He moves away from the door, moves as though he just might embrace me but changes his mind at the very last second and drops his hands to his sides.

And before the moment can get any more awkward than it already is, I breach the space between us and hug him tightly to me.

Holding the embrace for a moment, a moment that feels somehow suspended, then I pull away and end it. Aware of the wave of Jude’s energy, his usual calling card of cool, calm serenity that continues to flood through me.

Holding, lingering, strangely enduring, as I make my way toward my car, and head for my next set of good-byes.

After stopping by Miles’s only to learn he wasn’t home, I swing by Ava and the twins’ only to find they’re gone as well. Then I stop by Haven’s old house, the one she shared with her little brother Austin and their parents. Parking on the street, seeing a FOR SALE sign stuck in the lawn and an open house in progress as a long line of looky-loos stream in and out.

And I wonder if her parents even realize she’s gone, that she’ll never return. Or, if they’re still looking past her, all around her, everywhere but at her, just like they did when she was still here. And since I’m already mired in a deeply blue mood, I decide to drive by Sabine’s, but that’s all that I do. I don’t stop. I don’t go inside. I already said a silent good-bye last night.

And with no further reason to delay, I cruise down the next street, abandon my car at the curb, close my eyes, and manifest the portal that leads me to Summerland. Landing in the vast fragrant field with its pulsating flowers and shivering trees, and stealing a moment to enjoy the pure, unadulterated splendor of it all—the unmitigated mass of beauty, love, and everything good—before I find my way out and venture toward its opposite side. The place where the trees are all barren, flowers don’t grow, and magick and manifesting do not exist.

My suspicions confirmed the moment I notice the thin trail of muck leading from Haven’s memorial all the way to the dark side I first stumbled upon.

It’s growing.

Encroaching.

But even though I’m not at all surprised to see it like that, I have no idea how to stop it. No idea what I’ll do once I arrive. And though I tried to mentally prepare myself for just about every possibility of what I might find, I failed to prepare myself for the one I stumble upon.

I stop, my eyes wide in wonder, jaw practically dropped to my knees when I see Jude, Ava, Romy, Rayne, and… Miles?—standing there waiting for me.

The only person who could make this reunion complete is Damen, but sadly, he’s absent.

“How did…” My voice trails off as I gape at Miles, the biggest surprise of them all.

“Well, it took some doing, more than a few tries for sure, but between the four of us pooling our energy and Miles’s own fervent desire to see you off on your journey, in the end, we managed to pull through.”

“I hope you at least showed him around the nicer parts first.” I cringe, thinking how he must’ve felt to go through all that only to step through the beautiful, shimmering veil and into such a dark, dreary, bleak place.

“Later,” Ava says. “We were in too big of a hurry to catch you before you leave.”

“But—why?” I glance at Jude, correctly assuming he called them, convinced them all to meet me here, just after I left him standing in his doorway.

“Because you deserve a proper send-off,” Romy says, nudging her sister hard in the gut until she nods in reluctant agreement.

“I—I don’t know what to say.” I swallow hard, warning myself not to cry in front of them.

“You don’t have to say anything.” Miles grins. “You know I’m more than able to handle the talking for all of us.”

“True.” I laugh, still getting used to seeing him here.

“Oh, and we brought gifts.” Ava nods excitedly.

I try to look pleased, though the truth is I have no idea what I’ll do with them, or if I’ll even be able to bring them where I’m going—wherever that is. The thought extinguished the moment Rayne steps forward, motions for me to lower my head, and drapes a small silver talisman dangling from a tan leather cord around my neck.

I grasp the pendant between my forefinger and thumb, lifting it to where I can better see it, unsure how I’m supposed to interpret the message behind it, especially considering it came straight from her.

“An Ouroboros?” I gape, my voice sharp, my brow raised in question.

“It’s from Romy and me,” she says, eyes wide and serious. “It’s for protection. Damen was right. It’s not at all evil and we’re just hoping it’ll remind you of where you started, where you’ll end up, and where we hope you’ll find yourself again.”

“And where’s that?” I ask, my eyes never once straying from hers.

“Back here. With all of us,” she says, her voice full of sincerity. Her dual nature, her ability to run so hot and cold, especially where I’m concerned, is so confusing I can’t seem to get a grip on her. Reminding me of the old man I ran across that time in Summerland, the one who insisted the twins bore opposite personalities to the ones I’ve grown used to. Claiming Rayne was the quiet one and Romy the stubborn one, and I can’t help but wonder just how often they play this game.

Before I can formulate some kind of reply, Ava comes forward and hands me a small shiny crystalline stone made of a blue-green so brilliant it reminds me a bit of Jude’s eyes.