Epilogue
Love is in the air. Coffee’s in my cup.
Nearly five hundred years later, and he’s still not shut up!
“I am so excited!”
I was literally bouncing on my toes. I could not contain myself. My shop was rebuilt, better than ever. I had a Mate that I loved with all my heart, and my boys were happy, healthy, and adored Kai. It was everything I’d ever dreamed of and so much more.
“I know you are,” Kai chuckled as he leaned across the counter and laid his lips to mine. “And so am I,” he whispered before kissing softly.
Groaning and huffing and exasperated breath when he pulled back, I made a show of being irritated as he reached for the coffee– Kai’s Fiery Frothy Fire Chief’s Special– I’d whipped up just for him.
Holding onto the bright, shining silver travel mug bedazzled with red crystal flames and blue quartz waves that I’d personally designed, I couldn’t stop the giggles that escaped through my lips when he pouted and sniffed, “Please, Martha, my love, may I have my coffee?” With the twinkle in his eye getting more pronounced, he added, “I promise to rub your feet and kiss your toes when I get home tonight.”
“Done!” I cheered.
Still holding onto the mug, I crooked the index finger of my other hand and waited until he leaned towards me. As soon as his lips were within reach, I laid a loud smacking kiss on his cheek and laughed out loud when he groaned, “And here I thought you were gonna give me a reason to stay home.”
“Any other day, I would do exactly that. I’d even try to throw you over my shoulder as I locked the doors and carried you upstairs, but today…
” Stepping back from the bar, I spun to the left, humming a happy tune.
Lifting my arms over my head in my best ballerina pose, I twirled my way to my Mate, loving that he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him.
One really long and extremely hot kiss later, I stepped back, swatted his beautiful backside, and motioned to the door. “Go on, Chief. Stop tryin’ to change my mind. Go make our little town safe from all manner of flame and fire.”
“Except the Dragon kind, right?” He chuckled, kissing the tip of my nose before backing toward the door. “Sure, you don’t want me to stay?”
“Oh, I want you to stay…” I tilted my head to the side and tried my best to be coy. I even batted my eyes. Then, when I couldn’t take it any longer, I laughed, “Oh, get outta here. I gotta open this shop and you gotta go be the Fire Chief.”
Giving me a salute, Kai turned and walked to the door. Stopping when it was open just a few inches, he looked over his shoulder and winked, “I love you.”
“I love you more.”
Sighing blissfully, I turned toward my boys and called out, “Y’all good? I’m about to…”
As I called out to my boys, a sudden, wild howling erupted from Doggo Corner.
All three of them leapt to their furry feet, tossing back their heads to bay at the ceiling.
Energy crackled in the air. I was already half-running toward them when Arthur’s deep, rumbling yowl morphed, with a great bit of Magic from the feel of it, into a word: “Incoming!”
Spinning on my toes and feeling a pulse of unseen energy race up my spine, I nearly collided with the magical image forming in the center of my shop—a vision of the much older, much gnarlier, and undoubtedly angrier Barney Mackrelfresh. “What the fu…?”
“I told you. I told you, Martha Dellencourt. I warned you, and now you will pay the price!”
“What price? What are you…?”
“Just wait until I figure out how to get past those Magical walls you’re hiding behind. My Magic is returning. I am getting stronger. Just wait. I’m coming for you, Martha Dellencourt. I’m coming for you, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
Standing perfectly still, not even breathing as the Mystical bubble projecting Barney’s face into my shop fizzled out of existence, leaving a nasty stench and blobs of neon green goo on the floor, I did the only thing my muddled brain could think to do.
I turned towards my boys and asked, “What happened to a warning? You were supposed to give me a warning.”
Before they could so much as open their furry mouths, I let my chin fall to my chest and whispered, “Wonder if Fate has an extra pair of combat boots. I think I’mma gonna need ‘em.”