For the first time, we were all able to enter Effie’s property as a group. Unfortunately, these weren’t the circumstances that I’d have chosen for such an honor. As we burst through the opening in the stacked stone fence, we immediately saw what was happening.

Effie was standing on the porch hugging herself as she screamed in terror while quirky little Maon was engaged in a deathly battle with Cullen. Surprisingly enough, the two were matched in size. However, the unseelie prince had more than a few nasty tricks up his sleeve.

Right as Maon had him pinned, the Fae winked out of sight and reappeared behind the brownie. When Maon turned, Cullen stabbed him in the heart—killing him instantly. Before any of us could approach, he turned to Effie and began to speak in a silky tone.

“So, you’re Artio’s favorite pet, huh? Finally we meet. I gotta admit it was nice of that bitch to give you such in attractive form for me to plunder. Now that Artio’s other little bitches have cut me off from my realm for the rest of time, I’ll just have to busy myself with you.”

He cackled easily as he slowly stalked toward Effie. “Don’t worry, my pet. Every time I kill you, you’ll just be reborn the next day for me to torture all over again. Won’t we have fun, my pretty?”

I heard a loud screeching noise just as the familiar form of an overly large red hawk dove through the air. Sinking his talons into Cullen’s shoulders, Heath plucked him away from Effie and tossed him onto the ground at Tau’s feet.

I’m not sure why it surprised me, but our gentle friend Tau had reverted into his lion’s form. He pounced like an overgrown kitten onto the stunned Fae, and began slashing that green flesh with his oversized claws.

Effie sprang from the porch, and flung herself over Maon’s fallen body. Sadly, the tableau the two made was punctuated by the solid stone forms of their gargoyle guardians that stood on either side of the pathway where Maon had fallen while they’d been unable to assist.

Blinking away tears, I turned back to see that Tau was somehow fighting a losing battle now. I had underestimated the magical powers of the Fae prince again. Another handful Fae appeared out of nowhere, and without hesitation our entire pack shifted back and began to fight.

I finished off a weak sprite that had attacked me out of nowhere, just in time to see that Easton had finally arrived. Right as Cullin was about to attack a now-unconscious Tau with a killing blow, Easton plunged a golden dagger into the side of the unseelie prince’s neck.

Green blood spurted in bursts from where he’d been stabbed, strong at first, then slowing with each dying heartbeat. The strange blood was still pumping out when Easton merely tossed his body to the side to drain and snapped a finger at Tau.

Instantly, Tau reverted to human form and sat up with surprise. He took the hand of friendship Easton offered, and allowed the Fae to help him to his feet.

I shifted back to human form, just in time to catch River who was running at me. Wrapping my arms around him as tightly as I could, I held my mate until I’d assured myself that he was all right.

A sharp yip sounded between us, and I pulled back with a chuckle when I realized that he was still holding that blasted puppy with one arm.

“Forgive me for not shifting and joining the fight, but I needed to protect this little guy since the rest of you seemed to have things under control. And I knew that I was no match for the mini green goblin when a fucking lion couldn’t take his ass out.”

Before I could respond to River, I heard Effie’s cries once again. I turned back sadly to see her still crying over Maon’s fallen form. My jaw dropped when Effie lifted her head and rained a flurry of kisses over his angular face. When she turned her head, a single tear dropped from her eye and landed on his lips.

River gasped beside me as Maon’s eyes fluttered open to look up at his dear Effie.

I shared a What the fuck? look with my mate just as a radiant white light filled the air, and Artio herself appeared beside Effie.

Artio was wearing an ankle length, white linen gown that flowed over her body and billowed out behind her. Her lustrous chestnut brown hair blew in the nonexistent breeze, as she smiled affectionately at Effie.

River and I, along with every other person in the yard, dropped to our knees in the presence of the goddess. I noticed that even Easton had taken a knee.

At a snap of her fingers, Hugo and Enzo sprang to life. They too dropped to their knees, looking up to Artio as if for guidance. If seeing Artio hadn’t been heart stopping enough, the sound of her musical voice almost knocked me on my ass as she began to speak.

Looking around at all of us, she smiled graciously. “Well done, my children. You’ve succeeded with the little bit of information I was allowed to give you. Thank you for your sacrifices during this series of quests.”

Artio reached out and touched a fingertip to Effie’s forehead with an indulgent smile.

“There you go, my precious pet. Your memories are intact from all of your lives now, and I have a choice to offer the four of you. Many millennia you’ve spent in my service, waiting to be here on this day while my children fixed the loophole that had been overlooked in the original contract thanks to our not so dearly departed Cullen.”

She paused, taking a breath as she looked at each of them. Effie, Maon, Enzo and Hugo.

“Effie my pet, I can see the love that you and Maon have for each other. I can bring him back to my realm with us, and you can leave this world behind right now. Or, I could leave you here to enjoy a double life span as a human couple. When your time here is done, I’ll be waiting for you to join me in the Golden Circle once again.”

Effie reached for Maon’s hand. “There is no question, I will always choose him. But tell me, milady. Did he not die? I do not understand.”

Artio smiled gently as she explained. “Even in your human form, you are still a Phoenix, my pet. The tear of the Phoenix will revive the dead and heal any wound. This is why your protectors have taken such care to keep your ashes and feathers safe all these years. Anything of yours has powerful magic all of its own, my pet.”

Turning her attention to Maon, Artio smiled again. “And you, my dear Maon? Is it your desire to live here as a human with Effie for a double life span until it’s time for you both to enter the Golden Circle one day?”

