Epilogue
Damien’s POV
Everything was going according to plan: Nina had been retrieved for the Darkened One, Arleen was safe, and soon his family would be whole again. They would even meet his swan.
He should have felt relieved. Victorious, even.
Yet as Damien strode into the demonic temple, unease writhed in his gut, tightening with every step he took.
Something inside him was screaming, drowning out every rational thought except one.
Luna.
He needed to see her. Once he set his eyes on her, everything would feel right in the world again . . . it always did around her.
She had this holy goodness about her, a kindness that could not be dulled by lies, betrayal, or even brutality.
It made the darkness within him settle. Despite all she’d been through, she still assumed the best of people.
How he wished he could see the world the way she did, but a life raised in the Shadow Kingdom had left him without that ability.
Still, she made him want to try . . . made him want things he had no right to.
Skies above, when had he become such a sentimental fool?
In Grythorn, he’d told himself that saving Luna was a strategy. He had sensed her power, her light, from the first moment they met, and something in him had been drawn to her ever since, helpless as a moth to flame.
When the magical tracker from the Darkened One had landed him in front of Luna instead of Nina, Damien had figured it was a coincidence—a mistake in the spellwork.
Then he’d seen Luna . . . felt her power, hidden deep within her, calling out to him. Like a bond snapping into place.
After that, he told himself his determination to protect her, to guide her, to earn her trust, had nothing to do with the pull he felt towards her, or the way his chest felt lighter around her.
He’d been lying, though.
Nina’s screams echoed through the temple, ringing in his mind. He cringed. She was so distraught, far more than Damien ever imagined she would be.
But he tried to put his mind at ease; the Darkened One had given his word that Nina would come to no harm as long as she broke the curse she had put on him, and Damien was inclined to believe him.
After all, if the Darkened One truly wanted to harm her, wouldn’t he have killed her rather than exiling her all those years ago?
Surely she was smart enough to undo the curse and be on her way, right?
He sighed and resigned himself to his fate. After he saw Luna, he’d hop in that carriage with Nina and make sure everything went over smoothly, if only for Luna’s sake.
The hinges creaked as he pushed open the door leading to the common room.
Arleen sat at the table with Marion, fingers wrapped around a mug of steaming tea.
She looked . . . calm. Perhaps a little tired, but otherwise fine.
It surprised him. He would’ve thought that being a prisoner of the Darkened One, the terror of being forced to marry such a wicked being, would’ve left its mark on her.
Yet here she was, her equine-like ears forward as she quietly listened to Marion, her eyes still holding that softness that had always made her seem untouchable by anything ugly.
It did nothing to ease the knot forming in Damien’s chest.
It was no wonder the Darkened One had picked her as a bride.
Monsters like him were drawn to innocent, kind things for the sole purpose of seeing them ruined.
And Arleen was pure—all bright laughter and reckless hope, wandering too close to danger without ever seeing it.
When their father announced their engagement, Damien knew he had to save her; she would never survive a man like the Darkened One.
Corey stood at the counter, flour dusting her arms and smeared across her cheek as she kneaded dough in quick, efficient motions.
It all looked so normal . . .
Arleen’s eyes found his. “They’re gone now?” Her smile wobbled, then steadied. But he didn’t have time to analyze that.
“Um—no.” His gaze swept the room again. “Where’s Luna?”
Marion answered, “I think seeing Nina this morning was too much for her. She hasn’t come out of her room yet.”
“Actually,” Corey corrected, not looking up from the dough, “she left. Said she needed air or something. That was . . . a little while ago.”
The words hit him like a physical blow.
Luna was gone. Out there, alone, in a place surrounded by fae territory where she could easily fall into one of their miserable traps.
Hell. She’d almost been lured off the path earlier, and if he hadn’t been there to snap her out of it .
. . he didn’t even want to think about what would’ve happened.
Panic rose inside him, coiling around every muscle. He forced himself to breathe, to not spiral. His brilliant, stubborn little starlight, who survived above all else, surely would be smarter than to walk the forest path, right?
Dread sank into his bones.
Because the thing he loved about her—how she refused to see how dangerous the world was—also made her reckless. And maybe na?ve enough to believe that simply knowing about the fae and their danger meant she could safely walk the forest path alone . . . and that would cost her everything.
