Epilogue
Severin
Five years later.
“That was the last of it,” Astrea announced, her hands resting on her hips as she made sure the movers did their job.
Claire and Astrea had bought a house together.
It was only a short walk from here, but they had accumulated a lot of stuff in the past years for their rooms in the castle.
Now, they had their very own place, but had chosen one close by for comfort.
We did not care where they chose to live, as long as we were close enough if anything should happen.
“Need help unpacking?” Felix asked, wiping his dusty hands on his jeans.
“Nah,” she said, waving him off. “I’d prefer it was just Claire and me there this first night. We’ll invite you over when we’re settled in.”
Felix nodded. “Fine by me. But please call if you need us.”
“Of course. I’ll need some protective crystals for the home, but that can wait a little.”
“Sure,” he agreed, then walked back to where I stood as the movers got into the van. We stood watching the van drive off towards town, carrying everything they owned.
“Done!” Claire announced, carrying out her favorite plant. “Ready to go?”
Astrea nodded, taking the plant from Claire. “We’ll call you tomorrow,” she promised, waving with one hand as they got into their car.
Felix waved, smiling even though he had wished they would stay here.
Astrea and Felix had grown closer these past few years, always tending to the garden together and making potions.
Claire had surprised us when she got a job in town, but she had wanted to work for herself, something I admired about her.
She now had a small flower shop, a hobby of hers, and she loved it.
Astrea’s healing powers came in handy, always adding some magic to the soil if plants started getting sick or sad looking. They were the perfect team.
Felix and Astrea finally joined Dina’s coven, both giving them their full loyalty.
It had caused them both to get better at using their magic, each of them having been taught by the others how to train themselves.
Astrea mostly used her magic on plants and animals, feeling safer doing that than healing people.
Felix was taught some new things regarding potions, all things I had no idea what they meant, but I still nodded and acted like I did.
“Is it weird that I’m sad by them moving out?” Felix’s soft voice asked from my right.
I put my arm around him. “No. I felt the same every time Peter moved away from me. But it seems I finally got him to stay for good.”
“We’ll see, brother,” Peter said, walking out of the castle with Giro at his side. They were headed to Brent’s grave, something they had not done before, but something Giro desperately wanted. He needed to say goodbye properly, and was finally ready to do it.
“Please stay forever,” Felix pleaded, giving Giro his best puppy dog eyes.
He rolled his eyes at my bonded. “You know I have no plan of ever leaving this place. I have way too much fun making potions with you.”
It was true. Those two could spend hours creating new potions and sometimes Peter and I even got to be their test subjects.
It was not always a pleasant experience.
Felix grinned, pleased he still had those two here with us. “We should go make sure Dina and Cole stay forever, too,” he announced, tugging me after him.
Cole and Dina had fully bonded shortly after she found out they were fated, and they had lived here ever since, both happy to be near us. For Cole we were his new pack, and he had a bond with each of us because of it. Also, one of the reasons Astrea and Claire did not move too far away.
Cole was not our only cook, even if he wanted to be at first. He simply needed some time off once in a while, too, so we had hired a lovely woman called Ela.
Dina was and would always be, the Castle Boss, making sure everything worked perfectly around here.
Now that she was bonded to a werewolf, we would have the pleasure of her company for many, many years to come.
Werewolves tended to live to three hundred, some had even reached five hundred, and I prayed to all the gods she would stay until she reached six hundred, because if anyone could beat the record, it was her.
We reached the kitchen, finding it empty except for some steaming buns resting on the small table in the corner. “Huh,” I said, eyeing the room. “They might have already moved out.”
Felix hit my arm playfully. “Not funny!”
I laughed, tugging him behind me and racing up the stairs to our room. “Know what day it is?” I asked, casually, as I locked the bedroom door behind us.
He frowned, clearly trying to remember if he had forgotten something. “No?”
I grinned, stalking closer to him, making him back up until he fell on our bed. I leaned over him, my grin widening as I smelled his arousal.
“Five years ago today, I met my forever person,” I began. “My one true love. My bonded.”
“Oh,” he smiled, gently caressing my cheek. “Five years.”
“And many more to come.”
Felix
Life was amazing. Yet, we still got unsettling news once in a while, so I wasn’t surprised when Sev showed me his latest text from Reminia.
Reminia: List with names of all the Silver Lock victims. Will send each separately, ten at a time.
