Arrowan

I was surprised Luin didn't ask more questions about where I was going; but then again, he had to have a lot on his mind right now.

I could see his mother in him. They both had long faces with wide eyes and soft cheekbones. Her eyebrows arched like his did, and she matched him for height.

Their reunion, that had been a lot of what Luin and I were working for when we signed on to help with the war, so of course I had known it was a possibility... but I don't think I ever really believed it might happen. It was a gift, that she had been able to come to Luin like this, but it opened up so many questions. The most important one – and the one I was on my way to answer now – was how had we not known about this?

Triandra had said the banishment being lifted from excommunicated Seelie was announced yesterday morning. Luin and I hadn't left the hospital until the afternoon. So, why hadn't we been told about it? Maybe the details were still being worked out then, and our side had been waiting for everything to be finalized before they started telling everyone. I hoped that was the reason.

It took longer to get to the portal than usual since I didn't have Luin to teleport me there. Instead, I jumped through the mirror in Glenna and Safiya's shop and came out in the brightly-lit lake about a quarter-mile from the portal to Faerie. Thankfully, all portals to Faerie were located near something Unseelie could use to travel through.

I walked into the hospital nearly half an hour later and found that it was even busier than normal. Uraia was in the office and the look of pure relief on his face when he saw me had my stomach twisting in foreboding.

"Thank goodness you're back, Arrowan! This place has been a madhouse today," he said. "There are already a few patients in your exam room, since we had nowhere else for them to go. So-"

"Hang on!" I cut in. "I'm not here to work. Luin and I are taking today off."

"But-" Uraia cut himself off this time and frowned at me. Maybe he realized it wasn't his place to tell me I couldn't take my first day off in over a month. "Then why are you here?"

"I heard about the Seelie banishments being lifted and wanted to learn more." I watched his expression closely. It was possible everyone here had been told yesterday after Luin and I left. Maybe the leaders on our side didn't want to distract anyone from their work before all of our patients had been seen to.

Uraia's look of bafflement didn't bode well. "What are you talking about?"

Oh, boy. So hospital workers hadn't been notified yet. I couldn't think of any acceptable reason that might be. "Let me learn more and I'll get back to you, okay?"

I could see that Uraia wanted to argue, but he bit his lip and shook his head. "Alright. I need to get back to work."

Uraia went into my exam room and called forward one of the waiting fae. I left the hospital after that, begrudgingly accepting that this was not the place to find answers.

The next place to try was the amphitheater, which was still being used as our militia headquarters. Ninian, the Seelie who handled my and Luin's sign-up, was there. She looked just as cheerful as when we first met, at least until I said, "Why weren't we told about the treaty?"

Her eyes widened and she quickly pulled me aside. "We were waiting to make it public," she said. "It's just... there's some speculation that there might be defectors if people knew we already got what we wanted. And one of the conditions of the treaty is that we have to help the Seelie in their fight. It'll all fall apart if we don't hold up our end."

Her eyes skirted away from mine and she looked strangely apologetic. It took me longer than it should have to realize that she was feeling awkward because I was Unseelie. The signing of the treaty meant that, rather than fighting against both sides, our forces would be targeting just one.

There was no need for such awkwardness. I was more than just an expatriate. Those people had never done much for me, and I felt no ties to them.

"People deserve to know what they're fighting for and who they're fighting," I said. I didn't bother keeping the judgment out of my tone. Their efforts at secrecy were doomed to fail. I certainly wasn't going to keep secrets for them, and anyway, others were bound to find out about the treaty, just like I had. And they would feel just as betrayed.

After everything I gave for these people, all the work I put in, they should have the decency not to withhold such crucial information like this.

"It's not my call," Ninian protested.

That doesn't matter, I wanted to tell her. She still had her own sense of right and wrong, didn't she? And free will? She could make another choice; she clearly just didn't want to.

But I didn't feel like arguing with Ninian. It wasn't going to get me anything. The only thing to do now was decide what I wanted to do from here.

Would I keep helping these people who were playing things crooked? Or would Luin and I accept that we had done enough to help them and back off from what was, in all honesty, truly terrible work? I knew about Luin's nightmares. Even if he had wanted to hide them from me, I could feel his emotions. I knew the horror he felt on waking, and I knew the bone-deep exhaustion that had plagued him for weeks. I didn't want that for him, and would have pulled him out of the hospital long ago if I thought he would agree. And if I didn't truly need him there, helping me.

