Shay looked at Anika. “It’s still there, isn’t it?”
She nodded, glancing at the stone structure, which had gone dark again. “That is why this must be done.”
Shay squared his shoulders.
The Searchers in the library fell silent, watching as Shay moved toward the hidden Rift.
Shay held the swords at arm’s length. The earth and air sword he held vertically, while the water and fire sword crossed the first blade horizontally. He drew a slow breath and paused, turning to look at me.
I walked up beside him, laying my hand on his back just below his neck so my fingertips brushed the cross tattoo on his skin. He shivered.
“I don’t know if I can do this.”
“You have to,” I said, but each of my heartbeats hit slow and heavy in my chest, like a stake being pounded into the ground with a sledge.
“I can’t leave you, Calla.”
I closed my eyes, knowing what he felt because the same grief clawed at my heart. I’d already lost someone I loved today and in the next minute I might lose another. But what else could we do?
The world created by the Keepers had been forged from greed and cruelty. It wasn’t a world we could suffer to exist, no matter what the cost.
I forced my eyes open and found Shay’s winter moss irises gleaming softly. Leaning forward, I pressed my lips onto his tattoo. “I love you.”
I splayed my fingers wider on his back, hoping that somehow touching him would make the universe hear my plea—to have Shay’s wolf essence win out over the human one. If it didn’t . . . I would be alone.
I’d have my pack, but would I stay with them? If Shay didn’t come with me, I was already envisioning what would happen. I would become a lone wolf, wandering, solitary. My father would remain the alpha of my packmates, as he’d always been.
Maybe that was the way things were meant to be.
“Calla.” Shay’s brow was furrowed. He could see the goose bumps running up and down my arms, the way my muscles were trembling.
“I love you,” I whispered one last time, slowly backing away from him toward the spill of night air and the beckoning howls of my pack. “Close the Rift.”
THIRTY-ONE
I’D ALWAYS WELCOMED WAR, but when the last battle ends, what life is left for a warrior?
Shay faced the emptiness of the fireplace. He turned the swords slowly while he chanted. And then, where there had been nothing, the darkness began to move. Shadows clung to the Elemental Cross, gripping the blades, pulling Shay forward. When the swords had marked a quarter turn, Shay froze. The darkness became solid, locking the cross in place, but within the ebony shadows glimmered a soft light, opalescent like twinkling stars.
The light streamed over the swords, touching Shay’s fingers and making him shudder. Like glimmering ribbons, it twined around his arms and chest. When the light coursed over his neck and met my fingers, the sparkling tendrils began to claim my body too.
The light grew brighter until I could see nothing—not even Shay, though I still felt my fingers on his neck—nothing but the pale, shimmering air around me. Air that was alive with power.
I thought it would hurt. Ansel said having the wolf torn from him was like being ripped apart and burned.
But I didn’t hurt. Not at all. There was no pain. Only a sense of lightness, giddy and dizzying, like flight—of a burden that didn’t belong to me being lifted.
Suddenly I knew the truth and the lights surrounding me exploded.
I am free.
EPILOGUE
Look not at the greatness of the evil past, but the greatness of the good to follow.
—Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
SABINE SHIVERED, wishing she’d borrowed that sweater Ethan had offered her. Sunlight filtered through the scaffolding that ran along the edge of Rowan Estate, but the tarps hanging between the outside world and the library couldn’t keep out December’s cold. And the space heaters just weren’t cutting it.
She sealed another box with packing tape, scrawling the words History—17th century in black marker across the top. Almost all the books she’d packed so far seemed to be history. Really old history. Weren’t there any interesting books around here?
“Aren’t you finished yet?” Ethan strolled into the library. “Why are all these books still lying around?”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.” She carried the box over to the growing stack that would be taken back to the Academy to be cataloged and stored. “That way I can still like you.”
Ethan laughed. She walked over to him, rubbing her arms. He frowned, shrugging off his long leather jacket, and put it around her shoulders.
“You should have taken that sweater.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she said, snuggling into the body heat still warming the inside of his coat. “You were right. Be happy about it. Next time I’ll be right.”
Sabine glanced at the evidence of construction at the other side of the room. “You know it would be warmer in here a lot faster if you didn’t have to ship special stones in to rebuild this place.”
“We got it onto the National Register of Historic Places.” He shrugged. “Special stone is obligatory.”
“Great,” Sabine said. “I’m freezing my ass off.”
“Really?” He widened his eyes. “That’d be tragic. I’d better check it out.”
She shrieked when he lunged at her. They were still chasing each other around the stack of boxes when the shimmering door opened.
“Howdy!” Connor hopped into the library.
Adne came after him, shaking her head. “Connor, don’t say ‘howdy.’ You’re not a cowboy, no matter how much you wish you were.”
She closed the portal and pivoted around to face him, hands on her hips.
“Sorry if I gave offense, little lady.” He pretended to tip his hat.
She scowled but dissolved into laughter when he began to tickle her.
“Stop!” she squealed. “Stop it! I take it back. You can be a cowboy!”
Connor wrangled her into a one-armed embrace, grinning at Ethan.
“So how was it?” he asked. “Did you find them?”
