Epilogue 1
~Velra~
We all whistled, hollered, and clapped as we watched Lazriel take the stage in the distance at the rear of Wraeven Academy and receive his degree.
Magical balloons every color of the rainbow floated overhead.
There were no graduation gowns because Wraeven Academy was about not conforming, coming into our own. Home to the feared, the hunted, and the deadly. All the graduates were in their own clothes sitting in the front four rows.
Sylas was wolf-whistling from beside me, while Cassius was clapping to my left, and Ketheron was beside him yelling out Lazriel’s name.
We all chuckled as Lazriel turned suddenly and flashed his fangs and his wolf claws in one. Perfect for him to mark the occasion and a great callback to his incredible evolution.
Through the celebration and revelry, I looked out to see Remnant and Rhyza partially concealed in the trees.
Given Remnant’s status, he couldn’t be right in the thick of it.
But he was still here. He wouldn’t have missed his son’s graduation.
He had a shimmering film encompassing him that served to protect him from the daylight.
When Lazriel descended the stage, I saw them cease their clapping, then Rhyza slammed Remnant against a tree, fisted her hand in his hair, then crushed her mouth to his. I looked away quickly when I saw some rather violent dry humping starting to go down.
It had me chuckling, though, as Lazriel noticed, his eyes shooting wide, before suddenly burst over here, barging along the aisle of white wooden chairs all spread out over the green. “Ready to get gone?”
Ketheron frowned and look at his program. “It says in here that there is at least ninety minutes remaining of this Graduation Ceremony event.”
“You want to cut out early?” Sylas asked, leaning over me, and unable to resist fondling my hair as he did.
Lazriel gestured at the shimmering gold scroll in his hand.
“Got the goods, walked the stage, let you guys and my parents see it and memorize it forever. We’re good to go.
Besides, the place I have in mind to head off to right now is gonna be a blast.” He looked at Ketheron.
“And a place you’ve been looking forward to visiting. ”
Ketheron’s eyes lit up and he suddenly shot up in his chair. “Let’s move.”
I laughed. “Fine. Let’s go.” I struggled to get up, having to push a little into Sylas at an angle, and only then lift myself out of the chair. The pregnancy was really far along now, so movement from certain positions was an art form in its own right.
Cassius and Sylas were on me before I’d fully made it to my feet, helping me on either side so I didn’t have to strain.
“Thanks,” I said, beaming at them.
A Lazriel surprise was just what I needed.
Before coming here, I’d been with Brandise Parker, the specialist Healer, finally attending therapy.
She’d come to Glacialis Arx to do the session.
It had been... a lot. But I had also felt a bit of a weight lifting off as I’d gotten into everything.
Ketheron was even attending therapy. After the mind-meddling he’d suffered through, and all the mentions of Corvin recently because of Morien, it had brought a lot of difficult things to the surface for him.
He’d had his session right after mine, so I’d waited there for him to make sure everything went okay for him, and because I figured he’d need some comfort afterward.
I’d had his bear at the ready when he’d finished, and we’d just sat for a while together talking about light and fun things like Cloud Muffins, planning the furnishing and interiors of the rest of our castle home.
I smiled to myself as we headed away from the graduation ceremony.
We’d moved Glacialis Arx fulltime a few weeks ago when Lazriel and I had finished up our year. It was now our permanent home.
We’d shifted the entrance to the Rifted Cradle that it resided within to right next to Sylas’ log cabin home.
It had seemed apt, being out of the way and enhancing the protection even more so.
And Sylas had also wanted to keep the place around, given all the history there, which had now become our shared history.
Cassius created a portal once we were out of sight, and we all stepped through.
As I did, I felt a twinge in my belly.
It had been happening all morning.
Not the same as the baby kicking, more cramp-like.
I shook it off.
I was still three weeks away from my due date.
Today was all about celebration and focusing on the here and now, and that was what I was determined to do.
Sanctum Sands Beach.
That had been Lazriel’s surprise place to visit today.
The place where I’d defeated my parents and thwarted their acolytes with Cassius, Thryne, and King Darethor.
It didn’t hold pain, though.
It held a sense of victory, of liberation, of empowerment.
Ah… I’d told Lazriel as much a few weeks back when he’d randomly brought it up.
Now it was clear it hadn’t been random at all.
I’d even heard him asking Cassius about it, who’d told him that it wasn’t a tainted place for him either, but a mark of what happened when good triumphed over evil.
I grinned to myself. Of course Cassius had said that.
The place was packed, so many supernatural beings all over the place.
Word had gotten around over the months about our efforts in the war in bringing down Puritas and Morien, so people kept sneaking glances our way, smiles, chin lifts.
But nobody had bothered us, just letting us be.
It was really sweet.
Lazriel had been shooting high into the sky on the steam arcs produced from the draconic energy in the darkened volcanic sand to the east of the beach, interacting with four dragons who were enjoying some leisure time.
Ice dragons of House Vortimer who’d come to this plane for the day from the Draconic Realm.
Cassius had seen him getting a bit rambunctious, so he’d guided him over to the tidepools dotting the shoreline in the middle, right in front of where I sat on the golden sand.
