Epilogue 1 Phoebe
A Few Days Later—Castletide
Kael is in a meeting with his brothers from other mothers—the other Lords.
Air, Fire, Earth.
Alaric, Thorne, and Dagan.
Yeah, the whole elemental Avengers lineup.
It’s still surreal.
I keep having to remind myself that this is my life now—living inside what is basically a fantasy romance novel.
Only this one comes with a lot more blood, politics, and responsibility than the paperbacks ever warned me about.
Kael and Alaric created a sort of FaceTime Mirror for me and Jules to chat daily, and we make time to do so daily.
It’s nice to have a friend.
And really, I have a couple of them, I think, and I smile at that.
Amber hums softly as she works beside me, quill scratching against parchment.
We’re going through the list of villagers who came flooding into Castletide for protection during the battle.
Kael was thrilled when I told him I wanted to be involved.
I am the Lady of Castletide, after all.
It’s kind of my job to help put things back in order. The thought makes my chest ache a little, in a good way. So here I am, checking names, sending families back to their homes with enough food and supplies to help them rebuild.
Kael’s already arranged for legions of his men—Merguards, or whatever he calls them—to fan out along the coast.
To keep watch.
To make sure no one else is touched by the darkness.
Because apparently, Idris isn’t just a power-hungry maniac.
He’s a monster for real.
It isn’t enough that he rallies SoulTakers—those things still haunt my dreams—to fight for his cursed cause, which as far as I can tell boils down to “give me the crown so I can destroy or control literally all the dreams in the multiverse.”
No. He takes it further.
He casts spells on regular people, innocent citizens, and twists them into his pawns.
My heart breaks for the countless lives stolen like that. For the families who’ll never get them back.
And it makes me wonder, just how long until the realm chooses its Prime?
Yeah, I know about that now.
I know Nightfall has always had a Prime, the one the Fates themselves crown, and that the last one fell months ago.
I know the crown sits, waiting, untouchable until it decides who’s worthy. No one can take it by force—there are magical fail safes for that.
Which sounds good in theory, except in practice it means everyone’s just waiting for destiny to make up its mind while the world burns.
And I know about Alaric’s plan.
The great and terrible scheme to use gullible human women—women like me—to trick fate, to fake a zareth bond so the Lords could get their magical boon.
Yeah. That one.
Only—plot twist.
He found his real viyella in Jules, just as Kael did with me.
Sometimes I think I should be angry. Used. A pawn in some cosmic chess game I didn’t know I was playing.
But most times?
I’m just grateful.
Grateful Kael came to the aquarium that day, all storm and salt and inevitability, and decided I was his.
That he took me.
Not that I’ll tell him that.
Not yet.
Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned about Demon Lords, it’s that they don’t need any more reasons to be smug.
I’m still grinning to myself, thinking about the way Amber hums like a mother hen when she’s content, when a crash booms from the outer hall.
The sound is sharp enough to rattle the glass jars on the table.
“Oh dear, I hope Corin hasn’t made a mess,” Amber mutters, her brow furrowing.
Corin.
I can’t help but smile a little wider. I talked the local smithy into making him a Tidal Lands version of a skateboard—a mini surfboard with wheels—and now every kid in the keep wants one.
What can I say? After all the battles, all the blood, they needed something fun.
So, it’s skateboards and training hoops for the sea tigers who like to play along the docks.
Kael says they followed me here, along with a pair of curved fin whales.
Every day I go outside, with my viyen or a guard if he’s elsewhere, and I work with the animals.
Kids usually come out to watch, and I’ve even started letting them help.
It’s good for all of us.
A chance to just be alive and free and happy again.
“Stay here. I’ll check on him,” I tell Amber, wiping my hands on my pants as I stand.
I head toward the noise, already calling out.
“Corin? Is that you, bud?”
But when I step into the foyer, my stomach plummets.
It isn’t Corin.
Thank God.
But fear fills me because who’s there to greet me is so much worse than anything I could have imagined.
It’s her.
The woman from the dock.
The one who shoved me into the sea and nearly ended me.
Only this time, she isn’t leaning on a walking stick.
In one hand, she clutches a—holy shit, I think it’s a wand—yes, a magic wand carved from something dark and jagged, pulsing faintly with power.
In her other hand, she holds a wickedly sharp knife, long and curved, the kind I’ve seen the cooks use to gut massive fish.
At her feet, two sea tiger pups lie crumpled. The sight punches the air from my lungs.
Their sleek striped fur, usually so glossy and proud, is matted with blood. Their small sides heave with shallow breaths, each one weaker than the last. Their bright eyes, wide with pain and confusion, flicker toward me—and it’s like looking into the face of a child.
They try to growl, a warning, a promise that they’re still wild and fierce. But it breaks in their throats, thin and pitiful, more whimper than roar.
My chest aches. Tears sting the corners of my eyes before I can stop them.
These creatures are Kael’s.
They are Nightfall’s.
They are mine.
They’re innocent, caught in the crossfire of a war they never asked for.
Seeing them hurt makes something raw and protective unfurl inside me.
I want to run to them, gather them close, shield them with my body.
But the woman’s shadow looms, wand gleaming in her fist, knife dripping with seawater, blood, and malice.
My hands curl into fists, my fear sharpening into fury.
“They’re hurting,” I breathe, my voice shaking.
Fury spikes through the fear like lightning through a storm cloud, burning away my hesitation.
“Why? What did you do to them?”
The old woman’s lips stretch into a grin that’s all rot and madness.
“All magic requires sacrifice, but it’s not them I would worry about,” she croons.
Before I can move, she lifts the wand.
Something invisible slams into my chest, hard as a wave breaking against rock.
The breath is knocked clean out of me—I can’t even scream—as I’m hurled backward across the room.
I hit the floor hard, sliding until I crash against the cold stone beside the pups.
Pain explodes across my side. My vision swims.
The pups whimper and cry, pressing against me, their small bodies trembling.
I force my hand out, stroking one shaky paw, my heart pounding like a trapped bird.
The woman advances, wand raised high, knife gleaming.
All I can do is hold the pups close and pray—to the sea, to the Fates, to anyone listening—that somehow, some way, we survive this.
My chest squeezes, and inside my heart, I reach for that thread glowing brightly and I tug.
Kael, my soul calls out to him. Kael!