Epilogue – Aurora
Two Years Later
Iwatch our little girl run around the park, laughing while chasing bugs.
We named her Willow.
The sun shines brightly and illuminates her light brown skin. I’ve styled her red hair into pigtails that hang over her shoulders with cute little curls at the end. Her blue eyes are so ethereal in the sun’s rays.
She’s the perfect combination of me and her father.
She’s part vampire, but she can still come out in the sun. She eats human food but also enjoys blood. She doesn’t have fangs yet, but Rorik said of the few vampire/witch hybrids he’s met over the years, fangs come during puberty.
We worried she’d age too fast because of the short pregnancy, but that didn’t happen. Claudia believes she’ll actually age slower because of her vampire, witch, and fae blood.
She’s barely two years old. I don’t expect her magic to surface for another few years. It could be sooner. I was five before I learned to make pencils levitate and start fires with a zap of magic.
Rorik sets out the spread for our picnic.
Farrah, Evangeline, Millie, and Teddy join us. Locheran and Xander are home asleep, not that they could be here anyway because of the sun. Layla, Vara, and Thorne are off doing something official. They’ve stayed busy these past few years since supernatural creatures came out to humans.
The world has accepted us. However, we still face skeptics and humans who believe we’re demons from the underworld.
I mean, not all the monsters, but some of them are, in fact, demons from the underworld.
I’ve been searching for my father these last few years but even with help from witches specializing in tracking, I’ve had no luck.
If a fae wants to stay hidden, they won’t be found until they allow it.
I was hoping that if he knew I was searching for him, he’d appear.
Maybe he’s not even in this realm anymore.
If he’s in the fae realm, maybe he can’t physically leave.
I know they don’t open the portals between our worlds often for whatever reason.
Probably something petty because most fae are trifling snobs—according to Rorik.
I’ve only technically met Korna and Malachi, and both were very sweet to me.
Probably because I almost shook Korna’s hand in greeting.
Rorik says that would have unknowingly locked me into a deal with him.
Apparently Malachi likes redheaded women and wants me to join him and Korna in the bedroom.
It took a lot of convincing for Rorik not to try and kill either of them once he found out their little scheme.
Still, they agreed to help me, but they said there’s not much they can do if my father isn’t in this realm.
They can’t communicate between our worlds, and Malachi has no plans to open the portal anytime soon.
When Rorik asked why, the fae prince dismissed us.
Rorik and I prepared sandwiches and pasta salads for the picnic, paired with chips and cookies. For Teddy and Millie, we brought flavored blood.
We all settle around the large blanket I set down for us to eat on. I call Willow over to eat, and she runs to me with excited giggles. I place her in my lap, and she messily eats the peanut butter and jelly sandwich I hand her.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, Farrah,” Rorik says. We all turn our heads towards him. “I met your brother.”
“What?”
She slowly lowers her sandwich from the bite she was about to take. Evangeline scoffs, crossing her arms.
“Yeah, Eric, I think?”
“Ethan?” Farrah says, her voice an octave higher.
Rorik points at her. “That’s it.”
“What the fuck do you mean, you met him?”
“I met his ghost.”
“When?”
“About two years ago.”
Farrah turns to me. “Aurora, I’m sorry, I’m going to have to kill your mate.”
“I might do it first,” I say. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
He shrugs. God, I hate when he does that. He’s such a jerk sometimes.
“We had a lot going on, and I forgot. Until now.”
“For two years?” Evangeline nearly screams.
“Um… yes?”
“Where,” Farrah says, her voice low and threatening.
Good thing Locheran’s not here. Farrah would be holding him back from jumping across the blanket to break Rorik’s neck. We’re not sure if he can survive that now. Otherwise, I might bring Rorik to Locheran and Farrah’s apartment myself to let the gargoyle incapacitate him.
“The warehouse where they took Vara. He was haunting it. But I went back a few months after Ciara perished, and he wasn’t there.”
“Why didn’t you bring me with you then?”
“You and Locheran were on vacation. Then I forgot again.”
“Rorik,” Evangeline says, sighing. “Where has Ethan gone?”
He purses his lips. “I’m not sure. He… saw the light?”
Farrah is crying now. I punch Rorik in the arm, and he feigns pain.
“I’m sorry. A ghost wasn’t at the top of my mind.” I punch him again. “But I’ll do everything I can to find out if he’s still in this realm, okay?”
Evangeline wraps her arm around her best friend’s shoulders, trying to comfort her. After a few minutes, she wipes her eyes and laughs.
“It’s fine. I’m fine,” Farrah says. “I mean, I can’t stand Rorik right now, but I’m also happy to hear that Ethan isn’t gone forever. Or he wasn’t. Maybe you’re right, and he passed on and that’s why you didn’t see him last time you were there.”
“Definitely a possibility,” Rorik says. “And I’m sorry I forgot.
I truly am. When you’ve lived as long as I have, new information is constantly being consumed, and I tend to set it aside or tune it out.
We can go back again and check. I’ll hire a paranormal investigator, one who specializes in ghosts, to help us track him down.
They’ll know pretty quickly if he’s passed on or if his spirit is still haunting around somewhere. ”
Farrah frowns, then says, “Ugh! Why are you so charming?”
“It’s annoying, isn’t it?” I say.
“Hey!” Rorik places his palm over his chest, playing the victim.
“Dada,” Willow says, holding her arms out to him, her little fingers making a grabbing motion. “Teef.”
“Teef?” Teddy asks, chuckling.
“She wants to see his fangs,” I say.
Rorik takes Willow from me and drops his ‘teef.’ She giggles and claps her hands.
“Rawr,” she says and hugs her father.
The group awes and the conversation pivots from Farrah finding out about her brother being a ghost to talking about how cute Willow will be once her fangs come in.
Rorik stands and zips around the park with her in his arms—Willow’s favorite thing to do with her dad. She says it’s like they’re flying.
Tears fill my eyes at the sight of her happiness. At the sounds of her addictive giggles. Every time I see them together, I get emotional. Because it was just two years ago that this man held me captive. I hated him, and I wanted to escape.
I never expected to be bewitched by the vamp.
And I’d do it all over again if given the chance.
The End