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EPILOGUE

CLAWDIA

B lue sky and sun, the like I’d certainly never seen in England, shone down on me. It was heaven, and I sighed happily as I relaxed on a canopied bed in the Maldives a month after I almost died. Again.

My skin was warm and pink, my feet had the remnants of soft sand between my toes, and I listened to the sound of waves. Not to mention, I was wearing a bikini that, had I worn it in public a hundred years ago, would have seen me hung.

I couldn’t help feeling smug about that. I also felt smug as a man in a white shirt and black bowtie served me yet another cocktail of alcohol with all the reverence of a proper servant.

My emotions didn’t go unnoticed, and a male hand stroked my thigh. “You’re enjoying that a little too much.”

“I’m not sure I know what you mean,” I teased.

“You know exactly what I mean.” Charlie pushed down his sunglasses and narrowed his eyes playfully. “I could put on a little apron if it’s going to make you feel so powerful.”

I laughed, and my drink wiggled in the triangular glass. “I’m sure you would.” I kissed him squarely, then smiled. “You’re ridiculous, but I love you.”

“I love you too, and I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself. Even if it’s watching another man serve you.”

He scratched his stomach, drawing my attention to his naked chest. Beads of water from his dip in the ocean still clung to his muscled chest, and I bit my lip.

He, Zaide, Baelen, and Savida started training together—a combination of weaponry practice, hand-to-hand combat, and general exercise. It started to help Savida, but it had other benefits.

Lust bubbled across the bond to Charlie as I whispered, “You’ve served me in plenty of other ways.”

“Hmmm, you’re right about that.” His hand glided up my thigh as he leaned closer, about to kiss me.

“I was thinking about how you’d sacrifice a toilet roll for me to shred.”

He narrowed his eyes, and his lip curled. “You’ve ruined it.”

I couldn’t help laughing again. It was such a relief to be able to feel such joy again.

The last few weeks had been hard. After Daithi’s funeral in álfheimr, Savida didn’t move from bed for weeks. We stayed with him in their home, doing everything we could to rouse him, even trying to bribe him with a block of cheese to get him into the shower, but nothing worked.

Despite it being our first time in another realm, Charlie and I didn’t get to explore much outside of that home.

We did, however, go flying together and complete our bonding ritual. I won’t go into detail—what happens in the sky should stay in the sky—but it was special, and our bond only strengthened.

Savida’s catatonia reminded us of that terrible time when his body lay fireless and empty, and despite my vision of him living happily with another soul mate and playing with our children, I doubted he would survive the loss of Daithi.

Eventually, we dragged Alcor to visit him. We don’t know the details of the conversation they had, but whatever Alcor said helped Savida in ways we hadn’t been able to. Moments after the blue-haired demon left, Savida showered and came downstairs to eat.

His battle with grief was a terrible one. Some days, we’d see glimmers of his previous joyous self, and other days, he was so sad he couldn't move. It broke our hearts, but we tried to be strong for him and supported him in the same way he supported Zaide when he was first freed.

When we brought up a holiday in the human realm, Savida told us to leave him with Alcor while we relaxed. He still felt guilty about enjoying himself, but it was nice that he was growing closer to someone.

Arabella and Isaac were still waiting for the day Alcor regained his memories and were hiding their relationship in the meantime. We felt guilty keeping it from him since he was being so good with Savida, but ultimately, we didn’t want him to suffer, even if that meant lying to him.

Elizabeth had taken the role of witch representative permanently and was busy coordinating the way forward for covens, familiars, and protection against otherworlder slavers. Apparently, her daughters didn’t love the change, and Charlie had yet to meet his sisters. We’d tried to set up a date for after our holiday but had heard nothing back. Charlie didn’t seem too upset about it, considering.

Omaira had taken the hunter academy spy suggestion to heart and planned to infiltrate it as a teacher. She’d lined up an interview and was working with Charlie and Isaac to create a disguise that would work against their magic detection devices. She seemed excited about the project, and knowing her story, I could see why. We eagerly awaited her findings.

Zaide approached the bed, his body glistening with the water from the sea, his smile wide. My eyes trailed after the drops that caressed his perfect chest, following the lines of his purple scars, and I licked my lips to prevent from drooling.

Charlie raised his eyebrow. “How are the swimming lessons going?”

Since Tartarus had very little open water, Zaide hadn’t ever learned to swim. Nor had he bothered to learn when he was traveling through the realms with Daithi and Savida. So, Baelen offered to teach him on our little holiday.

Zaide frowned down at himself. “I don’t think my body was meant for floating.”

“Understandable.” Charlie shrugged. “You’re built like a brick shithouse.”

“I don’t know what that means, but it doesn’t sound complimentary.”

“You wouldn’t have ever seen a brick outhouse, Charlie.” I stuck my tongue out at him and sat up to reach for my titan. “You’re gorgeous, Zaide, and you know it. Why don’t you join us on this bed, and I’ll show you how much.”

