Epilogue
EPILOGUE
AURORA
“ W hen you said you’d see us soon,” Juno said to Michael as she paced in front of his desk, “I thought you meant in a few months. Helium, in a few weeks, given how time passes up here. Not the very next day.”
“There are important matters,” he said, leaning to the side to look around her. “Must you always trash every room you’re in?”
“Yup,” Levi said, not even being subtle about it as he tore pages from a book.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Michael sighed.
“Is evil fluffery afoot already?” Juno asked. “Because if so, I might be on team let-it-torch after all.”
“No. As I was?—”
His words cut off when the door opened.
Michael’s eyes snapped open, but when he saw who it was, he relaxed. “Just in time.”
The other archangels were already there, so I wasn’t sure who it could be. But it was the one from the battle.
Gabriel.
He lifted his chin as he walked into the office. As he stepped, flowers bloomed to life under his feet. Lilies.
Weird.
But pretty.
“As I was saying, there is something important to discuss.” Michael cleared his throat—and if I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was enjoying a little dramatics of his own with the lengthy pause. “You are being released from your duties.”
“What?”
“What does that mean?”
“Will we be dead?”
“I can’t be dead. I just restocked on gummy bears.”
Everyone spoke at once, talking over each other, but Michael’s booming voice carried over all of them. “No one is dead. When you were created, we had no idea the way that humanity would develop. Or that you would face such a lengthy curse. You’ve more than upheld your end of the celestial bargain. You defeated Absolve. You took down those two fallen baccarats…” His lips curved into a frown. “It’s not as much fun now that I know how it feels to swear on Earth. Anyway, you took them down, which has restored order to the ranks.”
“The demons were reminded who the biggest, baddest force around is,” Levi put in as he ripped a torn page into smaller bits.
“And you were willing to lay down your lives yesterday to shield the humans. You have sacrificed enough.”
“But what about the next evil that tries to harness dark magicks?” Lennon asked. “Who will protect humankind?”
“Another round of The Four. With modifications from what we’ve learned.” Nate opened his mouth, but Michael lifted a finger. “Including not making them wait so long for their mates.” He got a smug look. “Even if the powers-that-be were correct on the timing and what kind of partner you would need.”
“He has a point,” Deke whispered to me.
“What would happen to us?” Juno asked. “Would we get sick? Die? What about our powers? How would this even work?”
“Your powers are yours, always. You just wouldn’t have to use them for defending the world because you’ve already done that. You wouldn’t get sick. You would die of old age with your mate.”
“And then that’s it? No forever together?” Nate sat forward like he was going to storm out. “Food no.”
“You would go to your perfect afterlife,” Michael said. “Together. Always.”
Nate sat back again.
“You would also be able to start a family,” Gabriel said.
“That explains why the archangel of fertility is here,” Juno muttered.
“There is no rush. Think it over and send word when you decide.” Michael gave a flourish, and Levi was gone. The couples were returned to Earth.
Everyone but Deke and me.
I looked at him.
I’d been ecstatic when I thought we’d be fighting new and different evils for all time. It wasn’t the traditional happy ending, but it was still one.
But a chance for a real life together? Neither of us had ever had that. Not that I remembered, at least.
I didn’t have to ask Deke’s thoughts. I could feel them. His desire. His happiness. I knew what he wanted.
And apparently so did the angels because we were still there.
Gabriel smiled. “When you’re ready, come stand over here.”
Deke pulled me into a quick kiss—his mouth curved into a smile the whole time—before I went to stand in front of Gabriel. As he waved a hand over my stomach, I glanced down at the garbage Levi had left behind. In ripped letters resembling something from a serial killer, there was a message.
Name him after me, fake daughter.
Deke
FIVE YEARS LATER
“No running around Uncle Deke’s cabin.”
“They’re fine,” I tried to say, but Lennon’s glare cut to me.
“We might be impervious to death, but kids are very much not injury proof. Broken bones. Stitches. Concussions. Brain bleeds. CTE.”
“Lucy is two.” Lilith wrapped her arm around my brother. “She has at least a few seasons of football before we have to worry about CTE.”
He relaxed. Well, as much as a centuries-old father of a toddler could relax. “I don’t want her to slip.”
“Hey, hi, we’re here,” Nate greeted as he threw open the front door.
