Lucy
A Dragon Trilogy Epilogue
By: Ellie Horn

I held the little rugrat in the air, and looked him over.
Coppery skin, check.
Dark hair, check.
Brown eyes, check.
And he slapped at my fingers, as if to say, “hands off, asshole.”
Badass 'tude, check.
“Aren’t you a fucking chip off the old block,” I told him. To my horror, my voice dripped with something that could only be described as—sickly sweet.
I glanced at the towering figure beside me, hoping he hadn’t noticed. Which, of course, he had.
Dammit.
But Riggs simply arched a dark brow as he tickled his own mini-me, who lay on a blanket on the couch. The little black-haired boy giggled and his eyes, which were also dark but with a purplish cast, sparkled.
“Don’t swear in front of the kids.” Bree was in the kitchen, whipping up her own special version of Nettie’s chocolate chip cookies. A mere week after delivering triplets, she appeared ready to take on the world. Or at least us.
Nothing had changed there.
She wasn’t right about this, though. “Too fucking late,” I stated. Because it was. The chances of this child growing up prim and proper were exactly zero.
I studied the chubby little arms.
My regard did not go unnoticed, despite Bree’s back being turned. Either she was snooping in my mind, or more likely, knew me too well.
“We are not getting a baby-sized forearm sheath,” she said, pulling an aromatic tray from the oven.
“Emmanuel could make us one,” I mused. I’d replaced all my knives with those made by the big Centaur dude. He made incredible weapons.
“You’d give a baby a knife?” Caliel sat on the padded armchair, cradling the only girl of the three. Her peachfuzz hair was already growing in pale with stripes, but it was her eyes that had sent Cara over the moon with theories—they were the amethyst of a Gryphon.
No one could figure out just how that was possible. I had learned the hard way that some things were best explained by fairy dust.
Our sons and daughter had caused quite a stir at the Cryptid Council level. Cara believed they would be shape shifters, but no one was sure exactly what they would shift to. And the Watchers also believed that their talents wouldn’t stop there.
For now, I was only worried about training them to survive in increasingly hostile realms. And that training started young.
I should know.
“Tez…” Bree turned to face me and paused long enough to fix me with a determined stare. “No.”
I didn’t push the issue. I could visit Emmanuel later, and just ask him what was possible. Convincing my mates would be a hurdle for another time. Because today, we had something else to do.
I laid my son down beside his brother, and looked to where Nemi perched on the back of the couch. Her feathers appeared ragged, and it had been many weeks since she’d last flown. I carried her everywhere now.
It wasn’t an age-related thing, the Watcher had told me. It was a spiritual one. Nemi’s had been connected to my grandmother’s by magic, and apparently there was a natural end to everything, including spells. If the little hummingbird was forced to hold it much longer, it could kill her.
I reached across to offer my finger, and she hopped onto it. Her little eyes were still bright with that well-remembered beady—eyed regard.
My heart constricted. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye.
My mates had fallen silent. No one was looking at me—they knew me well and were giving me physical space. But their concern and support pulsed along the link.
They knew just how hard this was going to be for me. And that there was no choice.
I’d hope that the spell would last long enough for her to see her great grandchildren, and it had. I was grateful for that.
Nemi chirped and hopped to my shoulder, where she then thwacked me weakly up the back of the head with one raggedy wing. Her version of Stop daydreaming. Get on with it, Tez.
There was a knock not on the hall door, but on the one adjoining the Dragon Team quarters. We all froze, and Riggs answered with a deep rumble. “C’mon in, Cara.”
The Watcher entered, but she wasn’t alone. A huge figure loomed behind her, and beyond the Bigfoot were Leah and Nar.
A tiny figure flitted in with them. “We are here to look after your offspring,” Adilyn piped.
Leah had already swept towards the couch with a wiggle of her ample figure. She cooed as Riggs stood back to allow her to tickle both boys into giggles. Even Nar, leaning over her shoulder, looked enchanted.
The Fairy wasn’t the cooing type, but she did swoop over them, avoiding clutching fingers while sparkling them with dust.
“Hey, are you glamoring them?” Riggs asked suspiciously. It wasn’t good to have seven feet of Dragon prince glaring at you.
Adilyn was unfazed. “Just a little dose of feel-good dust,” she explained. “So they won’t notice you leave.”
Sid took the little girl from Caliel, and did his own version of tickling. She looked so tiny in his massive arms. Adilyn flitted over to him as his features softened, and yes, he uttered the Sasquatch equivalent of a coo.