Without hesitation, Maon took Effie’s hand and nodded quickly. “Yes milady. I would love nothing more than to have just five more minutes with Effie, let alone a double life span. You bless me too much with your bounty,” he cried out.

“And that attitude right there is why I trusted you with my Effie, my dear Maon. All right then, if you would both stand for me then we can get on with things. Just to let you know, I will allow you to retain just a hint of magic so that you can provide for my pet. I will also restore the wards on this cottage, you can live here for as long as your hearts desire. And Effie, you will remain as you are until we meet again. No more of this dying and being reborn while you’re on this plane.”

As Maon and Effie rose to their feet, Artio snapped her fingers. Instantly, the couple morphed and changed into humans. Effie looked pretty much the same, just not quite as dynamic, but Maon? He now stood a head taller than Effie, and looked like any other guy you’d see on the street. Even his crazy curls had been tamed, and his wild beard now presented as a neatly trimmed goatee.

Most surprising of all, was that he stood there wearing a completely normal outfit of jeans and a polo shirt with tassled brown loafers. I bit my lip to keep from laughing as the thought floated through my head that the goddess must like preppies, since that’s how she’d dressed him.

Maon had a look of wonder in his familiar topaz colored eyes as he looked down at his new body. He pulled Effie into his arms, and thanked the goddess in a surprisingly deep voice.

“Thank you, goddess. I will protect our Effie with everything in me for whatever lifespan you’ve chosen to give us.”

“I know you will, sweet Maon.” Artio gave the pair one last smile. Turning her attention to Hugo and Enzo, Artio made them a similar offer.

“For your faithful service, I would like to offer you the same double lifespan as humans. Hugo, I’m also making you an omega if you choose this option—however, that part of you won’t kick in for a few decades. It seems to me as though you and Enzo have a few wild oats to sow before you think of procreating.”

Enzo found his voice first. “Yes, milady! Hugo and I would both like to humbly accept your generous offer. But if I may ask, does this new human form mean that we are no longer gargoyles? And are we still to remain only within range of Effie? Mind you, I’m not asking because that bears at all on my decision—I merely want to know what’s expected of me. I would hate to ever let you down, milady.”

Artio smiled. “You and Hugo will have the ability to change into gargoyle form at will, you can even take your stone form should you so choose for your own safety. And no, you are no longer bound to Effie. You and Hugo are free to roam the world and taste all that it has to offer you. Although, I might suggest that you keep your more salient urges a little more behind closed doors. My human children don’t always appreciate the displays you gentlemen like to give them.”

Hugo blushed. “Thank you, milady. And, did you mean it? I can really have a child of my own one day?”

“Yes, my child. But please take my advice—go out in the world and sow your wild oats first. The two of you need to do that before you try and settle down.” Artio’s musical laugh made me smile almost as much as the words she’d given the two pervy gargoyles.

Now that her key players had been handled, Artio turned to look at the rest of us. Gracefully, she made a motion for us all to stand and smiled affectionately at us all.

“I have nothing more to offer any of you than the blessings you already have. You have your health, you have wealth, and most importantly you all have your own soulmates and families of your own at last. I simply want to thank each of you for your service, and tell you all how proud I am of you. Now please, go back home and live your lives, enjoy your families, and be at peace.”

Extending a hand toward Easton, Artio flashed him a wink. “Come for a walk with me, hot stuff. Let me take you home for a bit and thank you properly for taking out that nasty creature and protecting my children. I have an offer to make you, and an idea for a better use of the portal in the future that I’d like to run by you.”

Easton raised a golden brow as he glided his way over to take the goddess’ hand. “You mean the portal hasn’t been sealed forever, milady?”

As he and Artio began to fade away, I heard her musical laugh once more as she answered. “No, silly boy. The portal wasn’t locked on this day. It was only repaired. And now that my children have finished this series of quests, I have more liberty to make use of it. Now come, I have plans to share with you.”

Once they were gone, we all looked around as if realizing that it was time for us to leave. While several of our friends made their way over to give their goodbyes to Effie and Maon, River took my hand and tugged me toward Hugo.

Hugo and Enzo were embracing as we approached, but River merely cleared his throat to get their attention before he spoke.

“Since the goddess gave you two a few decades to play, you really should check out those leather clubs we talked about on our last visit.” Thrusting up at the puppy at Hugo, River continued.

“In the meantime, why don’t you lavish your affection on this baby? His parents were killed recently, and he is alone in the world with no one to look out for him now.”

Hugo reached eagerly for the puppy, cuddling them right up against his chest and kissing the top of the dog’s head. Enzo closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head before opening them again and smiling at us with those molten silver eyes.

“You’ve made my mate happy, for this I must thank you.”

“Trust me,” I said with a wave of a hand and a glance at the puppy. “The pleasure is all ours.”

River turned to me as we made our way to the miraculously repaired gate. “I think the last line of Artio’s poem was meant for these guys, you know? They had one choice to make, and one final gift… the chance to stay here and be rewarded for their work by living here together as humans or going back with Artio to whatever her world is like.”

Wrapping my arm around his waist, my heart swelled with affection for my mate as I spoke.

“The same could be argued that each of us had one choice to make and one gift to take along this crazy journey… finding our soul mate and choosing to take a chance by accepting the gift of their love?”

River grinned as he leaned in to kiss my cheek. “I love it when you get mushy, alpha. Now come on, I want to get home to our pup.”