“You’re capable of teleportation. How are you late?” Juno asked from her spot on the couch as she lifted a big pi?a colada at Denny.
“We drove,” Denny said. “Now that she can talk, Persephone has been telling everyone that her dada and Uncle Levi can poof her across the country for a churro. I mean, she’s three, so they just think she’s being cute. But if it continues as she gets older, people will think she’s a liar. Or they’ll believe her. Neither is good, so we’re drivers now.”
“Have the other drivers always been incapable of maintaining speed or signaling?” Nate asked me.
“Yes. Since the invention of the car. Actually, the horse and buggy, too.”
“Damn.” He moved over to the couch. “Sister of mine, how’re the new recruits?”
Of all of us, Juno and Stellan were the only ones who decided against having kids. They still took The Four retirement plan and would age, but Juno split her time between overseeing Novel Idea and training our replacements.
“Not as good as us, but they’re getting there. We just closed on a property outside of the city where we’ll have more privacy. Stellan is going to get it set up so we can kick their asses more efficiently. It’ll be like we’re running Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, except Professor X and Magneto are boning. Finally . As it should’ve been in the comics.”
Stellan pulled his wife closer, still looking at her with love and adoration even when most would cross the street to avoid her insanity.
“Your retirement sounds like a lot of work,” Lennon muttered.
“Says the man who went back to working at the hospital as soon as he could,” Lilith said with a laugh as she sank into her mate’s side.
“Limited hours,” Lennon pointed out. His lips quirked. “Maybe we should take up golf.”
Stellan paused with his beer partway to his mouth and shook his head. “If being a detective didn’t pack the same punch after the clusterfuck we dealt with, I’d die of boredom by hole three. I’m much happier training the next gen to be prepared.”
“Clusterduck, clusterduck,” Lucy repeated—or tried to.
“Quack, quack, ducker,” Liam joined in, his blue and black eyes lit with pure joy.
“How does my kid sound more offensive than the one actually copying the swear?” I asked.
“He gets it from you,” my wife called from the kitchen.
It’s been too long since I’ve touched her.
Leaving the others to catch up, I went in and found Aurora fussing over the cake. I wrapped an arm around her from behind and grazed my mouth up her neck. “It’s fine, my one. Come visit. Everyone is here.”
We still saw my siblings at least a couple of times a month. Except instead of planning for attacks or barely making it out of them alive, we hung out. Took the kids to do whatever stupid shit kids wanted to do. Played board games—something that Denny was very competitive about, especially when her best friend joined us.
It might not have been thrilling, but after years on my own, moving constantly with no attachment, I was good with simple.
“The cake is uneven,” Aurora whispered as she worked to nudge it.
I turned her in my hold. “No one will notice. All they’ll care about is how it tastes.”
She threw her hands up, fondant and frosting launching across the room. “Well, of course it’ll be good. You baked it. It’s me who messed up the decorating.”
“Our kid picked a knife block for his cake. There’s really only so much we can do with that.”
“He likes cooking with his dada. I don’t blame him.” She smiled up at me. Small and genuine.
I cupped her cheek like in the vision she’d had all those years ago.
Content.
Whole.
She spun back around before I could taste her mouth—something far sweeter than cake. “I just want it to be perfect. How often does our son turn four?”
“Only once.” My hand slid down to rest low on her stomach. “But then you’ll have another fourth birthday to plan for him.”
“Her,” she corrected.
I twisted her again, her golden hair flying out. “Did you get a vision?”
She bit her lip and shook her head. “I just know.”
Nate came in and headed straight for the blender of pi?a coladas—not from a mix. “Don’t mind me. My mate is thirsty.” He grabbed a glass and then hesitated. “Is there alcohol in this batch?”
“No.”
“Good.” He poured and then stopped suddenly to stare at me.
I stared back.
More staring.
And then he finished fixing the drink without adding any rum, neither of us speaking what we both clearly knew.
“Looks like Liam is getting a new sister and a new cousin,” I whispered before grabbing Aurora’s untouched non-alcoholic drink and her hand. “Come on.”
Tugging her out into the living room, I settled my wife onto my lap. My son and nieces chased our dog. My siblings chatted, laughed, and bickered.
It was the perfect day with my family.
Together.
As we should be.
The End