I think I finally figured out what Styx is.
Loss.
There is no way back, Loki says when I seek him out, desperate and unable to help myself.
“But you don’t know much about his people. Not really.”
He sighs at my stubbornness. “Think that if you like. But I was their ally, remember? I worked with them in the war.”
“You’ve been to their home?” I straighten.
“Their home doesn’t exist anymore,” he shakes his head at the hope in my eyes, “not here. They took it with them when the last bridge fell. Your lover is as gone as my children.”
Not for the first time I think of all Loki’s lost. Even his dream of revenge has been taken from him now.
“Do you hate her? My mother?”
“For succeeding?” He laughs. “No. I thought I did at first, but then . . .” Loki looks out at the water, a faint smile on his lips. “No. I don’t hate Oriane.” Before I can think too much about the softness in those chaotic eyes, Loki straightens abruptly.
He moves off into the night, purple mist gathering around his boot heels.
“Wait!” I swallow a sob as he looks over his shoulder. “There has to be something I can do. It can’t end like this. It just . . . can’t.”
Loki sighs. “The only advice I can give you is this: Don’t wait for what can never be. It’ll drive you mad. Accept that the one you love is never coming back.”
“That’s impossible.”
His smile is twisted and sad. “I know.”
30
One month later
“I don’t really do Thanksgiving.” I’ve told Fiona this before. Several times.
She won’t take no for an answer. The teenage witch Jett rescued became a part of my WoW guild a few weeks ago. She’s gotten special permission to hold a dinner at Dungeon’s End on Thursday for all the people who don’t have families to go to, or who have families they don’t want to go to.
“Neither do most of us.” Her smile comes through, even over the phone. “Hence my dinner idea. Come on, C, you haven’t poked your nose out in forever.”
So I agree.
But I wasn’t prepared for how much walking in here would hurt. I glance over at the corner where I saw him first and it’s like I can still see him there.
Click.
I close my eyes. Then open them again when Fiona runs forward to grab my arm and pull me into a sweetly awkward hug. I think she was the touchy-feely type before she was kidnapped, and even though the desire is still there, her heart isn’t quite sure who it can trust.
She’s trying though. And the smile on her face almost makes me feel something. Almost.
We’re sitting down to a real tablecloth dinner, the likes of which my pagan ass has never seen, when the front door flies open.
“Everyone get out here.” Dawson’s face is bloodless, his eyes wide. “You gotta see this.”
People mutter and grab their phones, some taking their drinks as well. With a shrug, I join them, Fiona right behind me.
Sea smoke is rising and boiling over the lake that is just out of sight over the highway. It’s a phenomenon we’ve all seen before, but not like this.
Never like this.
It looks like the apocalypse is rolling toward us, towering pillars in grey and black, blocking out the pale November sun.
Next to me, Dawson is muttering to his brother. “What the fuck, man? No way is it cold enough for this shit.”
He’s right. Sea smoke only occurs when the temperature drops so rapidly that the difference between the air temperature and that of the lake becomes unsustainably extreme. That causes a heavy fog to form over the lake before it rolls over the land, looking a whole lot like a shot from Stephen King’s The Mist.
I eye the billowing wall that seems intent on erasing reality, the back of my neck tingling. We’re having an unseasonably mild November. It’s only forty or so, far too warm for this effect to be natural.
Day turns into twilight, darker and darker, until around us the streetlights come on one by one. There are gasps and whispers all around me. Suddenly Fiona’s hand is in mine, squeezing hard.
Then, as abruptly as it began, the sea smoke starts to collapse. In minutes, it’s gone entirely, only tatters of grey remaining overhead to prove the whole thing wasn’t some sort of mass hallucination.
Everyone stands in the street for a minute or two, shell-shocked and pale and quiet.
Fiona sighs in relief as the sun breaks out overhead once again. Her fingers tighten on mine once before she releases them abruptly. “I think I peed my pants a little.” She smiles up at me, then pushes her way back to the doorway. “Come on, everyone, before the food gets cold!”
The crowd stirs at her words, everyone laughing nervously, as if just a minute or two before they weren’t thinking the world was coming to an end. I shake my head. This is why FTCs have been able to exist without detection for so long. The human capacity to forget is huge. Then again, what the hell did just happen?