Sabine looked away. Connor had asked the question she hadn’t been ready to voice but that had been running through her mind since Ethan returned.
Ethan cleared his throat as he watched Sabine tense. “Yeah. It wasn’t hard. They’re right where we thought they’d be.”
“Old stomping grounds.” Connor shrugged. “It makes sense.”
“It’s a little strange, though,” Adne said. “Don’t you think? Going back to Haldis after everything that happened.”
“It’s their territory,” Sabine said, glancing at her and then staring into the distance again. “They belong on that mountain.”
She hesitated and her voice grew softer. “Do they seem happy?”
“They really do.” Ethan moved closer to her. His fingers gently rested on her upper arm. “You should come next time. See them.”
Sabine managed to smile at the kindness in his eyes, although her heart had gone jagged. “Maybe.”
“Sabine—”
She turned to face him head-on, reaching up and resting her palm against his throat. She let his pulse drum against her skin for a few seconds before speaking again. “That’s the past. I’m here now. With you.”
He frowned. “You don’t want to see them?”
She lowered her lashes, not wanting him to see the pain in her eyes. He’d know it was there. He always did, but sometimes she wanted to keep it veiled from her new companions. She was grateful for their friendship and Ethan’s love. She didn’t want the past to mar the hope she had for their future. “What about the other pack?”
“They’ve moved to the western face,” Ethan said. “Stephen’s pack has taken over the Banes’ former range. What was left of the Bane pack after the fight seems to have moved on.”
“That’s justice.”
“I thought so too.”
r />
“So one alpha got her happy ending,” Connor said. “But how’s our boy adjusting to his new role?”
“Not that I’m an expert, but he seems fine.” Ethan put his arms around Sabine, drawing her back against him.
“I feel kind of sorry for Tristan and Sarah,” Adne said, hopping up on the table. She swung her legs back and forth as she mused. “They had about a ten-minute reunion. And then they lost their son again.”
“They didn’t lose him,” Ethan said. “Not exactly.”
“I don’t think they’ll be having family picnics in the forest, though,” Connor said.
“Are you ever serious?” Sabine asked.
Connor flashed a smile at her. “Not unless it’s absolutely necessary.” He frowned at Adne. “Why do you feel bad? I thought you talked to Sarah and, you know, explained about Calla.”
“I did,” Adne said. “And I think they’re trying to be happy for him, but I think they still feel like he’s just gone.”
“I’m just glad he ran out of the library when he became a wolf,” Connor said. “ ’Cause if he’d attacked Anika, and Ethan had shot the Scion right after he’d saved the world . . . Can you imagine? Awkward.”
“You really aren’t that funny,” Adne said.
“Yes, I am.” Connor smiled.
“Sabine?” Adne shot her a pleading look. “A little help here?”
Sabine stuck her tongue out at Connor.
“I rest my case.” Adne grinned.
“Ethan gets a vote too,” Connor said. “Ethan?”
“I abstain.” Ethan laughed. “Wait, no. I hate to give Connor credit for any of his humor, but he has a point. All the wolves, including the Scion, ran for the hills. I count that as a good thing. If they’d attacked us, it would have been ugly.”
“They were being called home, I think,” Adne mused. “Back to the wilderness. They didn’t have any reason to be interested in us.”
“Do you think they remember?” Connor asked. “When Shay became a wolf, do you think he knew what was happening?”
“There’s no way to know,” Adne said.
Sabine drew Ethan’s arms more tightly around her body. “It’s good that he changed. Shay and Calla belong together. They always did.”
Ethan bent down and kissed the crown of her hair. “I know the feeling.”
“Apparently the earth thought they belonged together too,” Adne said. “So are you guys ready? I’m starving and Anika is giving out new assignments in a few hours. I don’t want to miss dinner.”
“What exactly is your work now?” Sabine asked. “The war is over.”
“I think you mean our work.” Adne smiled at her. “You’re part of the club now. And we aren’t about to let you forget it.”
“We’ve got to keep an eye on that.” Connor pointed to what had been the library’s fireplace.
A massive iron door filled the stone frame. The Elemental Cross was set in the center of the door, giving all appearance that the two swords had been welded to the metal barrier. “Make sure no evildoers try to mess with it.”
“Like Logan?” Sabine asked.
“Logan,” Adne said, “and any other Keepers who hadn’t already passed their human expiration date. There won’t be a lot of them, but some are still around.”
“And we’ll go back to doing what we did before this war broke out too,” Connor said.
“You remember that far back?” Sabine asked.
“I’m pretty sure somebody wrote it down somewhere.” Connor smiled.
“Before there were Keepers and Searchers, we were all one group,” Adne said. “We made sure no one was abusing the mystical realm or messing with forces that shouldn’t be messed with.”
“We were called Conatus,” Ethan said.
“Speaking of names,” Connor said, “since we’re not searching for the Scion anymore, are we gonna get a new label?”
Ethan shrugged. “Ask Anika.”
“We could be Conatus again,” Adne said.
“That was six hundred years ago,” Connor said. “I vote no. Besides, the first Keepers were part of Conatus. Sharing a name with any Keeper would make me feel dirty.”
