Bound

Chapter Twenty-Two

Meg hit the ground with a great thud and promptly landed on her ass.

The demon shrugged over her. “Not the most graceful of landings, Your Highness, but it will do.” He walked on without offering to lend a hand. “Good luck.”

Meg scrambled up and looked around her. She was in the forest. The door closed roughly six feet above her. No wonder it was hard to find. It would be even harder on this side of the door since there was no handy set of stairs to climb up. Meg wiped water off her face. It was raining. She looked up the path. It looked like the rain got worse up ahead.

The demon seemed to have disappeared again, and she was alone in the forest with no sense of direction. She ran for the shelter of a thick tree. It was less wet beneath the tree’s wide canopy, and Meg tried to pull out her computer. She went through the bag three times before admitting the truth.

“Bastard.” It was obvious that the human version of Dante had helped himself to a souvenir of her visit. That damn computer would have been helpful.

She heard rushing water to her left and knew she was in luck. The village had been built to take advantage of the river. She could follow it, and she would be able to see houses and docks when she got close.

Meg repacked her duffel bag and prepared herself for a potentially long walk. There was nothing else to do. She couldn’t just sit here, and Human Dante had taken away her ability to call his vampire counterpart.

Meg trudged to the river. She realized she had another decision to make. She had no idea where she was in relation to the village. It could be north or south of where she was. She could walk for days, only to discover she’d gone the wrong way. Meg chewed nervously on her lip and stared through the rain, trying to see if there was anything familiar. The only times she’d come into the forest, she had been either righteously pissed off at Beck or sleeping peacefully in his arms. She hadn’t been memorizing landmarks.

Ahead in the distance, she spotted a beautiful horse standing in the water, and her decision was made.

“Screw you, you cannibal horse,” she shouted at the kelpie and turned the opposite direction. It was enough of a sign for her. Decision made, Meg began to jog.

It might have been a bad decision, Meg decided half an hour later. She seemed to be walking toward the intensifying storm. The rain was pelting her. There wasn’t an inch of her that wasn’t soaked. She shivered as she hiked on.

After a few minutes, she heard a magnificent sound. It started like a slight whir, and there was no mistaking its man-made nature. Well, there was no mistaking its vampire-made nature.

She stopped and let the sound come to her. It didn’t take long. The hover bike was fast. The bike got louder. The sound seemed almost anxious to Meg’s ears. The rider was outfitted for the storm. He was in head-to-toe water-repellant gear. Even his eyes were covered with goggles. He steered the bike right toward her.

“Get on.” Dante had to shout over the noise of the storm. “We need to talk, sister.”

Twenty minutes later, Meg took the towel Dante handed her. Like everything else about Dante’s little camp, the towel was very high-tech. She rubbed her hair, and suddenly, it was dry. She didn’t question it. She was just grateful to be warm. The tent was toasty and dry. There were soft lanterns giving the room a nice glow. It was everything she could ask for.

“Where the hell have you been?” Dante asked, pouring himself a Scotch. “Do you have any idea how bad things have gotten while you were doing whatever it was you were doing?”

“Well, I didn’t go willingly.” Meg rubbed her hands together before shrugging out of her sweater. “Someone paid the Planeswalker to take me home.”

Dante’s mouth hung open slightly. “You went back to the Earth plane?”

“And then found my way back here. I didn’t even need a demon to help me, though I did come back with one,” Meg said proudly.

Dante sighed. “You came back.”

“Of course I came back,” Meg replied. The vampire had really believed she’d abandoned them. “I love them, Dante. I never wanted to leave them. Now, tell me everything. Are they alive? Has the hag been able to hurt them? How did you find me?”

Dante looked slightly amused as she pelted him with questions. “As far as I know, they’re still protected. I can’t get close. The storm is horrible. It’s kept the hag away, though she’s closing in. Once that blonde bitch gets into their hidey-hole, she’ll be able to slit their throats, and there’s nothing they can do about it. As for how I found you, I planted a locator device on your back that first day we met. Remember, I gave you a big hug and slapped you on the back? The locator device is small and burrows into the skin. I had a feeling you would be trouble.”

“You LoJacked me?”

Dante shook his head, seemingly unconcerned. “I don’t know what that is, sweetheart. However, I did make sure I could keep tabs on you. Don’t mention it to Ci, but I ‘LoJacked’ him a long time ago. I was too scared to try it with Beck. I do it to the people I care about. I like to know where they are.”

