Epilogue

One year later

The house was too quiet as Birdie carefully placed her feet on the edge of the table and reached up for the edge of the book that hung from the top shelf. She gripped the wooden bookcase with her hand as the tips of her finger brushed the book continuously before it fell on her head.

"Ah fuckin hell," Birdie groaned as she caught the book and rubbed her forehead.

Securing the spell book under her arm, she hopped down from Maya's table and plopped onto the chair behind the desk. Folding her legs under her, Birdie pulled her laptop closer and looked for the spell she needed for her thesis paper. It was her first semester of college and she was not going to flunk her first paper.

As the sun moved across the sky, Birdie rushed to finish her essay. Her fingers flew over the keyboard and her eyes scanned the spell book. By the time she finished her paper she didn't even know what the hell she was arguing about anymore. She tried to read it but gave up and leaned back in the chair.

Annabelle, she opened her mind-link. Can I drop out of college and become a stripper?

Absolutely not! Annabelle replied right away. If you're going to defame our family name at least become an escort. Go fuck some wealthy politician.

I need a sugar daddy with a yacht, Birdie whined. I wish my dad would just marry me off to some rich jinn from court. But nooooo, I just have to get an education.

This is a hate crime, Annabelle laughed.

What are you doing? Birdie asked as she began to snoop around her mother's stuff.

I am attending an event with mom and Elian, Annabelle said. Do you want to go out for drinks later tonight?

Maybe, Birdie shut the drawer and pulled open another one. Hayden and Nora are coming over for dinner.

So?

So, I have to be here.

Loser.

Go play princess, Birdie laughed, wishing she could flip her cousin off.

Adan said he was free....

Birdie's heart skittered, And I care because?

What's going on between you two?

What do you mean? Birdie laughed.

Something's up.

Nothing's up.

Are you trying to avoid him? Annabelle poked.

No, princess, Birdie's mood soured. Now fuck off.

You called me!

And now this is me telling you to fuck off, Birdie didn't wait for the girl to reply as she shut her mind-link and pushed the door shut with her feet.

The little trinkets inside the drawer rattled, causing one of the photo frames to topple over. Birdie quickly grabbed it to make sure she hadn't accidentally shattered the glass.

"Damn it," she muttered as she noticed the little chip on the black frame.

I can fix this, she thought to herself as she pulled open her mother's drawer and looked for the black marker.

Come on, come on, she searched through the neat drawer for the marker, while taking mental images of where everything was. She needed to put everything back before she left the office or her mother would throw a fit.

"It was right here," Birdie groaned as she leaned down to get a better look inside the drawer.

Just then, as if her hand was a magnet, a small black velvet pouch flew to the palm of Birdie's hand from the back of the drawer.

"Ow!" Birdie yelped as pain shot up her hand. "What the hell!"

The black pouch laid in the middle of the drawer, the air around it shimmering and wavering as if it was giving off immense heat. Birdie stared at it for a while before she reached forward.

Sure enough, just like she had imagined, the air around the pouch was burning hot. The drawer felt as if she had just stuck her hand inside the oven to check on the cake or something. Birdie knew she should leave the pouch alone and walk away....but her parents would never keep anything dangerous in the house. Especially not with Noor running around everywhere.

"Mom," Birdie called out, picking up the pouch.

She undid the string and poured out the content onto the palm of her hand.

"Mom," Birdie called out again, knowing her Maya was somewhere downstairs.

For a long time, Birdie stared at the gold key sitting on the palm of her hand. The fading sunlight outside shimmered off the delicate craftsmanship as she turned the key and held it up in front of her.

The metal was warm to the touch. It pulsed with some kind of energy Birdie thought she recognized.

"Mommy!" Birdie called again when Maya did not answer her.

With her curiosity killing her, Birdie got up from the chair she had been perched on and headed out into the hall. She couldn't take her eyes off of the key as she walked downstairs and held it firmly in her hands.

"Hey, mom," she said as she spied her mom standing in the middle of the kitchen. "What's this ke-"

Sensing the silence in the air, Birdie looked up. Nora and Hayden sat at the kitchen island as Maya stood on the other side. They all looked up as she approached, their conversation dying.

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it," Birdie said.

She closed her hand around the key and narrowed her eyes. Hayden rubbed Nora's back and placed small kisses on her shoulder as Maya stared at the floor, lost in deep thought.

"What's going on?" Birdie asked, pushing the key into her back pocket. "Is everything okay? Where's Noor?"

"He's outside," Hayden said.

"Who died?" Birdie looked around the room, waiting for someone to answer her.

"It's not bad news," Maya shook her head. "Just....unexpected news."

"Oh god," Birdie sighed. "What did baba do?"

"It's not Heyder," Nora said. "It's us...."

"Will you people just tell me what the hell is going on?" Birdie asked impatiently.

Nora looked at Hayden as he grinned and kissed her shoulder yet again. When the girl turned back to look at Birdie, her cheeks were glowing with the most healthy shade of red she had ever seen.

"We're having a baby," Nora smiled.   

Guys, I am so sorry for the crappy endings. Writing endings is something I really need to work on. I know you all have a lot of questions and I know I forgot to answer a lot of them here. One reason for that is because I have a lot going on and it honestly escaped my mind. 

My plan for Birdie's book is to get help from you guys and gather questions you would like to be answered by the end of her story. Hopefully that way the ending will be better. 

What do you think Birdie's book will be about? ;)