Page 105
EPILOGUE
UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, SOUTHERN DELORNIA
ASTORIA
The black waters and golden forest of my soul are at peace in my dream. I sit on a large flat rock as the dark waves gently lap at it. The billowing skirts of my white silk dress are fanned around me, and I lean back on my hands with my toes resting in the water. No oily sheen taints the waves, no hissing darkness lurking. It has returned to how it once was when Jinx first brought me here as a small child.
The sun is warm, and I tilt my head back to feel its healing rays upon my face. A wind rustles the golden leaves with their dancing flames. The forest that lines the rocky beach is lush, the roots winding within the cracks to gently drink the water. In the distance, a gentle rain replenishes the lake.
I am no longer alone. My hair settles around my shoulders, and I turn to my right. Jinx lounges on the warmed flat rock, her large blue eyes closed. Her demon form dwarfs me, and her two remaining tails flick lazily. The midnight blue of her leopard and tiger markings shimmers in the light. Scarring leaves bare strips along that side, but other than that she is healthy, her remaining three legs relaxed.
I scratch the bridge of her nose towards the flat top of her head before sinking into the thick mane I rode on months ago. Her large pointed ears frame me, and I smile down at her.
A rumbling purr vibrates within my form, and I lean down to rest upon her head. A tear slips down my face. I miss you.
Jinx doesn’t respond. There is no link in this dream that would anchor her to my soul. I hold her, and we lie wrapped together, basking in the healing rays of the sun, at peace for the first time in my life.
The kiss of the cool ocean air wakes me from my dream. The novelty of sleeping with real windows instead of enchanted ones has yet to wear off. The cottage safehouse that Lucas secured years ago sits on the upper bluffs of the Southern coast, hours away from any nearby villages. Upon Lucas’ request, I crafted a series of rune steppingstones to create a thick layer of enchantments for his complex network of escape routes. I never fully knew where all the houses were; I just crafted the stepping stones for him to lay.
To any outsider, this cottage is a burned-up shack seconds away from tumbling into the roaring ocean below. But once the wards are crossed, the humble cottage appears, one that reminds me of the enchanted window in Peripetia’s back room, as if it is this house I was gazing out of all along. The subtle details that Lucas put into our new home, the four bedrooms with the bay window and fluffy pillows that Jinx would’ve loved, sent me to my knees. The fate of my beloved bookshop utterly broke me, and I cried endlessly for all that I lost. I couldn’t get out of bed for days, Lucas and Valen taking turns lying with me, their silent comfort slowly tempting me out of the pit of misery I’d fallen deep into.
Then slowly, day by day, I was able to glimpse all that I gained in its ashes. Breakfasts with Lucas and Valen bickering, a shared bedroom where I’m never alone that overlooks the bluffs. A division of the three remaining rooms so we each have our own space.
What could’ve just been a temporary space has turned into the beginnings of a life I never dreamed of.
Lucas sleeps peacefully beside me, the morning light dancing across his sun-kissed skin, like it used to in my loft. A pang of longing for my previous life hits me in the stomach, and my heart clenches with it. I swallow, hands tightening in the sheets while I wait for the wave of discomfort to recede. His hair is so light now. It’s like he’s been waiting all these years in Havenport’s foggy climate to return to the South.
I shift onto my elbow, my head tilting to rest on my shoulder as I slip the sheets lower on his back. I’m not nearly as ghostly pale as I once was, but I might as well be when compared to Lucas.
Blue from the corner of my eye has my gaze shifting past Lucas’ broad, muscular back to his other side. Valen smiles sleepily at me, the iciness of his eyes melted away to leave behind clear blue depths within his irises.
My fingers trail softly down Lucas’ spine, dancing along his muscles as I go. “He’s so beautiful, Valen.”
Valen’s gaze trails Lucas as well, and he shifts closer to press his body against him. Lucas has his arms folded under his head, and Valen settles in to use Lucas’ bicep as a pillow. His fingers join mine, and we enjoy the feel of the magician together. The roar of the ocean against the rocky bluffs mixes with the songbirds that love the garden I’ve attempted to make in hopes that it will heal this broken grief within me.
Valen’s long fingers gather Lucas’ blond hair so that the long strands glide through his fingers. Lucas is still fast asleep, his lips parted. I touch his cheek and trail along his scruff. Silvery hairs are present, and I pause to inspect them. Lightening from the sun or the toll of stress?
A pang returns to my chest as my mind betrays me to offer a cruel thought. Valen’s dark brows draw together when my face tightens, and it takes me a moment to whisper the thought into the space between us. “You and I will live for centuries… but Lucas will not.”
A wave of sickness hits me and steals the air from my lungs. Valen and I are still young weavers, but our aging has slowed to a snail’s pace and will continue so long as our Soul Threads remain strong. But Lucas. He’s older than us and has a human life.
Valen collects a tear that threatens to escape my lashes, and I lean into his smooth palm. His voice is low and soft, easing some of this pain that won’t leave me. “Then we’ll enjoy him while he’s here.”
My smile is tight, and I nod, my hand lifting to hold Valen’s wrist.
“It’s too early for that depressing thought,” Lucas’ sleepy grumble is muffled by the pillow.
Valen smiles, his eyes dancing when he gazes down at the magician between us. He slides up to rest on his elbow as well. “Depressing for you, maybe.”
Valen draws me forward by the hand resting on my cheek to kiss me softly. “Good morning, my love. Did you sleep well?”
I nod.
His thumb strokes me again. “Any nightmares?” I shake my head and accept his kiss on my forehead. “Good. Tiring you out was my goal last evening.”
A small huff that is almost a laugh comes from me, and he kisses each of my cheeks. “And here I thought you were trying to see if Lucas would break,” I say softly.
Lucas’ muffled, grouchy voice sounds beneath us, “Worried I’d die first, and yet not worried about breaking my back or dislocating my shoulders.”
