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EPILOGUE ONE

NOVA

END OF MAY.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Ramsey grunted. He was annoyed, but he stood right by my side in support. I brushed off his uniform before straightening my own. I suppose uniform wasn’t the right word—it was a custom outfit designed by Venus just for the ten of us. Badass, right?

The black and electric blue outfits were bold against the elegant white marble around us and echoed our previous armor. It was good that the point of today was to stand out—because if we were supposed to be blending in, then these outfits would have been a total failure.

“Which part? Officially living in the God realm? Or me taking a position on the council?” I teased, my lips pulling up into a smile because I knew he’d meant both.

Ramsey was stressed over my decision, but our temporary living situation and my soon-to-be position was the best direction forward for now.

There were a lot of factors that had played into our decision, but the main one was my magic.

After saving the world— no big deal or anything —my magic had continued to gain momentum until it reached the level it had before destroying the world eaters. That insane amount of power was just my normal now.

So, until I had learned to control the constant chaos brewing inside of me, which worked on apocalyptic levels, it was probably best to be in a space where immortal beings lived. Gods and Titans who were familiar with my particular strand of magic.

Of course, there were other realms that would probably work as well—like the Horde—but until I got a grasp on this, it was better safe than sorry. Just last week I almost burned down a building while trying to send a small spark toward an unlit lantern. That hadn’t been very cool of my magic.

And yes, I was blaming her. My magic was incredibly solid and real, which meant she couldn’t hide behind me when we did crazy shit. I , however, got to blame her whenever I wanted.

Staying here also served the purpose of keeping an eye on all the gods.

With Ra gone, there was a vacuum of power, and some of the enemy combatants had escaped in the chaos after the dark ones were destroyed. Which meant they were just out there. Probably planning something nefarious…or just happy to be alive. One of those.

While I didn’t consider them a threat, I wanted to keep a watchful eye over the God realm in case anyone got any smart ideas. As Lorcan had warned, there was no lack of primordial cosmos entities that could target our planet in the future. So that was… cool to hear. Also terrifying.

Honestly, I was somewhat hoping that this particular stunt—killing three world eaters—would make them think twice before coming for our little corner of the universe. Until then, I kept my focus on the here and now. The things I could see.

I knew she would find me if we ever had another problem—after all, we were sort of best friends now.

In fact, my friendship with all of my allies had been solidified, from Hecate and Isis to Gray and Vegas. I sincerely appreciated their help in the war, and while everyone had lost people, most had gone home feeling relieved that our world was no longer in peril. Which meant that communities could recover and grow, getting used to their new magic. Namely, the witches.

Claudia was working hand in hand with Hecate to not only increase the power of witches across the country but to ensure their society was structured in a far more democratic—and not so damn patriarchal—way. I planned on visiting often to see how everyone was doing and to check that no one was causing problems. I knew they considered me their leader, but I much preferred being the ‘big bad’ that could appear at any moment, encouraging responsibility. Much cooler and more mysterious.

“Both of those,” Ramsey said, bringing me back to the present. “I don’t like all these damn gods around you—you know how I feel about that shit.”

“True,” I said, examining his handsome face, “but come on, think about our property! It’s so huge, I’m sure no one will even bother to visit us.”

“Doubtful,” Volkan murmured from nearby. The demi-titan wasn’t wrong—we had a lot of friends in the God realm, and his family in particular, seemed bent on being part of his life. I told Volkan that I would totally zap his father down at any time, but for now I think he was testing the waters.

“Well then we can hide in the property,” I said. Problem solved.

Our house, which used to be a Roman temple, was a haven of sprawling acreage situated in the Western region of the capital. It belonged to Venus’s line, so when she gifted it to me personally, I hadn’t hesitated to accept. The place had more than enough room for all of us, and after nearly two months, it was slowly starting to feel like home.

It had just taken several shopping adventures for decor and furniture—and portalling them from the Earth realm. Something I could do easily now.

“They can visit as long as no one touches our plants,” Cassian said.

To say that the group of us had become plant parents was an understatement. What had started as us moving belongings from the Horde, including our fairy gardens, had turned into a complete obsession.

Plants covered every surface and hung over every window. There were shelves and pots of them all over our house, greenhouse, and of course in the gardens outside. It was a pain in the ass to water all of them, but I couldn’t deny it was satisfying to see all of them so healthy and happy.

I was even growing herbs for spells and tinctures that I’d learned as a witch but hadn’t practiced in ages. Now that we weren’t saving the world, you wouldn’t believe the hobbies I’d managed to get into.

“I still think we should put a gate on the central garden,” Fox insisted, motioning for me to join him on a stone bench.

“I do feel like people should have to pay to see it—it’s just so beautiful,” I agreed, finding it amusing that my blood mage was so protective over the garden that we’d grown with our pixie stones. We’d buried them in the soft soil, and it was honestly a bit of a mess with wildflowers growing unkempt and bees buzzing about, but it was one of my favorite sections of the estate.

“I think we should have a gate around the entire damn place,” River voiced. He and Nour were sitting across the coffee table, waiting for the ceremony to start. The ten of us were inside a small annex to the council chamber, where someone had set out coffee and tea that we’d yet to touch. I didn’t want to get too comfortable, anyway.

After today’s ceremony, we were going to explore one of the other God realm sectors, and I was very excited to get on with it.

“There is a literal wall surrounding most of the place,” I said. A half-wall, but still.