“You just let her leave . . . ?” His voice came out rougher than intended, his shadows gathering at his hooves like attack dogs sensing their master’s rage. “You can’t possibly be that ignorant. In case you forgot, we’re surrounded by the fae.”
“Screw you.” Corey grabbed the ball of dough and hurled it with impressive accuracy. It hit him square in the chest before thudding to the floor, leaving a white mark on his black shirt. “She’s a grown woman, and last I checked, we weren’t her keepers.”
No, but if that’s what she needs to stay safe, he thought to himself. I’ll happily accept that role.
Temper barely contained, Damien brushed flour from his shirt. “That doesn’t mean you let her wander into danger.”
“She’s smarter than you give her credit for,” Corey shot back. “She knows what happened to Ella. And I told her to stay close and not go wandering into the trees.”
Marion, always the voice of reason, calmly said, “Give her some space, Damien. She probably needs time alone to process everything. She’ll come back. Don’t worry.”
Don’t worry? He wanted to laugh . . . or break something. Maybe both.
He wasn’t just worried—he was going out of his goddamn mind with need. Need to find her, to run his hands over every inch of her to make sure she was whole, to hear her call him overbearing for hovering.
Because those eyes . . . Nina’s wild blues had stared him down from that carriage with such longing it had made his very bones shiver. For that brief second, he could’ve sworn he was staring at Luna. His Luna.
But that was impossible . . . insane, even.
Clearly, Nina’s words were getting to him—making him doubt himself, and he knew better than to do that.
Her insistence that she was Luna was a mere ploy; a desperate attempt to avoid returning to the enemy she’d once cursed.
After all, Nina was not someone to be underestimated, and the tales of her cunning ways had so far held true.
“Oh, I forgot.” Corey wiped her hands on her apron. “She said there’s a note for you in the bedroom. Wanted you to read it once everything was done.”
His pulse kicked up, and he crossed the room in three long strides, heading down the hall to Luna’s quarters.
His hands shook, actually shook, as he reached for the door handle.
“Luna?” His knuckles brushed against the wood. “You in there?” Despite the sheer adrenaline pumping through his veins, making his hands shake, it felt wrong to enter without knocking first.
No one answered.
Which of course, no one did. He swung the door open and stepped inside.
It was empty. The bed was neat—untouched—the blanket smoothed flat and the pillow still fluffed, as if no one had slept there at all.
His heart stumbled once, then dropped.
A small folded scrap of paper lay in the center of the mattress.
He crossed the room, the floorboards suddenly too loud, and picked it up. The paper crackled under his fingers.
Dear Damien,
I have left. Do not come searching for me.
Luna
Well, at least this time, she’d left a note. That was progress.
Last time she’d run, she’d vanished without a trace, and he found her surrounded by humans, half dead.
He hadn’t blamed her for running then—trust was a luxury, and he should’ve been more honest given all she was dealing with .
. . But he thought they were past all that .
. . thought she was beginning to see him as more than just a monster who happened to save her.
He reread the note. The lines were straight, careful. No ink blots. No little flare of frustration where she might have stabbed the pen too hard. No cramped letters from someone writing quickly, angrily, while trying not to shake.
Whatever decision she had made, she had done so with a clear mind.
“Skies,” he muttered.
Did she really think she could navigate Eloria on her own? Why wouldn’t she talk to him first? He would have taken her somewhere safe. Anywhere she wanted.
She had asked him not to follow her, but he couldn’t ignore the danger threatening her. She was vulnerable and unprotected.
He shoved the note into his pocket and went back to the kitchen. He was going to find her, if only to make sure she was well. After all, he had promised himself to keep her safe, no matter what.
“Hold on.” Corey stepped in front of him, her flour-dusted hand held up as if that could stop him.
Wordlessly, he handed the note to her.
She skimmed it and her brows shot up. “She’s not coming back.”
Marion frowned. “What do you mean?”
Corey waved the note. “She’s run off.”
Marion stood slowly. The easy calm from earlier was gone. “Let me see.”
Corey passed her the paper, and the colour drained from Marion’s face as she read it.
“Why would she leave?” She looked towards Damien, eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”
Damien blinked, his frustration slipping through. “Nothing. Why do you assume it’s my fault?”
