Page 129 of The Unseen Hour

“That he didn’t fail. He has looked after us all this time, and we love him,” Remi added.

Tears fell down my face as I accepted the small tokens and put them in my pocket.

“I’ll make sure he gets them,” I said.

“Watch out for him, please. He deserves someone to look after him as much as he looks after others,” Regi urged.

“And welcome to the family,” Remi added.

They both leaned forward, hugging me. Their touch was frigid, but I welcomed it.

Family.

I’d come to the Ether to save one family member and was too late, but I could still free others.

I returned to the edge of the woods, losing sight of the brothers in the sea of Shades.

Orion didn’t return until the orange and purple lights were long faded and blue and green were ruling the night. I’d made it back to the cottage quite some time ago.

“Are you hurt?” I asked when he walked through the door and went to sit in front of the fire without a word. “Does he know? What did he say?”

“According to him, he’s been traveling,” Orion gritted out, as though each word cost him.

“Dealing with the other gods?” I pressed.

Orion’s jaw clenched, but he managed a nod. I wondered if only Charon had this power to protect his secrets, or if Death could have ordered us to behave similarly.

“He doesn’t know about the music?”

“No. I’ll be joining him on New Year’s Eve to gather the Shades. When I go to the Meadow, I’ll hide the baton. You stay here and follow later with the music. Stay in the back of the crowd, so he doesn’t notice you.”

His brothers had already offered to hide me, so that worked perfectly.

“Ry, while you were gone I went to the Meadow.”

I’d half-expected him to worry, even though I was in no danger as long as Charon was away.

“I thought you might go,” he said instead.

“Why?”

“To look for him one last time. Just to make sure Death wasn’t wrong.”

“Actually, I went for you.”

“Me?”

The entire story spilled out.

“I hope I didn’t overstep. I know you haven’t been to see them in quite some time, and I didn’t want to meddle.”

He got up and moved quickly toward me. He pulled me into a hug.

“It’s perfect, Starlight. It’s exactly like they told you. You’re my family, and their family. And I’m glad you got to meet them. I said my goodbyes long ago. To find out that at least they got to hear that I never stopped loving them, or fighting for them … it means more than I can express.”

“They wanted you to have these.” I pulled the beans from my pocket and handed them to Ry.

He took them, laughing, and beginning to cry at the same time. He placed them in his own pocket.