Epilogue Sunny
Epilogue
Sunny
“You are late,” Cheyun clips out.
“I knew Ethan and I should’ve eloped,” I mutter under my breath but offer my friend a strained smile. “Almost ready.”
As annoying as the former suhoshin captain may be, I’m just fucking happy that she’s alive. I’ve lost too many friends. The least I can do is appreciate the ones I have left. Plus, she’s right. I am late.
For my own wedding.
I am apparently marrying my husband again because my father, Dangun, declared that our simple ceremony in the Kingdom of Sky was “not valid in the eyes of the god of Mountains.” I might have gotten my goofy sense of humor from my old man.
Still new to this father/daughter relationship, I didn’t sass him by pointing out that he was no longer the god of Mountains.
As a matter of fact, the Shingae, the world of gods, no longer has any gods. I snort at the irony but sober almost instantly.
The collapse of the Realm of Four Kingdoms still haunts my nightmares. Even now, my stomach takes a sickening swoop at the reminder. I exhale slowly through my mouth, envisioning Ethan wrapping his arms around me, like he does every time I wake up gasping in the night.
I think of the smell of the dark coffee that he brings me in the mornings. The feel of his five o’clock shadow, tickling my cheek. The sound of our laughter as we watch our latest crap reality show.
He’s safe. We’re alive. We will share a life together.
Speaking of which, I am late for my wedding.
“Shit, shit, shit,” I yelp, hiking up my floor-length gown and running out of Hailey’s apartment.
I don’t know how I got persuaded into wearing a fucking wedding dress. A lacy, strapless, mermaid gown at that. But I grin when I see my red Converse high-tops.
“I simply do not understand her attachment to that footwear.” Bora crinkles her nose at them when she catches up with me at the elevator bay.
“At least she didn’t insist on wearing her black combat boots.” Hailey presses the Down button like she has a vendetta against it.
“I’m standing right here,” I grumble crossly.
My friends, whom I appreciate and cherish, somehow got wind of all the Mortal Realm wedding traditions and made me sleep apart from Ethan last night.
We survived the apocalypse, for fuck’s sake.
Who cares if it’s “bad luck” for the groom to see the bride before the wedding?
I would’ve slept better and wouldn’t have been late for my wedding.
We pile into the elevator when it arrives, then rush out at the lobby even before the doors slide fully open. Out of habit, Cheyun leads the charge but hesitates when we step out of the building.
“Where is our ride?” She frowns.
“He’s on his way.” Bora looks down at her watch, then cranes her neck down the street. “There he is right now.”
A black SUV turns the corner and crawls toward us at far below the 25 miles per hour speed limit. Taeyoung got his driver’s license a few days ago, and from the looks of it, he is not exactly competent behind the wheel.
I hike my dress up again with the intent to walk over to the car—it would be faster that way—but Hailey places a hand on my arm.
“The Shin’gwangdo is showing,” she murmurs in a low voice, sadness and understanding in her eyes.
I glance down at myself and see the tip of the dragon-scaled sheath lying against my outer thigh.
With a small gasp, I let my dress fall back into place.
The Amheuk is gone, but I still don’t feel safe without the Shin’gwangdo.
It’s a regular hwando without the Yeoiju’s powers, but I am pretty handy with plain ol’ swords.
Before I can make an excuse that Hailey will see right through, our ride jerks to a stop at the curb.
“Your chariot awaits.” Taeyoung bounds out of the driver’s seat and beams at us.
Bora sends us a warning glance not to tease the former King of Underworld about his driving before walking up to him to peck him on the cheek. “You’re right on time.”
Cheyun, to her credit, refrains from calling out Bora’s white lie and holds open the rear passenger door for me.
I let her silently boss me around, and I take a seat as quickly as possible, while dressed in the most impractical contraption ever invented.
Hailey scoots to the middle seat from the other side.
After closing my door harder than strictly necessary, Cheyun stomps around the back of the car to slide in next to Hailey, but she huffs an audible sigh when Taeyoung fusses over Bora’s seat belt in the front.
“It’s fine, Cheyun. We can be a little late.” I lean forward to catch her gaze. “It’s not like the world’s about to end.”
When Hailey flinches next to me, I cringe apologetically. “Too soon? Sorry.”
“You’re just nervous,” Hailey says, excusing my loopy humor.
“Nervous?” I laugh too loudly. “Me?”
I am totally nervous. But more than anything, I feel . . . guilty. I am living a dream I didn’t dare to dream.
I am supposed to be dead. Not Draco. Not Minju. Not Jaeseok.
I was a fucking goddess. How did I let Minju die right in front of me? Why couldn’t I protect them? Impotent fury builds inside me, and for a fraction of a second, it feels as though white fire flares in my chest.
“Sunny,” Cheyun says sharply enough to grab my attention. “Breathe.”
I look down at myself in confusion for a second. What the hell am I wearing? Then I remember I am marrying my fated love. Today.
Not in a rushed ceremony with a bowl of water. Not while assuming one or both of us won’t make it through the day. In a real wedding. Because forever is possible now.
Breathe.
I release a shaky breath, inhale slowly through my nose, and breathe out again. I know the drill. I have to remember to give myself grace.
Destroying the Amheuk didn’t bring my friends back, but it saved everyone in the car and everyone waiting for us. As corny as it may sound, I can only honor the ones we lost by living my life to the fullest.
No more hiding from the worlds or from myself. No more dead-end jobs. No more pretending not to care about anything or anyone.
I have opened myself up and am vulnerable even when it terrified me. And I care even when it hurts. I am not overjoyed about being the queen of a lost realm, but I’m working on that. I even found a passion—investigative work, just like Ben and Ethan—and hope to build a successful career out of it.
Draco would’ve wanted that for me—just like I had wanted that for them.
We skid to a stop in front of the Bellagio Hotel on the Strip, and Taeyoung announces the obvious. “We’re here.”
Then, everyone is in motion at once. We jump out of the SUV, Taeyoung throws his keys at the valet, and we race into the hotel, toward our wedding venue—a small private terrace overlooking the Bellagio Fountains.
But as though choreographed, we screech to a halt at the exit to the terrace and look at each other like we’ve never seen arched French doors before.
“I have no idea why I am nervous.” Bora shakes her head and reaches for the door handle, when a tall, distinguished male appears on the other side.
“Pardon me.” My father steps into the hotel, wearing a stylish navy blue suit. He nods hello at everyone but falters when he sees me. Breathing out an emotional sigh, he takes both of my hands into his. “You look radiant, Sunshine.”
“Can you not call me that?” I crinkle my nose, pretending not to like the nickname.
“What else would I call my sunshine?” Dangun gives me an indulgent smile and offers me his arm. “Ready?”
I put my arm through his and nod jerkily, because I can’t find my voice. Taeyoung opens the door, and my father and I step out to the landing.
Ethan stands below the curved stone staircase with the morning light streaming down on him. He is sinfully beautiful in his classic tuxedo. He brushed his hair back for the occasion, which highlights his high cheekbones and strong jawline, but a stubborn curl falls endearingly over his forehead.
I know the moment he sees me. His lips part and his eyes widen, and he definitely stops breathing. How could I not love a male who looks at me like his world ends and begins with me?
I can’t, of course.
I love him with all my battered heart and weary soul. He is my love destined by the heavens, and even death cannot sever the thread of fate that binds us.
“I’m ready.”
For life. For death. For anything.