I glance over my shoulder to where the lake is no longer visible, feeling an ache in my heart for no particular reason. I reach up to rub at it before turning back to join the others. They’ve all gone inside already, the street empty. I’m alone.
Well, almost.
A single figure blocks the entrance.
Tall and broad shouldered with long blond hair.
My hand freezes on my chest. Ice fills my veins. No, it can’t be. Don’t tease me like this, it hurts too much.
He stares at me. I stare at him.
Then Styx moves, and fire replaces the ice.
She flies into my arms, sobbing and laughing. I don’t say a word. I’m not capable; I can only hold her.
It was supposed to be an impossible journey. I was no sooner home than I was fighting to leave. My people were first shocked, then sympathetic but absolutely unanimous in their opinion. Give up, they said. It cannot be done. All paths were destroyed eons ago.
They were right.
It could not be done.
The essence of my world pulled me back home, they argued, like a powerful magnet drawing me through the vastness of space and time. But there was nothing here to do the same.
They were also wrong.
She’s here.
I could say it was like finding a needle in a haystack, but that doesn’t quite cover it. It was much, much worse.
If you took all the stars in the Milky Way, every single one of the billions and billions out there, and covered each of them entirely in haystacks, from pole to pole, and then disguised the fucking needle as a stick of hay, then you’d have some idea of the problem I faced.
Carly finally notices how still I am. She tries to pull back a few centimeters but I won’t let her. I don’t think I’ll be capable of letting her go for quite some time.
A few years might do it.
“It’s okay. I’m here,” she whispers I’m not sure how long later.
“I know,” I manage to mutter. “I’m just making sure.”
I feel her smile against my throat. Then I feel it fade.
“Was it hard?” she says, a catch in her voice. “Getting back?”
I finally pull my head back enough to look her in the eyes. The sight of that vivid blue-green almost brings me to my knees.
“Nah,” I say, my voice thick. “Just made a few wrong turns somewhere around Andromeda.”
She tries to laugh, but it comes out more like a sob. “I thought . . . I thought I’d never . . .” Her fingers are over her mouth, trembling.
“Shhh.” I run a thumb under those sweet eyes, catching her tears. “Never say never, remember?”
31
“It’s a madhouse in here.” Styx blinks as we enter the bar.
He’s right. T&T is packed to the rafters. Even the loft is hopping, every table occupied. The jukebox is blaring, and behind the bar, Seph and what seems like half her staff are rushing around filling orders.
It’s
only a week until Yule. This is the first time Styx and I have been out together since he got back. We’ve been spending a lot of time at his cabin and a lot of time enjoying the peace and quiet. And each other.
But it’s past time to get out and face the world again. Especially since this party is kind of for us, or rather Styx. There is a Welcome Home banner above the bar.
Adorned with a skull and crossbones.
Styx laughs when I point it out.
Even Mom is in residence, sipping a piña colada in a corner with Merry on one side and Loki on the other. She looks happier and more . . . present than I have seen her in years. Seems having the gift of prophecy and time travel taken from you does worlds for a person’s anxiety.
“That is just weird,” Styx mutters under his breath, staring at the god of chaos through slitted eyes.
“You’re telling me,” I agree. Still, if Mom can forgive him, I suppose I can.
Life itself is chaotic. You never know what’s going to happen next and as much as we think that it’s a bad thing, it’s really, really not.
I watch Mom laugh and shake my head.
“If we end up with the damn god of chaos as a stepfather . . .” Seph lays a couple cocktail napkins in front of Styx and I while giving Loki the evil eye. “Not to mention he’s already pretty much my brother-in-law.”
“Hush. Don’t tempt the fates.”
“No shit. Those bitches have dealt us enough curveballs. What’ll you two have?”
“Moonsh—” A green glass bottle is placed in front of me before I even get the word out. I twist around on my stool, Merry standing at my side. “An early Yule present,” the gnome says gruffly. “Don’t drink it all in one go.”
“I got everyone a present, too.” Rochie sashays down the bar and kicks a slick-papered calendar my way over the polished wood.
I’m flipping through it, my eyes getting wider with every page, when Styx abruptly slaps a big hand on the cover, halting my perusal. “She can look at it when we get home.”
