Afterward, the faeries slowly broke off into small groups. Some talked; others simply left in silence. They’d seen the punishment that their Alphas would mete out to those who didn’t follow the rules, and it was enough incentive for them to fall into order as they’d never before done. No one who was a solitary wanted to be given to a court, and no one who chose a life in the desert wanted to be sent to the Winter Court’s abode.

After they had all left, Rika and Sionnach sat on a porch, backs to the battered building, silent and watching the crowd as the sky darkened. A coyote crept across the desert in shadow, and stars blinked to life. There were dozens of things that Rika considered saying, chastisements and compliments, but this wasn’t the time. He was her partner, and they’d found ways to set things to rights in their home. She wasn’t about to forget that he’d manipulated her, and he wasn’t liable to ignore the fact that his co-Alpha was also subject to a queen.

“Are we all right?” he asked softly.

“We will be.”

They exchanged a smile and looked out together over their kingdom.

Not long afterward, Rika walked through town alone, letting the faeries see her, making eye contact with them. She smiled; she nodded. She didn’t stop to chitchat; instead, she walked with an authority that they recognized—the sort of authority she once wore as the Winter Girl, the sort Sionnach had been asking her to exert here for years. She passed the skate park and the club. By then, faeries had gathered and begun to follow her.

Finally, she turned and walked into the open desert. Here were the even less-human-looking faeries; they, too, were watching her. Rika moved purposefully, knowing that by now scores of faeries were trailing her at a distance. They walked, crept, and strolled across the expanse of desert like a mismatched platoon of troops marching to battle.

And I will lead and protect them.

Epilogue

EPILOGUE

TWO YEARS LATER

Rika watched Jayce talk to other students after his class. He didn’t know she was visiting; she’d wanted to surprise him. It was a strange feeling, looking at him this way. He seemed to laugh more freely when he was at his university campus, and as she watched him, she wondered if this was where they’d been meant to be all along: him living his normal life, the sort of life she never had, and her learning to let him go.

“He still loves you,” a voice said.

She turned to see the faery she’d been friends with longer than Jayce had lived. Sionnach’s smile was sad, but he didn’t have pity in his eyes.