“Because you traded her mother,” Corey said flatly.
Arleen gasped, tea spilling over her fingers.
“It wasn’t like that,” Damien practically snarled at his sister. “I did what I had to do to get you back.” The words hit like a physical blow, and guilt flickered across Arleen’s face.
With a shake of his head, Damien quickly backtracked. “It’s all right. She understood why . . . and I told her Nina would be safe.”
“Do you actually believe that?” Corey crossed her arms. “Don’t tell me you expected Luna to bake you a cake and thank you for handing her mother to the same monster who ruined her life? It doesn’t matter if Nina is rotten or deserves it. She’s still her mother.”
Marion sat very still, her fingers tightening along the edge of the table. “Luna did seem really upset last night when she came to see her,” she said slowly, swallowing hard. “I figured she just wanted a private goodbye . . . she didn’t say she was going to run off.”
Damien’s head snapped up. “Nina was alone with Luna?” He hadn’t known she had even left her room.
Marion winced. “I know I should’ve told you, but. . . I just—I want her to like me.”
Pieces were finally starting to click together.
“Was anything different about her when she left?” he asked.
“I actually didn’t see her leave,” Marion said. “But when I came downstairs, Nina was out like a light. Although, now that I think about it . . . it did smell like violets down there. Strongly. I thought Luna had bathed or used some oil, but maybe—”
“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Corey said quickly, but her eyes darted down the hall towards Luna’s room, her mouth agape.
“Do—do you think . . . Is it possible?” Arleen stuttered, voice breaking as she spoke.
“She used fae magic?” Marion finished. “Yes. The cuff only limits unicorn magic. Not fae.”
Fae magic could glamour anything to take on another appearance, even people, but it left behind a distinct floral smell that was different for every fae.
Corey looked over the note again, eyes narrowing as she studied each letter. “Is this even Luna’s writing?”
“I’ve never seen her writing,” Damien admitted. “I don’t know.”
Silence fell.
And it seemed to last forever until Arleen broke it. “So the options are: Luna has either run off alone into the Forest of Endlessness, or you just gave her to the Darkened One?”
Heat roared in his ears.
“Fuck.” Damien spun on one hoof and headed to the door. “I have to go find her.”
But he didn’t get very far. Standing on the other side was Gregory.
He took one look at the group's panicked expressions and asked, “What’s going on?”
“We have to tell Crawford the deal’s off,” Damien said, pushing past him.
Gregory’s face went pale. “Problem with that . . . They may have already left.”
“We have to go after them!” Damien was already moving down the hall. “I have to get her back.”
Gregory followed, his boots thudding behind him as he called out, “What are you talking about? We don’t need problems with the Darkened One, and delaying his curse-breaking is a very good way to earn some.”
Damien didn’t pause as he explained what they believed happened to Luna as quickly as he could. When he finished, Gregory stopped dead in his tracks.
“You’re thinking about the wrong danger,” Gregory explained, his voice calmer than expected.
Damien spun around to face him, his brows furrowed.
“The Darkened One is predictable,” Gregory continued.
“He bargains. He keeps to the rules. You hand him what he wants, you get something back. Eventually.” He jabbed a finger towards the forest beyond the stone walls.
“But the fae? You don’t get second chances with them.
You don’t get bodies back. You don’t even get graves. ”
A muscle ticked in Damien’s jaw.
Gregory went on, “If Luna’s in that carriage headed towards the Darkened One, fine.
We can still trade back if we find Nina.
But if Nina’s the one wandering around out there glamoured as Luna?
” His eyes swept the room. “Then we have a ticking clock before she slips past the treeline and disappears. Just like Ella.”
The name landed like a stone.
Damien didn’t breathe for a moment.
“And if it’s Luna out there,” Gregory added quietly, “defenceless with the fae, she won’t last long. You know that.”
Damien’s hands curled into fists.
Gregory was right, their options were limited. If Nina was loose, they needed her in order for the exchange to be finalized, and if Luna was, they needed to get to her before she ended up with the fae.
He could only hope they weren’t too late.
“Get your weapons,” Damien said, voice steady. “We start with the forest.”
Luna’s story continues in Book 2, Starlight and Darkness.
Coming soon.