Epilogue
CASSIUS
“What do you mean, he can’t be killed?”
Cassius sat back in his seat, swirling the glass of liquor in his hand.
“Exactly as I say it. Alpha Kai cannot be killed. At least, not in a way that we know.” He didn’t avert his eyes from the Imperial City’s landscape to Malakai, finally returned from Charon, as he took a long drink.
He could feel his Beta’s eyes on him, urging him to explain.
“Back during the War of Realms, in the height of the battles with the immortals, Alpha Kai’s ancestors turned on us.
The Alpha of Ares made a bargain with the fae or a demon; those who wrote it did not know, but no one had been aware of it until the war concluded, and the alpha was poised to make himself a god.
He met his end, eventually. No one knows how, and the continent entered an age of relative peace until his power rose again, five hundred years later, with Alpha Aneurin of Phobos. ”
He paused and finally turned to examine his lifelong friend’s expression.
Malakai’s features had paled. He’d never been privy to any of this; tales such as these had been in diaries kept in the catacombs far below the Imperial City.
The secrets of all Imperial Alphas past were meant for Cassius’s eyes alone…
until he was to pass them along to Adrien.
Or, at least, he would have, had his son not been such a disappointment.
His eyes narrowed on the Valkeric Mountains in the distance, where Adrien remained shackled with his harlot.
Both he and Raana should’ve heeded his earlier kindness. Should’ve obeyed and done as he’d wanted them to do. It was by his grace that both still lived after Adrien attempted to free her. Ellena wanted to use their bones as a necklace, regardless of the treaty between witches and wolves.
But… they were both too valuable, as the end of the world as they knew it loomed.
“Aneurin ruled during the decimation,” Malakai said, drawing back Cassius’s attention.
“Yes,” he said. “That’s what’s believed to have killed him.”
“So, Kai can be killed by a witch.” His friend’s voice wavered, understandably. Even with all the Alpha of Deimos stood to take from them, it didn’t change that he was his daughter’s mate.
So, Cassius would have to give him a better reason to oppose the alpha. A greater desire of his heart. His greatest desire, a long-forgotten dream, an impossibility.
He checked his watch. A reason that should arrive any minute now.
Cassius took another long sip. “A witch didn’t cause the decimation.”
Malakai jerked back. “That’s what’s been told.”
“That is better believed than a villain who can’t be slain.
My ancestor, during Aneurin’s reign, spent most of his time hiding from him beneath this city.
Hiding. He was a coward. At least with the tale that the decimation had been a witch, potentially orchestrated by his hand, it strikes fear.
Better to be viewed as ruthless than weak. ”
Malakai let out a long breath, falling silent as he stared down at his hands, thinking. “They’ll be here in a few days. I don’t trust Locke, and I don’t trust Kai wouldn’t kill him if he felt the slightest bit threatened.”
Fool.
“Then let him die by his own ignorance. There’s nothing we can do. After that, you’ll likely take up the helm in Charon until we select someone better.”
And then they’d figure out how to destroy the Alpha of Deimos.
“Do you think Isla’s in danger?” Desperation dripped from his voice. “Sebastian’s there, too. They’re all I have, Cas.”
For now, Cassius thought, and perfectly timed, a knock came at his office door. “Isla is the only thing buying us time if what I suspect of the dark moon is correct.” He leaned over and tapped his friend’s knee. “But enough of this. I have a surprise for you, brother.”
Malakai lifted his brows, his features uneasy. “Your surprises are typically hit-or-miss.”
“I think you’ll like this one,” he said before rising to his feet, plastering on a smile. “Come in, Ravona!”
The door eased open, and Ravona, Winslow’s assistant, entered, but she wasn’t where Malakai’s eyes fell. It was the woman behind her, freshly bathed and finely dressed, who had become the center of his world.
A ghost made flesh.
Malakai’s hulking body trembled. “Apolla?”
Apolla’s darkened blue eyes filled with tears as she fell to her knees. Her burnished gold hair fell around her as she dropped her face into her gnarled hands and sobbed.
Ten years. She’d been lost for ten years, and Cassius had brought her home again.
Malakai charged up to her and dropped to his knees to take her in his arms. Apolla flinched away.
One moment passed. Two.
They met each other’s eyes, and then, with one last sob, she settled.
Cassius turned back to his city, giving them their moment as they embraced on his office floor. Mates reunited.
He gazed up at the moon, the Goddess watching over them, and smiled.