It seems this is the end, my friends. The last chapter is here. I hope you enjoy it!

Sophie sighed, dropping the end of her braid and letting it unravel down her back. She had not been thinking when she'd showered the night before. Now her hair was going to be impossible to style.

"You okay? You've been standing here for ten minutes." Jolie poked her head in the bathroom door. "Dad's waiting for you."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Can you braid my hair? I can't get it to stay."

"Sure." Jolie stepped in and ran her fingers through Sophie's hair. "Your hair's really slick though."

"I know. I shouldn't have washed it last night."

Jolie made quick work of a braid, tying off the end tightly. "I was planning to take the quints and Ry to Grandpa Grady's. We were going to watch a movie tonight. Is that okay?"

"That's fine. Which movie were you thinking of?" Sophie pulled her wallet out the drawer and put it in her well-loved floral pattern purse along with a backup lipstick, her pathfinder and the blue crystal already tucked into a pocket.

"Frozen II just came out on DVD. Uncle Keefe got a copy and we were all going to watch that while you guys went out." Jolie followed her out of the bathroom to the stairs.

"Okay. Were you wanting to stay the night or just watch the movie?"

"Could we stay the night please?"

Sophie considered it while they walked down the stairs. "As long as you guys are ready when Aunt Linh picks you up. Make sure your brother gets to bed okay. He gets tired early."

Jolie smiled. "Don't worry. Gramma and Grandpa know the drill."

"I know." Sophie wrapped her daughter in a big hug and sighed. "I'm sorry if I'm being too much of a helicopter mom. I just don't want anything to happen to you again."

"I understand." Jolie returned her tight embrace. "I don't want anything to happen to you either. Would it make you feel better if I hailed you when the movie's over?"

She sighed. "It would, but I won't have my Imparter on me. I guess I'll just have to trust that you'll be okay."

"We'll be fine, Mom. You won remember? There's nothing that's going to get us. I know you'll always worry, but you don't have to worry about that. You can worry about the kinds of things moms usually worry about. Like whether or not we're paying attention in our classes, how many boys are trying to flirt with me at school, keeping the house clean, and making sure we're all fed. Not our chances of making it to Saturday."

Sophie stepped back and put her hands on her hips. "What boys?"

"Mom, it was an example."

"What boys are you talking about, Jolie?"

"No one, seriously. People barely pay attention to me."

"I have a hard time believing that, Jo." Fitz took Sophie's hand loosely and reached over to ruffle his daughter's hair. "You're growing up way too fast."

Jolie blushed, smiling. "Don't worry about it. Promise, you'll be the first to know if anything like that starts getting serious."

Sophie sighed, leaning her head on Fitz's shoulder. "You guys have fun, okay? We'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye Mom and Dad." She gave them each a hug and ran back upstairs.

Fitz chuckled. "She's getting big fast."

"I know." Sophie sighed again, smiling. "I'm still coming to terms with the fact that she's fourteen. My baby girl is getting so old."

He blew out a breath, burying his nose in her hair. "I know. I can't believe it either. Do you remember how much trouble we got into at age fourteen?"

"Not really." She reached into her purse and pulled out her blue crystal as Fitz waved the door open. "Although, you were fourteen when I first came to the Lost Cities. That year was a pretty big mess."

"Yeah. The year you were fourteen, Councillor Kenric died, we ran away to the Black Swan, got sent to Exillium, trashed Ravagog, and I think even the disaster at Luminaria. Wow, fourteen was an eventful year for both of us. By the way, how long have you had that crystal sitting in your purse?"

Sophie grinned. "Longer than we've been married, why?"

Fitz groaned. "Did I seriously not notice you heading off to see Alvar and his family at all during that whole time?"

"Nope. You questioned me a few times but I told you I was on official Black Swan business and you left me alone."

"I was kinda dumb."

Sophie smiled and didn't correct him. She took his hand and held the crystal up to the light, whisking them away to the broken-down shack Alvar used to conceal his light leaping.

This time however, there was his large silver truck, not caked in mud for a change, waiting outside.

He rolled down the driver's side window and waved. "Hey y'all! Need a lift?"

"Alvar!" Sophie waved back. "It's so good to see you!"

He laughed. "You too! Adult fun night tonight!"

"You betcha!" Sophie grinned, walking around to the passenger side door. "Fitz, you want shotgun?"

Fitz shook his head. "No thanks. I hate riding in these things."

"Your loss." Alvar said, leaning over and hitting the unlock button so they could get in. "It's beautiful country out here. Might look nothing like you're used to and the town itself is probably smaller than Everglen's grounds, but it's been my home for over thirty years."

Sophie smiled, taking a deep breath as she swung herself into the passenger seat. "Mmm, it smells like pine out here."

"Like I said, real purty country. You both buckled in?"

Fitz leaned his head against the back window with a soft thud. "Your accent's weird."

Alvar shifted the truck into gear and stomped on the gas, dodging trees with expert steering. "It's changed. Everyone in Blood Creek uses that good honest country accent. I wouldn't give it up for anything."

"It still sounds weird."

"You'll get used to it." Alvar chucked, wincing as he gripped the steering wheel.

Sophie frowned slightly. "Are you okay?"

"Yep." He adjusted his grip. "Not as young as I used to be is all. My fingers don't work like they used to."

Fitz poked his head around Sophie's seat. "Uh, that makes no sense. Just because you've been living as a human for the past twenty years doesn't make you one of them."

Alvar sighed, increasing his speed when he pulled onto the desolate highway. "Not totally true."

