A Storm of Shadows (Fates and Fables #3)

Epilogue Onora

A warm wind hit Onora’s face, and she threw her head back, closing her eyes. Onyx reached back, nudging her hand and she laughed as she stroked her neck, listening to her purr. Melina’s gryphon swooped down next to her, the two nudging one another as the women laughed.

This had become a daily thing, going on flights with Halst, Enid often joining them as she did now, sometimes stopping to take a dip in the lake and eating a nice picnic lunch. They swooped around, and Onora attached the belt that kept her in the saddle down more tightly as she nudged Onyx into doing a flip, her thighs gripping tight, and she let her hands fall, the freedom of it sending a thrill through her.

They returned, putting the gryphons away before heading to Melina’s house, where the males were cooking and the colony crowded around one another. Jackson joined them, lounging in the corner, talking to Kalen. He’d been making more frequent trips to The Darkened City, as the newly appointed chief of the Hunter’s Guild.

Relations between humans and demons were still tenuous, but much better. King Leeth had been deposed for his role in the destruction, and a nearby relative had inherited the kingdom. She was ready to prove herself as a young elf and had eagerly entered the alliance with Dryston under new terms.

They sat at the table, and she took Emilia, who was the star of the night, as it was her one-year birthday. The colony had a stack of gifts in the corner for her.

She looked around the table, and she choked on the emotion in her throat. So many people to love, so many people to call her own. Even more still in Nemus. Her life, once isolated and dark, was vibrant—full of people and love and care.

She found that ruling with Dryston was easier than she’d imagined. The demons had heard of what she’d done from Kalen and bit by bit they all came around to appreciating her role in the realm. But she’d spent months listening and learning, visiting villages and clans. She traveled to the farthest reaches and learned their customs, and, when asked, taught them some of her own.

Dryston’s hand rested on her knee, rubbing it softly as he looked at her with a love that blazed brighter than the sun and encased her deeper than the darkest void. He bent down and whispered, “Every day I think I can’t love you any more, and every day I’m astonished by how much more I do.”

“We’re married now, Drys. You don’t have to charm me like that anymore,” she said, still blushing, still trying to accept these compliments and affections from him.

He tipped her face up with his fingers and kissed her forehead. “On the contrary, I need to do it even more. Get used to it, darling. You have a good long life of me saying mushy things to you.”

“Good—because I love your mushiness almost as much as I love you,” she said, and he grinned, the smile lighting her up on the inside and making her feel like she was melting, any and every defense she’d spent years building up becoming nothing in the face of that flame.

Her vow of all those years ago—of taking down the Lord of Shadows—had been said with violence. Yet it had somehow been love that had done it. Love that had also taken her down—all her defenses, all her anguish, all her angst.

Until all she was left with was this gentle, passionate, raging love for him. And for their people. All of them. Demons, humans, and everyone who they loved.

She leaned her head against him as Enid picked Emilia up, and his hand twined with hers. She searched her mind, looking for those old wounds that used to flare up and found only a few aching scars, only a few that needed more time to heal. She looked up at Dryston. With him by her side, she knew that they would, though. Perhaps it would take years, but they would.

A new day was dawning over the world, and she only felt a wild, wild hope for it all.