“So where are they?” Meg chose to set aside Dante’s questionable actions for now. They were fortuitous any way she looked at it.

“About a half a mile north. I don’t know what happened, but the twins took refuge in a small cabin in the middle of the forest. It’s covered with vines, and let me tell you, those vines have thorns. I tried to hack my way in while the hag was sleeping. The plants took exception.”

Meg pulled off her wet jeans and shirt. She ran the towel across her skin, marveling at the way it instantly dried her. “That’s Cian’s doing. He came into his power shortly before that asshole demon hauled my butt back to Earth.”

“Cian’s a Green Man?” Dante lisped a little around his fangs. Meg threw him a dirty look. “What do you expect, sweetheart? You’re half-naked. It would be rude not to get horny. Now tell me about Ci.”

Meg rolled her eyes and accepted that Dante was just Dante. She moved to her duffel bag and was pleased to find that everything she owned was not soaking wet. “All that legendary stuff about royal symbiotic twins is true.” Meg put on the soft, suede-like pants the village women had sewn for her, and her shirt and vest. “Cian is a Green Man. Beck can control storms.”

“Well, he’s not doing a very good job of it, is he?” Dante asked, referencing the raging storm outside. “It’s been like this since I got here a week ago. I came when your locator signal went off-line and I couldn’t get the computer I gave you to answer me.”

“About that, I’m going to need another one of those. Your human self stole mine, the little weasel. I have no doubt he is, even now, plotting something ruthless. He had that look about him.”

“Nice,” Dante said, showing off his fangs. “So you met the human version of me. How hot was I? I was really rich, but, like, on my own, right? I see myself as a self-made man.”

“You were sad and sweet and potentially very selfish.” Meg strapped her shoulder holster on. She thought about Human Dante. “Your life wasn’t as good there as you have it here. I’m actually a little worried about what you, the other you, is going to do with that computer.”

Dante looked vaguely pleased. “Probably something incredibly evil. I always thought I’d make a good super villain.”

Meg checked the .357. The weight felt good in her hands. “Speaking of villains, tell me the blonde bitch who’s trying to kill my husbands is Liadan.”

“Is that the chick Beck’s been banging?” He quickly corrected himself. “I mean was banging before he met his one true love and started being completely faithful?”

“You’re a good wingman,” Meg remarked. “And yes, I’m talking about Beck’s ex-honey. Please tell me I get to kill her.”

Dante took a long gulp of Scotch. Meg was sure it was top-of-the-line stuff. When he looked back, Meg saw the fear in his clear eyes. “If she doesn’t kill you first, sweetheart. She’s quite horrible. I saw her face, her real face. I wish I didn’t have to see it again.”

Meg checked to make sure the gun was loaded. She looked back at Dante as she placed the .357 Magnum in the holster and reached for the extra jacket the vampire had offered her. It was too big, but it would keep her dry. “You don’t have to. You point me in the right direction, and I’ll take care of her. It’s my responsibility, not yours. You’ve done your job.”

Those clear green eyes rolled back. “Stuff it, sweetheart. Don’t give me the lone warrior routine. I’m still a freaking vampire, and I have my pride. Besides, my cousins would kick my ass if they found out I sent their wife in to face a hag and her nasty little cat while I stayed safe and dry in my tent. I’m going with you, and that’s that. Now, since we’ve gone ahead and acknowledged that we’re about to die, how about some end-of-the-world sex? If we’re going out, we should go out with a bang and a really good orgasm.”

Meg pointedly zipped up her jacket. “You’re worried Beck and Ci will be upset if you send me in alone, but you think they’ll be okay with a little infidelity?”

“It’s for a good cause,” Dante explained innocently. “Besides, if they don’t understand and we happen to survive and they happen to survive, then the ass-kicking I get will be totally worth it. And if you do anal, that would make my death so much more meaningful.”

“Dante, I might shoot you myself,” Meg promised as she pulled the hood over her head.

“What are you going to shoot me with?” Dante zipped up his own jacket. “And what was that cool-looking toy you hid in your jacket?”

Meg stopped and stared at the vampire, trying to figure out if he was joking. “You don’t know what a gun is?”

“No.” Dante pulled the hood of his jacket over his red-gold hair. “What does it do?”

If the vampires didn’t have guns, then there was no way Liadan would know what was coming.