Sophie frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I knew when I married Annie that I wasn't going to age like she was. I know that it was going to be more and more obvious the longer our marriage lasted. So what I did," Alvar sighed, staring at the road with far-off eyes, "is I contacted an alchemist known for his brilliance, swore him to secrecy, and asked him to make me an elixir that would take away my immortality and allow me to age like a human."

Fitz gasped softly, eyes widening.

"He made it for me without question. And it worked."

"When did you take it?" Sophie asked.

"The night before my wedding."

Fitz sighed, leaning back in his seat. "How did we not notice? You'd think we'd pay enough attention to notice that you weren't aging like an elf, even if you didn't come over very often."

Alvar shrugged. "I don't know. But humans and elves do look alike for about a decade or so. When we were in our twenties, I wouldn't have aged very much, if at all. Once I got into my forties and fifties now, that's when the changes start becoming obvious. Both of us have grey hairs, my joints are getting stiff and don't work as well as they used to. I fell and damaged my spine about ten years back and had to have surgery for that, so I can't lift anything heavier than a certain amount. I can't ride for as long as I want to sometimes because my knees hurt."

"Why?" Fitz asked, still not believing what he was hearing. Sophie was in a similar shock. She'd known that Alvar had taken something to alter his aging, he'd told her that after she'd expressed concern over him getting caught, but it had never been laid out like this for her.

"Because I would rather spend one lifetime with her then all the ages of this world alone."

"You just quoted Lord of the Rings. That's from Arwen, isn't it?" Sophie grinned.

Alvar chuckled. "Yes it is. Annie and I thought it fit us purty well."

Fitz sighed again. "I've got a question, you can say no, but I want to ask. Is it okay, in a few years, if I bring Mom and Dad here? Just so they know you're alright before…you die?"

"It'll take a couple decades. I might be an old man by the time we're ready for our secret to come out. But…yes. It would be okay. Just give me a bit longer to enjoy the life I have. I'll contact you when it's okay."

They sat in silence as Sophie and Fitz processed the information. Both of them dreaded the thought of losing another family member.

Soph?

Yeah?

Did you know?

She sighed quietly through her nose. Sort of. I knew he'd altered his aging somehow, he told me after I noticed it. But I didn't know he'd actually given up his immortality.

How much longer do you think he'll live?

Sophie estimated the math in her head. Well, he's in his fifties now and most humans live to between eighty and a hundred. He'll probably be on the long end of that, so somewhere around ninety-five unless something happens like an accident and he dies younger.

That seems so short.

It's really not. Most humans don't actually live that long cause once they get up to that kind of age, there's a lot of things that can kill them. My grandma was an Army nurse for almost twenty years. She went through bombings, epidemics and was even a POW once.

What's a POW?

It stands for prisoner of war. But she went through all that and she died from slipping in the shower. Gramma was really, really old even though she still lived on her own and she fell in the shower and hit her head. There's also strokes, heart attacks, organ failure, stuff like that.

That doesn't make me feel better.

Sophie sighed. It wasn't really supposed to. But I'd say around thirty or forty more years.

He sighed softly, pulling back from her mind.

"What's with the gloomy faces?" Alvar grinned. "You're headed to the best party this side of the Rockies!"

"You got hard cider?" Fitz asked. "I try not to drink too much, but if you've got it, I'll take it."

"By the jug. I'm a tequila man myself, jus' straight on the rocks if I can get it. What's your poison, Sophie?"

She smiled. "Sparkling rosé is my favourite. But I'll take any good fruity wine, preferably red."

Alvar turned onto a road Sophie had only been down a few times. "Ooh. One of Annie's cousins owns a vineyard and winery down in Idaho by the Snake River. Can't really grow grapes up here, it's too dry. But she sends up the stuff by the case and plenty of people buy extra. It's a gorgeous wine and Annie loves it. I'm not much for wine myself, but it is good."

"What's it called? I'll have to look it up."

"Headless Chicken Winery and Vineyard, in Caldwell, I think? It's somewhere around Nampa or Caldwell. Somewhere in that area."

"Headless Chicken Winery?" Fitz snorted in laughter. "Who names their business that?"

Alvar shrugged. "That section of the Brodwick family is weird with names. That particular cousin is Apple or something."

"Who names their kid Apple?" Sophie snickered.

"I think that aunt's name is Praline. All of Annie's aunts and uncles have perfectly normal names except for her."

Fitz groaned. "Some humans have really weird naming practices."

Alvar smiled, pulling into the dirt parking lot of a large barn. It was all lit up with loud music, lots of people and the smell of a large spread of hot food drifting through the air. "Alright, everybody out."

Sophie grinned, taking a deep breath. Horse manure sure wasn't as pleasant as fresh tamales and chili, but it was country though and through.

Fitz shut the door behind him and took her hand. "Let's go have some fun."

We have arrived at the end. This was a real roller coaster of a story, and thanks to all of you for sticking it out with me. Thank you to boookkksss for being my first reviewer on this book. Thank you to Wonderland A.K.A Cay-Cay for being my most frequent reviewer and being super supportive in general. Thank you to WelcomeToTheOrder for beta reading for me, even if my dorky self never remembered to send the chapters to you (Sorry. I'll be more consistent next time.).

The vote was unanimous for KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES. So I will start publishing Highflight, Winghigh, Starfall on the first Saturday of September. I will be keeping my same schedule of one chapter every week. That story is the prequel to this one, so it'll explain everything that didn't make sense in this one.

Thank you to everyone who supported me with their reviews, follows and favourites, you guys seriously are the best. I must be the luckiest author ever to have such wonderful readers.

Shine brightly!

Ruby