Epilogue
Two Months Later
ROMULUS
The castle courtyard is decorated with white roses and fairy lights, and Layden stands at the altar looking like he might bolt at any moment.
“Breathe,” I murmur from our position as groomsman. “This is going to go great.”
“How do you know?” he hisses back.
From behind, Remus jumps in, “Because her grandfather will literally kill you if you backed out now.”
“Not helping, brother,” I say mildly.
But Layden actually laughs, some of the tension leaving his shoulders.
Music starts—something classical that Vlad insisted on—and Phoenix appears at the end of the aisle.
She’s radiant in white, her vampire nature making her practically glow in the evening light. And the way she’s looking at Layden—
Yep. Like he hung the moon. They pretend they barely know each other but there’s clearly more story there.
The ceremony is beautiful. Layden only stumbles over his vows twice. Phoenix’s lip wobbles but she barely allows herself to show any more emotion than that. Abaddon gives a speech about the strength of family alliances that’s somehow both touching and mildly threatening.
Lo-Ren sits in the front row, glowing softly, absolutely stunning in the dress she picked out last week. She catches my eye and smiles, and I mouth “I love you” across the distance.
She mouths it back.
“Get a room,” Remus mutters, but I can feel his happiness too.
The reception is held in Vlad’s grand ballroom. There’s blood wine for the vampires, regular wine for everyone else, and an absolutely ridiculous amount of food.
When the dancing starts, I claim Lo-Ren’s hand and pull her onto the floor.
“Having fun?” I ask as we sway to the music.
“The most.” She rests her head against my chest. “I still think we should have a ceremony too.”
“We could arrange that.”
“Really?” She pulls back to look at me.
“Why not? We’re already committed for eternity. Might as well make it official.”
“Both of you?”
“Both of us,” I confirm, feeling Remus’s agreement through our bond.
Her smile is radiant. “I want a small ceremony. Just family. Maybe on a beach somewhere.”
“Whatever you want, love.”
“And I want to write my own vows.”
“Of course.”
“And Remus has to promise not to set anything on fire.”
From the back: “I’m not promising shit.”
She laughs, and I spin her out and back, loving the way she feels in my arms.
The song changes. I hand her off to Abaddon for a dance—he’s been waiting patiently—and step aside to get a drink.
From this vantage point, I can see the whole room. My brothers and their families. The vampires celebrating their alliance. Phoenix and Layden in the center of it all, so shy and barely able to look at one another.
And Lo-Ren, laughing at something Abaddon said, glowing like a star.
My family. Our family.
A year ago, I thought I was doomed to spend eternity trapped with my greatest enemy, cleaning up his messes, never having anything of my own.
Now?
Now I have everything I never knew I wanted.
“Not bad, brother,” Remus says quietly.
“What do you mean?”
“This. All of it. You were right—communication does help.”
I nearly choke on my wine. “Are you actually admitting I was right about something?”
“Don’t get used to it.”
But I can feel his contentment. His satisfaction with how things have turned out.
“Thank you,” I tell him. “For choosing differently. Up there in space.”
“Thank you for not being an insufferable prick about it afterward.”
“I’m always somewhat insufferable.”
“True.”
Lo-Ren catches my eye from across the room and gestures for me to come dance with her again.
I set down my glass and head toward her, toward our future, toward everything we’ve built together.
And as I take her hand and pull her close, I think:
This is what winning looks like.
Not defeating my brother. Not having sole control. Not being alone with all the power I could ever want.
This. Connection. Love that multiplies. Cooperation instead of competition.
A woman who chose us both and refuses to let us choose anything less than happiness.
A brother who saw me as worth saving even when he could have been free.
A future stretching out before us, unlimited and full of possibility.
I spent five thousand years believing I was trapped.
Turns out, I was just waiting.
For her. For him. For all of us to finally be ready to choose differently.
And now that we have?
I’m never letting go.
Not in a thousand years. Not in a million.
Never.
This is love.
This is home.
This is everything.
And it’s ours.
Forever.