Over by Tenebra Cove, vampires were filling the crescent-shaped beach alcove in the sun-safe zone, drinking, partying, swimming, and some even lounging and just chilling.
I watched Cassius dunk Lazriel under the water, just as Ketheron blasted from beneath and sent him flying where he landed with a giant splash that had Lazriel laughing as he resurfaced, shaking his hair out like a dog.
He’d stripped down to a zebra-print thong of all things.
Cassius was shirtless and in a pair of boardshorts that were intentionally Lazriel’s favorite forest-green to get a rise out of him.
And Ketheron was in a tank and shorts, but it was a big deal for him, because he rarely ever even let down his hood in public, let alone took his hoodie off.
He’d been self-conscious about the golden fissures that formed jagged patterns across every inch of his skin.
I knew how that felt. I’d been that way with my Wraith-marked skin, the black smoky marks encircling my arms. Now, though, it was a point of pride for me, of being different, of being able to do amazing things.
Just like it seemed to be becoming for Ketheron too.
“Love the drawbridge,” Sylas said, and I smiled out at him beside me, in his tight swim red swim shorts on his hands and knees as he dug out the moat for the castle we were making. Yeah, I’d developed a thing for castles.
I had been playing magical volleyball with him and the boys in the water, but I’d grown really tired and I’d had to sit down.
So here we were making sand sculptures. There was one we’d first made together a few minutes ago of a giant teddy bear that looked exactly like Ketheron’s, something he’d gotten a kick out of—and something that had helped him relax into being around people for one of the first times ever that didn’t involve a battle setting.
I jolted as another cramp assaulted me.
“Velra?” Sylas asked, looking between me and my belly, which was only partially hidden by my flowy purple tank not quite brushing my black swim shorts.
I winced, when another cramp occurred.
But then it faded in the next moment.
I waited… nothing else came.
“It’s all good. Just a disturbance, baby getting impatient, I guess.”
I saw him frown, about to ask more, but then indigo magic erupted beside me, and then I was gasping in pleasant surprise as Kelsana teleported in.
“Hey, Vel,” she greeted me, something she’d taken to calling me.
“Kel,” I responded with a grin… yeah, it went well together.
“Sylas,” she greeted politely, as she sank down onto the sand, her green sarong sweeping across it. It matched her wavy hair that was brushing her shoulders and her golden string bikini top.
“How’ve you been?” he asked. “I’ve heard some things concerning your induction into the Coven Unity Division. You’re making one hell of an impression.”
“Yeah,” she said, her eyes glinting. “It’s going really well. And I also just got back from Maven Academy after making peace with my old friends. I guess me working with Thryne helped demonstrate that I’m not that same nasty person anymore.”
“It’s not just that,” I told her. “It’s you. You did the work.”
Emotion welled in her eyes, but she blinked it away, then her magic sparked and a white paper bag materialized—with the Vantiqe logo on it.
“You didn’t?” I moved closer. “Hell, yes!”
She laughed and levitated the food from the bag, and Sylas had me beaming out at him as he conjured two plates for us.
I watched as she placed a Cinnamon Cloud Muffin on each plate and then something else I’d been craving—a Frosted Moon Petal Cake that was a lemon cake with hibiscus frosting.
It looked so perfect sitting next to the soft muffin topped with glazed sugar and the misting charm spelled onto it, and the lovely aroma of cinnamon and lemon fusing together.
I could barely wait a second after thanking her for being so thoughtful before I was picking up the cake and taking a huge bite out of it.
“Amazing,” I uttered through my mouthful.
I broke off a piece and handed it to Sylas.
As he tasted it, his eyes damn near hooded. “Wow.”
“I know,” Kel said, alternating between the muffin and the cake. “Nothing else like these pastries.”
I swallowed another bite, then went to pass another piece to Sylas, when a brutal pain tore through my belly, way beyond all the others so far.
It had me dropping the piece of cake and clutching myself.
“Velra!” Kelsana cried, reaching for me as Sylas skidded in front of me, his haste destroying half of the castle in the process.
White light flashed in my vision and then Cassius was right there.
Ketheron was on my other side in a second with a burst of his gold power, Lazriel with him.
Lazriel pressed his hand to my belly, then smiled at me. “Baby’s coming, love.”
“Now? No, I thought the twinges were just false labor or something. It’s early.”
Lazriel eased his hand away for a moment so Sylas could get in there. His red magic emanated carefully and he concentrated for a few moments, then told me, “The baby is well and strong, unharmed.” He smiled. “He’s just… ready.”
Ketheron grasped Cassius’ arm excitedly. “A baby, I can’t wait.”
Cassius stroked my hair, then told me, “This child is part Sylas and Lazriel. No wonder he’s upturning expectations and bucking procedure.”
A chuckle escaped me, cutting through the panic.
Then I looked out at Kelsana and Ketheron, the care for me, the friendships I’d built in spite of everything.
Then my men all over me, loving me, warming me, making me feel both safe and so fully alive at the same time.
And now it was here—our family was expanding.
I couldn’t believe it.
I couldn’t believe any of it.
It was absolutely everything to me.
“I can’t wait to meet our son,” I breathed.