Alyson Noel - Horizon

“Follow the same trail I arrived on?”

“Yes. Only now you won’t find the journey nearly as treacherous.”

When she turns to leave, I’m overcome with the strange sensation of loss. And before I can stop myself, I say, “Will I see you again?”

“I’ll see you every day. I’m always with you, Daire. But, if you can manage to stay out of trouble, I don’t expect to see you in these parts again for a very long while.”

I have so many things to ask her, so many puzzles to solve, but before I can get to the words, she walks a few feet away and disappears into a wondrous burst of white light.

DAIRE

It’s not until we stop in the Lowerworld to pay our respects to Chay that I decide on a wish just for me.

The thing about being a Seeker is my gifts of healing and insight are mostly geared toward helping others. When it comes to my own stuff, I’m as clueless as anyone, left to rely on a gut I’m still learning to trust.

Still, it’s the only thing I can think of, and, if I place the right parameters around it, it might prove to be fun.

But first, I’ll let my friends have a go. So after asking Lita for the feather, I hold it before me and relay everything Zahra told me.

“Trust me,” Lita says, happily nestled in the shelter of Axel’s arms. “This is an opportunity you won’t want to waste. That feather is magick.”

In a sign of respect for the elders who have given so much, I offer it first to Leftfoot, but he’s quick to decline. Claiming he has everything he could every possibly want now that he’s lived long enough to see Enchantment liberated from the Richters’ hold, he passes it to Chepi, who clutches it in both hands, closes her eyes, and says, “I wish for my son to find peace and forgiveness for what he’s done.” Her gaze centers on Dace as he squeezes my hand.

Jennika’s next, wishing to never lose sight of the things Django taught her. Then she hands it to Axel, who turns to Lita and says, “My wish is standing right here beside me.”

Xotichl is next, and we watch as she pinches the quill between her fingers and takes a moment to settle her gaze on each of us, pausing as though trying to memorize our individual features. “I wish to be returned to the way I was before I first came to the Lowerworld,” she says.

“Xotichl!” Lita gasps. “You only get one shot—how could you—”

“It’s okay.” Xotichl shrugs. “Really. Most of you have known me forever, which means you should know that I don’t need my sight in order to see. Especially when I see far better without it. True vision doesn’t depend on the eyes. I guess I always knew that in theory, but now I know it for real.”

She leans into Auden and he slips an arm around her, whispers into her ear. So visibly moved by her wish, he needs a moment before he can voice his. “With the Richters dead, we’re probably in the clear, but just in case, I’m asking for Xotichl and me to be released from that contract Luther had me sign. I want to go back to playing local clubs with Epitaph and become successful the old-fashioned way—because we earn it and our music merits it—not because I traded my soul for fortune and fame.”

Xotichl squints at him, her eyes filled with tears, as Auden pulls her tightly to his chest and drops a kiss onto her forehead, and we all turn away, allowing them a moment of privacy.

When it’s Dace’s turn, he simply says, “I want the same thing I’ve wanted since the day Daire Lyons Santos stepped into my life.”

And when he returns the feather to me, I hold it tightly, and say, “I want a glimpse into the future. I want to see one good thing I can cling to if things should ever turn bad again.”

Dace squeezes my shoulder as I close my eyes and wait, trusting the vision will appear in my head, but it’s Valentina’s laughter I hear instead.

Open your eyes, she urges, so I do.

I snap my eyes open, and suddenly, I’m looking at an image of me, but I’m no longer in the Lowerworld. I’m in . . . a sick bed?

But I said one good thing!

Keep looking, she tells me.

I’m sweaty.

Clammy.

Pale in some places, flushed in others.

My hair much shorter than it is now, barely reaching my shoulders.

There are faint traces of lines fanning my eyes, a slim gold band on my left ring finger, and I seem to be in some sort of distress. Or maybe just exhausted, it’s hard to tell.

One thing’s for sure—I should’ve known better.

Should’ve never asked for a peek into the future.

I never allowed myself that kind of indulgence before, so why risk it now? Just because the Richters are dead doesn’t mean this will end any better.

I mean, what’s next? A vision of the Bone Keeper and her sinister skirt of snakes flaying my flesh and collecting their bounty?

Daire, please, Valentina says . Have I ever let you down?

Well, there were times you failed to show . . . but, now I realize you were always standing by, letting me find my own way.

Which is what I’m doing now. Keep watching . . .

I switch from doubt and anxiety to the scene unfolding before me, and that’s when I see it.

That’s when I begin to understand what’s really occurring.

And before I can do anything to stop it, my face is streaming with tears at the sight of Dace standing before me, his hair cropped short, his body lean and muscular, his features a bit more angular than they are now, but he’s still as devastatingly handsome as ever, if not more so for all that we’ve been through together. And standing right beside him is a young woman I instinctively recognize as a midwife I trained, placing a newborn baby in each of his arms.

Twins!

And they’re ours?

You’re a doctor of holistic health. Dace is the mayor of Enchantment. And this is your family—a boy and a girl.

Enjoy your “something to cling to.” Valentina laughs, circling her arms around me and embracing me with such an abundance of unconditional love I nearly fold under the weight of it. The two of us watching the future fade. And when it’s no more than a memory, she vanishes with it, leaving me sobbing before my family and friends.

“I really hope those are tears of joy,” Lita says.

I nod. Swipe the back of my hand across my cheeks, and confirm that they are.

“Are you going to tell us what you saw?” Xotichl asks.

“And spoil the surprise?” I sniff, shake my head, still captured by the wonder of it. “No way.” I grin. “But someday, I promise, you’ll see for yourself.” I wrap my arms around my waist, hardly able to contain the surge of happiness and joy streaming within. Unable to recall a time when I’ve felt so content, I return to the present, the life that I’ve made, the wonderful people gathered around me, and place the feather on top of Chay’s grave.

When it’s done, Leftfoot looks at us and says, “I think it’s time we head home.”

Everyone mumbles their agreement and starts to follow his lead, except for Dace and I who continue to linger.

“Aren’t you coming?” Jennika peers at me with red-rimmed eyes, her hair falling in soft messy waves around her dirt-smudged features. Her filthy, torn clothes a testament to all that she risked to support me.

“Go home. Get some rest.” I move in for a hug. Hoping to convey just how much I appreciate all that she’s sacrificed on my behalf, not just today, but pretty much every day since she brought me into the world. “Dace and I are going to stick around for a bit. We’ll catch up later.”

She nods. Traces a finger over each cheek, and tucks my hair back behind my ears. “Be safe.” She lifts the buckskin pouch from her neck, and loops it around mine.