“Clawdicat—” Charlie choked and plucked the glass from my hand. “You’ve had one too many drinks from Alejandro if you’ve forgotten that public sex is illegal.”

I shrugged, feeling completely unrepentant and also a little drunk. “We can go back to our room.”

Charlie bit my earlobe, prompting a startled and aroused gasp to escape my lips. He whispered, “All in good time.” I shivered, my nipples pointing as my body responded to the arousal flooding my veins.

Baelen wrapped an arm around Zaide and pressed a kiss to his shoulder as he asked, “Are you done swimming, Sunset?”

Baelen’s sunglasses were extra strength to help his eyes, but I could still feel a twinge of pain through our bond. He knew how much we wanted to be in the sun, and so he suffered and made the best of it. It only made me love him more, and I vowed to find a more permanent way to help him.

Charlie didn’t let Zaide reply. “No, he’s not. He’s trying to seduce Clawdia on my day, and it’s rude.”

“Who said it was your day?” I asked.

“We are having days?” Zaide frowned.

“Yesterday, you”—Charlie pointed at Baelen—“had her all to yourself when you took her to that midnight wine tasting, and you”—he pointed at Zaide—“took her to that yoga retreat the day before. It’s my day. I’m fed up with hanging out with you two.”

“Aw, Charlie. Are you feeling left out?” I pouted. “We can get you a male lover so you don’t feel alone when I’m not around.”

He knew I was joking because he’d watched me almost change into my dragon form and eat a man who flirted with him at the bar last night. No one would touch him but me.

“I don’t want—or need—anyone but you,” he whispered into my ear.

I raised an eyebrow, pretending indifference. “It must be your day, because you are saying all the right things to get exactly what you want.”

“I don’t recall a night he hasn’t had with you, Sunlight,” Baelen said as he sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed a towel over his hair. “He’s being a bit dramatic.”

“Dramatic is his default,” I replied, nodding and reaching to stroke my soul mate’s beautiful back.

“I don’t appreciate that sentiment right now,” Charlie said, pouting. He wrapped his arms around me and muttered against my neck, “but I’m getting lucky later, so you can say whatever you want.”

“You got lucky the day you met me,” I told him and then shrugged. “But you’re right. I’m a sure thing.”

They all laughed at me. “We need to get you drunk more often.”

“I think we should add fun things to our to-do list. Like getting drunk on different alcohols in every realm. It’s good for us to have a duty and purpose, but I don’t want us to forget to live too. This is to-do list worthy.” I finished my drink and sighed happily again.

This is the life.

“Whatever you wish, Little Cat.” Zaide’s gaze filled with all the love I felt in our bond every day.

“I might write a book. A memoir,” I announced, although I had the creativity of a spoon. “I’ll call it Tales of a Witch’s Familiar.”

“This memoir has us in it?” Zaide asked as he joined us at the bottom of the canopy bed, his skin as bright and gleaming as the sun. He picked up Baelen’s feet and began rubbing.

“I want to write my own chapters, Clawdicat,” Charlie announced. “It has to be a first-person perspective. It’s the best kind of perspective.”

“It’s biased.” Baelen crossed his arms and shook his head.

“Stories are biased. You have to dig for the truth. That’s the fun of them.”

Zaide tilted his head, and his white braid flopped into view. “You’ll need a new title for the next part of your story. You’re not just the familiar of a witch anymore.”

Charlie listed. “A drakorian mate, titan soul pair, akari-titan godling mated.”

“That will not fit on a book cover,” I told him with exaggerated exasperation.

“Fate’s Journey,” Baelen suggested.

Charlie buzzed like he was a red button on a talent show. “No. It’s basic, but I suppose we’ve got time to work on it.”

I wouldn’t need to write another part of the story. Our story wasn’t just ours anymore. We’d started something, but it affected so many others. It was the story of witches learning, under a new leader, how to protect themselves. It was about the last familiars in the human realm. It was the task team moving onto a new project and the shadow realm recovering. It was the titans being rescued from slavery, starting with Zaide’s siblings.

Just as Alejandro returned with another drink, a vision knocked on my mind, begging for entry. I was still working on controlling them, but bit by bit, it was getting easier. I also had Nisha supporting me with weekly dreamscape meetings, and I’ve learned more about how not to get lost in both the dreams and visions.

As the flash of the future evaporated from my mind, I started laughing. It got progressively louder and more hysterical until tears were rolling down my cheeks, and I clutched my stomach.

“I’d love you to share the joke, Clawdicat.”

“It’s a funny vision?” Zaide asked.

“Hilarious,” I managed to get out as I wiped my eyes and lay flat on my back, breathless and occasionally chuckling.

“Do tell,” Baelen urged.

I grinned at him, knowing just how much this would please him. “I have the most perfect revenge for our shadow king. It’s time to redeem a favor.”