“I can take care of myself,” said Aaron.
“Oh, believe me, I’m quite aware,” said Kaylee. She gave Alex a look. “This is either going to be amazing or awful. I can’t quite tell which yet.”
“I wish you two would stop talking about me like I’m not here,” said Aaron.
“It’s only because we care,” Alex replied with a grin.
Kaylee ignored Aaron and said one last good-bye all around, then left Aaron and Alex face-to-face, with their sisters on either side. Aaron knelt down to hug the girls and say good-bye. Then he stood up again. The brothers looked at each other.
“I’ll miss you,” said Alex. He hesitated, then added with a secretive look, “Don’t die.”
Aaron smiled and dropped his gaze. “That’s what Clive used to tell you.”
“Yes,” said Alex.
“I guess it worked.”
“Not for Clive, though.” Alex thought about that for a moment. “I hope that doesn’t mean I’ll kick the bucket before you return.”
“What bucket?”
Alex laughed. “Ask Kaylee.” He reached out to hug his brother. The two embraced, and when Alex tried to pull away, Aaron hung on.
“Thank you,” said Aaron quietly as Simber returned to the shore.
“Thank you,” said Alex. He blinked hard.
When they finally pulled apart, Aaron’s eyes were wet. He flashed a sad half smile, and then pressed his fist to his chest.
Alex did the same. And then Aaron was off.
? ? ? ?
Alex stayed with his sisters. Sky, Lani, Samheed, and Simber rejoined them on the lawn to watch the ship take sail.
“Do you wish you were going?” Alex asked.
“No stinking way,” said Samheed vehemently. “I’m still tired.”
“I’m good right here, thanks,” said Sky.
“No, I guess not,” said Lani with a little sigh. “Though we never found the big mass of land on the pirate map.” She glanced at Alex. “Why do you ask, Alex? Do you wish you were going?”
Alex shook his head. “Not even a little.” He was done with exploring and done with rescuing and done with fighting. He had new challenges to face. “This peace we have here now? This is what I’ve always wanted. I hope it stays this way forever.”
“So do I,” said Simber.
“It will,” said Lani. “At least until the next ship or airplane from Kaylee’s world gets caught in the terrible storms of the Dragon’s Triangle.”
They all thought about that for a while. And while they sat there, Pan’s enormous body moved into view on the water, her five children flying above her in V formation. Arabis the orange led the way to the west, her wings flapping elegantly and her scales sparkling. They weren’t stopping.
“Dat!” cried Fifer, pointing. She jumped to her feet.
“Dat!” echoed Thisbe, and the girls ran down the shoreline, chasing after the dragons.
Pan looked back at Alex, her face full of sorrow, and then she nodded regally. This was her good-bye day too. She would return alone.
Coming from a long walk around the island, Florence and Talon saw the twin girls running toward them. They each caught one and held them up high so the girls could see their precious dragons one last time, and perhaps pretend that they were flying too. Sky watched teary-eyed as the beautiful creatures disappeared in the distance. “I wonder where they’re going?” she said.
But no one knew, and the question hung in the air unanswered. Pan’s secret remained a mystery, perhaps to be solved another day by a very different pair of young magical twins.
Acknowledgments
I’m using this space to thank you, dear reader, for coming with me on this journey all the way to the end. Finally book seven is here! Thank you from the depths of my heart for caring about this story. Thank you for telling your friends and parents and grandparents and teachers and students and children about it. Thank you for finding me on social media to tell me about the moments that mean something extra special to you.
Thank you for loving these characters as much as I do. Your love for them keeps me going on the difficult writing days. Thank you for being Unwanted too, and for demonstrating it by using your creative abilities in all sorts of amazing ways. You are magical to me.
If you’re feeling a little sad or bittersweet after reading this book, you are not alone! I was feeling that way too, so I decided to do something about it. I want to let you know that while this particular story of Alex and Lani and Samheed and Sky ends with this book, there are more stories coming soon about the world of Artimé and the characters you love, as well as some new ones. I can’t wait for you to see all the fun surprises I will have for you in my new series, The Unwanteds Quests! The first book comes out in Spring 2017.