Without saying another word to Ninian, I headed back to the portal to Earth and made my way home. I was still feeling angry and betrayed when I walked in the front door, but seeing Luin was enough to smooth the rough edges of my emotions. Anger simmered beneath the surface, willing to be ignored for now. The betrayal flared as I remembered that they hadn't just kept me in the dark, but Luin, too. Then even that was washed away as Luin's luminous eyes glowed brighter with joy when he saw me.

"Arrowan! Come here, I have to introduce you to my sister!" He looked a little uncertain, probably because of the darkness of my emotions. I smiled encouragingly at him and my heart lightened when I took in the scene around me.

My usually-reserved bond mate had two small children vying for space on his lap while an unfamiliar woman and man sat across from him on the couch. The woman held a small baby, who was sleeping peacefully enough for now. I cautiously took the seat next to Luin, carefully avoiding being kicked by small feet as a young boy climbed him like a jungle gym.

"Arrowan, this is my sister, Corrin, and her bond mate, Niall. And these two are Rin and Sula. The baby's name is Fiona."

Sula's small hand reminded me of a starfish as she plastered it over Luin's mouth for leverage as she shoved at her brother. "Uncle Luin! Tell Rin it's my turn!"

Luin looked like he was at a complete loss for what to do, and I laughed along with Corrin at his expression. Luin wasn't big on children.

"It's nice to meet you," I said when our laughter died out.

Corrin smiled warmly and leaned into her bond mate's side. "You, too. I still can't believe we're really here."

Luin's mother came into the room carrying two small sippy cups. She handed them off to the kids on Luin's lap and they both settled down. If I had kids, they'd always be eating something if that's what it took to calm them.

It was probably a good thing Luin and I weren't planning on becoming fathers, I realized.

I settled into an observational role as Luin and his family caught up. Niall also didn't say much. This was a time for mother and children to come together and for them to start healing the old wounds of separation. They took periodic breaks so Corrin could tend to the baby, or to settle small disputes between the children, and it all felt like a warm kind of domesticity I had only ever observed, not been a part of. I was content to merely observe now, even when the talk turned toward me and how Luin and I met. I noticed he glossed over a lot of the trouble we had faced, but he still told them enough to have his mother pull him up off the couch for a tight hug. His sister took a turn, too. "I'm so glad you're okay!" she said, sounding tearful.

Luin looked just as awkward as ever when he hugged someone other than me, and I got a good laugh at his expression.

As the day crept toward evening, I started to plan how I could get Luin's family to leave without seeming rude or cold. By all rights, they shouldn't separate again until they felt ready to. If that meant days of camping out in our living room, so be it.

But that wasn't practical. Luin and I still needed to figure out whether we were going back to work at the hospital, and to do that, I needed to have a serious conversation with him. I didn't feel comfortable having a talk like that with his family watching. Maybe that was me being selfish. I dragged my feet on suggesting that they leave for the day until it became completely unnecessary when Corrin and Niall got up and each scooped up one kid.

"We should get the kids in bed," Corrin said. She looked reluctant, but it was obvious the children were getting tired. Rin had been getting ornerier the later it got, and Sula was already drooping sleepily against her father's shoulder. Corrin struggled to juggle a wriggling Rin along with the baby, and Triandra swept in and took Rin for her with the casual air of long practice. It was another snapshot into domestic life.

Luin got up and stood awkwardly in front of his mother and sister, clearly unsure of how to say goodbye to them. "I'll see you again soon, won't I?"

The sadness in his eyes only showed a hint of its true depth. I felt the blast of sorrow through our bond and couldn't resist wrapping an arm around him. He leaned into me, but his eyes didn't leave his family.

"How could you ask such a thing? When are you free again?" his mother asked.

Tomorrow, Luin's voice said in my head. But he didn't say it out loud. Luin looked to me for help.

"We don't know our schedules yet," I said for him. "Perhaps Luin could visit you next time once we get them sorted out?"

Luin nodded his agreement and his mother looked concerned. "Alright. Stay safe, okay? Both of you."

"Mom, I told you, we aren't part of the actual fighting," Luin said exasperatedly.

"Even so. I don't like you being involved in this war business."

He stopped arguing with her, which was probably wise. His mother didn't look inclined to back down on this. "I'll see you all soon," he simply said.