“Fine.” Adne ignored his teasing. “I just think using Latin would add dignity to our cause. Come on, we can argue about it over dinner.”
She began to weave a door.
“Dignity?” Ethan pulled away from Sabine, grinning at Adne. “Nobody actually speaks Latin anymore. Explaining that word anytime we met someone would get old fast. Besides, any group Connor is part of can’t actually be dignified.”
“Hey!” Connor shoved him.
Sabine laughed; her smile was full of mischief. “I’ve got a name for us.”
Ethan reached out, fingers tilting her chin up. When she looked into his sea blue eyes, the world opened up before her. Just like it always did.
“Okay, beautiful. What’s our new name?” he asked.
“Guardians.”
His smile softened. “That might take some getting used to. But it does have a nice ring to it.”
He leaned forward, kissing her gently.
“You guys coming?” Connor asked as he backed toward the portal. “Or are we going to wait here while you make out?”
“Oh, leave them alone.” Adne grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him toward the shimmering door. “Why are you so grumpy?”
Connor patted his stomach. “I’m hungry.”
“Dinner’s right through there.” Adne pointed at the gleaming door.
“Wait,” Sabine said. “I . . . want to see them. I have to see them. Just once.”
“Right now?” Connor frowned.
Adne pushed Connor aside, closing the portal with two swift strokes of her skeans. “Your stomach can wait, Connor.”
“We clearly need to have a talk where you get to know my stomach better.” Connor laughed.
“Are you sure?” Adne asked.
“Please.” Sabine’s heart pounded while Adne wove. She couldn’t breathe for a moment when the familiar landscape near Haldis took form on the other side of the portal.
“You ready?” Ethan took her hand.
She nodded, but it wasn’t a matter of being ready. It was what she needed—to see the pack whole, to know that the world was right again.
Connor started toward the door, but Adne grabbed his arm.
“No,” she said. “Just the two of them.”
“No dinner and no wolf hunt?” Connor said. “You’re a cruel woman.”
“You know it.” Adne gestured for Ethan and Sabine to enter the door.
The now-familiar sharp tingling of passage through the portal gave way to bitter cold. The wind swirled steadily over her limbs; occasional gusts made her shudder. She pulled Ethan’s coat tight around her.
“This is frostbite weather, honey,” Ethan said, handing her a pair of binoculars. “I don’t mean to rush you. . . .”
“I only need a few minutes,” she said.
Sabine climbed along the ridge where Adne had opened the door, crouching in the shelter of a pine tree. Lifting the binoculars to her eyes, she peered toward Haldis Cavern.
It didn’t take long to spot them. The wolves were celebrating a fresh kill. The pack had gathered around the large doe’s carcass, frolicking as they prepared to feast.
Ansel and Bryn chased each other outside the cave entrance, kicking up clouds of snow as they ran. Mason was digging into the venison, his muzzle bloodied. Nev sat beside him, his tongue lolling out as if Mason had told a hilarious joke.
A white wolf emerged from the cavern. Calla’s golden eyes surveyed her pack. A golden brown wolf bounded out of the forest, coming to greet her. Shay circled Calla, nipping at her until she barked a protest. To Sabine it sounded like laughter.
The two alphas trotted together to the kill, nuzzling and licking each other as they moved. Mason and Nev rose when they arrived, bowing their heads and wagging their tails. Calla barked again and Ansel and Bryn j
oined the pack. The wolves gathered together, ready to share the bounty of their hunt.
Sabine stood up, satisfied that her friends were safe and content. When she moved, Calla lifted her head. Her eyes focused in Sabine’s direction. Despite the distance between them, Sabine could have sworn Calla was looking right at her.
The white wolf’s ears flicked back and forth. She lifted her muzzle and howled. The sound filled Sabine with a mixture of sweetness and sorrow. The other wolves joined the song, their familiar voices blending in the winter air. Sabine watched them for another minute, then she turned and walked back to Ethan.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
She handed him the binoculars. “They’re happy. So I’m happy.”
“Good.” Ethan started toward the portal, but Sabine hesitated as the wind lifted her hair, its cold caress beckoning her toward the wilderness. She turned, listening to the song carried on the stiff winter breeze. Nev’s voice rose above the other wolves’ as the chorus of howls wove through the air. Sabine wondered if somehow they knew she was here, and if they might be saying good-bye or if they were asking her to stay.
“Sabine?” Ethan waited in the light of the door, watching her.
She took his hand. The wolves’ howls still sounded in the forest behind her, but she no longer needed to look back. With Ethan at her side, she stepped into the light of the portal, into her new world.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A book is a journey—a series an epic journey—and a trip such as this is best completed with willing and able companions. I’ve been fortunate enough never to want for amazing publishing colleagues, who’ve become dear friends. I am always indebted to my talented, tireless team at InkWell Management. Charlie Olsen and Richard Pine offer support, guidance, and cheer in perfect sync with both my joys and my sometime neuroses. Lyndsey Blessing is a force of nature when it comes to foreign rights, and I thank her for that! At the time of this writing, the Nightshade series has found homes in twenty-four territories and counting. Thank you also, wonderful editors, translators, and sub-agents across the globe.