by Wendi Wilson
“This needs to end, Mother,” Dad called out.
“Oh, my son thinks to command me? The traitor and his mutt daughter? And who is this?” she asked, looking at my mother. “Is this the Sylphid trash you betrayed me for? Perhaps I shall kill her first to teach you a lesson.”
I tightened my grip on Dad’s hand as he lunged forward. I pulled him back to my side and turned my head to speak directly into his ear.
“Don’t let her goad you into breaking our connection.”
He nodded, keeping his gaze locked on Sebille. In perfect synchronicity, Mom and Dad released their grip on my fingers and moved their hands to my shoulders. The move freed up my hands, which immediately filled with blue-green fire.
I threw the fireballs at Sebille, who redirected them away with a bored swish of her hand. Over and over, I tried, but the result was the same. Nothing got past her magic.
And then she started to laugh.
Maybe it was my youth and immaturity, but after everything Sebille had done, it was that derisive laughter that pushed me over the edge. A scream of rage exploded from me as my body heated to a near-unbearable degree.
Lightning streaked from the clouds above us, the thunder that boomed simultaneously vibrating my body. The wind around us spun faster and my hair whipped in all directions as electricity visibly sparked across my skin.
Sebille’s eyes widened the tiniest bit, the only indication that my change in appearance had startled her. She raised her hands to fire some bit of magic at me, but she was too late.
Another bolt of lightning flashed across the night sky. I grasped it with my magic, and directed toward the queen. She dodged right, the bolt barely missing her.
Another bolt, a dodge to the left. I missed again, but a twinge of satisfaction twisted my lips as Sebille stared at me with wide, fearful eyes. But I didn’t let her fear sway me. I couldn’t.
This had to end. Now.
I pushed my power even harder into the storm brewing above us. As lightning flashed once more, I guided it, concentrating on Sebille herself, and not the spot she was hovering in. She tried to veer to the side again, but it was no use.
The bolt of electricity followed her, striking her in the center of her chest. Without a sound, she fell from the sky, the winds from my tornado sweeping her up and spinning her away from us for the last time.
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Five
37
The warmth of my parents’ hands left my shoulders, and the power of the cyclone around us cut by half. Taking a few deep breaths to slow the pounding beat of my heart, I released the elements one at a time. Fire left me, and my body returned to its normal temperature. I let go of air, and the winds died, the tornado dissipating within seconds. Lastly, I whispered goodbye to water and the rain stopped.
Mom, Dad, and I drifted back to the ground as the sky cleared. The full moon illuminated the scene around us, and I my eyes darted all over, looking for Easton.
A flash of light blue caught my eye, and I turned, expecting to see his smiling face and ice-blue eyes. Instead, the snarling visage of Alwyn Jameson hurdled toward me. His hands were raised as he prepared to attack.
I threw up my own hands, but before I could summon my magic, Alwyn screeched and fell to the ground. My eyes chased to my parents, who looked as bewildered as I felt. We moved toward him, magic at the ready in case it was a ploy.
But it was no trick.
Alwyn lay on his back, his wide, unseeing eyes staring at the stars in the sky. A thick, spiky branch protruded from his chest as blood bloomed across his shirt. The projectile had struck him right in the heart. He didn’t stand a chance.
I looked away from him and my eyes caught on Freya, who stood several feet away, her chest heaving.
“Is he dead?” she gritted out.
“Yes,” I said, nodding.
Her shoulders slumped in relief as she nodded in return. That’s when I noticed movement at her feet. Brown, pointed vines, much like the one that protruded from Alwyn’s body, receded into the ground beneath her.
Freya had come to help us. She protected us, protected me with her power. She killed her husband.
A smile lifted her lips as we stared at each other and she mouthed, “I’m free.”
I smiled back. She was free. Her husband was dead, and there were plenty of witnesses to confirm he’d admitted to killing Finn and helping Sebille. The council wouldn’t dare convict her of a crime. She’d be a hero.
“December!”
I whipped toward the shout, the sound of that voice making my blood sing. Easton was jogging toward me, a vision straight from heaven that made me feel light as a feather. I yelled his name and took off, running as fast as my legs would carry me.
I jumped just before I reached him, slamming against his chest and wrapping my legs around his waist. He stumbled back a few steps and grunted, but his feet remained firmly beneath him.
Our mouths crashed against each other as tears poured down my face. The kiss was filled with desperation and desire. Relief and commitment. Joy. Hope.
Love.
And a profound sense of rightness. We were alive and well and reunited. The threats against us had been eliminated, and we were free to be who we wanted to be. Together.
A throat clearing behind me made me giggle as I broke off our kiss. I felt giddy as I looked into Easton’s ice-blue eyes, smiling like a loon. He smiled back and set me to my feet. I turned to find the others gathered behind me.
They converged on us, hugs and handshakes and more hugs until we were all laughing and crying at the same time. Shaela and Charles had remained untouched, thank God, while they’d worked tirelessly to hold back the Zephyr hoard while my parents and I fought Sebille in the sky.
