“A phoenix.” Shay let the word hang in the air.

He didn’t need to give an explanation. Every one of the exiles understood what he meant.

They all stood along the edge of Dolores Park watching Adele run through the grass with Silver. Every now and again the bird would take flight, swooping high in the air, before eventually returning to her perch on Adele’s shoulder.

Even Bron had to admit the bird was a stunning sight. Her feathers gleamed and sparkled in the sun. He couldn’t blame the people who inevitably came up to talk with Adele about the phoenix. He didn’t fault the children for their looks of amazement. But he still hadn’t stopped being stunned every time someone stroked her feathers and came away unharmed.

“Are we considering this good or bad news?” James Hook asked, staring at the bird perched on Adele’s shoulders.

Bron smiled at the questioning tone in the thief’s voice. Usually, the smug bastard acted as though he knew all the answers. He decided he liked anything that threw Hook for a loop.

He was also glad that Adele was far away enough in the park not to hear the thief’s question. He didn’t need to hear another lecture about letting go of old prejudices.

“It’s too early to be sure,” Merlin said. “There’s great power in the bird. Far greater than any of us has alone or even combined.”

“But so far only the woman can control it,” Shay said.

“Adele doesn’t control anything,” Bron said, shaking his head.

“Are you saying the bird controls her?” the jinn asked.

“No,” Bron answered. “They are friends.”

“Friends?” There was a world of questioning in Shay’s voice. “What does that even mean?”

“Why am I not surprised you need the concept of friendship explained, Shay,” Hook laughed.

The jinn didn’t rise to the bait. “My concern is having all that unchecked power in the hands of an ordinary woman.”

Bron laughed at the description. “There’s nothing ordinary about Adele.”

“So you keep saying,” Shay said. “The rest of us require proof.”

“You want more proof,” Bron said with a smile. “Fine. You be the one to walk over there and try to take the bird away from her.”

Shay stiffened.

That’s what he thought.

“The bird could be a powerful weapon in our fight,” Hook said.

“I doubt that the woman would allow you to use it as one,” Fenrir said.

“Why’s that?”

“She’s rather…protective of the beast.”

“What if we asked her very nicely?” Hook tried, tilting his head to the side as he looked over at Adele.

“Yeah,” a female voice piped in. “I don’t think Bron’s going to let that happen.”

All the exiles turned around to see Emily. The mood shifted suddenly.

“What?” she said, crossing her arms. “Is this some kind of exiles-only party?”

“Of course it’s not,” Merlin said. “It’s just that—”

“You’d rather I’d know my place and only come when called,” Emily broke in. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen. Especially now that I know that some of you made keys to my apartment.”

“Fenrir could give it back,” Merlin tried.

“Too late,” Emily said. “The damage is done. If you guys want me in this, fine. But you’re going to have to deal with me being all the way in.”

“I like the sound of all the way in,” Fenrir said.

Emily rolled her eyes. “That wasn’t what I meant.”

“No,” Fenrir said. “It was what I meant.”

She groaned. “My point was that Adele’s fallen head over heels in love with Bron…and that’s a problem.”

“How?” Bron asked.

“Because, no offense, you are one scary bastard.”

“You realize in my line of work that’s a compliment,” he said.

“If you say so,” she said. “But when we first met I was certain that out of all you weirdos, Bron was the one who was destined to die alone. Again, no offense.”

“Get to the point,” he said through tight lips.

“But here you are, the second one to fall,” she said. “And only a few weeks after Hook. Something tells me that it’s not going to be long before the rest of you find love.”

“I already have,” Fenrir said.

Emily raised her palm to his face.

“And you think this is a problem?” Merlin asked.

“No.” Emily shook her head. “But I’m sure Oberon does, and if I had to guess, I’d say that Redcap isn’t going to be the last creature he sends to stop us.”

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” Fenrir said.

“I know,” Emily said, crossing her arms. “Because from now on you guys are going to start spending your valuable time working together to figure out how to stop Oberon’s soldiers from traveling through the void. Right?”

Emily scanned their blank faces. No one said a word.

“Right?” she asked again.

“I promise you,” Merlin said. “Every one of us is doing all we can to break the curse.”

“Is that right, Geoffrey?” she asked. “Because to me it looks like you’re just hanging out in parks talking about birds. And while this is fun, I’m going to get to work, because I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t want my obituary to read killed by a freaking fairy.” She cast them all one last glare before turning and walking away.

A long moment passed before anyone spoke.

“Did we just get scolded?” Hook asked with a laugh.

“Like schoolchildren,” Bron said.

“And the horrible thing is, she’s right,” Merlin said. “We have work to do.”

One by one the group dissipated, leaving Bron alone in the park.

No, not alone.

Sometimes it was hard remembering that he never had to be alone again.

A smile lifted his lips as he moved across the grass toward Adele. He slipped his hand into hers just as the phoenix landed on her shoulder.

No matter how hard he tried, he still couldn’t stop flinching when the bird came too close…and so far, Adele hadn’t stopped giggling at him.

“You know it’s going to take me awhile to get used to this, right?” he said.

“Oh really,” she said. “Because it didn’t take me any time at all to get used to the fact that I fell in love with Snow White’s huntsman.”

“I was never Snow White’s.”

She rolled her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “The queen’s huntsman.”

“Not hers either,” he said. He crooked a finger under her chin and lifted her face up so that her eyes met his. “Just yours. From this moment until the end of time, I’m yours alone.”