“They kill people, my friend.” Meg felt a deep satisfaction that she had the upper hand. “And here’s something even better. I’ll make you a deal. If you manage to survive, I’ve got a little present for you. I brought back three bottles of the strongest sunscreen you can buy at Target. I’m sure that one of those brilliant vampire scientists will be able to reverse engineer something from them.”

Dante’s eyes lit up. “Oh, yeah, they can, and I’ll be the one who brought it to them. This, Meg, is going to get me out of refurb hell. Nice. I’m totally going to live. Profits are on the line. No vampire goes down when profit is on the line.”

“I thought you might say something like that,” Meg replied, heading for the door to the tent. “But, Dante, I’m going to need a cut.”

She let the flap close behind her as she heard the vampire curse.

Meg looked through Dante’s binoculars. They gave a close view of Beck and Cian’s small fortress, even through the rain. Dante eased down next to her and nudged her carefully. He pointed to a figure standing mere feet from the green sanctuary. A black cat twitched anxiously around her ankles. Kitty didn’t like the storm, it seemed.

It was Liadan all right, but she didn’t look the way she had before. She stood on the ground with her hands at her sides. Her previously pristine dress was soaked and caked with mud. There was a deer walking toward her as though she had called it. In an instant, Liadan was attacking the gentle creature, slitting its throat from ear to ear.

“She uses the blood to strengthen her spells.” Dante leaned close. There was a shiver in his voice. “I wish she would use a spell to make her not look like that.”

Damn, girlfriend was ugly. Liadan had shed the vestiges of her public persona. Her face was withered and cracked. Her hair, though still blonde, was gnarled, as though rats had nested in it. She had long fingernails, and she used them to extract the blood she needed.

The hag began chanting something in a language Meg didn’t understand. After a long moment, some of the vines protecting the sanctuary retreated. Now Meg could begin to see the walls of the structure. The minute Liadan managed to unveil the door, she would be on the kings.

“She’s been doing it for days,” Dante explained. “She’s getting close.”

If only Meg could stop the driving rain. It poured down in sheets making visibility a real problem. While she could see Liadan’s body, the downpour made it a hazy thing. Meg wasn’t sure she could properly aim. She had practiced and learned to be a good shot. Still, she didn’t want to risk it in this drenching downpour. She might only get one real shot.

She couldn’t stop the storm, but she knew someone who could. She had to hope her husbands weren’t so far gone that they couldn’t respond. Silently, Meg put the binoculars down and opened the connection she had with her husbands. She closed her eyes and sought them with her mind. A tendril of psychic energy brushed against her mind. It felt like Cian. He reached out toward her. He was weak, so weak, but Meg sent the message any way. She let her mind wrap around his energy for a moment, almost pleading with him to be okay.

After a long moment, the rain ceased.

Dante tensed beside her. He looked up as though he could figure out why the rain had stopped. “Is that a bad sign? Does that mean something’s wrong with Beck?”

Meg reached up and pulled the vampire lower. She didn’t want to give up their position because now the hag was trying to figure out what had happened, too. Liadan was paying attention to the forest around her. The hag turned looking all around. Those black eyes of hers flashed back and forth, taking in everything.

“Beck is fine. I made contact with Cian and asked him to shut off the waterworks,” Meg whispered. The jacket Dante had provided her with was set to camouflage mode. So far, the hag hadn’t seen them. Meg couldn’t imagine that it wouldn’t take her long, though. Already the black cat was staring in their general direction, her triangular head tilted in a curious manner.

“I’ll take the hag, you get the cat.” Meg never took her eyes off Liadan. She stared in almost helpless fascination. The hag appeared bigger than she had before, her body stronger. There was no question that Liadan was a predator.

Dante’s voice cracked just a bit. “I really don’t like cats. They’re creepy. I’m more of a dog person.”

“I’m not asking you to take it as a pet,” Meg practically snarled back at the vampire. “I’m asking you to kill it. I’m taking on the big, scary hag. You can handle one little kitty.”

“We really need to talk about this new trend toward emasculating me at every given opportunity,” Dante muttered. Meg stared at him, her eyes narrowed. “I can handle the cat.”

“Do that.”

Meg pulled the gun out of the holster and shrugged out of the confines of the jacket. She no longer felt the chill in the air. Her skin was hot with the anticipation of the next few kill-or-be-killed moments. Her heart was pounding as she faced down her enemy. Liadan was facing away. There wouldn’t be a better time. Meg stood up.

