The Choice (the Dragon Heart Legacy, #3)

The third and final installment of the Dragon Heart Legacy trilogy opens with a prologue recapping the history of Talamh, a world the Fey, its magical people, created as a separate realm connected to the human world and others by portals. For generations, a dark god named Odran, cast out by the other gods for blood sacrifices, has waged war to conquer Talamh. Breen Siobhan O'Ceallaigh, daughter of the former taoiseach (elected leader of Talamh) Eian and a human mother, grew up in Philadelphia with no memory of her Fey heritage. In the previous books, she traveled to Ireland, stumbled through a portal, reawakened her powers, and fought in the Battle of the Dark Portal.

The novel begins in the battle's aftermath at the Capital, where Breen spends three weeks helping the wounded and grieving. She comforts Morena, her oldest friend, over the death of Morena's brother Phelin and sends Marco, her closest friend from Philadelphia, back to the valley. When her composure breaks, she flies her dragon Lonrach to the Tree of Snakes, the sealed portal to Odran's realm, and unleashes a storm, vowing to destroy him. Keegan, the current taoiseach and Breen's lover, finds her and persuades her to come home. On the journey west, they consecrate a memorial that Breen transforms with a vision of fruit trees, a pool, and an eternal fire.

Back at Fey Cottage in Ireland, Breen resumes her dual-world routine: writing in the mornings, crossing into Talamh for training in the afternoons. She persuades Morena to keep her winter solstice wedding date and practices advanced magicks with her grandmother Marg, a former taoiseach and powerful witch. A watching dream reveals Yseult, Odran's witch and a Fey traitor, brewing a poison to bring Breen near death so Odran can drain her power; the dream also shows Shana, a traitorous elf, pregnant with Odran's child. Knowing the spell's exact components, a coven of seven forges an immunity that shields Breen.

Morena and Harken, Keegan's brother and a farmer in the valley, wed at the solstice, with Breen as attendant and Keegan binding the couple's hands. That night, Keegan's sister Aisling gives birth to a boy named Kelly, in honor of Breen's surname. At Christmas, a valley elf named Caitlyn Connelly offers Breen poison-laced wassail. Breen senses the trap but drinks deliberately, and the poison fails. Cait confesses her allegiance to Odran, revealing she received the poison by raven. Keegan arrests her and rallies the community by having young Finian, Aisling's eldest son, light the Welcoming Tree, the valley's communal holiday tree. At Cait's Judgment at the Capital, Keegan brings down the staff of the taoiseach, the instrument of justice, and banishes her to Odran's realm.

In January, Breen is struck by a vision of Odran performing a blood sacrifice in which his hands become claws and his eyes turn red, revealing demon traits. She realizes that if Odran carries demon blood, so does she through her father. Marg examines her and confirms there is no darkness inside Breen, comparing her to Bollocks, Breen's loyal dog, who sprang from a demon water dog but carries only good. The council determines the demon blood makes Odran a demigod, potentially diminishing his power. When Breen confides in Marco, his matter-of-fact acceptance helps her release her fear.

At the waterfall portal, Breen levitates above the river and discovers a tiny crack Yseult uses to slip message-carrying ravens through to spies. She seals it, speaking Talamhish, the language of Talamh. A spy attempts to assassinate Loga, the Troll leader. Brian, Marco's partner and a dragon rider, flies Breen to the camp, where she heals Loga's wound. In gratitude, Loga declares her a Daughter of the Trolls, presenting her with a hammered-gold diadem. Odran sends a wraith that wounds Breen before she incinerates it, confirming he cannot yet project himself into Talamh.

On a trip to the Capital, Breen discovers shadow breaches at every portal; Keegan theorizes Odran plans to widen them to flood armies through. From Dorcas the Scholar, Breen learns that Odran consumed a demon maiden long ago, absorbing her essence, and that the scar on his chest may be a weakness. Keegan stations troops at every portal under cover of routine rotations, and at Breen's suggestion, masks readiness with festivals culminating at the summer solstice. If Odran strikes, he will find a fully armed defense.

While crossing a bridge, Breen sees a gleaming pendant in the water: a gold chain with a red dragon's heart stone. Marg explains it was a gift from the gods; whoever lifts it may pledge their life for Talamh. Convinced she cannot face Odran without believing fully in herself and what she fights for, Breen takes the pendant and speaks the ancient pledge. Keegan reacts with anger, but she refuses to yield it.

Odran's forces, hidden in mountain caves, attack Dragon's Nest, Talamh's dragon nesting ground, with flaming arrows and witch-fire. Brian's dragon Hero falls defending his mate. Breen heals several wounded young dragons and issues a blood vow to Odran from the plateau. The dragons name her Daughter of Dragons.

Breen and Marco travel to Philadelphia, where she visits her mother, names the lies and hurt, forgives her, and walks away. In New York, her agent negotiates a deal for her novel Magicks Dark and Light, and Marco signs with an agent for his cookbook. Through her globe, a magical viewing sphere, Breen and Keegan witness Shana give birth to a deformed child in Odran's world. Odran casts the infant into the fire and orders Shana sent back to kill Keegan. Weeks later, Shana arrives with a poison knife, and Keegan kills her when she attacks.

The festivals begin: three days of celebration masking full military readiness. On the solstice, the horn sounds. Faeries rush children to safety while warriors seize hidden weapons. Marco is gravely wounded in the fighting, and Breen heals him on the battlefield. Yseult hurls a killing blow at Marg's back; Sedric, Marg's beloved partner, shields her and dies in Marg's arms. In the chaos, Yseult drags Breen through the portal into Odran's world.

On the highest cliff, Breen's sword cannot harm Odran in his own realm. She steps off the cliff, fulfilling the pendant's pledge, and Keegan, riding his dragon Cróga, catches her in midair. The sacrifice is accepted, but her death is not the destiny. Below, Marg channels her grief for Sedric into white light that destroys Yseult.

Breen realizes the weapon must be the staff of the taoiseach, the instrument of justice rather than the sword of war. The staff is also topped with a dragon's heart stone; she presses it against the demon mark on Odran's chest, and it locks like a key. As she turns it, his form cracks. The consumed demon's essence erupts in light, freed at last. Odran blackens to ash and disappears from all worlds. Keegan and Breen raze his castle and fly home.

In the epilogue, they sit on Breen's patio with wine, Bollocks asleep at their feet. Keegan reveals the sapphire earrings he had given her during the festival were pledging stones, a Fey engagement, though Breen never understood. After she demands the words he has never spoken, he tells her he loves her. She answers that she chose him the first night they lay together. They pledge to build a life in both worlds, with peace, family, and the quiet they have earned.