Page 20

SHANNON

I have my baby back.

A quick once-over reveals that she’s exactly the same as she was when I saw her last. True, that means she needs a diaper change and plenty of milk—and I can finally acknowledge that, damn, my tits hurt from not being able to feed her or pump—but apart from that a little ash on her nose, she’s my sweet, happy, baby and I will never, ever let her out of my sight again.

As soon as I pronounced her perfect, Mal swooped both of us up in his arms. I pepper kisses to his face next because, damn it, I’ve never loved anyone as much as I love these two.

Kennedy tiptoes forward, giving Alana a relieved pat. “Welcome back, sweetheart.”

We’re not back yet. We’re a good three or four-hour walk from Nuit, but I don’t care about that. I have my baby. The threat to her is gone and?—

“The rain has stopped,” Lucian announces. His purple eyes shine in the hazy, reddish light surrounding us. “The fires in Sombra still burn. The child… by being the catalyst to release Yelios from his purgatory and make the shadows of Sombra safe again… she has saved us all.”

I squeeze her to me. “Not bad for a four-month-old.”

“That is not all that the spawn has done,” adds Haures, drawing our attention to him. Then, to the shock of every single one of us gathered, the solid pale-skinned duke does something I don’t think he ever could: he shifts completely to shadow, the blue eyes shining from his dark face the only clue that he is Haures.

With a crook of his claw, he gestures for Susanna to come to him. Moving slowly, a small smile speaking on her face, she does. Haures gathers her up in his shadows and, without another word, he lifts her up into the sky, then zips away.

In an instant, they’re gone, and I know I’m not the only one whose mouth drops open to see them go.

“We just made him even more powerful,” I announce to no one in particular.

Somewhere behind me, Billie sighs. “Yup.”

Ah, well. Sombra is my home now. Maybe having a terrifying demon in charge of this realm will only help keep my daughter safe.

As long as he stays in the capital that is. I’ll stick to Nuit, thank you very much. That’s where I belong.

Anywhere my mate, that’s where I’ll always be…

I snuggle against him. Sammael and Loki are murmuring to each other. So are Tandy and Lucian. Amy looks like she wants to leave her father behind and head over to Nox, but that she feels bad abandoning him. Dan is curled up in the fetal position, probably feeling the aftereffects of Yelios leaving Sombra, so… yeah. Totally get that.

Nox is looking up at the sky thoughtfully. For one second, he’s in his solid form. He blinks. Shadows. Blinks again. Solid form, and I finally notice that the shadowy bands that always existed around his wrists—a memento of the times he spent in the enchanted gold chains—are healed .

Marveling at his hands, he shows them to Amy.

She gasps, her eyes shining with unshed tears. They’re happy ones now, and Nox flies over to his mate, embracing her while ignoring the trembling man beside them.

“It’s in their blood,” Damien says, watching them. “Two women, kin from the same line, both with the gift to mate a broken shadow and mate him whole.”

Look at that. I guess now I know why Susanna and Amy Benoit were destined to be a Sombra demon’s mate. If I thought it was a big, honking coincidence that the three members of Thr33peat were, it was even weirder that an aunt and her niece were.

But, like Damien said, if it was in their blood…

Hope makes a small sound in the back of her throat. “Sam? I was just thinking… since Yelios was the shadows and he’s, you know, gone now? Can you open the portal to Earth now? Or do we have to wait until we get back to Nuit?”

It doesn’t take a mage to open a portal to Earth. Mal can do it because I summoned him to me with the verus amor spell; after, there was a pathway open between his world and mine. Same with every other demon and human mated pair here.

Still, Sammael is the first to try because Hope is the first to realize that that might be possible. He conjures with his hand, a small cheer of triumph erupting from our very exhausted group when a fiery portal appears near him and Hope.

“Oh, I’m so glad. I need a shower and bed.” She motions for him to bend down. He does. She loops her arms around his shoulders, hooking her legs around his waist. “Take me home?”

“Always, Hope.”

He nods at the rest of us while Hope waves her goodbye. I don’t blame her for cutting out so quickly, and I only, well, hope that our trip back to Nuit can be as fast as that.

“Roy knows to check in with Three when I ‘go on vacation’,” Sierra says next, doing air quotes. “I didn’t expect us to be gone this long after checking with Azazel, but he comes by twice a day to feed him, play with him, and scoop the box so I’m sure Three’s good. But I miss him, so I want to go back, too. You ready, demon?”

While he nods, I cradle Alana to me before rushing over to him. I squeeze his muscular arm. “Thank you, Dagon. For everything… I really mean it.”

He bows his head. “Someone saved me in these shadows once before and I was able to find my on true mate. We will have our spawn soon. Without Susanna, none of this would’ve been possible. I never could repay her. Instead, I helped you. And, one day, Alana will help someone else. So the circle goes.”

Alana is going to be lucky if I don’t ask Haures to keep her safe and sound in Mavro once she gets older…

I smile. “Very true. But, still, thanks.”

