Epilogue
Epilogue
A ldric stood beside Elena on the cathedral rooftop, the city sprawling out before them. Spires and domes reached skyward, backlit by the smoldering sunset. A cool breeze stirred Elena’s fiery waves.
“Look at it all,” she murmured, her melodic voice filled with awe. “The history, the secrets in those streets...”
Aldric’s emerald eyes glinted. “Secrets we helped shape every night over the last decades.”
Elena turned to him, a smile tugging at her lips. “The legacy we built, stone by stone.”
“And defended, with blood and shadowfire.” His jaw tightened at the memories, centuries compressed into heartbeats.
She took his hand, squeezing gently. “I know you wished that you would return to the man you were, but I can assure you, I am quite fond of your wings and other monstrous bits.” She gave him a wink. “And a night-owl life is not as hard to manage as I thought in my early thirties.
Aldric bent to press a kiss into her hair, breathing in her honeysuckle scent. His heart swelled, no longer a prisoner in his chest.
Below, raucous laughter burst from the shadowed courtyard. Three figures moved between the ancient pillars.
“Is that—” Elena leaned forward.
“The boys.” Aldric couldn’t hold back a smile. “No doubt plotting some new adventure.”
Lysander’s voice carried on the night air, buoyant and carefree. “Remember when we convinced the archbishop that gargoyle was winking at him?”
“Which time?” Elias deadpanned. “I believe that happened on multiple occasions.”
“Well, there was the time with the pigeon...”
“Ah yes, the infamous pigeon incident,” Dorian chuckled. “I thought Father would turn us to stone himself.”
Their banter echoed off the weathered walls, a balm to Aldric’s once-weary soul. These boys—no, these men—were his greatest legacy. His second chance after an eternity of penance.
And Elena...his gaze trailed over her, drinking in her effortless beauty. She was his world. His salvation in every sense of the word. The journey that started on this very rooftop, when a lost human first glimpsed the man within the monster, had finally led them home.
He watched over his boys, a silent sentinel for the moment.
Elias unfurled an ancient map, its parchment crackling as he spread it across a stone bench. His brow furrowed, eyes sharp as cut emeralds scanning the city’s sprawling labyrinth. Fingers traced faded ink, connecting unseen threads.
“There.” He tapped a spot, nail scraping parchment. “Reports of strange auras near the old market.”
Dorian peered over his shoulder, firelight dancing across sculpted features. “Didn’t we clear out a vampire nest there last month?”
“Apparently they didn’t get the message.” Lysander cracked his knuckles. “Shall we remind them?”
A smile ghosted Elias’ lips. “With pleasure.”
Aldric watched, an unseen guardian as always. Pride bloomed in his chest, warming the spaces between old stone. His sons. The next generation of protectors, fierce and devoted. The city would be safe in their hands.
Dorian straightened, shoulders squared beneath the weight of his birthright. He met each brother’s gaze, blue eyes alight with purpose.
“Tonight, we hunt.” His voice rang with quiet authority. “But first, we plan. Elias’ research gives us an edge, but we can’t go in blind. Lysander, you take point. Your senses are sharpest.”
Lysander grinned, a flash of teeth. “Don’t worry, little brother. I’ll sniff out any trouble.”
“Good.” Dorian clapped him on the back. “Elias, you’re our strategist. Find the weak points, the cracks we can slip through.”
Elias inclined his head. “Every fortress has a flaw. Even the undead can’t escape that truth.”
“And you?” Lysander arched his brow. “What’s your role, oh fearless leader?”
Dorian’s smile was a blade in the dark. “I’ll be the bait.”
Shadows stirred, and Aldric stepped into the courtyard. Three heads turned, a ripple of surprise transforming into respect.
“Father.” Dorian bowed his head. “We didn’t realize—”
Aldric raised a hand, stalling the apology. He laid it on Dorian’s shoulder, a benediction and a bridge.
“You’re ready.” His gaze held the weight of centuries, the hard-won wisdom of a guardian. “I’ve watched you grow, seen the strength in your heart. The city chose well when it called you.”
