The Fae Princes (Vicious Lost Boys Book 4)
The Fae Princes: Chapter 28

Then

The wolf watches as the Mother crosses the beach, a giant, curled leaf in one hand, a squalling baby in the other.

He is a troublesome boy, restless and hard to please.

The sand squeaks beneath her bare feet as she makes her way to the water’s edge. The lagoon comes to life with a bright shimmer of light as if to welcome her.

The Mother smiles first at the water, then turns up to the sky where she smiles at the darkness and the pinpricks of light that dot it.

The baby wails. The Mother frowns down at him.

She places the leaf on the water’s gentle surface, then lays the baby down. The leaf sinks with his weight and the baby cries louder as the water sloshes in.

“I’m sorry,” she tells him and then gives him a push. The water carries him away.

She waits there, watching him, and then finally calls out, “I can hear you breathing, brother.”

The wolf rises to all fours and trots out from the underbrush.

The Mother is still watching the boy, the spirits of the lagoon turning him in a circle, and his cries fade into laughter.

“Am I making a mistake?” the Mother asks the wolf.

The wolf has no words to match hers, but he can speak to her mind.

You cannot save one to sacrifice them all.

She nods, folding her arms over her middle. She’s wearing a dress of a fabric finer than silk. It glitters with the barest shift in light.

The leaf turns again and the baby raises his arms, reaching for the stars.

“I wanted to give him a home,” the Mother says.

He’ll have one someday.

“Not if he lets his ego get in the way.”

The wolf chuckles.

The lagoon grows choppy. The leaf tetters. The Mother inhales.

And then the baby rolls and sinks below the surface.

“No!” the Mother yells and she races back to the water, but the wolf stops her, a length of her dress caught in his teeth. “I have to save him! I should have known better. He needs his Mother. He’ll drown if he—”

Just wait, the wolf says. The lagoon will give him what he needs.

A boy breaks through the surface, gasping for air.

The Mother and the wolf hurry to the forest, finding cover in the shadows as the boy swims to shore. He’s aged by years in a matter of seconds.

A breath catches in the Mother’s throat.

“He’s beautiful,” she whispers.

Like his Mother, the wolf says.

The boy looks around and when his gaze finds their spot amongst the forest, they duck out of sight.

“I should go,” the Mother says. “If he sees me, I fear I will never leave him.” She circles her arm around the wolf’s neck. “Watch over him for me, brother?”

As much as I can, the wolf answers.

“You watch from the earth,” she says. “And I will watch from above.”

The wolf nods and the Mother flies off, returning to her place in the sky.

She’s easy to spot if you just look up.

She’s the brightest shining light in the dark. The second star on the right.

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