Easton held Freya in his arms, and I had to look away as they cried together over the loss of Finn. Grandfather was hugging Mom, their reunion filled with tears of a different kind. Tears of joy and retribution. Shaela caught my attention and waved me over to where she stood with Charles.
“Remember sociology, when we threw out guesses as to what could be the driving force behind the Zephyr agenda?” she asked. When I nodded, she added, “I think you were right.”
She jerked her head back to the right, and I looked over her shoulder to the scene behind her. Zephyrs roamed around as if in a fog, shaking their heads to clear it. Some were on their knees, fat tears rolling down their cheeks. Some looked angry, and argued amongst themselves.
“What’s happening?” I asked.
“As soon as Sebille died,” Charles said, “they stopped fighting us and looked really confused.”
“She was using Glamour and her power of command to control them,” Shaela explained. “After we were sure they wouldn’t attack, we went and talked to a few of them. They never wanted to go to war with us. They don’t want to destroy the humans. They don’t want any of it. It was all Sebille.”
“Did you see?” I asked, my voice low.
Shaela knew I was talking about my fight with Sebille and nodded her head.
“The lightning caught my eyes and I looked up just as it struck her black heart,” she said, her expression filled with the fire of vindication. “Her body fell right over there.”
My head whipped to the side to see where she’d pointed, and my mouth fell open in shock. Not because the queen’s cold, dead body lay there, legs and arms twisted into unnatural positions, but because of what surrounded her.
Plants.
Baby shoots sprouted up from the ground around her body. My eyes widened as my gaze travelled across the expanse of muddy terrain. Life grew everywhere, bright green leaves glinting in the moonlight.
“It was your rain, December,” Freya said, coming to stand behind me. “I can feel it in the earth beneath us. Your rain healed the soil. Life blooms wherever it touched, cleansing away the contamination.”
Shock rocketed through me as my mind tried to make sense of what she was saying. I’d healed the soil? I hadn’t even thought about infusin
g the rain with healing magic.
“How?” I asked, my mouth hanging open as I tried to make sense of it.
“It’s the goodness inside you, December,” Mom said, rubbing a palm up and down my spine. “Your true feelings and desires are manifested through your magic.”
“Is that…normal?” I asked, but I already knew the answer.
It wasn’t normal. I was not normal.
But as I gazed at the new life growing around me, at my friends and family, unscathed, gathered around to relish our victory, I realized a few things.
It was okay to be abnormal.
It was okay to be the first ever half-Sylph, half-Zephyr hybrid.
It was okay to be me.
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Six
38
“Stop fidgeting, D.”
I huffed out a breath and clenched my fists at my sides, letting Shaela add the sprigs of tiny blue flowers to the intricate hairstyle she’d woven my black hair into. The buds matched my lacy dress, which flowed to the floor in shimmering waves.
Once she was done, I studied my reflection in the full-length mirror. The last few months had changed me. I was no longer that young, scared orphan that was thrown headfirst into a whole new world she didn’t understand.
I was a woman. Matured by experience. Wizened by adversity. Strengthened by love.
“It’s time.”
Mom popped her head through the door as she said those words, then froze with her mouth hanging open. Her eyes glassed over as she stepped fully into the room, fat tears leaking from the corners of her eyes.
“You look beautiful, honey,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion.
“Don’t,” I said, sniffing back my own tears. “If you cry, I’m going to cry, and it will mess up the makeup Shaela spent the last hour perfecting.”
Mom laughed and swiped a thumb under her eyes. She looked me up and down again, this time a wide smile gracing her perfect features.
“You look positively regal,” she declared.
“Thank you,” I replied. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
She was wearing a dark fuchsia dress that hugged all her curves, including the new bump that curved out from her belly. I smiled and rubbed my hand across it as I always did. In a few months, I was going to be a big sister.
I looked up and blinked as tears threatened, the way they always did when I thought about the new baby. My life just kept getting better and better.
A knock sounded on the door and I called out for whoever it was to enter. The door swung open and my dad filled the entrance, looking debonair in a black suit with a tie that matched my mother’s dress. He froze, his eyes roaming up and down the length of me.
A smile brightened his features as he started moving again, striding over and holding out a wrapped gift box.
“This is from your mom and me,” he said.
I held the small box in one hand and gingerly pulled the ribbon from it as I said, “You guys didn’t have to get me a present.”
“This is a momentous occasion,” Mom insisted. “And you deserve it.”
I tore off the paper and opened the lid, my eyes growing wide. Nestled in a bed of velvet was a necklace. The chain was made of thin, shiny silver and held a small pendant. Encased in silver, a marble-sized pearl glistened. But it was no regular pearl. Black and blue swirls encompassed the stone, with only the tiniest hint of white showing.
It was beautiful, and unlike anything I’d ever seen.
“Thank you,” I stuttered as Mom took the chain from the box and moved behind me to fasten it around my neck.
“It represents both sides of you,” Dad explained. “Sylph and Zephyr combined to make something gorgeous and unique.”
“It’s beautiful,” Shaela said, a slight edge to her voice, “but if we don’t leave now, we’ll be late.”
I shook myself and stiffened my spine against the nerves. I could do this. I was ready.
Easton was waiting.