Like Sammael, Dagon opens the portal that will lead back to Sierra’s penthouse apartment. Before they step into it, Tandy gets Sierra’s promise that they’ll meet up again the next time Sierra has to visit Azazel.

Billie points at Sierra. “Boop Three on the nose for me, Sierra.”

“You got it, Bee.”

And, with that, Sierra and Dagon are gone.

Luckily, the Sombra gods might have decided to throw me a bone here because, once our numbers have dwindled a little, Loki tests his magic. Turns out, he’s able to create a portal that would bring us right back to the village square of Nuit, saving us all that time traveling back.

Tandy, Lucian, and Damien agree to return with us before heading to their enchanted cabin. Billie and Glaine decide to stay in Nuit a little longer so they’re coming, too. Obviously, Loki’s leading his mate and her ungez back, and there’s no way I’m sticking around here with my baby and Mal.

All I want to do is feed Alana, change her, bathe her, and snuggle on the couch with her and my demon. I’m eager to jump right into Loki’s portal, but before I do, Kennedy clears her throat.

“Hey, Amy?” asks Kennedy. “You guys want to come back with us? Or is Nox gonna bring you home?”

Amy and Nox exchange a look before she smiles softly at Kennedy. “Thanks, but we’ll be okay. Besides, I think I’m just gonna sit with my dad a little longer.”

A guilty twinge ties my stomach up in knots. Now that I have Alana, I kinda feel bad for my murderous turn back there. “If you need anything?—”

She nods. “Thanks. And, for what it’s worth, I’m glad your baby is okay.”

Me, too, Amy. Me, too.

* * *

Malphas hovers around our baby and me the entire time I do her normal nighttime routine. We both figured out—after we showed Apollyon and Lilith that Alana was safe and sound—that moving forward and acting like it was any old regular night was the way to go.

I fed her. Mal bathed her. I put her in a new diaper and a change of clothes, then rocked her in the cradle until she was asleep.

Then, and only then, did I collapse against Mal.

I stink. I’m sweaty and dirty and there is ash in parts of me that I wish there wasn’t ash. My body aches. Good chance I have blisters on my blisters because my stupid ass didn’t bother with socks when I hurried and got dressed all those hours ago.

Do I care? Does Mal as I basically climb into his lap?

Not even a little.

He holds me close, chest rumbling as he says, “I love you.”

“Mm. I love you, too, big guys.”

“I worship you, my Shannon. My heart is in your hands. I never want it anywhere else.” He presses a kiss to my lips. “You amaze me. To see you so forceful, so fearless… you absolutely amaze me. I am in awe of everything you do, and if I had lost you? I would’ve been lost as well.”

I nip Mal’s bottom lip, then take advantage of the way he gasps to turn his peck into a deep kiss.

Only then, when I feel myself getting light-headed from lack of air and sudden need, do I pull back far enough to gaze into his stunning gold eyes.

“You’re never gonna lose me, babe. This is it. The three of us forever… you’re stuck with me.”

“There is nowhere I’d rather be. In Sombra, Earth… another world… we are together. And we always be.”

“Damn right, Mal. But we’re not going anywhere else.” I shrug impishly. “Sombra’s grown on me.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Looking down at the pure devotion etched into his demon features, I grin. God, it feels good to grin.

This is it.

Shannon in Sombra.

Forever.

I helped take down a crazed king. No matter how he looks at it, Haures has my family to thank for his power upgrade and the future of his people. I didn’t lop off Amy’s dad’s head with Glaine’s sword even though that fucker totally deserved it. I helped rescue my baby, leading to the end of the rains.

And this male is amazed by me.

Oh, yeah. I kick ass at being a Sombra demon’s mate.

Know what else?

I’m a reader. Always have been, and if there’s one thing I know about my favorite type of books, it’s that every good romance ends with a happily-ever-after.

Malphas is immortal. Thanks to the essence exchange, so am I. My big, sweet monster promised me forever. I told him I’m holding him to it, and as I cuddle up against him, cradling Alana against my chest, my heart rate finally back to normal after the frantic, determined journey through the deepest, darkest shadows of Sombra, I finally grin again.

This is it. My HEA.

With an artist I adore. A baby I’ll do anything for. A world just waiting for me to leave my mark on it.

I couldn’t ask for more.

Do I know what happened to the Grimoire du Sombra after Tandy read the true love spell that led her to find Damien and Lucian? No, and I’m pretty sure none of us do. Maybe it’s done what it needed to, bringing us all together to keep the doppelseers’ prophecy from coming to pass. Maybe some lonely demon will be ripped out of their bathtub, summoned in front of another human woman who will ogle the baseball bat between his thighs before noticing the glowing eyes and pointed horns…

Hey. It happened once before. Thinking back to the women who helped me save Alana, it’s more like it happened eight times.

But this one is my story, even though I’m sure there will be plenty of adventures to come during our forever. I have my monster mate, and even if I realize now that we might argue, and the villagers might give me odd looks, and Sombra isn’t some fantastical fairy world without dangers of its own… fuck, it.

I’m happy.

Ever.

After .