Dorian swallowed, his Adam’s Apple bobbing. In that moment, Aldric saw the boy he’d once been, gap-toothed and eager, begging for one more story. One more chance to prove himself.
“I won’t let you down.” The words were heavy with promise. “We’ll keep the city safe. Keep our family’s legacy alive.”
“I know you will.” Aldric squeezed once before letting go, a silent passing of the torch. “Now go. The night won’t wait, and neither will the monsters.”
Lysander slung an arm around Dorian’s neck, breaking the somber spell. “You heard the man. Let’s go kick some undead ass.”
Laughter chased their footsteps as they melted into the dark, a new generation of heroes bound by blood and stone.
Aldric watched until even his keen eyes could no longer pick out their silhouettes. A gentle hand slipped into his, fingers intertwining. He glanced down into Elena’s luminous face, reading the trust and love shining there.
“They’ll be alright,” she murmured. “They had a good teacher.”
“The best.” He pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “Though I suspect their mother’s influence played no small part.”
Elena laughed, and the last of the ancient shadows fled before the sound. Dawn was still a distant dream, but in that moment, the night held no fear.
After all, the guardians were on the hunt once more.
Elena turned her gaze to the city sprawled beneath them, a tapestry of shadow and stone. The cathedral’s spires stretched like fingers yearning to brush the stars, and she couldn’t help but marvel at the intricate beauty wrought by human hands. Hands like the ones that now drew her close, strong and sure.
Aldric’s lips found hers, a searing kiss that ignited memories in its wake. Memories of a night not so long ago, when passion had burned away the last of their doubts and fears. When they had come together on this very rooftop, beneath the watching moon.
She melted into him, into the solid heat of his body and the tempest of his desire. His touch was electric, tracing patterns of fire across her skin, and she arched into it with a breathless sigh.
“Do you remember?” he murmured against her throat, his voice a rumble of distant thunder. “The first time I held you like this, the first time I tasted your skin? It was right here, well a little further back on this roof.”
“How could I forget?” Her fingers tangled in his hair, silken strands of midnight. “You were my mystery, my forbidden desire come to life.”
He chuckled, a sound that vibrated through her very bones. “And you were my salvation, the key to a heart I thought long lost.”
Their lips met again, hungry and eager. The world fell away, narrowing to the slide of tongue against tongue, the rasp of stubble against delicate skin. Clever fingers found the zipper of her dress, tugging it down with agonizing slowness.
They didn’t make a point of public affection, but there was something about the church roof that always brought them together like this when they were alone.
“Aldric...” His name was a prayer, a plea. “Please.”
“Shh, my love.” His breath whispered across the shell of her ear. “We have all night, and I intend to worship every inch of you.”
He drew back just far enough to slip the dress from her shoulders, baring her to the caress of the night air. Elena shivered, though whether from the cool breeze or the heat of his gaze, she couldn’t say.
She stared at him as Aldric drank her in, his eyes molten emerald in the darkness. “Beautiful,” he breathed. “So very beautiful.”
Then his mouth was on her again, mapping the landscape of her body with lips and teeth and tongue. He laid her back against the stone, cradling her head with infinite tenderness even as his touch set her aflame.
The real gargoyles stood sentinel around them, stone faces forever frozen in fierce devotion. The ones who could not watch and enjoy as these were never more than stone. So, they bore silent witnesses to a love that had endured through centuries of darkness, only to emerge tempered and unbreakable.
Warmth from his mouth moved over her shoulder, traced along her collar bone, and then followed the sound of tearing fabric as he ripped her dress enough to suckle her nipple in his mouth. His tongue traced intricate patterns over the sensitive flesh.
She moaned and arched into him, her fingers tangling in his hair as she lost herself in sensation.
Aldric moved with a slow and deliberate purpose, alternating between gentle nips and soothing licks. Each touch sent a jolt of pleasure straight to Elena’s core, building an ache that only he could relieve.
Her breaths came in short pants as Aldric continued his teasing assault on her breast. She felt like she was on fire, every nerve ending buzzing with electricity. And when he finally switched to her other breast, adding his hand to the mix to gently knead the neglected mound, she thought she might just combust from pleasure until he lifted and started a path lower leaving a trail of fire in his wake.
