Beauty

Chapter Twenty-Two

Lach sat back and watched as Bronwyn bonded with her new sister-in-law. After a joyous reunion with her brothers, the two walked arm in arm, aiding all those who had survived. The vampires had brought tools and Alexander Dellacourt was already arguing with his son over how this current political state would affect the stock market back on the Vampire plane. The group from Aoibhneas had already put up tents and had begun tending to the wounded under the direction of a red-haired Fae healer with the worst disposition Lach had ever seen. Queen Meg was doing her best to make everyone feel comfortable, but it would take a while to get the palace back in order. After all, his bride had torched a good portion of it.

And Gillian. Gillian was gone again. She’d kissed him on the cheek and disappeared.

Roan and Harry were hot on her trail.

Bron laughed at something the queen said, the throaty sound making Lach’s cock jump.

“We should never have found her new clothes,” Shim said with a sigh.

Lach laughed. “She’s going to be a queen when our father heads off to the after. She can’t just walk around the Dark Palace without clothes on, Shim.”

“It’s a terrible shame and a waste of such beautiful flesh.” Shim sighed as Bron looked over and waved.

“I’m going to absolutely forget everything I just heard you say about my sweet sister,” Cian Finn said, looking very much the king. Everyone was busy cleaning up and burying the dead, but there was a general buzz that swept up every worker. Though there was mourning, there was also hope. Cian smiled as he watched his sister with his wife. “I can’t thank you enough for finding her or for loving her. She tells me she’s very happy and intends to put the Dark Palace to rights.”

She’d certainly charmed his father. King Fergus had taken to his daughter-in-law immediately, declaring his sons not good enough for her, but he’d said it with a smile and wink. “I think you’ll find everyone in our kingdom will be eager to accommodate her.”

Cian raised a brow. “And if they’re not?”

Shim showed off a hint of fangs. “We’re Unseelie, Your Majesty. We know how to deal with difficult subjects.”

Well, they would certainly know how to deal with anyone who fucked with their wife.

The Warrior King joined his brother. “Lachlan, we were wondering about something.”

Wondering about how well he’d pleased their sister the night before? Wondering how many times he and Shim had made her come?

“I hardly think they’re wondering that, Lach,” Shim said, laughing under his breath.

Beck made a horrible face. “Stop. I can guess. I don’t even want to know you think that. Goddess, she’s still fourteen in my head.”

She wasn’t fourteen anymore. She’d been a sweet girl, but what a woman she’d become. “Sorry, Your Majesty.”

Beck shook his head. “We’re family. None of that. We could end up calling each other by titles all day. So, did Bron tell you about our father?”

Bron had told him everything. About her father becoming a sluagh and her brothers’ ex-fiancée trapping Torin. He wanted to kill the one named Niall, but apparently he was some sort of hero in the Seelies’ eyes. “She told me her father had sacrificed himself to give her the energy to go on.”

Beck’s arms crossed over his chest, his eyes settling into a worried stare. “Does that mean he’s gone for good?”

Lach sat up straight. He hadn’t even thought about it. He’d been too busy holding Bronwyn and reveling in the feel of her against his heart. “He was a sluagh. He might have faded, but he’s still here. It will just take him a long time to gather enough energy to appear before us again. But he’ll stay here most likely. He tied himself to this place. Becoming a sluagh was a choice for him.”

Cian’s voice grew tight. “Can he choose again?”

Lach stopped, his brain wrapping around the idea. What had Duffy said? Death was a doorway. Death was nothing to be afraid of. What if Lach’s power was more than pulling corpses from the ground and playing the puppetmaster? What if his power could have meaning and true purpose?

Death was a doorway, and Lachlan McIver intended to open it.

Bronwyn was suddenly at his side, Queen Meg with her. “What’s going on? I felt Lach’s power stir.”

Shim took her hand. “He’s going to try something. Help us. He needs a bit of my power, too.”

Beck Finn put a hand on his shoulder. “Bron, take some of mine.”

“Mine, too,” Cian said, laying his hand on Lach. “Funnel it to Lachlan.”

Fire and earth and the storms above. And a doorway.

Lach let the power flow and reached out. Nothing was ever truly lost and Seamus Finn, King of Seelie Fae, was no exception.

Ashes and dust. That’s what his body was, but Lach found them and drew them to him forming a pile of what had made the man. Lach breathed his own unique power into it.

Seamus Finn stood, a ghostly apparition, but quite solid for a shade. He looked startled to be seen. “Beck? Ci?”

They moved away from Lach, toward their long-dead father.

“Father, Torin is gone.” Beck seemed solemn, as though reporting to a superior, not a son to his father. Cian simply stared.

Seamus shook his head. “He doesn’t matter, son. You do. You and Cian and your sister. Oh, Death Lord, I cannot thank you enough for this chance. I feared I had given it up to spare your sister. Beckett, I was a fool. You are a good man with a good soul and those needs of yours aren’t wrong. I had them, too, and my father beat them out of me. I pray I’m not too late to change that for you. There was a piece of me that was empty because I didn’t follow my heart.”

Meg smiled broadly. “I fixed him, Your Majesty. Trust me, he’s perfectly fine with all those needs now.”

Seamus smiled at her, reaching out a hand that couldn’t touch her. “Sweet Queen. Take care of my boys. Cian, I am so sorry. I didn’t understand you. I loved you, but I didn’t know how to handle you. Can you forgive me?”

Cian clutched his wife’s hand. “Yes, father.”

“I love you, Ci. My time is short. I feel the pull. I love you, my children. This kingdom is yours. Rule with wisdom and love and grace.” He stopped and looked at Lachlan. “What is that, Death Lord? I see a light.”

A deep sense of peace swept over Lachlan. This. This was his power. This was his calling. All of his life he’d hated the cold, dead power, but he’d been wrong. His power was about life. His power was a service to his people and all living creatures were his people. “It’s the after. It’s your time.”

“But I chose. I became a sluagh.” The words were a staccato protestation, but hope was dawning on his face.

“Choose again, Your Majesty.”

Seamus turned, looking at something only he could see. “My wife. She’s here. She waited. I didn’t deserve any of this, but I will take it with a grateful heart. Good-bye, my loves.”

Seamus shimmered for a second and was gone, his choice made.

Shim gave him a broad smile. “You did good, brother.”

Bron did one better. She threw herself into his arms. “Thank you. Thank you, husband.”

Lach wrapped her in his arms, his other half clinging to her back. He was a man with half a soul, but she’d completed him.

Death was nothing to be afraid of. Not when he was so loved.