Epilogue Two
I SIPPED PEAR BLOSSOM WINE AND PRETENDED to look at the view, but in reality...I couldn’t take my eyes off Rook.
She lay in the same lounger where we’d gotten tipsy the night we’d lost our virginity to each other. Her silver nightgown draped on the ground and her eyes were closed as she tipped her face to the stars.
She was far too fucking beautiful.
I didn’t care we had eternity; it wouldn’t be long enough.
Whisper huffed where he lay sprawled beside Echo on the floor. The two panthers never left our sides, and somehow, twenty years had passed since we’d embraced immortality.
Ever since we’d brought Echo’s soul back to life, she seemed to have been infected by the same longevity as Whisper—neither of them aging or getting sick and we hoped we’d have them forever.
But if we didn’t—if one day they died...we’d just watch over their souls in their next reincarnation until we were able to bring them back to us.
The fragrance of jasmine hung in the warm night as I sat upright and placed my empty wine jar on the side table. Ever since we’d become something other than human, we could indulge in whatever we wanted. We didn’t need to eat but we enjoyed it. We didn’t get drunk but enjoyed trying.
Life was even more perfect than the illusion I’d conjured and as the lanterns flickered along the low balustrade of the terrace, their light dancing in the gentle breeze, my chest squeezed with overwhelming gratefulness.
My gaze slipped back to the view where stars blazed across the inky sky, and the shadows of the mountains thrummed with life.
I’d grown used to hearing every heartbeat living around us. I no longer struggled to block out the murmur of energy and existence. Each one I could snuff out with just a thought. Each one was far too precious to count.
Even the tiniest insect put out the loudest heartbeat, and not a day passed where I wasn’t awed that I’d been given this gift.
Each year, I learned something more about what I was capable of.
Each decade, Rook and I embraced our differences and became masters at bending life, repairing death, and watching over the world and everything in it.
My gaze went back to Rook, like it always did.
She opened her eyes, sensing I was watching her.
She gave me a lazy, lopsided smile. Her cheeks flushed from plum blossom wine as she bit her rosy bottom lip that was far too kissable. “You’re giving me that look again.”
“What look?” I smirked. I knew exactly what look.
“The one where you suddenly drag me into the dreamscape and have your wicked way with me.”
“At least there we have privacy.” I arched my chin at the panthers watching us with twin sets of golden glowing eyes. “We have an audience far too often.”
“They still find a way to follow us.” She giggled and slowly sat up. “So...bedtime?”
Standing, I bent down and helped her upright.
The moment our skin touched, the energy that constantly flowed and fed off each other completed its ouroboros, recharging us, cleansing the alcohol in our system, returning us as good as new.
“No fair.” She pouted. “I was having fun being all loose and lazy.”
I laughed and kissed her gently. “Little drunkard.”
We hardly ever indulged but tonight was a special occasion.
Pulling her toward the edge of the terrace, I cupped her cheek.
Before I took her into paradise and made love to her...there was something I needed to do. Something I’d wanted to do for years.
Over three hundred years to be exact but I’d wanted it to be a surprise. Which was nearly impossible when sharing every thought and feeling—
“Wait.” She gasped. “Oh, is that why you bought wine?” Her heart overflowed, buffeting me and making it hard to concentrate with how much I needed her.
“You.” I pointed in her face. “Don’t ruin it.”
Her face lit up in a blinding smile. “I wouldn’t dare.” Holding out her left hand, she wriggled her ring finger. “Go on then.”
“Having you in my heart all the time is sometimes very inconvenient.”
“Then stop trying to be all secretive and do it.”
Taking her hand, I pinched her finger where a wedding band would go. “I know our souls are bonded beyond any mortal connection. We’re a pair in every way. A forged circle. A never-ending loop—”
“Lucien...just say the words.”
“We don’t need human traditions. We don’t need marriage certificates or paper pledges—”
“Luxin.” She growled under her breath, adorably fierce, and using my true name. “Just ask me the question so it stops echoing so loudly in your mind.”
“Have I told you lately how annoying you are?”
“Not lately.” She laughed. “But I hear everything.”
“One of these days, I’ll figure out a way to have some privacy.”
