chest reassured her, and she went from basket to basket, picking up infants and handing them to people to be soothed. She gave another baby to Oliver, who held it expertly against his chest, and one to Donovan who looked at it like it was a pit viper. The one she handed to Bast calmed instantly and looked up at him with big green eyes, just like Oliver’s.
When she handed a baby to Jack, he looked down at him, or maybe it was a her, with a look of such happiness, she realized that Danu had given him a gift. He’d been so lonely, without any other Tuatha Dé Danann for so long, that suddenly having thirteen kin must fill up all the empty places inside his heart. So she handed him another baby to dote on.
She noticed a wolf prowling the perimeter and recognized the sooty white coat of Aaron’s wolf. She felt giddy with relief that he was okay. He let out a sharp bark of joy and shifted in a flutter of magic between one breath and the next. He came over and took the baby that was in her arms, cradling it tightly against his shoulder then pulled her into a one-armed hug. She and Aaron had been through so much together; he was the only person that had given more to this battle than she.
“I was worried about you,” he growled. “You wouldn’t wake up. Don’t do that again.” His voice was a little more wolf than human, and she nodded.
“Exhaustion. Bringing someone back from the dead is hard work. I burned myself out, I think.”
He squeezed her tight again, then let her go. “Just don’t do it again.” He turned to Oliver. “The pack will help, you know that. You are pack, as is Azar. The infants are family.”
Oliver blinked and mumbled his thanks, his gaze drawn back to the babies in his arms like a magnet.
“I will stay to help in their raising too, if you will have me. To be around so many Tuatha, even this small…” Jack ran out of words, but he was joyous.
“Of course you are staying. Azar loves you, and you are part of us whether you like it or not now,” Oliver said sternly. “Besides, I have no idea what I’m doing. What do little Tuatha eat? How long should they sleep? How often? How much will they grow in a year? How will I know if something’s wrong? What about their powers? Will I be dead before they even hit puberty? I mean Nevyn looks ten and he’s fifty-odd!”
So that was the sound of parental panic. It echoed her own questions far too well. But she rubbed his back and placed the two sleeping babies back into their baskets. He went to pick up one of the babies that were still fussing, and she did the same. This was going to be exhausting.
“No one expects you to do this alone. It takes a village to raise a child, and luckily, we have a large village. It’ll be okay, we’ll find the answers and do the best we can. Danu can’t ask more from us than that.”
She looked down at the tiny bundle in her arms, its wide eyes midnight blue, a weird color on a baby so young. She touched the curve of its cheek and rocked it back and forth, humming the song that she dimly remembered from her childhood.
So small and perfect, she couldn’t help but think what a wonderful gift they were for a new world.
For lack of anywhere else to go, they ended up back at Oliver’s love shack. Going back to the dens with all the babies seemed wrong somehow. There would be party and revelry among all the different armies, and that was no place for Freya or thirteen brand new infants. However, they did completely raid the creche for things like diapers, formula, and other assorted baby stuff. Strangely enough, it was Donovan who had the most knowledge about the needs of a baby. Who knew that it would be her scary Shaitan who’d be the one who stepped into the breach? Now, they were all standing in the Love Shack, and it was still torn up from the fight with the Fae. She hadn’t gone into the room where Becca died, but the pool of Donovan’s blood was still in the hall.
Jack let out a disapproving noise and wiggled his nose. Well, maybe he didn’t wiggle his nose, but magic should have some kind of tell, right? The blood seeped through the floorboards, completely gone as if it had never been.
Azar raised an eyebrow at him. “I drew it into the earth. Unfortunately, I can’t snap my fingers and put everything else to rights like your Mary Poppins.” Jack making pop culture references never got any less weird.
Surprisingly, both the couch and Oliver’s refrigerator box survive the fight. Freya was exhausted, and Donovan moved down the hall and placed her on the bed. The bed was almost completely untouched as well.
Oliver was already in there, straightening everything in the room, ensuring that no remnant of the past violence remained. His thoughtfulness made her want to kiss him. But that brought up another problem.
Once all the babies were down, and Freya was asleep as well, the rest of the group stood awkwardly in the living room. Azar guessed she was the elephant in this room.
“So, about that thing…”
Oliver cocked his head to the side. “What thing would that be?”
She shot him the stink eye. “The thing where I love you all forever, in exchange for you treating me like a princess.”
Jack gave a small chuckle, and she turned toward him. “Feel free to chime in anytime.”
Like always, it was Bast that saved her. Her beautiful, alive Bast. She stepped toward him and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close against his chest. “It’s okay, Jaanaman. We all love you, and we will figure it out slowly. For now, just enjoy the peace you have created."
“But where will you all sleep? Where will we live? What will people say?”
She wasn’t actually worried about what people would say. She’d given enough to people. She was going to enjoy this moment, this little slice of happiness they’d all carved out with blood and tears.
Oliver walked to a cupboard and pulled out a huge pile of blankets. He put them down on the couch in front of the fire.
“We will sleep here, all of us, with you. Wherever you need us. We can live here too, if you want, at least for now until we can get a bigger place. I think the, I mean our, babies would prefer the more natural surround
s?” He looked at Jack who nodded, a tiny smirk on his face like he just couldn’t quite contain his happiness.
She looked at Donovan, who was looking at her with his normal intense expression. “What do you think?”
“Wherever you are. I can commute to The Onyx. Or sell it, I don’t give a fuck. I just want to be where you are.”
Oliver laughed, and Donovan glared at him. Oliver, as always, was completely unperturbed. “Who knew you were such a romantic, Big D?”
Bast’s chest rumbled beneath her cheek, and she couldn’t help her own grin. He led Azar over to the blankets that Oliver had spread on the floor, throwing down a pillow. “These are all very good questions for tomorrow, Little Fire. Tonight, sleep. We are all where we want to be.”
As if to prove his point, she yawned and laid down, and they all joined her. Bast and Donovan on either side of her, Oliver close to the fire, his hand wrapped around her ankle. Jack slept on the couch, looking comically large. He was a part of them, but still apart. She would have to take it slow with her Heart of the World.
But maybe, just maybe, this would work.
Epilogue
She stood at the back of the crowd of strangers. They were all focused on the holy man at the front of the rows of chairs, who was chanting something in a language she still didn’t understand.
She twined her fingers through Bast’s, and delighted in the warmth of his palms, the strength of his fingers and the roughness of his callouses. Never again would she take his touch for granted.
“Will the families come forward to pay their respects?”
She handed the fussing baby to Bast, and stood up, walking down the aisle towards Cy and Vivian at the altar. Darius hooked his arm through hers and they walked toward the happy couple, who couldn’t keep the smiles from their faces. She didn’t think she’d ever seen Vivian smile, but today she looked effervescent in her silk dress that flowed down her body and into a long train behind her. Actually, she’d never seen Vivian out of combat gear. It looked odd, but she was resplendent.
The Azar Omnibus: The Complete Azar Trilogy (The Azar Trilogy Book 0) Page 68