or would you like to do the honors? I can certainly kill the witch,” Daniel said.
Dean held up a hand. “I would very much like to not be magically killed.”
Summer sighed and looked to the woman who’d been her mentor for years. “She’s not going to kill you. Certainly not with her magic. It’s sad to be born without the things others have, to be left behind by your own sisters. That’s why you did it, why you decided to become the hag I see inside you. She’s twisted and warped, but she feels strong to you. She feels like no one could hurt her. No one can touch her either.”
Dev took a step back as Erna’s face became twisted, aging in a heartbeat to something sallow and wrinkled, her eyes sinking back into her head.
“Whoa.” Dean moved behind Summer.
“I don’t care what this witch says, Summer of the Gent…” the general began, puffing out his chest.
Summer silenced him with a wave of her hand. “You are insignificant to my story. Hush. You are like so many men who believe they are entitled to whatever they want. You are not my king and you never have been, but know my mate and I will keep the planes safe. I give you the gift of new life.”
There was a whisper of wind and then we were standing in a sea of flowers in bloom. They reached out as far as my eye could see, a wild tangle of colorful life. It filled the fields where a moment before there had been an army.
“Did she turn everyone into flowers?” Taggart asked, watching my daughter warily.
“She let them begin again,” Charlotte replied with pure reverence in her eyes. “She is the Day Queen. We’re going to be okay.”
“She is nothing,” Erna seethed.
Summer stepped in front of the hag, and I thought that was probably a bad idea. I moved to try to protect my baby, but Daniel stopped me.
“She needs to do this,” Danny whispered in my ear. “She needs to stand up to the woman who tormented her for years and decide who she’s going to be.”
His hand found mine and we stood watching as our daughter freed herself from years of pain.
“I’m sorry you couldn’t see another path,” Summer said. “I do understand pain and loss, but it’s how we handle them that forms our souls.”
“I don’t care about my soul, you dumb bitch,” Erna sneered. “I care about revenge. I will return to Arete and destroy everyone who harmed me. I will be their queen.”
“I cannot convince you to change your mind?” Summer asked the question quietly.
Erna’s talons began to reach for her throat.
Summer waved a hand and Erna shrank before my eyes. Summer leaned over and picked something up off the ground. It looked like a seed.
“The others will have their brief time as flowers and then move on to the next life, but she needs some time to think,” Summer explained as she set the seed on the ground again, covering it with dirt. “A hundred years as a tree should help her along.”
“Hey, can you do Tag next?” Adam asked, pure relief on his handsome face.
“If she turns me into a plant, it better be poison ivy, and I’m getting all up in your junk, asshole,” Tag said and then seemed to sober. “Summer, I’m sorry about Marcus. He was a good male.”
Summer was already moving toward the tree where we’d lost our dear friend.
“Please tell me she can bring him back.” I walked with Daniel, Dev coming to my other side to take my hand.
“I think our daughter can do anything she likes,” Danny said with a satisfied smile.
Summer stood over the ground and placed a hand toward the grass. “I’m not done with you yet, vampire. Come back to me.”
Kelsey and Dean were with us, and Kelsey gasped as the ash rose from the ground and formed a male once more. Marcus stood there but he was dressed differently. Gone was the black bodysuit we’d all been wearing and in its place was a three-piece suit, like the ones he always wore around Council headquarters. His lips tugged up and I caught a hint of fang as he stared at my daughter.
“Thank you, bella,” he said, holding out a hand. “That was disconcerting to say the least. I prefer to not experience that again.”
Summer put her hand in his and tilted her chin up. They were perfect opposites. Night and day, but the love between