“That’s not a good idea.” Dante tried to pull at her hand.

“Just take care of the kitty,” Meg shot back at him.

Meg looked out across the forest that separated them and took aim. The cat hissed, the sound so much larger than it should have been. It echoed through the forest. As the hag turned, Meg let out the breath she had been holding and pulled the trigger.

The hag was quick, but not fast enough. She moved to the left. Meg had been aiming at her heart. Blood bloomed across the hag’s shoulder, and she shrieked as the hollow-point lodged itself in her flesh. Meg cursed when Liadan staggered, but did not fall. She remained on her feet despite the blood that was beginning to soak her dress.

Liadan snarled as her eyes found Meg. Meg pulled the trigger, but Liadan moved, jumping across the space. One moment, the hag was there and the next she was ten feet away, the bullet flying useless through the forest. Liadan held her good hand and spoke some words Meg didn’t recognize.

It was as though a giant rush of pure energy struck Meg squarely in the chest. It knocked her off her feet, but she didn’t hit the ground. She flew back, the air sucked from her lungs. The hag grew smaller as Meg raced backward through the forest. Everything seemed to spin out of control. The weight of the gun in her hand was the only thing that seemed real. She clutched it tightly and didn’t try to fight her flight. Her back hit the rough bark of the tree, but Meg let her head fall limply forward.

Breathe. Beck’s voice spoke inside her mind. He was calm and patient, and Meg suddenly didn’t feel so alone. Beck was with her, and he was lending her his experience.

Meg dragged in a breath as her body slid to the muddy forest floor.

Stay down and take cover. Don’t panic. You can do this. Take out her heart and she’ll die.

“Easier said than done,” Meg complained quietly as she shoved the gun in her holster and forced her aching body to crawl through the mud toward a downed log. Every inch she crawled made her bones ache, but she’d held on to the gun.

“So, the little bitch made it back.” The hag’s voice boomed through the forest. “I wonder how much that cost you. What did you have to pay the demon for the trip back, little Meg? And he gave you some form of magic as well. You must have given him a lot.”

Meg nudged her head up, peeking over the log. Dante was still in his hiding place. He was crouched down, his eyes seeking something. The cat prowled not far away. Her nose scented the air with predatory grace. The hag paced back and forth as though the pain from her arm was bugging her. Her black eyes scanned the area up and down, seeking any sign of where her enemy had gone.

“I had to sacrifice a virgin to that damn demon,” the hag admitted. “And look what it got me.”

Meg clenched her fists together. She knew what the witch was doing. She was trying to force her out. The hag had killed Bri, and she knew that would make Meg crazy. The voice inside her head was urging patience.

“I slit that stupid girl’s throat, and you’re back anyway,” Liadan said with a sigh. “Do you have any idea how messy that can be? She had a lot of blood in her. It should have gotten me something better than this. Ah, Ain found your friend.”

There was a loud hiss and then something that sounded like a five-year-old girl’s scream. Apparently, Dante really didn’t like cats.

Dante landed on his back as the cat pounced. Ain, as Liadan had called her, was a hissing mass of claws and sharp teeth. Blood streaked across Dante’s face as the cat’s claws found purchase in his flesh. Dante wrapped a hand around the cat’s throat and squeezed.

“I changed my mind,” Dante yelled. “I’ll take the hag. You take the cat.”

“Too late,” said a voice right beside Meg’s ear. Meg turned and the hag was at her side, so close Meg could smell her fetid breath.

Meg twisted her body and rolled up into a crouch, every muscle screaming in pain. The hag’s fist came out, lancing from her body. It crossed Meg’s jaw and the impact snapped her head back, the gun slipped from her hand. She groped for the gun, but Liadan was too close. Forcing herself to keep moving, Meg kicked out as Liadan tried to jump on her. She heard a satisfying groan from the hag as Meg made contact with her gut. Meg got to her feet, and Beck was whispering to her.

Take the advantage.

Meg leapt up, catching the low limb of a thick oak tree. She swung her legs back and came forward with all the force she could muster. She planted her boots in Liadan’s chest as the hag got up. Liadan hit the muddy forest floor. She jumped on the downed woman, planting her knees on Liadan’s torso. She was taking no chances this time.

Meg placed the barrel of the gun against the hag’s chest. She steadied herself to pull the trigger when a terrible pain lashed across her back.

