Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Zinnia

Four years later

Marigold skipped around the headstones, Hemlock on her shoulder, Violet's hand gripped in hers, while the rest of her cousins followed in a disorderly line. "Keep up, Kai," she called.

Rose and Ronan's baby, Kai, had his father's dark hair and his mother's blue eyes. He was holding Torin's hand, and they were babbling away to each other like they were speaking their own language. Torin was big for his age, but according to Warrick, all hellhounds were. They were both fourteen months old, and Rose and Willow had given birth only two weeks apart.

Mari loved spending time with her cousins; she also loved that she was the oldest and could be in charge. Her black hair was in a long braid down her back, swishing from side to side as she glanced back and rolled her eyes at Tate and Raff, Iris and Draven's twins. Tate had gone wolf, and Raff was hanging on to his tail, cracking up every time he tugged on it and made his brother yelp, while Iris's familiar, Nia, bounded along beside them, barking with excitement.

"Not long now, and there'll be two more mini monsters in the coven," I said to Jaz and Mags, who were gathering rosemary beside me, Iris, Rose, and Wills, who were currently filling our jars with cemetery dirt.

Jazzy chuckled, butterflies dancing around her head as she snipped off another sprig of rosemary. "Thank the goddess we have Mari. We won't have to lift a finger."

Mags straightened with a groan. "I'm thinking sooner rather than later for me. This little girl wants to come early. I'm sure of it."

They were due three months apart, both having girls, but Mags was positive her baby was going to make an appearance earlier than she should.

"It'll be fine," Wills said. "Mom's brewing you an elixir that'll keep that little girl where she needs to be for a little while longer."

"It works," Rose said, sitting on the picnic blanket under the oak tree. "I used it for Kai."

Iris poured a glass of lemonade. "Anyone want one?"

"None for me. We need to get going," I said and shielded my eyes, looking over at my daughter. "Time to go, Mari."

She hugged her cousins and ran over to the picnic blanket. There wasn't much left over from lunch, but Marigold had put a cupcake aside for her father. She carefully wrapped it in a napkin and cradled it gently in her hands, then turned to me. "All ready."

"Hang on a minute. I think you're forgetting something," Mags said.

Marigold giggled, then made the rounds, hugging everyone else and laughing harder when they gave her big smacking kisses on her cheeks.

Jazzy gave me a hug. "You'll be here for the ceremony next week?"

"I wouldn't miss it." It was something we did every year to honor the loved ones we'd lost. All our coven would gather here.

After another round of goodbyes, Mari and I headed off.

Twenty minutes later, we were pulling up at the entrance to Oldwood Forest. I parked the car and Mari watched me closely as I did the spell to conceal it until we needed it again. She was already doing simple spells at seven. She was a natural. My baby would be a powerful witch one day. I felt the magic inside her growing every day.

I took her hand, and we walked into the forest. Night was falling, and moonlight filtered through the trees. Like her father, Marigold loved the dark.

"When do you think my familiar will come, Mommy?" she asked as we walked.

"I wish I could give you an answer, baby, but a familiar finds you when the time is right and not before."

Her eyes lit up. "What do you think they'll be?"

"I don't know, but whatever they are, they'll be perfect for you." Hemy squeaked his agreement from my shoulder.

We were free to move between Limbo and Roxburgh now. Though Death still worried while we were gone, he didn't try to stop us. We had an eternity ahead of us, the three of us, and he'd finally allowed himself to believe it.

Marigold ran across the clearing when we reached it, and I laughed and ran after her. She jumped up and down with excitement while I made a small slice in my hand to open the gateway.

The stones rumbled, rolling and reshaping, and a moment later, it was open.

We stepped through onto the skull path, and the gate closed behind us.

"Daddy!" Mari cried and took off.

I looked up as Mors rounded the corner, tall and broad and utterly gorgeous. He grinned wide when he saw us, scooping his daughter up as soon as she reached him.

"Did you have fun with your cousins?" he asked.

"We played in the cemetery, and had a picnic, and I brought you a cupcake." She thrust it out, and he took it.

He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my lips. "I'm glad you're back."

I grinned up at him. "Me too."

"Tell me, Daddy!" Marigold said.

He looked down at her. "Again?"

"Yes, again," she said excitedly.

"Your wish is my command, princess," he said in his beautiful voice.

She tilted her head back in anticipation, looking at the night sky, a sky Death had created, replicated, when he built this realm from the ground up. "Which one was Mommy?"

"See the small cluster of stars above us? They were your mommy and her sisters."

"And they landed in different realms when Mommy came to Earth," Mari said, jumping ahead because she'd heard this more times than I could count.

"That's right," he said. "See the two bright stars to the left—"

"That was you and Uncle Somnus."

"Right, again, and the cute little star twinkling closest to me, the brightest one in the cluster, that's your mommy."

She blinked up at the sky. "And you loved her even then."

"I did," he said in a low, rough voice.

She sighed. "I love that story."

Yes, she did. She had her father point out those stars almost every night. He curled his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in close. "I missed you both."

We'd only been gone half the day, but we didn't like being away from each other for very long. I wrapped my arm around his waist. "We missed you too."

We rounded the bend, and the castle came into view. Lyle's son, Ryker, stood on the steps waiting, a son I had no idea existed until we brought Mari home. Death's castle hadn't exactly been a very welcoming place, and neither had Death before Marigold and I moved in and changed things. Now, Lyle's mate helped around the castle as well, and Ryker was there all the time. He and Mari had fast become best friends. As soon as Mari saw him, she called his name. Death put her down, and she took off to play, Hemlock bounding after her.

"Follow me," my consort said and led us away from the castle. "Somnus and Pascal are watching Mari tonight."

I looked at him. "Oh?"

He waved his hand, and a path appeared in front of us. "Did you think I'd forget our anniversary?"

The anniversary of the curse being broken, of us finally being together the way we were always meant to be. As we walked, Death's cloak swirled around him, and my clothes evaporated, replaced by a black dress made of night that looked like fine cobwebs. It was no longer torn and old, like it had been in Nox's temple. It had been restored to how it once was when the mother created it and me, like Death's cloak had been for him. A clearing opened up ahead of us. It glowed with soft lighting from the stars, from the moon. A table was to one side, and when he waved his hand, food, candles, and wine appeared. Then he clicked his fingers, and the sound of his piano playing echoed around us.

I gazed up at him. "This is… it's beautiful."

He smiled, his cloak swirling, his eyes glowing blue and utterly gorgeous. "Anything for my perfect consort, my wife, my precious guiding star."

Then we swayed to the music, dressed in nothing but the night sky and wrapped in each other's arms.

THANK YOU!

Thank you so much for reading

Zinnia and Death's story! I hope you loved it!

Yes, this is the end of The Thornheart Trials Series, but there is so much more to come in this world!

And next up is Relic!

BAD DEMON is the first in my new Hell on Wheels Series featuring our favorite, huge, growly, female-worshipping, hug-loving, emotionally deficient hellhounds!