“A little warning next time,” Mateo gasps, moving toward me. I glance at them. Ezra watches me curiously, yet I don’t know what I am asking of them.
Mateo grabs my chin to make me look up at him, and Ezra steps closer. Can I condemn them for eternity? Ezra steps closer, wrapping his arms around me and peering over my shoulder. “I know something is wrong, or we wouldn’t be here with you. So, what is it?” he asks.
Mateo leans over the fountain, squinting at our children. “Why is Eziah like that?” He asks, panic lacing his words. Ezra looks over my shoulder again at Mateo, pointing at our son.
“They are trying to break a curse, but they can’t break it. Only I can,” I admit.
Ezra watches them try again, and Mateo watches me curiously. “You know how to break it,” he says, and I nod. “And it would break the curse on Dominic and bring him back?” I nod again. Yet, if I do this, I doom not only myself but my mates. We will never know rest. We will forever be stuck in the Moon Goddess realm once I live out my mortal life.
“At what cost?” Mateo asks.
“Us,” I answer.
“Do what you gotta do,” Ezra says, and their trust in me overwhelms me. They will follow me blindly. They have complete faith in me even after I fucked up so terribly in the past.
“If I do this, there is no way out. We will never know rest,” I tell them. But I won’t destroy my kids. Eziah will die trying. I know he feels guilty about not picking up on Marabella’s feelings, which he believes, is the only way to make up for it. Yet, Marabella will never sacrifice her brother, but if she doesn’t – she will sacrifice her mate.
“I would forever be the Moon Goddess. I could never hand the title down when we die. We will forever be stuck here. You will be stuck with me. Do you both understand what I am saying?” I ask them. Yet, I am doing it even if they don’t agree, though I know they will.
“Eternity with you by our sides would still not be long enough,” Ezra whispers, kissing my cheek. I look at Mateo.
“I can live eternity with my mates, though you have the transfer dagger?” Ezra catches on first and shakes his head before I can answer. Mateo sighs.
“You can’t destroy one without the other,” he says. I nod, chewing my lip and Mateo looks in the fountain to see Kyan runoff.
“That boy deserves so much more than Selene handed him,” Mateo states.
“Yes, like his father, we had him wrong,” I tell them.
“Then you better make it right,” Mateo says, stepping closer and wrapping his arms around us both, and sandwiching me between them.
“This, right here, is all that matters. Anywhere trapped with you both is worth being trapped for,” Ezra purrs, and I sigh.
“I really messed things up,” I mutter.
“So, time to clean up. Selene trusted you to make the right decisions, and this is the right one to make. We will be right with you. You aren’t like Selene or Celeste. You will never be trapped here alone, not with us by your side. Where you go, we go. I can live with that. What I can’t live with is knowing our kids will suffer if you don’t. So, don’t let them, and bring Dominic back. You’re not the only one that regrets that day,” Ezra mumbles into my hair.
I nod. They both evaporate, going back to the human realm while I glance down at Dominic’s wolf. “Ready to go home?” I ask him and he flickers, staring up at me.
With one last glance at the realm, I will one day be cursed to never leave, I portal back. Only this time I portal to my kids. To everyone else, I am the Moon Goddess. They need a Moon Goddess, but what they need most is their mom, and this time I won’t let them down.
Jonah
I chase after Kyan, but Kaif takes off with him, taking control, and I know why. He wants to end it before he thinks much about it, so he needs to retrieve the dagger. Kyan knows for Mara to live, Kaif must die, and he sees no other way out. His pain crushes me, yet I have wandered from the trail and am now struggling to find my way back. I head back up the hill with no other choice, knowing it leads back to the ruins. I don’t want to wander too far and become lost. When I reach the top, I clutch my knees and try to catch my breath.
Eziah and Marabella stand arguing with Katya, who pays them no mind as she looks at the grimoire she holds. Kat’s eyes flick to me before her voice is suddenly in my head.
“Take Mara,” she says, and I swallow, trying to figure out what she is doing here and why she wants me to take Mara. Kat then tosses the grimoire into the coffin, and I move toward the ruins, slightly hesitant as I step inside the pentagram. The power emanating from the three of them is almost suffocating.
“I can do this, Mom. Just listen to me,” Eziah pleads with Kat.
“I am not doubting that, Eziah, but give me the stones,” Kat says, holding her hand out. I walk behind Eziah, and Mara, then Kat nods to me. I swallow, knowing what she is asking, and the moment my arms wrap around Mara’s waist, she screams and thrashes, twisting in my arms, trying to break free.
“No, no!” Mara screams. Eziah steps away from Kat, shaking his head when her hands clamp on the sides of Eziah’s face.
“Hand me the stones,” her voice is soft, yet the command behind the words is brutal, and Eziah resists, trying to fight off her command, but he is no match for his mother.
“Now get out of the ruins,” she says, just as I pull Mara out. She collapses at my feet, dragging me to the ground with her as I try to hold her up.
“It’s okay, sweetie, I’m not going anywhere,” Kat tells her, fiddling with the stones and rolling them in her palm.
“You will never know peace. You will be forever cursed!” Mara screams.
“But none of you will. So that is where you are wrong. I made peace with this; I accept it, so neither of you has to. It isn’t goodbye. I will still get to meet my grandchildren, still be with you while you grow into who you’re supposed to be,” Kat tells her.
“But you don’t have to do this. We can find another way. Once you die, you will forever be trapped as the Moon Goddess,” Marabella sobs, and Kat stares down at the stones.
“This is the only way. You don’t have to like it, but you will accept it. You’ll let me do this for you. And eventually, you’ll understand it,” Kat tells her, and my grip on Mara grows tighter as she cries. Kat will forever be trapped in the Moon Goddess realm once it is her time to pass.