He kissed and licked his way down her stomach, pausing to dip his tongue into her navel before moving lower still. The thin cloth of her dress was no match for the warmth of his lips.
Elena’s heart raced as she watched him lower himself between her thighs. She knew what was coming next and yet the anticipation still sent shivers down her spine.
His mouth moved over her folds with practiced ease, eliciting a soft whimper from Elena’s lips that was cut short as his hands shimmed up her thighs and pulled her underwear down to her ankles before dipping his head back between her legs.
“As I said, we have all night.”
She moaned as his tongue delved deeper, finding all the right spots to make every muscle in her body tense with pleasure. She clutched at his hair, urging him closer even as she tried to keep herself from getting too carried away too quickly.
But Aldric seemed determined to make her lose control. He continued to torment and tease until Elena thought she might go mad with desire. Her hips arched off the stone bench in an attempt to bring him closer, but he held firm, keeping her firmly in place.
She writhed under Aldric’s touch, releasing a string of unintelligible words that were half pleas and half praises.
He made sure to give equal attention to every inch of her most intimate parts until she was trembling on the edge of ecstasy. And just when she thought she couldn’t take anymore, he stopped abruptly and lifted his head.
Her eyes flew open, meeting his dark green ones filled with a mix of amusement and desire. “What-?”
“Shh,” he hushed her with a finger to her lips before sliding his body up hers
Elena’s heart was racing as she lay beneath Aldric, her body humming with need and desire. She could feel the heat of his skin against hers, their bodies fitting together like pieces of a puzzle.
Aldric’s lips found hers in a gentle kiss, his hands roaming over her body as he pressed himself closer to her. She could feel the hard length of him against her thigh, and it only added to the ache between her legs.
He nipped at her bottom lip before pulling away slightly, his eyes roaming over her face.
Before she could say anything, Aldric leaned down and captured her lips again in a searing kiss that stole all thoughts from her mind.
His hands were everywhere, leaving trails of fire in their wake as they roamed over every inch of her body. Elena couldn’t hold back the moan that escaped her lips as he trailed kisses down her neck, pausing to nibble on the sensitive skin behind her ear.
She reached between them and stroked his cock, never tiring of how much harder it was than a normal man’s and still not understanding how he never hurt her.
His wings fluttered over her as if covering her, but she knew it was a sign his control was slipping— that he couldn’t hold them up.
Aldric’s fingers brushed over her slick folds again and in an instant he’d removed his cock from her hand and seated himself to the hilt. His moan mixed with her gasp of pleasure and once again, everything vanished except for her gargoyle and her.
Elena’s hands gripped at his shoulders as she adjusted to the feeling of being stretched and filled by him. He moved slowly at first, but then his pace quickened as her knees fall further open, begging him to go faster, harder.
Elena’s head fell back against the stone as she lost herself in his speed.With each thrust, she could feel herself getting closer and closer to the edge.
Aldric shifted and leaned down to capture one of her nipples between his teeth. The unexpected sensation sent a jolt of pleasure through Elena’s body and pushed her over the edge into ecstasy.
She cried out his name as she climaxed, feeling him shudder against her as he followed suit. They rode out their orgasms together before collapsing together on the church’s roof.
They lay entwined beneath the indigo canopy of the sky. Sated and spent.
“I never thought,” Elena whispered, her voice thick with emotion. “I never could have imagined...”
Aldric’s hand stroked her hair in a soothing rhythm. “Neither did I, my love. But I am eternally grateful for this second chance.”
“Do you think our memories of the past will ever unlock?”
He chuckled and the sound warmed her. “I think after two decades if we’ve not found them, they’re no longer ours to find. We just have to live with these new memories.My heart will always be yours, day or night, stone or flesh. You’ve given me more than a taste of life, you’ve given me a reason to live when the sun goes down.”
“Do you think our boys will find this…what we have?”
“They’re our boys, aren’t they? I am certain they will.”
She lay her head on his chest, staring up at the indigo canopy of the sky. She never missed teaching art, but she always missed painting the city and with her boys grown and her husband officially retired, there was no time like the present to pick back up her brushes.