Epilogue A home. A family. A future.
Hazel
Two months later
I settle on the steps leading to the death castle, letting the warmth of the sun sink into my skin as I smooth my hands over the soft fabric of my dress.
It’s too early for the streets to be alive, but a few homes nearby are beginning to stir. The distant chatter, mixed with the slow rise of the sun, seeps into my bones until I almost forget winter is creeping in.
Once Anxo stepped into my mind after I killed Tiberius, I knew I couldn’t keep everything buried anymore. Not when it was already breaking me from the inside.
The weeks after I woke up felt… wrong. Like I was floating just outside my own body, watching everyone explain my life back to me, careful with every word like I might shatter if they got it wrong.
What happened in Eldoris… I don’t even know how to explain it. I had no control. The second I saw Tiberius’ memories, everything I had buried for years tore free all at once until I didn’t recognize myself anymore.
Anxo was careful when he told me the truth about how Tiberius had been suppressing my Divine… the siren I was meant to be. The part of me I thought was broken.
I didn’t know I was suffocating on my own magic until it exploded inside me. All those years believing I had nothing… when it was there all along. Trapped. Starving.
Tiberius found a way to block my Divine, but I don’t think he understood what he had done. With no escape, my power turned on me, clawing at my mind all these years.
And the worst part? He wouldn’t have cared even if he knew.
Anxo worked with me for weeks, carefully rebuilding what he could, until one memory finally clicked into place.
I remembered how Tiberius used to bind all his slaves’ magic so they couldn’t turn it against him. Too many of them died when their Divines gave out, but there were always more to replace them.
I think the hardest part wasn’t just remembering what happened to my Divine, but realizing I had lost it long before I even came to the surface.
Every healer Dean brought to help me looked at me like I was a miracle. Surprised, I still had enough Divine left to stay alive after what Tiberius did.
Because I was young when Tiberius brutally fractured my essence, I will never feel that kind of power again. It’s just one more thing he took from me.
Dean tries not to show it, but I see it. The fear. The way his eyes follow me like I’d accidentally push myself too far.
I don’t think he’ll ever forget how helpless he felt, watching me lie there… fading… and not being able to do anything.
Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore. Being watched every second of the day, like I was a bomb about to go off.
So I asked Anxo to build one last wall inside my head.
It’s nothing like what Tiberius did. This time, the barrier isn’t a prison. Anxo sealed my Divine, making it so I couldn’t push past my limit even if I wanted to.
I spent so much of my life feeling like I wasn’t a complete siren that losing something I never truly had doesn’t feel like a loss. I can still use my magic within the same limits as before, and if that was enough to keep me alive this long, it’ll be enough for the rest of my life.
The sound of footsteps pulls me from my thoughts. I look up to see my brother walking toward me, his smile so much like our mother’s that it settles something deep in my chest. Like a piece of her found its way back to me through him.
Zale drops down beside me without asking why I chose to meet him out here instead of inside the castle.
“How did you know I was coming?”
I tap my nose. “You stink up the whole area around the portal every time you cross it.”
“You’re such a bully.”
“I’ve heard that’s a younger sister’s birthright.”
Zale has been visiting often, trying to make up for lost years in weeks. I can’t pretend it doesn’t mend something inside me, knowing he chooses to come back.
Eldoris now has an open gateway to other realms. King of hell and my brother want our people to travel, to build alliances, to remember there’s a world beyond the dome that kept them caged.
Once Zale wiped out our half-siblings, ending what remained of Tiberius’s bloodline, Eldoris started to change. Slowly, but enough.
I knew Tiberius would’ve destroyed any trace of his family name, but it didn’t matter anyway. Zale wanted nothing to do with our sperm donor. He took our mother’s name instead. The only legacy worth carrying.
Zale Maralyn.
At first, I didn’t think he could do it. He saved me without hesitation, risking his life so I could escape, so I thought he’d have a soft spot for the rest of his siblings as well.
I’ve never been more wrong.
He ended it within a day of taking the throne.
I never asked if it was easy, but the first time he visited me after it was done, it was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
Dean was right. Zale really is the only heir Tiberius couldn’t corrupt.
I like to think it’s because of our mother. I never got to know her, but she must’ve done something right for both her children to be saner than most in that wretched kingdom.
I wonder when I’ll stop thinking of Eldoris like that. Like a wound instead of a home.
Or if I ever will.
“You could come visit, you know. Just for a day. I could give you a tour.” He says it casually, like it wouldn’t matter if I said no, but I don’t miss the way his fingers tap against his thigh.
I shrug, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “Maybe.”
It would’ve been one thing to hesitate because of what happened to me, but that’s not the part that keeps me away anymore. Finding out what my—our—mother went through added to my hate for that place.
Sometimes I still hear her screams. her pain deep within my bones like it’s my own
But I can never say any of this to Zale. Unlike me, he’s filled with hope, still believes he can fix it. Clean the blood from the walls. Start over. Build something better from what should’ve stayed buried.
And I won’t be the one to take that from him. That’s why I’m grateful his childhood memories are still gone.
I don’t want her screams to haunt him, too.
As I look at him in a crisp white shirt, embroidered by the finest gold, he looks like any other leader from a powerful kingdom.
Eldoris is lucky to have him. Even if it doesn’t deserve him.