Ain leapt on Meg’s back, scratching and clawing through tender flesh. Meg tried to get a hold of the blasted thing, but it sank its teeth into the back of her neck and wouldn’t let go.

“Oh, no, kitty cat,” Dante growled.

Meg looked up and saw Dante in full claw and fang mode. He was bloody. He looked like he’d had just about enough of cats for the day.

“We weren’t done, kitty,” Dante said.

Meg immediately felt relief as Dante hefted the cat off her. She pulled the gun to finish off the hag, but Ain had bought Liadan just enough time. Liadan grinned up at Meg and thrust her hand forward.

Meg flew back, and this time her head cracked against the log where she had previously found safety. She saw stars and the world started to go dark around her.

You stay awake. The voice was ferocious now. It slapped at her mind and forced her eyes open. It wouldn’t let her go under.

Liadan fell on her. She sat on Meg’s waist, holding her down with the bulk of her body and wrapped her good hand around Meg’s throat. She tried to struggle, but Meg couldn’t get her legs to move under the heavy weight of the witch.

“I need more blood to get through that fucking wall the king erected,” Liadan explained with a ghoulish grin.

Meg felt for the cool metal of the .357 Magnum. She’d dropped it when she hit her head. Her fingers clawed through the mud, desperately trying to find it. Liadan’s hands were choking the life out of her. Meg fought for breath, but the hag tightened her hold.

“Do you know what I’m going to do to those boys when I get a hold of them?” Liadan moved close. Meg could smell the blood on her breath. Her stomach turned. “I’m going to gut them. I’m going to pull their insides out. Why don’t I give you a demonstration?”

The witch cackled and pulled back, showing off the way her fingers changed into thick, dirty-looking claws. Meg dragged in air the instant she could. Liadan pulled her clawed hand back just as Meg’s fingers met metal. Pulling the gun up, Meg brought it between her chest and the hag’s.

Meg pulled the trigger just before those knives on the hag’s fingers met her flesh. The report boomed through the forest.

Liadan looked down at the hole in her chest dumbly before falling over dead.

Meg was shaking and trying to breathe as she pulled herself up. Dante walked over, holding a limp body in one clawed hand. His handsome face was a mass of scratches, but his clothes had already mended themselves. The nanites were fast little suckers.

“You okay?” Dante growled down at the cat and then hurled it through the forest.

“I’ll live.” But just barely. Meg stared at Liadan’s body. The flesh of her face was wrinkled and desiccated, as though the body before her had lain dead much longer than a few moments.

“If I never see another fucking cat, it will be too soon.” Dante offered her a steadying hand. “It didn’t even taste good. It tasted evil.”

Meg managed a laugh. Adrenaline was still coursing through her system making her feel jittery even as a fierce joy curled in her heart. She was alive. “What does evil taste like?”

“A little mangy,” Dante replied. “I’ve decided I’m a lover, not a fighter. I’m rich, damn it. I’m the only son of one of the most powerful families on my plane. From now on, I’m paying poor people to fight my battles. Better yet, next time tell Beck to handle his own shit.”

Meg’s hands shook, but that didn’t matter now. “I’ll tell him,” Meg turned to the cabin overrun with vines. “Better yet, tell him yourself.”

Meg managed a smile as she looked toward the little sanctuary where her husbands lay in safety. They were still weak, but she felt them deep in her mind. She felt Beck’s love deep in her soul, and then the joy Cian felt washed over her. They knew she was coming for them.

Dante sighed. “I’ll go get the chainsaw, but I warn you, Meg, those damn trees are dangerous. It’s like they have a mind of their own.”

“I won’t need it,” Meg said with utter certainty as she walked toward the small cabin.

The trees weren’t afraid of her. They knew her. They had been waiting for her. As Meg approached the cabin, the vines receded quickly, unveiling the small, dilapidated hut Cian had sought to hide. The sun came brilliantly out from the clouds, flooding the whole forest with bright light.

“You know, you might have a career ahead of you as a landscaper if you can do that on a regular basis.”

“Shut up, Dante,” Meg replied. “I can shoot you, too, you know.”

Dante smiled and wisely closed his mouth.

Meg pushed open the door and immediately saw her husbands. They lay side-by-side in complete stillness. Light from one small window filtered in, illuminating her men. Had Meg not been able to feel them in her body and her soul, she would have thought they were dead. She would have wept over their lifeless bodies.

Instead, she knew just what to do.