“You’d miss me.” Her eyes glowed with their silver ring. You’d miss me inside you. You’d miss me walking in your heart. You’d miss the fact that you can feel just how much I love you and need you and—
An image of her on her hands and knees with me thrusting into her from behind filled my thoughts. She sent me picture after picture of just how good it would feel—
“Ugh, you don’t play fair.” I groaned, doing my best to block her out.
“Then you better get it over with and ask me so we can consummate.”
“Fine.”
Whisper came to my side while Echo went to Rook’s. Both panthers watched us as if they’d come to be our official witnesses.
Taking a deep breath, I summoned a tiny flame between my fingers and held the power against Rook’s silver-glowing skin. “I’ll just skip right to it then, shall I?”
“Good idea.” She smirked.
“I’m not even going to ask anymore. I already know your answer.”
She pouted. “Spoilsport.”
“Marry me.”
Tears sparkled in her gaze. “But I already did...the day we met.”
“Humour me.” I kissed her again. “Tell me you’re mine. Call me exactly what I am. What I’ve always been—”
“Husband.”
I shuddered as a burst of gold lit up the starry sky. I trembled as I held her hand tighter. “Wife.”
Frost etched the terrace tiles in a delicate rune. “I think I could get used to you calling me that.”
“Good, because I plan to use it often.” Stepping into her, I whispered, “You can never get away from me now, wife.” Fiery light flared from my fingertips, soaking into where I held her.
She shivered, knowing exactly what I wanted to do.
“I love you with everything that I am.” Letting my power free, it sank into her skin and seared a ring directly into her immortal flesh.
She could heal the burn with just a thought.
She didn’t need to wear my mark to belong to me, but...
she exhaled with joy as the golden power bonded with her flesh, forming a glowing golden band that would always hold every shred of my heart.
I went to kiss her the moment it was done, but she pushed me away, grabbed my hand, and summoned the silver ice she wielded so well.
I hissed under my breath as winter wrapped tight around my wedding finger, marking me in the same way, leaving behind a gleaming silver band that shimmered with all the love she had for me.
The bond between us flared wide, flooding me with her desire, her love, her hunger. Rook’s eyes flashed silver as she felt the same wave from me.
With a low growl, I hauled her against me, one hand burying in her hair, the other gripping her waist hard enough to bruise if she was mortal. Our lips crashed together in a kiss that was pure madness. Fire and ice clashed, sparking and melting, creating steam that billowed into the stars.
She moaned into my mouth, the sound vibrating straight through my soul. Her hands clawed down my back, pulling me closer as if she could fuse our bodies together just like our hearts and souls.
Forever, wife. I sent into her heart. You’re mine forever.
Her icy power wrapped around my eternity like the most exquisite chains. And you’re mine, husband.
We kissed like the world was ending and beginning at the same time, and as I summoned the dreamscape...something fluttered against my mind.
A barely there, scarily soft thrum.
I froze.
Fisting her shoulders, I jerked her away from me, my gaze locking on her belly.
“What...?” She panted from our kiss, her thoughts struggling to catch up.
For the first time in decades, I had a secret.
A colossally crazy secret as my power cut through the thunder of Rook’s heartbeat and locked onto the quieter one beneath.
A second heartbeat.
Tiny. Strong. And oh, so fucking perfect.
But then she heard me.
She plucked the shock straight out of my head.
Stumbling backward, her hands pressed against her flat stomach. “It...it can’t be.”
I staggered as the truth smacked me right in the face.
I’d spent most of my human life thinking I didn’t want children.
I’d spent most of it being tortured to breed.
And for some reason, I’d assumed the day we’d died...we’d lost the ability to create life the normal mortal way but...
Her lips parted as her gaze filled with tears. “Are you sure?”
I closed my eyes, focusing inward.
The purest little sound answered back. Clear and steady and impossibly beautiful.
A child.
Half her, half me.
“I’m sure.”
I had no idea what any of this meant.
No idea what our future held.
But I did know I wanted this.
I wanted to create life from death, happiness from pain, and write a new beginning.
With Rook.
With Whisper.
With all the souls we were guardians over.
And the little daughter Rook now carried...
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THE END