I sighed, quickly scrolling through the first ten images that were attached to each name.
After the coven was broken up, we kept in touch with the released witches, and with their help we found more evidence of their old leaders’ betrayals and criminal activity.
Some could even tell us the names of those who were siding with the leaders, no matter the branded tattoo.
Those people were currently being chased by none other than Alec.
Ten new pictures came in just as I reached the last one from the first text. I clicked on the newest one, gasping loudly when a brown-haired woman showed up, her green eyes a true match to mine.
My mother.
“What is wrong, my heart?” Sev hurried to my side, looking at the picture on his phone. I couldn’t see much, my eyes filling with tears. “Your mother?” he guessed.
I nodded. “I knew she died in a coven battle, I never even thought it could’ve been them.
Why am I surprised?” I should have thought about looking into her death, but it was easier just to move on and not feel myself hurting any further, which I tended to do when I thought about her death.
Besides, I had trusted what my gran had been told.
Now I had to wonder if she knew the truth, or died believing the lie.
“It happened so long ago, of course, you did not connect the dots. I did not either, and neither did Astrea.” He hugged me, letting me cry on his shoulder. “Want me to tell you the details of her death?”
I nodded.
“It says that her coven refused to hand over a male witch, a child, to their coven. They attacked and tried to take the child. The child was saved by your mother’s coven, and kept hidden from the Silver Lock Coven, but many died protecting him.”
I didn’t want to think who that child was, considering how rare we were. I would rather not know. From Sev’s forced smile, he knew the identity of the boy, too. Memory loss potions could be both a blessing, and a curse.
Leaving Sev on our bed, I went over to our bathroom to shower.
It was still early morning, but we had the pack visiting us for the weekend.
They came once or twice a year, Samantha and Liam were bringing their daughter with them this time.
Last time they came here, Samantha was pregnant, now the little girl was born and ready to visit us. I couldn’t wait.
We didn’t want kids ourselves, call us selfish for not adopting, but we couldn’t stomach the heartbreak of them dying of old age when we continued living on.
And since only vampires, demons and angels lived forever, it simply wasn’t possible for us to ever be parents.
No child could survive transitioning and I doubted we’d stumble upon a demon child needing two new daddies.
Instead, we were getting two cats. It seemed like a healthy relationship transition.
I just had to ask Samantha if it would bother them or not, having cats around them.
Sev was appalled that I would ask her that, saying it seemed wrong somehow.
But Samantha and I were cool. I knew she would only laugh and appreciate me asking.
Standing in the shower, I felt Sev’s arms come around my middle, holding me close.
I leaned back, letting him comfort me. Every time Reminia texted, it was something upsetting.
I was used to that, but this time was the first time it had been personal.
We still hadn’t found Joel’s sister, and we’d decided to stop looking.
We didn’t know what to say to her anyway.
At first, it had seemed like a perfect idea, letting her know how her brother had died and that we’d cared for him.
Now, it just seemed rude to tell her, even with his betrayal. It was all so confusing.
“Ready for your mini vacation?” Sev asked, doing his best to divert my thoughts to a happier subject. I adored him.
“Hell, yeah,” I sighed. “Giro and I need it.”
That was saying it mildly. Together, Giro and I had reopened my online shop, selling potions, crystals, and our newest added addition, soaps.
The old potion room was no longer big enough for us, so we’d opened up two other rooms next to it, making it one big room just for us.
It was my favorite place in the castle. That and the lake, which we found had a lot of natural energy connected to it, the moonlight storing lots of energy in the water each full moon.
When we go there the morning after a full moon to collect water, we always find it glowing with magic.
Only something visible to witches, like blue glowing orbs surrounding the water, telling nearby witches of the treasure it carried.
And it was indeed a treasure. We used it for fertility potions, helping lots of people get pregnant and it often helped heal the body from the inside after giving birth, too.
Now, we had planned for a vacation after the pack had visited, going back with them to their compound to visit for the first time. Calling it a vacation might be a stretch, but they have their own beach, so I had declared it a mini vacation, demanding Peter and Giro join us.
Sev chuckled, kissing down my neck. “I will not get you to myself for days,” he said, sounding all cute and pouty.
“Then you better make me feel you for days,” I said, grinning as I spun around, claiming his mouth with mine, ready to be claimed by my vampire.