I smiled. “Well, then, let me convince you beyond all doubt,” I said. Brushing back her hair, I drew closer, gazing into her eyes. “I love you, Kenzie,” I said. “You’re my partner, and my sanity, and my saving grace. We’ve gone through so much, more than any normal person could dream of, and you’ve always been there for me. Someday, when you’re ready, it’ll be a ring in that box instead of a necklace. I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather have at my side. And someday, if Faery calls me back, I want you with me. Fighting dragons and bargaining with faery queens and arguing with talking cats.” She was crying now, smiling broadly through the tears, and I brushed her cheek. “So you don’t have to worry about losing me tomorrow,” I told her. “Because there’s no way I’ll ever leave you behind.”
She kissed me then, and it went on for a long while. Not even Razor’s cackles of kissy-kissy could distract me from the girl in my arms. Only the sound of the doorbell ringing broke us apart. Curious, I pulled back, listening as it rang again. We didn’t have many visitors. Other than Kenzie, who never rang the doorbell, no one really visited the house.
Leaving the room, we wandered hand in hand down the hall, meeting Mom in the kitchen. She looked as puzzled as I felt. Dad was home tonight as well, and was walking across the tile to answer the door. As his hand closed on the knob, Razor let out an excited cry and, abruptly, I knew.
Pulling the door back, Dad stared in surprise as Meghan smiled at me through the frame. My heart jumped, and Mom gasped.
“Meghan!”
She rushed forward, and Meghan stepped inside to be engulfed in a hug. Stunned, I could only watch as Mom drew back, her face alight with questions. “We didn’t know you were coming!” Mom exclaimed, taking her hands. “How have you been? Will you be staying long—”
She stopped, staring at something just outside the door. Meghan took a deep breath and moved aside...
...as Keirran stepped into the room.
I straightened, and beside me, Kenzie’s hand went to her mouth. The Forgotten King, dressed in very normal-looking jeans and a T-shirt, smiled and nodded at me across the room. He looked...happy. Content. Though there was a somberness to him now that hadn’t been there before, a maturity that went beyond his years. Razor gave a high-pitched, welcoming buzz and waved to his former master, and Keirran grinned at him, as well.
“Mom.” Meghan’s voice was soft, hesitant, as she turned to Keirran and placed a hand on his shoulder. But her voice and face glowed with pride as she drew him forward, and his brightness seemed to fill the entire room. “I think it’s past time you met your grandson.”