His mother and sister both kissed his cheek on their way out, and then we had our house to ourselves again.

"I had some time alone earlier this afternoon while you were gone," Luin said. "When Corrin came, Rin threw a tantrum and got Sula worked up while the baby needed fed."

He looked to me – making sure I was paying attention, I thought. I nodded, wondering why he brought this up.

"I had enough time to call Lachlan. I asked him about buying this house, and he agreed."

I blinked in shock. "Really?"

"Yeah. Lachlan doesn't need the house, you know. He mostly only kept it because it was easier than bothering trying to sell it, and people liked to use it sometimes. He says he's happier knowing it'll be properly lived in."

I actually wasn't surprised Lachlan had agreed. What surprised me was that Luin had asked in the first place. "Are you sure about this? We're starting to make some real progress in the war. Maybe it'll be possible for us to live in Alterra later."

Alterra was still segregated so it was impossible for now, but I had stopped trying to make predictions where this war was concerned.

"I'm sure," Luin said. "I don't think I realized it until I saw my family again. It's not so hard to see them now that we're allowed to travel back and forth, and Alterra doesn't feel like home anymore. This does. I've spent over half my life on Earth already, and all of my best memories are here. This is where I met you, where we fell in love. It's our first home together, and I'm not ready to leave it."

Luin looked up at me and his eyes were bright and certain. I finally let myself accept what he was offering me. "Okay, we'll buy the house," I agreed. I felt warm with happiness as I imagined calling this place our own.

"And I think we can make you a workshop here, once it's ours," Luin said. "We don't use the second bedroom for anything right now. Is that enough space?"

"Let's keep it as a spare bedroom, instead. That way maybe your mother can stay sometimes. The garage makes a good workshop, and it's not like either of us needs a car."

We grinned at each other, and I could feel my eagerness to start living out our lives here echoed within Luin. Lives away from all the struggles that had brought us here, full of moments with each other and with our friends and his family. I was ready for it.

But first...

"Luin, they weren't planning on telling us about the treaty yet," I said. He frowned at me in confusion, and I couldn't blame him. It was an abrupt topic shift.

"They weren't?"

"I went to Faerie earlier to ask around, and they didn't want to tell us because they didn't want people to quit." Just thinking about it had me angry again. I understood their decision, I really did, but I could never accept people putting so much of themselves into war without offering them the reward they had earned.

Luin frowned and looked thoughtful. I waited for his anger to flare like mine had, but he just bit his lip and looked up at me. "Do you want to quit?" he asked.

What was he thinking? I badly wanted to know. I would have quit on the spot this morning if it weren't for Luin. This had to be a decision we made together. "Do you?"

The furrow on Luin's brow deepened and he slowly shook his head. "I understand it, and it was only the leaders who chose to keep the treaty a secret. Our soldiers had nothing to do with it, and they're still going to be out there fighting. They need you. We aren't there to make the leaders happy, Arrowan. We're there to save people, and to work toward making relationships like ours accepted in Alterra. We wouldn't be doing our part if we quit now, just because a few people made a bad decision."

Luin was a better person than I was. I felt a little ashamed that I had been so ready to dismiss the lives of our soldiers, but Luin gently lifted my chin up so I was looking at him instead of down at my hands. "It's okay," he said.

Of course he knew what I was thinking and feeling. I bet he could even without the bond now, we knew each other so well. So how had I missed that he would want to go back to the hospital, even with the nightmares and long hours?

"It's okay," Luin repeated when his words didn't sink in the first time. His eyes were full of love and acceptance. I sank against him and Luin's arms wrapped around me.

"I love you," I said. They were the only words I had to offer him in that moment.

"I love you, too. So, we go back to the hospital in the morning?"

I nodded my acceptance, though the question should have been rhetorical. I would follow Luin, my heart, anywhere.

---

This is the end.

Final chapter.

I really want to give these two an epilogue, and I know there will be bonus chapters added in the future (any requests?).  For now, though, this is where we leave them.

Stay tuned for the next book, "Resonant." It tells Fen's story and chapter 2 should be up this weekend (chapter 1 is out now).  I think Everett will always be my favorite character, but Fen's costar might be a close second, so I'm really excited about this one.

As always, my sincerest thanks for reading. We all have a limited amount of time in this world, and I truly feel honored you chose to spend some of yours on my work.

- Nia