Untamed - A. G. Howard Page 0,52
you need to see it now.” He withdraws something from his pocket and reveals what resembles a clear glass marble—though it’s soft like a bath oil bead.
“A wish?” I swipe tears from my face with the back of my hand, shocked. “How? When?”
“Last night at Ivory’s party, after our slow dance. A Mustela fae pulled me aside . . . licked my face to thank me for all I’d done for Wonderland.”
“Oh my gosh. So, that’s why you left early?”
He rolls the little ball around his palm. “I was about to cry my eyes out.” He holds up the sparkling tear to the light. “Couldn’t have the Red Queen see me bawl like a sissy pants.”
I let out an impromptu giggle, adrift in an unexpected swirl of emotions.
Jeb’s brow furrows in thought. “We could use it to help us fix things, in the human realm.”
My happy smile fades. “No. This wish can only be used for you.”
“I was holed up with Morpheus for a month. The one thing I learned is that magic is flexible. It’s all about the wording.”
I shake my head and cover his hand, hiding his tear. “Magic is precious. You have to save it, Jeb. You could wish for so many things!” I pause, because we both know there are two monumental things he can’t wish for. He can’t get his muse back without unbalancing Wonderland again. And he can’t ask to live forever. Magic won’t change who you are inside. He chose to forfeit his immortality by giving away Red’s powers. He’s mortal and there’s no altering that now. “Jeb, don’t waste the power. Save it for something of consequence.”
He grows somber, and I know he’s already been struggling with the same thoughts. He puts the wish into his pocket and his jaw ticks.
Before either of us can say another word, the castle door opens and Dad and Mom step out. I’m shocked to see her wearing the same backless cocktail dress she wore at prom. Although the layers of blushed chiffon on the skirt and wispy cap sleeves are frayed from her fight with Wonderland’s eight-legged cemetery keeper, the dress is still intact.
I frown, piecing things together. “Wait.” I point from her to Jeb. “So . . . you’re both wearing the same clothes you disappeared in. Is this part of a master plan?”
“Yes. Jeb came up with it,” Mom answers. “We still need to sort out the details. But first . . .” She and Dad draw me into their arms.
After a long hug, they celebrate our news. Dad teases Jeb that he almost had to sell a kidney to buy Mom’s engagement ring. Mom tweaks Dad’s ribs so he yelps, and then she gently catches my right hand to admire my ring finger.
She looks at my face. I know what she sees there: the same anticipation for a human life that she wanted with Dad after saving him from Sister Two’s lair. Her smile is so bright with hope, I could be looking directly into the sun.
As she turns to give Jeb an impromptu hug, Dad pulls me aside.
“Butterfly,” he says, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear.
“Dad,” I answer, catching his hand and holding it at my temple.
He shakes his head. “Throughout all the craziness . . . I didn’t get the chance to say how proud I am of you, Alyssa Victoria Gardner.” The tenderness in his brown eyes reminds me how the two of us faced the world alone together as I grew up, and how I always felt safe. If only I had known then that my life was being guarded by a genuine knight. “My little girl is a queen. A queen of Wonderland.”
I smile. “Slightly different from my wimpy dress-up versions, right?”
Dad laughs and kisses my head. “You can say that again. More like a ninja.”
I laugh and hug him, blissfully surrounded by his warmth and strength.
“You ready to go home?” he asks, rubbing my back.
“Well, not exactly home,” Mom says in response, returning to my side. “We have a detour to make.”
“Detour?” I ask as she and I step into the castle, arm in arm, with the guys behind us. Our shoes clatter along the glassy floor. Ivory stands at the top of a winding crystal staircase, where the portal waits at the end of a long corridor. Rabid is next to her with Finley at her other side, hand secure on her lower back beneath her wings.
“Jeb’s house will be the first