“This is still work for the Council, Mom, and it’s important. Please.”
Violet shared a look with the other Council members before reluctantly nodding. “Very well. But first, Maeve, do you consent to the surrender of your magic into the safekeeping of your kin?”
Rachel’s face pinched. “As much as I might despise it, there’s no reason to not accept it except spite and my gods have made their opinions on the matter clear enough. Though if I’m giving up my magic, I’m going to request we nix the custody.”
“No.” Jisoo shook her head. “Custody remains. Your punishment was twofold from the start. You can surrender your magic to Logan with her consent and begin your reconciliation with her and Anya, or your magic will be bound. In either case, you will be in the custody of the Council.”
Rachel rolled her eyes. “Fine, then I’m keeping my magic, I don’t care if it gets bound if I’m fucked either way.”
“You’d really be that spiteful?” I asked. “After all the damage you did to me and Seth, everything you put us through, you’d rather be that fucking selfish?”
“I don’t want to be in custody forever. That’s what I’ve been trying to avoid,” Rachel snapped.
“And I didn’t want to be bonded to someone who didn’t love me and was just using me for her own agenda, but here we fucking are.”
Logan squeezed my hand. “We can’t force her to give up her magic. It would be no different than what Fiona did with Godric. It has to be voluntary.”
I wanted to shake Rachel like a snow globe, but I doubted that would do any good. “I’m requesting it for my reconciliation. Assuming Logan wants it.”
My sweet mate blinked up at me, brown eyes wide. “I know the good that magic can do, and I would be happy to have it, but I lived so much of my life without it that I think I could get used to not having it again.”
Cecily kneeled in front of Rachel. “Girl, you are thebiggestdisappointment I’ve faced in centuries. I thought we were friends. They’re giving you an opportunity. You know you earned your punishment, that you did fucked up things with both eyes open. Don’t let spite control you. If you actually take steps to make things better, then maybe you’ll get some brownie points and the custody won’t be a forever thing, but being cunty isn’t going to get you anywhere.”
Rachel sighed, finally dropped her gaze to the floor. “Fine. I’ll do it.”
It was true? I hadn’t betrayed Caden? All the fucking misery I had been in all these years—separated from Caden, separated from Logan—was because of Rachel. Numbness sat like ice in my chest. She’d seen my childish crush as an opportunity for exploitation, had used banned magic to manipulate me.
What the actual fuck?
When she’d disappeared all those years ago, I’d been so fucking lost and confused. She’d destroyed my relationship with Caden, and when her magic had worn off, I was left with a million questions and no answers. After experiencing how easy it had been for her to control my physical body, I was under no illusions she couldn’t have done the same with my mind.
The whole thing made me feel sick.
Caden was a mess of anger and regret in the bond. He dragged me into his arms, squeezing until I couldn’t breathe. “I’m sorry.”
It was only two words, but I felt the weight of them, the healing they brought, how much work they did to solidify the bridge we had been building. I knew Rachel’s damage had still lingered in the back of his mind, burdened his struggle to trust me, but now he knew as well as I did I’d never meant to hurt him.
For the first time in decades, it felt like I really had him back. No matter how much we’d been trying since all this chaos began, Rachel had stayed a glass wall between us, fueling his worries about Logan and me, and his place in our lives, but now that glass was shattered.
His regret and affection burned hot as lava, pouring into me, melting away the icy numbness that held me hostage until I was hugging him back just as fiercely.
“I’m sorry,” he said again. “I love you. I want to put all of this behind us, but I understand if you’re not ready.”
“Fuck that.” A sound came out of me; a mix of a laugh and a sob. “I waited years to get to be your brother again. I’m not waiting anymore.”
The bond glowed brightly, as if it knew the connection had been revitalized. Logan hugged both of us, her arms keeping us pressed together, the rest of our pack tangling around us. Caden wasn’t the only family I had gained recently. It was wild to thinkI had a whole pack now. We hadn’t known each other for very long, but with all we’d been through it felt like a lifetime.
“As much as we appreciate sentimentality,” Violet announced, “We really should get this wrapped up. We have to monitor very carefully for this to be done safely.”
By the time we all pulled apart, my cheeks were wet, and I swiped the moisture away with the back of my hand.
“Logan, do you consent to accept Maeve’s magic?” Jisoo asked.
“It’s pure magic, right? It won’t impact my personality or anything? Will I have a different kind of magic?”
“Pure magic, yes.” Jisoo nodded. “The core has no impact on the type of person we are. You may have access to additional forms of magic you didn’t before, but so far as we are aware, your magic will follow the same pathways it always has. This sort of thing isn’t common, but I have studied previous cases and that’s what happened with them.”
Logan turned to Anya and Cecily, her nerves broadcasting through the bond like a foghorn. “You think it’s safe?”
