We’d sent word through to each of the new worlds, and in short order folks would be returning to Earth, although I suspected some of the more adventurous types would opt to stay and colonize. It’s a great big universe out there now, and everything has changed.
As far as Dancer could tell, the song didn’t heal his heart. He said he felt the same, and if he was disappointed, in true Dancer fashion he didn’t show it. I was crestfallen but refused to brood. Things were no better—but they were no worse either. And each day, I learned new ways to deal with our situation. He’d been having problems for eleven years. I could easily get eleven more, and who knew what tomorrow might bring, or what miraculous cure Shazam might have to offer? Or maybe there was something Mac, with her Fae power, or Dancer himself, with his huge brain, could figure out to do, in time. The possibilities were limitless.
Apparently the song hadn’t considered Christian or Sean O’Bannion made of imperfect song, as I’d suspected.
Christian was still an Unseelie prince.
“I don’t bloody fucking get it,” he said to me for the third time, tossing back a swallow of scotch. “I’m Unseelie. It should have either killed me or stripped the Unseelie out of me, leaving me a normal man,” he said irritably. It may not have changed him but something about him was different. Possibly just that he was getting more comfortable being what he was.
Dancer said, “The song only destroyed what was created from imperfect song. You weren’t. You were born a human.”
“My bloody wings were created from imperfect song.”
“No, they weren’t,” Dancer said. “You’re a man who acquired Fae parts but your essence is human. I seriously doubt the song makes mistakes. It decided you weren’t imperfect. For fuck’s sake, did you want to die?”
“No. I just wanted to be myself again.”
“I think the point is you are. You heard the music. It sent its arrows into you. And it left you alone. That means what you’ve become can’t be that bad. Maybe you should try to—”
“Don’t bloody tell me I should try to bloody embrace what I’ve become. That bastard Cruce told me often enough.”
“That bastard Cruce,” Mac said, passing by with a drink in her hand, “saved us and our planet, and he didn’t have to. Nothing’s black and white, Christian. If I were you, I’d start playing with my power, figuring out what I could do with it. At least you’re not queen of the Fae. If anyone gets to bitch about the position they got stuck with, it’s me, and I’m not. So buck up, little buckaroo. I’m queen of the Fairies, you’re Death, life goes on.”
Then she was off to join Barrons and Ryodan, who were playing poker with the Lanes and Inspector Jayne.
“Yeah, well, she’s not the one that can’t have sex,” Christian muttered darkly. “They’re bloody having sex constantly.”
“I told you I’m perfectly happy to help with that,” Enyo said, dropping over the back of the couch next to him.
Christian shot up and stalked away.
I arched a brow at Enyo, who shrugged. “War’s over. I need a new challenge.” Then she was off the couch, too, stalking after him.
Then Dancer and I were slow dancing while everyone carried on around us, as if we were the only two people in the world. Then the music was fast and fun and some of the sidhe-seers who hadn’t gone off world showed up and we filled the bookstore with dancing and laughter and even Mac and Barrons joined in when “Tubthumping” came on.
Hours later Dancer finally said, “Want to get out of here, Mega?” His eyes were tired but brilliant as ever, the color of tropical surf.
Did I ever. I wanted this night to go on forever. But I also wanted it to end. “Yes. Tomorrow we get to—”
“Rescue Shazam,” Dancer exclaimed, eyes sparkling. “Bloody hell, I can’t wait to meet him!”
I kissed him. And kissed him. Then I had him leaning back against a bookcase, I was his second skin, and we got lost in a long dreamy kiss that told me exactly how the night was going to go.
I looked for Ryodan to say goodbye before we left but he was nowhere to be found.
“Freeze-frame me, Dani,” Dancer said eagerly as we stepped outside, and I couldn’t resist. We were on top of the world, young and in perfect sync with each other’s hearts. He loved being in the slipstream, said it helped blow his mind open to new ideas.
As I kicked us up into that other dimension and the starry tunnel unfolded around us, he kissed me, which totally broke my concentration, and we stumbled down, cartwheeling along the alley, laughing. Then he had me turned around against the brick wall and my jeans were down and so were his and my sword was shoved aside and he was kissing the back of my neck and pushing inside me from behind and I knew later tomorrow I’d gouge D&D into the wall in this very spot and I laughed thinking that if I did it everywhere we had sex, the whole city would be graffitied with D’s in no time.
“I love you, Dani Mega O’Malley,” Dancer said against my ear as he moved inside me. “More than the world is big. Deeper than the sky is blue. Truer than the universe is vast. I love you more eternal than pi.”