The park were we’d decided to hold the ceremony was beyond amazing. In the heart of the city, plants and flowers grew around the edges and in the center stood a large, stately oak tree. The tree, which hadn’t been there a few weeks before, had popped up and matured in less than a month thanks to my healing rain. Its branches shaded the grass that carpeted the ground, making it the perfect spot for today’s festivities.
As I climbed out of Celeste’s car, which she’d graciously lent us, the crowd gathered turned as one to watch me approach. I caught myself fidgeting again as my eyes scanned the faces. Sylphs, Zephyrs, and humans all congregated together, here to bear witness to the occasion and celebrate with me and Easton.
As if my thoughts had conjured him, the crowd parted and there he stood. His eyes flooded with awe when he spotted me, his jaw slack with the dopey look on his face. I laughed, and just like that, the tension was gone.
I walked confidently toward him. I could do this. We could do this.
As I stepped up beside him, we linked hands and he kissed me gently on the cheek.
“Ladies and gentleman, we gather here today to bear witness to this world-changing event.”
Councilman Seamus Bransson spoke with passion and reverence, and a small smile curved my lips as I thought of how far we’d come since our first meeting. He was now firmly on Team December, and one of my staunchest supporters.
“A new era has dawned on this great planet,” he continued, “and starting today, these two brave young souls shall lead us into that bright and happy future. It is time to officially crown your new Sylphid king and your new Zephyr queen.”
Easton and I had chosen to hold a joint inauguration, with representatives from all three species present. The ceremony was symbolic of our vision of the future—all of us working together to heal the planet and live in harmony.
It was also to prove that though we were young—I’d only turned eighteen a few weeks before and Easton was nineteen—we were dedicated to ensuring the world became a place we all wanted to live in, and that we’d be creating it together.
We wanted no more separation between the Sylphs and Zephyrs. We also wanted the humans to feel they were on equal ground with us. While we would keep a watchful eye on them to make sure they didn’t repeat the mistakes that got us all here in the first place, we would try not to hamper their free will.
After crowns were placed on our heads and solemn oaths were sworn, Seamus and a representative of the newly formed Zephyr council presented us, officially, to the crowd as king and queen. Uproarious applause and cheering made me flinch, and Easton laughed. He held up hand, and the crowd fell silent.
“Thank you all for coming today,” he called out, magically amplifying his voice. “December and I are so pleased and humbled to have your support and will do our very best to never let you down.”
I nodded at the crowd, showing them I fully agreed with him. Polite applause followed his words, then died out as he held up a hand again.
“I spent much of my life feeling lost and alone,” he said, shooting Freya an apologetic look. “In an effort to protect me, my mother sent me to Oberon Academy to live with my grandfather, Finn, when I was very young. He was all I had for a very long time.
“Then a fiery, dark-haired beauty barreled into my life,” he continued, smiling at me. “She turned my world upside down and inside out. She taught me that people weren’t always what they seemed—that I needed to open my mind, and my heart, to greater possibilities. She taught me how to believe in the impossible, to depend on people other than myself, and how to never give up.
“But most of, she taught me how to love. That all-encompassing, self-sacrificing, drives you crazy kind of love that every person should never live without.”
My eyes burned with tears as he spoke. It was like he dug his fingers straight into my heart and pulled the words from me. He took my hand in his, and squeezed my fingers.
My heart stopped at the look on his face. I knew that look. It was unc
ertainty. Maybe even a little fear.
But then he dropped to one knee and my heart thumped back to life, beating triple-time as his smile shined up at me. I heard the voices in the crowd pick up, but it was all background noise.
“December Thorne,” Easton said, his voice confident and clear, despite his earlier case of nerves, “I love you. That love will never grow old and will never die. I am here today, in front of our friends and family and all these people, asking you to spend your life with me. December, will you be my wife?”
Blood whooshed through my ears in sync with the rhythm of my pounding heart. Was this really happening? We were so young. Too young. What if this was all for show? Was I getting excited for nothing? Was it excitement, or was it fear?
The incessant drone of questions in my overstimulated brain screeched to a halt when he held out a ring. I looked at it in surprise, my eyes flitting to meet his as he took hold of my left hand.
It was my ring, the one he’d had spelled so I could see his aura. I’d taken it off and given it to Shaela for safe-keeping…at her urging. She’d said it didn’t really match my dress and I shouldn’t be distracted by Easton’s aura during the ceremony.
I met her eyes and arched a brow, but she just shrugged and shot me a wink. I shook my head in awe. Apparently she’d inherited some of our grandfather’s trickster ways.
My attention shifted back to Easton when he squeezed my fingers. He looked so handsome, down on one knee as he slipped the ring back on my hand—only this time, it was my left hand, not the right. As soon as the metal hugged my finger, his aura lit like a beacon in the storm.
The bright pink of love and affection swirled with the golden hue of hope. Yellow and purple streaks showed me happiness and satisfaction, while a tinge of blue around the edges portrayed worry. I cocked my head and looked at his face.
A soft sheen of sweat glistened on his brow and I realized he was still waiting for my answer.
“Yes,” I whispered, then louder, “Yes, of course.”