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I wasn’t the only one that had spilled from my own bloodline that day, and I could see in the quiet moments, the way his eyes would darken, that it haunted him still.

I was here for him when he was ready to talk about it, if that time ever came.

His relationship with his father had always been strained, and it was entirely possible that it might be something he simply wanted to leave in the past.

The only thing that could heal those wounds was time. And love.

I was happy that the Araneoch and Noctani had fallen on the battlefield when Donika had, their life forces tied to hers through dark magic.

I had wished we had the opportunity to cure some of the Noctani, but in the end, there were too many of them.

The only way to truly stop them was for them to die with Donika.

We had burned every molecule of paper we found that spoke of siphoning and the making of monsters that we had found in The Stone Palace, hoping that we had purged everything to do with that dark magic.

There was one person we had never seen during or after the battle, and that was Corian.

I had expected him to be at Donika’s side in her final stand, and when he wasn’t, I could only assume he had joined the battle down on the plains of Akra.

Fighting among his Araneoch and Noctani.

Nikolai had confirmed that he hadn’t been there, either.

We had tried a locator spell though we didn’t have anything physical of his in nature to use, and had sent scouts out into the realm, but to no avail.

It was as if he simply… disappeared.

“Are you two going to help us or not?” Tess called out.

I turned and spotted her, standing in a ray of sunlight that poked between the cloud cover overhead. Her hand was over her brow, blocking the sun from her eyes as she peered at us atop the hill .

“You look like you have it well in hand,” Nik called, turning towards her.

He unwrapped his arms from me, but kept his hand at the small of my back.

Even from this distance, I could see Tess narrow her eyes at him, and a giggle bubbled to my lips. I was glad to see their bickering was back in place now that we had saved the realm.

“I’m not getting any younger down here,” she called up the hill, her gaze drifting towards me with a pointed glare.

“We’re coming,” I called back in reassurance.

I turned to Nik, my hands around his waist, pulling him against me.

His breath fanned across my face and I closed my eyes, wanting to taste him. As if reading my thoughts, he leaned down, capturing my mouth with his. My lips responded without thought, devouring him. His tongue pressed against me and a low groan escaped my lips.

He laughed against my mouth, and it was easily the best thing I had ever heard. I wanted to bottle that sound so that I could listen to it—over and over again.

“Soon we will be standing here, but not among these ruins. But in a castle of our own making. I cannot wait to make love to you in our own bed beneath the moon of Siraleth. To claim you over and over again until there is no doubt in this entire realm that you belong to me.”

“Always,” I sighed against him, pulling his mouth back down to mine. “You’re mine.”

“I’m yours,” he whispered against my lips, breaking the kiss for only a moment to utter the words .

Beneath the Siraleth sun, we began building our future. Began repairing a broken realm.

I was anxious to get out and see the people, to stay in every part of the realm and learn its deepest secrets. But first, I needed to rest. To build our new home. To worship every inch of Nikolai’s body with my own. To cherish the moments I thought I would never be lucky enough to experience.

To grow closer with Annelise and build our relationship from scratch.

To appoint Zion the commander of the queen’s newly established army.

To properly grieve Tyr and Isaac.

But most importantly… to treasure the friendships I was lucky enough to make along the way. I wasn’t sure I would see the other side of this war, and I needed to take a moment to process it all.

I was the queen of Istmere. The rightful heir to the throne.

Daughter of Osiris and Annelise.

Sister to the late Queen Donika.

Best friend to Tess Fowler.

Lover to Nikolai Dragovya, and hopefully more one day.

I’d be lying if I didn’t say I thought he would make an amazing king.

His eyes narrowed at me as if he was reading my thoughts through the bond. I moved a hand to brush back the lock of golden hair that had fallen across his brow. It was growing too long, and I certainly needed to make time to cut it at some point in the coming days .

Tess cleared her throat loudly from the bottom of the hill, and I laughed when the realization hit me that she hadn’t left. She stood there, hands on her hips, tapping her foot impatiently.

I captured Nikolai’s mouth with my own one last time before turning to join Tess. Puck was behind her, a wide grin spread across his face.

I might not be Diana Barnes anymore… but I was Diana Kotova.

The last Stormshade of the Kotova bloodline.

The war was over.

And I was home.