“I can?” I stare at him as Rochie flies off again, wings flashing violet and blue.
“Yes,” he says through gritted teeth. “You can look at it going in the trashcan.”
“Funny, that’s exactly what Tyr told Ana.” Seph giggles as she takes Merry’s bottle from me and opens it, pouring Styx and me both a couple of fingers.
“I’m kind of surprised Jett didn’t have an issue with Stephen being on the cover.”
Seph snorts. “She said it doesn’t matter, since she’s the only one who gets to touch, and that if anyone else tried, she’d cut off their fingers one by one.”
We all look at the end of the bar. My tough-as-nails sister is sitting in her man’s lap, looking as content as I’ve ever seen her, her chin resting on Stephen’s shoulder as he talks to Georg.
“What are the bruins going to do with two kings? Have they said?” Jack looks at me.
I shrug. “I know that Georg has no intention of taking back his crown. He says all he really wants to do for the next hundred years or so is drink tequila and fish.” Though considering he’s now somewhere around third in line to the European throne, I’m not sure he’s going to get his wish.
I haven’t mentioned that yet. I doubt Stephen has either.
Seph clears her throat, leaning back into Jack, who wraps his arms around her waist. “He deserves it,” she says, her eyes soft.
After Seph and Jack wander off to take care of more customers, Tyr and Ana drift over for a while before going upstairs to play pool.
I look over at Styx, knowing he’s not really one for parties. “Having fun?” I tease lightly, but he surprises me.
“Actually, yes.” He glances at the banner again, his lips curving. “This is rather . . . lovely.”
I smile, then look around the bar full of my family, our friends and what seems like half the FTCs in the state before meeting his eyes. “Yes, as once-upon-a-times go, I’ll take it.”
“Me, too.” That gaze darkens to deep gold as he watches me drain my moonshine. “Still . . . any chance of convincing you to leave this party early?”
“Only if you’ve got something wilder in mind.”
“I’m sure I can come up with something.”
“Okay then.” I place my glass on the bar, bounce to my feet and grab Merry’s bottle.
“Aren’t you scared?” he whispers as his fingers slide over the small of my back, guiding me through the crowd. My breath hitches at the husky promise in those familiar words. At first, I can’t find my voice as I look up at him, feeling so damn happy there isn’t a smile in the world big enough to contain it.
“Maybe you should be,” I whisper as my fingers lace with his.
The bells tied to the door ring as we slip out into the night and softly falling snow, leaving the lights of T&T behind.
THE END
Afterword
So ends the Toil & Trouble series. Wow!!
It’s been quite a wild and magical ride. Thank you all for taking it with me!
More specifically I want to thank my editor, Lizz at Razor Sharp Editing for being patient with me and helping to hone my skills, not to mention all those clever little zingers that made me laugh instead of cry! I also need to shout out to Veronica Del Rosa for being the best writing buddy and friend EVER. And to Sarah Curtis for sharing my little series far and wide, you ROCK. I also HAVE to mention my amazing beta readers for this book, Carla and Chandris! There was so much to keep straight wrapping this series up, three heads were definitely better than one. Thank you for catching those little details that mean so much! Also to my dedicated ARC team, you guys never fail to blow me away. Your support and reviews and emails keep me going on the bad days and lift me even higher on the amazing ones.
Also to my kids for understanding all the hours Mom spends behind closed doors with her imaginary friends and supporting me even when it’s hard, I LOVE YOU!
As always, if you’d like to stay in touch, the best way is via my newsletter, the Craic. Free and full of promos, fun stuff and ARC opportunities, you won't want to miss out.
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Now on to the next…
Also by Heather R. Blair
Toil & Trouble
Sixpence & Whiskey
Blackbirds & Bourbon
Roses & Rye
Threescore & Tequila
Deja Vu & Gin
Magpies & Moonshine
Celtic Elementals
Smoke In Moonlight
Blood In Fire
Lightning In Sea
Phoenix Inc.
Phoenix Rising
Phoenix Fallen
Phoenix Broken
Stand Alones
Cupid’s Bow (Coming February 2018)
Short Story Collections and Anthologies
Shivers
Embraced By Darkness
Magpies & Moonshine Page 16