them was so easy to see. “Never again.” She went on her toes to kiss him. “But we have one more job to do. Will you come with me to the Summerlands?”
“I would go with you anywhere,” Marcus vowed. “I am yours forever.”
She turned back to us, her hand in his, and they were a united front. “How about it, Momma? You want to take a trip to see where I’m going to live for the next couple of millennia before you head home?”
My heart seized. Not at the idea of seeing the Summerlands, but of what was unsaid. “You’re not coming with us, are you?”
“I can’t. Now that I am unbound, I can feel how much the worlds need me. She is fading,” Summer explained. “That first day, the day I thought I lost my tribe, that was the first time she tried to contact me. Erna realized she could use it to trap me. She’d spent months preparing me, getting into my head and my dreams and tearing at my soul. The first convergence took my tribe to the Summerlands, but it can’t take me unless I wish it. I was afraid that day, and Erna twisted the truth. She burned my village and told me I had done it, that I had killed them all. I believed her. They’re waiting in the Summerlands for me. They’re waiting for me to come home and take my place.”
My baby had a job to do. “Will we be able to get back?”
Summer nodded. “Yes, and you’ll have to do it soon.” She turned to our mercenary friends. “Ian, Charlotte, Adam, I cannot thank you enough. Please extend my best wishes to the Dellacourts and my apologies to the Seelie kings. I won’t be able to meet them, but the convergences will cease. Tell everyone there will be a transitional period when the doors to the other planes won’t open and close in regular time and might not lead to the same places. You all need to be ready for a period of adjustment.”
“We’re going to have to stay in one place for a while. Gotcha.” Taggart slung an arm around his wife’s shoulders. “I’m sure my Charlie can fill the time by telling me she told me so.”
Charlotte grinned. “I totally can do that. I’m writing a whole book about this. It was a wonderful adventure. And we got to meet a real live goddess. And I’m probably pregnant. I’m kind of hoping for twins.”
“As long as they’re boys.” Taggart kissed his wife’s hair. “Come on, Adam. We’ve got some witches to get through before we can go home.”
“I think you’ll find they are no longer concerned with me,” Summer announced. “I’ve sent them back to Arete where they will trouble us no more.”
“Did you turn them into seeds, too?” Adam asked.
“No, I merely explained to the lead witch who I am and what I’ve done,” Summer replied matter of factly. “She agrees that her plane has no issues with me.”
Adam stared for a moment as though more should be forthcoming. “But you didn’t leave…this is a goddess thing, right?”
“Turns out one of my powers is to speak through beings with psychic abilities. Some might call it speaking in tongues, but I’m good at it so none of that babbling nonsense. It’s how I’ll be able to contact my parents when I’m in the Summerlands.” She looked up at Marcus. “Come, my love, and let’s see our kingdom.”
Kelsey had tears in her eyes as she held up her hand. “I can’t go. I’m sorry. I’m going to have to find my own way back, but I can’t leave that book. Gray made me promise I wouldn’t leave it behind. It’s necessary.”
“I’ll come with you,” Dean vowed. “We’ll find it together.”
“Or it’s sitting in that pack out amid the wildflowers.” Summer pointed to the swath of flowers. “Erna didn’t leave it behind. Likely she couldn’t have since the book knows where it wants to be. Papa, if you would do the honors.”
Dev reached out a hand and the flowers seemed to swell, a wave that brought Kelsey what she wanted. She sighed in relief when that bag was in her hand. She could come home with us and take back her life.
“Summer, our little queen would like to know if she is welcome.” Dev held out his hand and Arwyna was sitting there.
Summer smiled brilliantly. “Oh, yes. I’ve missed my pixie friends. Come. Let us see home again.”