More a rumble, but whatever works.
Cara’s vivid blue eyes were filled with sympathy as she regarded Nemi on my shoulder. The hummingbird looked even worse than she had the day before.
“It’s time, Tez,” she said.
I nodded and followed her out the suite door into the hall. Caliel, Riggs, and Bree trailed us. Since the arrival of the triplets, we’d moved next door to the Dragon Team quarters, within the Talon complex. When Cara took the central ramp downward, I knew where we were going.
The garden was the perfect spot to say goodbye.
Bree moved up beside me, and silently interlocked her arm with mine. She didn’t need to say anything. Her physical presence wasn’t nearly as warm as what wrapped around me from within.
Nemi pushed her head against my cheek, and she didn’t have to speak either. I knew my grandmother loved Bree, too. She’d had time to get to know her, while our mate’s belly swelled with our children. Along with Riggs and Caliel.
More to be grateful for.
My grandmother had once had her own mate, many years ago. He’d died defending her, and she had been forced to live without him, all this time. Raising first her daughter, and then me.
I couldn’t imagine losing my mates, and surviving it. It still surprised me that I included the fucking arrogant prince in that assessment. But to lose Bree…
Even the thought had my stride hitching, and Bree’s hand slid down to take my own. How had my grandmother done it? I thought of my children, and therein lay the answer. A person did what they needed to do. But I finally understood the deep, never-ending pain that I’d always sensed from my only relative.
The soft, feathered head stroked my cheek again, and Nemi chirped softly. It was time, I knew it. It didn’t make it any easier.
All these months living in this complex, and I still go lost in it. Not that I ever admitted it. Cara, however, led us unerringly to the garden.
Its broad-headed shade trees and sweep of blooming shrubs did little to lift my spirits. The mishmash of garden furniture had expanded but not grown any more coordinated. Somehow, it suited the place.
Cara took us to the little patch of mown grass and gestured for me to sit. As we settled, I contemplated that damp butts meant little to Watchers. Their natural magic mojo always kept them appearing pristine. And they often avoided chairs in favor of grass or boulders.
Unicorns could be weird that way.
Caliel settled to one side of me, and Bree the other. Riggs, in typical Dragon fashion, loomed rather than sat. Bree held my hand, Caliel’s shoulder touched my own.
The Watcher’s blue eyes measured me. “Are you ready?” she asked me.
No. No, I was not. But my grandmother had spent and sacrificed her life for me. So I nodded, and Bree’s hand tightened on my own as I put my finger up to Nemi.
It was time to let her go.
The hummingbird offered a final swipe of her head, and left it resting there for a few seconds, before hopping onto my proffered perch. I swallowed as she hesitated there, fixing me with her bright little stare, before she hopped onto Cara’s hand.
I swallowed. “Will it hurt?” I asked.
The Watcher shook her head. “No. It will be a release of pressure. She’s been holding that spell together with sheer willpower for a while, now.” She folded her free hand around a crystal braided into her hair, and closed her eyes.
I hadn’t expected to see anything, but blue energy danced around Cara as she began to glow. Then it rose in a swirling cloud, before coalescing on Nemi.
A warmth, and a love, that Lucy would have never dared express while she lived, flooded through me. And something I hadn’t expected—an overwhelming joy, as she was enfolded by a spirit as essential to her as her own.
Her mate.
That is incredible, Caliel’s mindvoice reflected his awe.
He’s been waiting for her. All this time. Rigg’s rumble was considerably subdued.
Bree put her arm around me. She’s so happy. Do you feel it? Her face was wet with tears.
I did. I pulled Bree close, and buried my face in her hair. Maybe the Dragon wouldn’t see that my eyes were leaking.
If he did notice my lapse, he pretended not to.
He might tease, but Riggs is never mean, Bree said softly, leaning into me.
The blue glow drifted away, and Nemi, her good health fully restored, lifted off from Cara’s finger to visit a flower. I watched her go, but didn’t feel as heavy-hearted as I thought I would.
I looked to the sky, just as a squadron of Dragons passed by overhead.
My grandmother’s work was done. But somewhere out there, was the evil that surrounded that bastard Finn. My glance rose to where a certain sword hilt rose above Rigg’s broad shoulders. Cara had hinted that Excalibur’s work was not yet done.
Not if we wished to create safe realms for our children.
Bree’s arm tightened around me, and I lowered my lips to her brow.
At least there’d be fringe benefits to the journey…