But I’m not sorry that I’ll get to spend my life with a boy who sees my wildness and a magic that makes me come alive.
“It was the hardest decision I’ve ever made.” I’m still playing with the necklace, and my dad’s eyes go to it. I don’t want to lose it, but this necklace belongs to him, not to a daughter who has defied everything he believes in. “Here, Dad. I’m sure you want this back.”
He looks pained, his brows pinching together and his mouth turning downward. “Put that back on.” He says it with conviction, as if he’s giving a sermon. “That belongs to you, and I’m proud for you to wear it.” His voice shakes at the end.
“Dad?”
He sits down next to me and takes my hands in his. “You believe in something strongly enough that you gave up all the comforts of this life in search of something different. You are brave and loyal to yourself,” he says, pulling me into him. “It won’t be easy, but if you believe in this life half as much as I believe in mine, you’re going to do well.”
I had accepted that there would always be a gap between my parents and me, that from now on I’d be seen as a traitor and an embarrassment. I had never let myself hope that they might understand, and I’m completely overwhelmed by it.
“And if you and that boy continue to look at each other the way you did tonight, I suspect you’ll be very happy.”
“Thank you, Dad,” I say, holding him tight.
We walk onto the dock and meet Wolfe on the beach. I almost ask my dad if I can go home with him, if I can spend another night in my bedroom with the comfort of his presence nearby. But I’ve made my choice, and I gave up that option when I cast my blood into crystal instead of copper.
“Let’s plan for a meeting in two days at the perfumery. Wolfe, bring your father. We have much to discuss, and we ought to do it privately before the councils get involved.”
Wolfe agrees, and my dad gives me another smile before turning and walking toward home. I try not to dwell on the image of him walking away, on the way it hurts my insides like a punch to the gut. But I can ache for the loss of my previous life while delighting in all the wonders that are yet to come.
Wolfe and I walk in the direction opposite my dad, to the wild part of the island where anything is possible. When we finally get to the manor, a man is waiting for us outside. Wolfe offered to magic me into dry clothing while we were on the boat, but I didn’t want to use more magic than necessary in front of my parents. I look horrid, though, and now I wish I had agreed to it. I self-consciously smooth my hand over my dress and try to fix my messy braid.
The man smiles, and his expression tells me he isn’t at all surprised to see me here.
“I’m Galen, Wolfe’s father,” he says, even though it’s obvious—they look so much alike.
“Have we met before?” I ask, reaching for a memory of him that I can’t find.
“Several times.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t remember.” I look down, but Galen reacts as if it’s nothing.
“Not at all. I heard about what you did tonight.”
I suppose it makes sense that he already knows—he probably keeps tabs on the island more than my mother realizes—but it still catches me off guard.
I start to explain myself, say I understand if he doesn’t want me here, but he holds up his hand, and I stop speaking.
“Welcome home, Mortana.” Then he pulls me into a hug. I’m stunned by his kindness, but it helps to ease the ache in my heart, and I’m sure that I’ll be happy here.
“Thank you.”
“I know you’ve had a long day, so I’ll let you get settled. But tomorrow, if you’re feeling up to it, the rest of the coven would love to meet you.”
“How many of you are there?”
“Seventy-three,” he says.
Seventy-three. The number astounds me, and I’m amazed that I went my entire life without knowing of their existence. But I can’t help the excitement that rises inside me as I realize I will have a home here. A family.
It will be different from the life I have always envisioned for myself. But it will be wholly and completely my own.
“I’m looking forward to meeting them.”
Galen offers a warm smile, then turns to Wolfe and squeezes his shoulder. His eyes look glassy, tears pooling in them as he looks at his son. Then he walks inside, leaving Wolfe and me alone.
Wolfe turns toward me and extends his hand. “Do you want to see your new home?” I can hear the heaviness in his voice, the weight of my decision wrapping around us both. It’s a good weight, a calming one, binding us together.
I look at the manor, its steep pitched roof reaching toward the heavens. Lanterns cast a soft, warm glow on the stone wall and illuminate the climbing vines that crawl along the exterior. Smoke drifts into the clear night sky from a large chimney, and the soft sound of a piano filters out into the cold.
“Yes.” I take his hand in mine, but a shock runs through me, a flash of something I can’t place, and I pull away.
There is a life for you here.
“What did you say?” I ask him, stepping closer.
“I didn’t say anything.” He watches me. “Are you okay?”
“I could have sworn I heard something,” I say. “It was a long day. I guess I’m just tired.”
“Then let’s get you inside.”
Wolfe offers his hand to me once more, and I take it.
I don’t want to lose you.
My grip tightens as an image rushes into my mind: the two of us in this same place, standing in the woods outside the manor on a cold autumn night. He had just shown me his home for the first time, opened his entire life up to me so I could envision something different for myself. And I ran away.
I squeeze my eyes shut as the memory takes hold of my brain and my chest and my heart, digging its roots into me, ensuring I never forget it again.
“I’ve been here before,” I whisper. “With you. Right here. You told me there is a life for me here.”
Wolfe doesn’t say anything, but when I meet his eyes, they’re red. He nods and his jaw tenses. “Yes.”
Then it’s a flood.
A moonflower and a light. Crashing into Wolfe in a field. Missing the rush. Learning dark magic. Going to the western shore over and over, hoping to see the boy who changed everything.
I can hear your heartbeat.
Clutching him in the sea.
Touching him by the fire.
Kissing him on the shore.
I’m overwhelmed, drowning in an ocean of memory, an unfathomable depth of feeling I didn’t know I was capable of. I’m completely shocked by the way my love for him took hold of every part of me, masked itself as an impossible choice when the truth was that I could only ever choose him.
From that very first night, my fate was sealed.
Queen of the dark.
I rush to him, crashing into him with my whole body, squeezing him with all my might. Tears run down my face, and I close my eyes and press my lips to his ear. “I remember.”
His body shakes as he takes a breath, so strong it’s as if it’s the first time his lungs have ever met the air, breathing in the life he almost lost.
“I remember,” I say again, my voice louder, making sure he hears it. Making sure he trusts it. Making sure he knows.
“I missed you.” His words are quiet and rough and beautiful.
I kiss his neck and jaw before finding his lips, already wet with saltwater tears. His movements are slow and hesitant, as if he’s ensuring that I’m real, ensuring that I won’t disappear as soon as he lets his guard down.
“I’m here,” I whisper against his lips.
I feel the moment his walls crumble between us, crashing to the earth.
“Tana,” he breathes, opening his mouth and clutching my face between his hands, kissing me as if he’s making up for all the kisses we lost, hungry from the time we spent apart.
His fingers are restless, sliding down my face and lingering on my jaw, trailing down my neck and moving over my collarbones. A shiver runs down my spine, and my breath hitches. “Take me upstairs,” I say.