Betrayal Foretold: Descended of Dragons, Book 3 (20 page)

“
H
ow will
we know if it worked?” Gaspare’s hollow voice echoed and bounced down the hall of my brain. He was so far away. I couldn’t see him. Couldn’t see anyone. I could only faintly hear their conversation, and even then, it didn’t stick.

“If Stella’s little light display wasn’t healing magic, then I don’t know if we can ever succeed.” Abia was distant, too, but confident.

“So, you think it worked?” Gaspare’s tone was so careful, tinged with desperation, and something more: hope.

“I think it worked.”

“What about Stella?” Ewan asked impatiently. “She’s still in some sort of trance.”

“I’d be more worried if she wasn’t,” Abia said. “My guess is her conscious mind couldn’t deal with the raw power she channeled and it shut down for a bit. I’ve never heard of anything like that in my life. Let’s give her a moment to recover before we start worrying.”

“Why didn’t Gaspare light up like she did?” he asked. “He was the one we decided would channel the stars. It’s as if they shot straight down into her. I could see the white light glowing beneath her skin. It’s still there, but faint.”

“Yes,” Abia agreed. “We chose Gaspare, but it appears the stars themselves chose our Stella.” Her hands were gentle and warm as she cupped the back of my head and ran her hands over my wild hair. “I always knew she was special.”

“Rowan, how do you feel?” she asked after a beat. “Can you tell if anything’s different?”

“I feel…I feel,” Gresham let out a shaky breath. “I feel
free;
lighter than I remember ever feeling. I don’t know how to explain it…other than…I feel…free.”

“You probably feel that way because you’ve been released from the tie to Malu.” She grated her teeth in disgust. “I knew Talbot Gresham was evil, but I never dreamed he would burden his own son with that darkness. I’m so sorry, Rowan. At least you’re free now.”

“So you think it worked.” Gaspare’s words weren’t a question that time.

“I think it worked,” Abia said again.

Gaspare’s whoop of laughter and Emelie’s squeal of joy pulled me into the present. I blinked slowly at first, and then faster as the white light faded from my vision. The vivid colors of Abia’s home and my friends and family came back into focus.

“There she is,” Ewan breathed and touched my face. “I’m glad you’re back. You had me scared for a minute.”

“Did I really glow?” I asked, unable to stop my smile.

Ewan nodded, and when I twisted my lips dubiously he added, “Don’t believe me? Ask around.”

My gaze shot to Abia, then Gaspare, Emelie, and finally Gresham. Each one nodded, their expressions solemn.

I turned to Abia. “What do you think that means?”

“Hell if I know.”

Exasperated, I made a noise in the back of my throat. “Well, how will we know—for sure—that it worked?”

“Listen,” she huffed. “I came up with the theory, did the majority of the research—no offense, Emelie—I gathered the ingredients, and I performed the counter-spell. This is where I get off. You think you people might have any brilliant ideas?”

Gaspare looked to the sky, like he was thinking hard for an answer, or trying not to laugh. Emelie stood wide-eyed and clenched her jaws, apparently willing a way forward to reveal itself. Gresham nodded his head, his big body moving to its beat. He seemed looser, somehow. Less pent-up.

“Ah, I might have an idea,” Ewan said.

“Do tell, sugar lips,” Abia said, and that time I was unable to prevent my snort of laughter. I knew her wink was coming before she did it. She loved flustering Ewan. It didn’t take much.

He cleared his throat. “We have some friends who, ah, might be willing to volunteer as test subjects.” He put his hands out in front of him in a ‘hear me out’ gesture. “In the interest of science.”

“It could work,” Emelie said, her tone less sure than I would have liked. “We can’t know for sure that the curse was lifted without definitive proof that two people of varying species can conceive. Would these test subjects be willing to do the required research? Is a family, a baby, something they’re ready for?”

“Nooo,” I drew out dramatically. “They’re far too young. The wouldn’t want to start a family right now. Not yet.” A low moan of disappointment echoed through the room.

“Any other suggestions?”Abia asked.

“I think you’re wrong, Stell,” Ewan whispered to me. “Boone and Timbra have something special. I think they’d jump at a chance like this. A chance to find a way to be together. To know their love isn’t wrong or unnatural, but something to be celebrated. Something that at one time resulted in not just perfect, but exceptional children. I think they wouldn’t pass up a chance like this. Not to savor a few years to party or travel. Not for anything.”

He was right, of course. At the very least, Boone and Timbra deserved the chance to decide for themselves.