Meg placed herself in between them and put a hand on each. Their flesh was cool, and not a breath seemed to come from their bodies. She wasn’t sure how they were alive, only that they were and she was the key to wake them.

She opened herself wholly to them and let them invade every inch of her. She sighed as the connection flooded with them. Everything the hag had taken from Beck had been safely stored in Cian. Now, that magic flowed through her, seeking its true home. Beck received his magic with great satisfaction, and Cian let her feel his relief as he released all he could not handle.

When it was over, Meg let her head fall forward in exhaustion. She wanted to sleep, but she had one final task.

“Come back to me,” she said as she pressed her lips to Beck’s. His eyes fluttered open.

“Come home, Ci,” Meg requested before doing the same to Cian. His lips tugged up. She was rewarded with loving, gray eyes.

It was enough, she thought as the world went dark around her.

As she fell into a deep and restful sleep, their arms were there to hold her.

Meg awoke to bright sunlight and the wonderful smell of breakfast cooking. Her body still ached, but it didn’t matter. She was home, and she was never leaving again. Tears pricked at her eyes. This was home. She’d searched for it all her life. She just hadn’t realized home wasn’t a place. Home was a person—two in fact. Home was Beck and Cian.

She forced herself to sit up. Voices filtered in from the living room.

“What do you think she does with this?” Beck asked.

“It’s underwear, idiot,” Dante cracked.

Cian’s voice sounded sweet to her ears. “It’s pretty, but I can see through it.”

“That’s the point,” Dante replied. “Seriously, you two should have spent more time on my plane. If you would have just come with me on my tours of the better brothels, you would know all this stuff. Don’t put that on your head. It’s a bra.”

Meg got to her feet. Though she was unsteady, she wasn’t staying apart from them one moment more than she had to. She pulled her robe around her and walked out of the bedroom. Sure enough, Beck was holding her super-sexy demi-cup Victoria’s Secret bra.

“What are you boys doing pawing through my undies?”

“Megan.” Beck tossed the bra aside.

He crossed the room in two strides. He pulled her into his arms and immediately covered her mouth with his. His tongue invaded, and his mind reached out to hers. Meg opened herself and exchanged her love for his.

Cian’s arms went around her waist. “Don’t ever leave us again, lover.”

Meg smiled and turned to look at him. “I won’t. You get into trouble when I’m gone.”

She pressed her lips to Ci’s and found herself pleasantly squished between their big bodies. She never felt safer than when she was surrounded by them.

“It was awesome, Meg,” Dante said, laughing. “You should have seen them when we walked by Liadan’s corpse. She was all shriveled and shit. Beck went a little green.”

“Well, she didn’t look that way when…” Beck’s mouth became a stubborn line.

Cian grinned brilliantly. “I never slept with her. I’m the smart one.”

“Yes, you are, baby.” Meg rewarded him with a peck. It seemed impossible that she was here. If this was a dream, she never wanted to wake. She turned back to Beck. “We don’t have to worry about Beck’s bad taste in women anymore. He’s taken, you see.”

“I am,” Beck said, kissing her forehead. “Forever, wife.”

“Le cheile go deo,” Cian whispered.

“Together forever, I promise,” Meg vowed.

Flanna walked in, her small face glowing with happiness. “Your breakfast is ready, Your Highness, but I fear you have no time to eat. The village has been informed you’re awake at last.”

“They camped outside the cottage waiting for word on your health,” Dante explained with a grin.

“Really?” Meg asked. She’d left one plane where no one noticed she’d been alive, only to find this one where a whole village waited to find out if she was all right.

“They love you, wife. They want to see their queen.” Beck held his hand out.

Meg brushed away the happy tears that sprang to her eyes.

“How could they not love you?” Cian asked, taking her other hand. “You’re their queen, their brave, kind, and beautiful queen.”

Flanna opened the door. The brownie hadn’t lied. The entire village was standing outside Meg’s door. A cheer went up as she walked outside.

This small piece of heaven was her kingdom. These were her people, not because someone put a crown on her head. They were hers because she loved them.

Meg looked out and realized that there were many decisions to be made in the coming years. Torin would try to kill her husbands again, she knew. Beck and Cian would be under pressure to take back their homeland. There were hundreds of things that could go wrong. But in that moment, as she walked among her people, the sun shone down, and she was surrounded with love. The future could come with all its uncertainties and danger. It wouldn’t matter.

She would fight for it if she had to, but she would have her happy ending.

THE END