“But not a locked gate,” he argued. I swear, after I’d been unconscious for three weeks, these men had only gotten more protective—and I totally didn’t hate it.

“I’m sure we could arrange for that,” Nour said, flashing me a knowing smile.

“Stop encouraging them, or else I’ll start holding banquets weekly.”

“No,” Ramsey rumbled, looking so panicked that I burst into laughter. “I think all the holidays we plan to host are more than enough.”

“I think bringing all of these Earth realm holidays to the God realm is an amazing idea,” I countered. “Plus, there are so many reasons to get you guys cool gifts.”

“I’m not sure they need more reasons to party,” Nour said. “And you don’t need to get us gifts, moonbeam.”

I did. I loved finding stuff that I thought they would enjoy, especially while we were traveling.

“I would support the banquet idea, wildcat,” Rowan said, pulling me up from Fox’s lap and making the blood mage grumble. I giggled as Row turned me under his arm and spun me toward where August was eating off a plate that seemed to have enough food for three people. Where the heck had he even gotten that?

Even after two months, they were still trying to feed me like I hadn’t eaten in over twenty days.

“I just think that with all the holidays we’ve missed, we’ve got a lot to make up for.” I shrugged, taking a piece of fruit off the plate. “I’m excited to see what type of food the Roman sector has.”

I had a feeling that whatever it was, it’d be delicious.

“I think you disappointed the gods that wanted to hold you a party after this, by the way,” August stated. “They won’t tell you that though.”

They were disappointed, but I really wanted to travel with my men—even if it was just to the Roman sector—so I didn’t feel too bad. They’d already held one banquet after the entire world eater situation; I didn’t need another. And as funny as I found the level of fear that some of the gods—especially the asshole ones—had when it came to me, I didn’t want them to feel like they couldn’t speak their mind.

Except for Set. He was imprisoned and would be for a very long time.

I think the only gods outside of my allies who didn’t tread lightly around me were ancient deities like Brahma, Nyx, Shiva, and Atum to name a few.

“Those donuts at the last one were amazing though,” I said, thinking about the previous party.

“They were.” Rowan chuckled. “An entire table of donuts—it’s almost like someone told them.”

“Row-baby, did you really?” I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Thanks for that.”

“Nova?” A young woman appeared at the door. “Whenever you’re ready, we can begin.”

“Fantastic! Let’s get this show on the road.” I stood up and let out a laugh of surprise as Everett appeared out of nowhere and tugged me into him, dipping his head and pressing our lips together. When he pulled back, he flashed me a roguish smile and nodded toward the door.

“You’ve got this, baby.”

And I did have this. After everything I’d done, I didn’t think I would ever feel stressed about anything again.

As I walked through a small hallway that led onto the floor of the main council chamber, the beating of ceremonial drums and the trilling of flutes filled the air. The windows of the space were open, letting in a soft breeze, and sunlight gleamed down on the white marble. Above us were nearly three hundred gods, erupting in a round of cheers at our arrival. I felt a moment of humility as I realized that they really wanted this. They hadn’t invited me to join them only out of fear, but out of actual respect. I supposed I knew that already, but in the face of it, it felt a bit different.

We made our way across the room toward the old gods, all of whom stood watching with smiles on their faces alongside the Titans. I looked to the side, and emotion caught in my throat when I saw Isis, Venus, and Lorelei all standing with proud smiles on their faces. It was hard to even be mad at Isis at this point, knowing how fundamental she’d been to saving the world.

Of course she’d been the reason this had started …but I would let bygones be bygones, or something like that.

Above them on the balcony were Anubis, Danu, Hecate, and Osiris. The latter flashed me a big smile and gave a wave, causing me to laugh as people from the Egyptian sector cowered at his emotive movement. I had a feeling the guy didn’t get out very often.

Atum stood at an altar in the middle of the room, his body bathed in gold and white linen garments. On the altar laid a gold band that sparkled with the sigil that all Egyptian sector gods on the council wore. Since it was Atum’s spot that I was stepping into—originally given to Ra—it made sense that he would be the one to anoint me with the position.

“Nova—Daughter of Chaos, Daughter of Magic, Daughter of Love—” Atum announced, “We, the council of the gods, are honored to welcome you into your position of leadership as you swear an oath to the whole of the God realm. Please, place your arm on the altar.”

I laid my hand where he indicated, and he put the cuff around my forearm. The smoke and music in the room grew louder, creating an ambiance of power and magic. “After each statement you can respond with ‘I do’ if you are in agreement.”

I could feel his magic crawling over my skin, and my power welcomed it, knowing that no one in the room wished us ill will.

“Do you, Nova, swear to honor the laws this council has in place that align with your own values?”

“I do.”

“Do you, Nova, swear to uphold the goal to take care of those within this realm?”

“I do.”

“Do you, Nova, swear to work toward the betterment of not only our realm but other allied reams?”

“I do.”

“And do you, Nova, swear to take up arms if our realm ever comes under threat?”

I couldn’t help myself. “I already did—but I do.” Atum chuckled before closing his eyes and pressing his fingers to the band.

“In the name of the council, I officially welcome you into your appointment as the representative of the Egyptian sector. Go forward and lead our community.”

As the room exploded into cheers, the cuff glowing warm on my arm, I realized my bond was warm with pride—my men watching on with happiness. I had never felt particularly at home anywhere, outside of with my men, but I had a feeling that the God realm was ready for a change—one that could make it a place we wanted to stay forever.