Page 77 of The Wars of Monsters

“Aren’t we all,” he chirped, way too upbeat for the current conversation. His blue eyes gleamed as he straightened his collar. “Anyway, I’d best not be late for the celebration. Especially not when I intend to leave early.” Striding forward, he made his way toward the mountain path, six royal guards following after him. Before he reached the gravel road, he stopped and turned around, peering at Raine and her mates. “Oh, I forgot to mention, I’ve left you five a gift,” he called back.

My sister narrowed her eyes. “What kind of a gift?”

King Azaren grinned mischievously. “You shall see. It’ll be waiting for you back in Katakin.”

Raine frowned in confusion, but the king turned from us and started walking again before she could continue to question him.

Father stood awkwardly, but I took his arm, pulling him along with me to follow after King Azaren.

“Do any of you know about this gift?” Raine asked her mates, but they shook their heads.

“Let’s focus on the party for now, shall we? I hope it’s better than the last one we went to,” Darian commented as he took Raine’s hand.

“I don’t care what’s there as long as there are none of those damned mushrooms from the fae realm,” Asher responded seriously, making a disgusted face.

Raine chuckled. “None of those, but I hope you like coconut.”

Asher leaned down, brushing his nose against her hair as he breathed in. “Ilovecoconut.”

EPILOGUE

~ Raine ~

Weeks later

Morninglightstreamedthroughthe high stained-glass windows, reflecting patterns on the books lining the walls of the dome structure. Crafted by the goblins, the windows told the story of the curse, the outliers, and the war with the fae and Warrick. I stared at the arched glass pane which showed an image of Azaren and me embracing as we sacrificed ourselves. In the background, my mates were trapped in fire, their faces contorted as they cried out to me. Only a month had passed since the battle, and my throat tightened at the memories that were still too raw.

“Trust the goblins to pick the scene when we’re gettin’ our asses kicked,” Asher commented, coming up behind me and resting his chin on my head as he wrapped his thick arms around my waist. His tail curled around my leg, high up on my thigh, and my attention quickly went from the battle scene.

The bond between us sparked, and I smiled as my body warmed.A gift, huh?It was lucky I came through the portal with my mates, because the moment we stepped into Katakin and I touched my monsters, energy crackled through us. Somehow the mischievous fae king had restored the protective bond Izla had created, and I hated to think what would have happened if I’d touched four different monsters first. Either way, I was going to have to thank the fae when I saw him next. My mates and I didn’t need the bonds between us to be happy, but that magic had become a part of us, and it felt right for my life to be linked to theirs again.

“Hmm, somehow I don’t think we’re the main focus of this piece, brother,” Darian replied with a wry grin as he came up beside us.

Asher chuckled and moved his head to press a kiss to my hair. “You ready to go, sweetheart?”

I peered over at where Kade and Locke were lounging on armchairs, a pile of books strewn about between them. “Yeah, I don’t think I’m the one you need to convince,” I replied with a smile.

Asher released me, and I walked over to them. “Ash is getting hungry.”

Locke’s black gaze lifted from the text he was reading. In the weeks after the ceremony on my island, we’d been helping the monsters rebuild the city. It had been Locke’s idea to restore the ancient library that had been locked after Katakin was cursed. According to Kade, my vampire had already read all the texts we had, but King Azaren had gifted us some translated fae fairytales from Zalei to add to the collection. These ones weren’twritten by Sharou Zanae, and I was enjoying devouring them just as much as my monsters were.

Locke raised a brow. “…Just Asher?” he asked inquisitively, and my body heated at his intense stare, my possessive inner dragon enjoying the attention of my mate.

“Well, I never said that,” I replied, my voice coming out more breathy than I’d intended.

In a swift movement, Locke was before me. He ran his thumb along my lower lip, and I had to stop myself from biting it, but my thoughts sobered as I noticed the window behind him. The glass showed the last scene from the battle, when the monsters and fae all cheered, finally united. I frowned, distracted. “When we’ve finished helping to rebuild Katakin, you can be human again,” I said slowly to Locke, though the idea of losing my dragon side made my stomach tie in knots. “We could go anywhere.”

My mates crowded around me, their scents making my mouth water.

Locke stared into my eyes. “I told you, it doesn’t matter where we are. As long as we’re with you. Our beautiful mate.”

THE END