Slayer Epilogue
Eight Years Later
“You think you can defeat a slayer?” I rumble, my voice really deep. The kids always love it.
The two of them laugh as they hang off my arms like wild animals. I suppose I shouldn’t say that out loud, considering their parents are wolf shifters.
“Yeah, keep that little tidbit to yourself,” Adam suggests and I grunt.
I hold them so high above my head and they squeal with delight.
“I told you, little wolves are no challenge for a slayer. Iris, my mate, the little hounds are out of control,” I say to her, and her face softens as she looks at us, almost as if she’s reminiscing.
“No, we aren’t, Auntie Iris,” Wisteria says. She’s the bigger troublemaker between her and her younger brother, and that has made her my instant favorite. She also is part witch and loves to cast little tricky spells to trip me up. A formidable foe, indeed.
“Wisteria and Nix, give uncle Adam a break,” Violet chimes from where she lounges on a chair.
She’s pregnant with their third, and I suspect they’ll have a whole litter once they’re done having children.
I’ve gotten used to being called Adam among the coven and shifters.
Iris is the one who truly differentiates between us both, though over time it seems like our souls intertwine more and more.
“You heard your momma,” Silas says, grabbing each of the children as if they weigh nothing and tossing them over his shoulder.
“You two better go eat the rest of the cake before it’s gone,” I yell, stirring the pot. Silas gives me a glare with no heat over his shoulder as I suggest his children need even more energy than they already have.
As much as I love the children, the best part about them is returning them to their parents.
I’m fond of the little wolves. They don’t look at me like the slayer I used to be.
To them, I’m Uncle Adam the Slayer, and it’s nice having little humans who view me in a positive light.
It’s also nice to give them buckets of candy and then let their parents deal with the sugar crash.
I approach Iris and she looks at me with awe.
“What is it?”
“Nothing. Déjà vu, I suppose,” she says as I lean down and give her a quick kiss.
“One of them touched me with their grubby little cake hands,” Warin complains and I have to repress a groan.
My bloodlust might be gone, but it’s going to take a lot more than that to make me like vampires.
I may or may not still kill one for Warin from time to time.
Listen, old habits die hard and there’s nothing quite like watching a vampire explode underneath my stake.
All of it is low risk. I would never risk this cycle with the love of my life.
Iris has accepted this piece of me, she loves me for who I am, the bad and the good and I couldn’t ask for anything more in a mate.
Warin approaches us, sunglasses and umbrella in hand, Ember under his arm. Neither of them looks any different from the first day we (unfortunately) met, though they look happy.
Everyone here is, and sometimes it’s still odd to feel it myself. My many cycles have been filled with mostly pain and suffering. This life is easy, wonderful even, and I almost have to pinch myself to remember that it’s real, that I’m not going anywhere.
“Be nice,” Adam reminds me and I force a smile on my face that has Warin looking at me as if I’ve had a stroke.
Adam keeps me grounded. In the moments I doubt I deserve this, or that it’s all going to be taken away, he keeps me based in reality.
Don’t get me wrong, he can still be annoying, but he’s my annoying vessel. Tired of dealing with everyone at the party, the hybrid children are truly the only ones I really like. I let Adam take control.
“Great, he let the normal one come out and play,” Warin says, and Ember elbows him in the stomach. He doesn’t even flinch.
“He’s still got a runed stake with your name on it, vampire,” Adam reminds him, also irritated with the vampire. The dead one likes to needle at us. He thinks it’s humorous. Adam is better at ignoring it.
Iris grabs our hand and it centers me.
So much time in the void can mess with you and I’m grateful that I have Adam to lean on when the real world gets too difficult, along with being with our beautiful witchy mate/wife.
“I thought we were becoming friends, Slayer,” Warin says.
We roll our eyes. Friends is a strong word, one I certainly wouldn’t call him in my time of need.
“No, not friends,” Adam says and Warin snorts, not caring at all as Ember grabs his gloved hand.
“Are you misbehaving again?”
“Darling, I’ve never misbehaved a day in my life.”
Ember then rolls her eyes and drags her vampire far away from us.
“You handled that well,” Iris admits.
“Good enough for a reward?” I ask, taking over the body again now that the vampire is out of sight.
“If anyone is getting a reward, it should be me for having to fraternize with Gus. He chews with his mouth open, and watching Walter flirt with Marie is next level disgusting,” Scarlett chimes in.
I pick up the fox, clutching her against my chest.
“You’re right, we should leave,” I say, the two of us tag teaming to get what we want. Did we maybe collude earlier to only stay at the party for an hour? Maybe. But who would I be without my partner in crime?
“Are you ganging up on me?” Iris asks.
“I’m not,” Adam says in my head, but I ignore him.
“We would never,” I say quickly and Iris arches a brow.
“One more hour and then we can go home.”
I cover Scarlett’s ears. “One more hour and when we go home, you tie me to the bed,” I suggest.
“Ugh. TMI,” Scarlett complains, jumping out of my arms.
Iris throws her head back and laughs and I realize that is the vision I saw of her in the void all those lives ago.
All this time I’ve pictured her carefree and happy and she’s that way because I make her happy. I’ve become a mate that she’s proud of, that she loves beyond the hand that fate has dealt us.
She’s even more radiant now, which doesn’t seem possible. With every day that passes, I fall more and more in love with my mate.
“What?” she asks, lightly fisting my shirt.
“Just remembering my purpose is all,” I tell her.
“Oh yeah, and what’s that?”
“You, my sweet Iris. It’s always been you.”