Page 76 of Fate of the Fallen

Hilda’s gaze shifted to Evangeline as she swayed, keeping Noelle content. “Has Mom asked for anything?”

I smiled hearing her refer to Evangeline that way. “She’s been out for a couple hours now. I imagine she’ll be starving when she wakes up, though.”

“Then I’ll prepare a meal,” Hilda offered. “Something grand, considering the occasion.”

She was right; thiswasa special occasion. The most important of my life, actually.

Hilda fell silent and I took note of the thoughtful look she wore.

“Something wrong?”

She peered up. “Wrong? No.”

“But …”

She smiled when I didn’t let her off the hook so easily. “It’s just that … I sense something.”

“With Noelle?” I asked, hearing the concern in my own tone.

“Settle down,” Hilda laughed. “Everything’s fine. It’s just that … I believe she’s special. More special than any of us could have foreseen.”

I had no clue what that meant, but judging by the jovial expression she wore, I now knew whatever she spoke of was nothing to worry about.

I took a seat on the edge of the bed when she dropped down into my chair. “Our princess has a unique energy,” she began. “Almost as if she possesses some sort of … magic.”

My brow quirked. “Magic? As in … the kind witches possess?”

She nodded. “It’s entirely possible and I’m rarely wrong about these things. If you’ll recall, I had it right when I said Evangeline didn’t have an ounce of it in her, despite Elise insisting otherwise,” she laughed.

I smiled a bit, but still didn’t understand.

“She was conceived while you were human, therefore, she’s half human, which would make it more likely for the abilities ofmylineage to break through.”

I remembered something Hilda said before, something the Oracles alluded to. It was in regards to our daughter being ‘highlysoughtafter’because she’d be different. Hearing Hilda’s theory now only made me more grateful we were able to cancel Sebastian’s plans before her arrival. With him gone, any and all threats to her life had been eliminated.

Even the one Nick posed.

I stared at Noelle in Hilda’s arms and couldn’t imagine her not being here. I would’ve missed out on everything had it gone differently that night. It wasn’t lost on me that we were a mere breath away from all our lives being completely unrecognizable. Had Nick not been able to resist the curse, I would have lost my family. Had Evangeline’s dragon not showed herself, causing Nick’s life to be taken by fire, we wouldn’t have been able to bring him back. At the thought of it, the way Nick had sacrificed himself, I knew I would forever be indebted to him.

He hadn’t only givenEvangelinea second chance.

He’d givenmeone as well.

So many had stopped by in the last two weeks—friends who wanted to check in, wanted to ask if we needed anything, but none had been here as often as Nick. I could only imagine what it must feel like to have the burden of his curse finally off his back, to know he was free to live his life without worrying he’d one day become something he’d hate.

It didn’t take him long to get comfortable in his new shifted form. Mostly, he liked that becoming his dragon was far less painful than turning into a wolf had been. His brothers were only grateful we found a way to bring him back, even if it did change him. As Richie put it, he was still their brother, still a member of the pack.

There were so many moving pieces, so many unknown factors that had come into play … one might think we had someone looking out for us.

Like Noah.

The more I thought about it, I believed Hilda’s theory was dead on as usual. Noah had always been a protector when he was living, it wasn’t so far fetched to think he would be one in the afterlife as well, looking after his only daughter like he promised.

“I suppose I should go get started on this meal,” Hilda said with a groan as she stood. Noelle was in my arms the next second and I wasn’t ashamed to admit I missed having her there.

It was just the three of us again and I turned toward Evangeline when she squirmed. A few seconds later, big, brown eyes were fixed on me, and there was so much love behind them, I felt it.

“You’re still here,” she said with a raspy whisper, smiling when her gaze locked with mine, and then slipped to Noelle.