“Okay,” I agreed. “You’re right, sugar lips.”

Ewan laughed and kissed me solidly on the mouth. “We’ll do it,” he announced. “We’ll talk to our friends about reversing the curse.”

T
he fact remained
I couldn’t return to Thayer. But with Gaspare on board, there was nothing preventing Boone and Timbra from coming to Pearl. Ewan, thrilled to finally have a pivotal role, was charged with tracing them to my place. The plan was that Ewan and I would tell the two everything we had learned—up to the last effort in which I lit up like a roman candle—and monitor their reactions.

If they seemed excited about and open to the chance to have their own children someday, we would reveal the full story: that we suspected we had already ended the curse.

I stood in the back garden pulling weeds, a compulsion I could never seem to overcome. A light tremor across the soil, a soft exhale. They had arrived.

“Stella Rose Stonewall!” Timbra leaned toward me with both hands on her hips. “I thought you were dead, you asshole. You have no idea what you put me through; what you put all of us through.”

I ran to my friend and held her as she exhaled with relief. “I hate you right now. Do you know that?”

“I know, sweetie,” I said and continued to hold her. “I know.”

“Is Rose even your middle name?” she whined.

“Not even close,” I said. We shook with laughter, then, and I held on tighter. “I missed you,” I whispered into her honey-colored hair.

She squeezed me until I groaned. “Boone’s mad at you, too. You have some serious explaining to do.”

As soon as Timbra and I stepped apart, I was swept up in a bear-sized hug. “I thought you were mad at me,” I mumbled into his thick shoulder.

“I am,” he barked and shook me. “This is tough love.”

After catching up for a bit, I invited everyone into the kitchen for coffee.

“I’m happy to see you, don’t get me wrong,” Timbra said, holding her steaming mug between both hands. “But what’s changed? First we can’t know you’re alive, then we can’t act like we know you’re alive, and now we’re here with you. Something’s up. What?”

Ewan turned toward me, and when our eyes met, we knew it was time. We told them our story.

* * *

“
S
o
, you’re saying at one point in history interspecies marriages weren’t uncommon?” Boone’s round eyes glassed over as he took it all in.

“No,” I said and his shoulders slumped. “I’m saying they were
typical
. I’m saying they weren’t just common, but revered. Such unions produced omnies, the most powerful of Thayer’s beings. Hell, omnies were favored by the stars themselves, for that’s where they derived their power.”

My hand flew to my mouth.
How do I know that? Was it true?
Yes, it was true. I knew it absolutely, and many more things I hadn’t the day before.

“What is it, Stell?” Ewan noted my sudden anxiety and rubbed my back.

I shook my head. I couldn’t get into it. We had a mission to complete.

Timbra’s deer-like ears twitched furiously from…nerves?

“Boone,” she said sweetly. “Do you see what this means? If they’re right, if they could end the curse…we could have our babies. Our babies, Boone.” Timbra’s voice rose with each word until her lover’s name was a reed-thin appeal.

The big man’s blond head hung between his shoulders, hiding his face. His shoulders began to shake, his entire body pulsing in time. When he looked up at Timbra, tears streamed down his smooth cheeks and pure, unfiltered love shone in his eyes. Timbra ran to him, sat on a big knee, and held onto his neck. “We thought…” Boone cleared his throat. “We thought we’d never have that chance. Even this small one is…it gives us hope, at least.”

I walked behind Ewan and put my hands on his shoulders. He squeezed them in encouragement and held on.

“The thing is, guys…well, we did it.” I shrugged and watched as their mouths formed perfect little “O’s” in unison. “After a lot of research, much trial and error, and—I suspect—divine intervention, we broke Talbot’s curse. Gresham’s blood is no longer tied to the dark force of Malu. We think—”

“We’re pretty certain,” Ewan interrupted, and I nodded my agreement.

“We’re pretty certain the curse is lifted and people like you can once again create beautiful, special children.”

They didn’t say anything. They didn’t move for what seemed an eternity. They both sat there, stunned. Boone looked to Timbra first, and when she met his gaze, they both burst into tears of riotous joy. They held on to one another like we’d take it back. Like it wasn’t real but they wanted to live the fantasy for just a little bit longer.

“Where—?” Timbra said and hiccupped a breath. “Where do we sign up?”

I bent to kiss Ewan high on the cheek, but he met my mouth and kissed me like I’d take it back. Like it wasn’t real and
he
wanted to live the fantasy for just a little bit longer.