Epilogue
Effie…
Three years later…
There’s no kind of chaos like a Sherwood family get-together.
Everyone is gathered in the backyard of my childhood home.
My sisters are circled around the cauldron, which has been moved out of the kitchen and into the garden.
Whatever is boiling in it smells more like elderberry wine on a fast ferment cycle than a spell.
Meanwhile my parents are standing in the summoned darkness by the conservatory talking with Juniper’s vampire fiancé.
There are various aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents, and family friends relaxing on blankets on the lush grass or dancing on the floating floor.
Tilda’s husband, Gil, and Leona’s husband, Erik, are shooting flames out of their fingertips to get just the right char to the steaks cooking on the grill.
Erik’s sister and brother are talking with Beatrice, and she has that gleam in her uncovered eye that always means trouble.
And Barkley? Well, let’s just say he isn’t a rooster in the daylight anymore and no one is more excited about that than Bea—but she’ll have to be the one to tell you all about that.
Everyone is laughing and having a good time basking in the fabulous reality that the Council has been defeated thanks in no small part to Tilda and Leona keeping The Liber Umbrarum out of their hands.
Then there was Juniper unlocking the magic of the runes carved into the jail in Arcadia, bringing in the vampires, and escaping The Beyond to bring that information back to Witchingdom.
And Bea played no small part when she figured out how to lift the curse that kept her now boyfriend trapped inside Barkley so he could complete the final spell to banish the Council for good.
And me? Well, I guess I helped too by breaking the Aetos Werewolves’ generations-old jinx and bringing all the werewolves in Witchingdom over to our side of the fight against the Council.
We all have a purpose, even if it’s not always the one the world thinks it should be—sometimes it turns out to be so much more.
I lie back on our picnic blanket brought from home so it smells like the Arcadia woods and inhale a big whiff of pine needles and the first chilly fall breeze woven into it.
I settle my head onto Darius’s lap, using his thick thigh as a pillow as I watch so many of the people I love celebrating the upcoming Samhain together.
“So what’s this I hear about the troll vegetable garden collective getting an anonymous donation to cover its financial shortfall?” I ask.
Not a single facial twitch or twinge betrays my husband’s involvement, but my wolf can feel his wolf grinning unabashedly.
“And coincidentally,” I continue as he combs his strong fingers through my wavy hair, “it was the exact same amount that the Magic Bean Corporation lost in an unexplained and unauthorized withdrawal.”
One side of Darius’s mouth curls upward in a smile, but just barely.
“Really? Interesting. I guess the universe evens things out every once in a while. But with a shady track record like they have by making it illegal for farmers to harvest the seeds of crops grown from their beans, you could call that righteous payback.”
“Uh-huh, and does the universe howl at the moon and run through the woods at night?” I tease.
He looks down at me and that half smile turns into a wide cocky grin. “Only if it’s damn lucky.”
In the kids’ cartoon movie, Robin Hood was a fox, but in Witchingdom I know he’s a full-on werewolf—tats and all.
Is it all legal? No.
Is it justified? Yes.
Is it sexy as all get-out? You absolutely know it is.
“Do you think Artemis will ever come visit us again?” I ask, wondering not for the first time about my favorite Fate, who we haven’t seen since our wedding.
Darius combs his fingers through my hair in a long, soothing motion. “I think wherever she and her sisters are, they’re weaving up some plan or plot to nudge the next generation of Aetos Werewolves or witches into the direction they want them to go.”
My hand falls to my quick-growing belly. Five more months to go before this little one makes her first appearance. “Artemis follows my WitchyGram account.”
Darius lets out a rumble of a chuckle. “The woman always did enjoy a little chaos—and that is exactly what you are.”
I sit up and look Darius in the eye, raising one brow in question. “And you don’t?”
“You know I do.” His hot gaze drops to my mouth, and I swear I can hear the low, possessive call of his wolf. “But maybe I should show you just how much.”
My body flushes with desire. “I think you should. I may have forgotten since this morning.”
“Well, we can’t have that.” He takes a quick look around at everyone chatting and enjoying themselves. “No one will notice if we disappear for a while.”
“Oh, they’ll notice,” I scoff—it is a Sherwood gathering, after all, “but I’m not going to let that stop us.”
Darius shoots me a cocky grin. “When could anything ever stop you?”
I shake my head. “Never.”
“Exactly, and that’s one of the many things I love about you.
” Then he leans in close and lowers his voice so only I can hear.
“Magick us back to our cabin, and I’ll hold you captive on that big bed of ours telling you about each and every reason why I love you while I spend the rest of the afternoon between your legs. ”
And yes, maybe we should say our goodbyes first, but with an offer like that, would you delay getting out of there even for a minute?
No, I don’t think you would.
And neither would I, so as soon as Darius’s lips touch mine, I wriggle my fingers, the scent of honeysuckle fills the air, and then we are in the in-between, rushing back home to Arcadia together, as always.