But they need someone like my brother. Someone willing to fix what’s broken, even when the rest of the world has already written them off. Even when it would be easier to let it burn.
Zale turns toward me, his gaze sharper now, like he can see straight through everything I’m not saying. “Things have changed, Hazel. Everyone knows what you did for our kind. What you gave up to save our future.”
“I’m not like you. I’m not like any of them.” I lower my voice. “I’m barely a siren anymore.”
“Good.”
My head snaps toward him. That wasn’t the answer I expected.
He smiles softly. “I don’t want you to be anything like me…
or any of them. The only reason I’m here, breathing this air, is because you were nothing like us.
They need to see you, Hazel. I want them to know what real power looks like.
Not the kind that rules through fear. The kind that survives it. ”
A laugh slips out of me before I can stop it. “How are you this good with words if we’re related?”
He wraps an arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side. “And who gives a fuck if you can’t sing? You still make everyone dance to your tune. I’ve met your mate.”
“Hey! Not cool, man,” Dean shouts from somewhere inside the castle, very clearly eavesdropping.
We both glance at each other before bursting into laughter until my stomach hurts.
When Zale finally says he has to go back, it hurts a little less than last time.
Because this time, I know he’ll be back.
As I step inside the castle, August’s giggles echo through the halls, and a smile slips onto my face before I can stop it. It happens so easily now, it almost startles me.
I never thought feeling this light, this… happy, would come naturally to me, but everything has felt like a dream since Dean and I got married two weeks ago.
The moment I was back on my feet, I needed something permanent. Something steady to hold onto before the ground shifted beneath me again.
I still remember Dean’s face when I proposed to him. I’ve never seen anyone say yes that fast.
I thought about pranking him, but I decided I didn’t want to start the rest of our lives with him covered in hair removal cream, so instead, I asked him to spend eternity with me while we were in the shower together.
Seiji was pissed about the lack of notice, but somehow, he still pulled off the most beautiful, intimate ceremony. Something stress-free after so much chaos.
We kept it small. Just us, on the training ground where we used to lie under the stars. The place where everything felt real for the first time. It’s our place.
Anxo officiated—because of course he did. The most responsible adult we knew who kept things from getting out of hand.
Elijah stood as Dean’s best man, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget watching the King of Hell drink and celebrate like a man possessed at the reception.
The last two months have changed everything. And for once… I’ve let myself accept it. The weight that used to sit on my chest is gone.
It’s time to live.
To love.
Anxo chases after August, growling like some terrifying monster, but the little munchkin squeals and bolts straight toward his mother. Nevaeh scoops him up with a laugh and hands him a cupcake, acting like she can’t see Anxo’s glare fixed on the two troublemakers.
Dean grabs me the second I’m close enough, pulling me onto his lap and burying his face in my neck. “I missed you.”
I laugh. “I was gone for less than an hour. And you were eavesdropping. Again.”
“Too long.”
Nevaeh finally manages to wrangle August into a seat, but the second she turns away, he stands on the chair, leaning over the dining table to offer his cupcake to Grace.
Nevaeh finally manages to wrangle the little guy into a seat, but as soon as she turns, he stands on the chair and offers his cupcake to Grace.
“Oh no kiddo, I’m not hungry. You can have it.”
August sighs like it physically pains him to explain his thought process of the stupid adults in the room.
He hops off the chair, completely ignoring Anxo’s impending heart attack, and lands in front of Grace, patting her very pregnant stomach lightly like he’s waking the baby.
“It’s for the baby, Aunt Gracie. The baby wants treats, too.”
Dean slams his hand on the table, his head tipped back so I can’t see his face, but I don’t need to. I already know he’s trying to hold back tears.
I pat his cheek and pull him into my neck, shooting Harvey and Seiji a warning glare to keep their mouths shut.
One comment and they’ll have to call the healer to stitch them back up.
“He’s feeding the baby,” Dean chokes out.
“I know.” I run my hand through his hair. I know exactly why it’s hitting him this hard.
“He gave up his cupcake.”
I sigh, pulling away and standing beside him. When I look down, his eyes are shining with unshed tears, and I roll mine despite the warmth blooming in my chest.
I was going to wait until later, but he’s two seconds away from a full meltdown.
“Come on,” I say, grabbing his hand. “We need to go to the human realm.”
“Ew, why?”
Of course, that’s his first reaction.
I laugh. “I talked to Elijah. We have an appointment at a boarding school for supernaturals.”
“No.” He shoots to his feet, eyes wide.
“No.” He pushes off the chair, eyes wide with shock.
“You said if I ever wanted to be a mother, we could adopt.” My voice wavers, but the smile refuses to leave my face. “I’m ready. Let’s go find us a little demon to love.”
“Really?” he clears his throat, trying and failing to sound normal.
He’s on me before I can say anything else, kissing me like he doesn’t know what to do with himself. I laugh into the kiss, his lips meet mine in frantic need.
I know he meant it when he said he’d be happy with just the two of us forever, but I want more.
I want a family. Something that’s mine in a way nothing ever has been.
I want everything my mother never got to have. The life she deserved.
A home. A family. A future.
“We’re really doing this?” he whispers.
I nod, barely able to move with the way he’s holding my face, but it’s enough.
His eyes fill again, but this time… they are tears of excitement and happiness.