Epilogue

RELIC

THREE MONTHS LATER

Gerald Gannon was a fucking coward and today he would die screaming.

I watched the male who had thrown Fern away, who had given her to pure evil, move around inside his house. It hadn’t taken long for word to reach him, for him to learn that Fern was alive, and that she was mated to a hellhound. He’d packed up and run before I could get to him—but not fucking far enough.

It hadn’t been easy to find him, not with the piece of shit doing everything in his power to conceal himself. I could feel the ward around his new place vibrating with magic.

I grinned. That wouldn’t fucking save him.

Fern didn’t know I was here. She had no idea where this fucker had gone, and she never would. I didn’t keep things from my mate, but right now, she was happy. She didn’t need to be burdened with this. My precious Tinker Bell didn’t need to carry the weight of this fucker’s death on her shoulders.

Pulling out my phone, I stared down at it. My hand shook with rage, I was seeing fucking red. And as much as I wanted to be the one to end this motherfucker’s life, there was someone who deserved that honor more than me.

Lukan deserved this, he deserved to relish Gannon’s screams. The witch was the reason his daughter had been imprisoned and tortured. He’d had Lukan captured and starved, and because of that, the male had hurt his own child—something that had seriously fucked him up. All that was bad enough, but Gannon was also the reason Lukan had lost his beloved mate.

If anyone should get to kill the witch, it was him.

I took a picture of Gannon through the window and sent it to Lukan. A moment later, the powerful demon appeared beside me.

Physically, he’d recovered. He was dressed in jeans and a faded T-shirt. His inked arms were no longer skin stretched over bone. He looked like the male he once was, young, fit, powerful—except for his eyes. There was a disturbed, crazed look in his eyes that never seemed to go away. His eyes narrowed on the witch, and he grinned, the expression on his face one of pure evil. “But I didn’t get you anything.”

“All I ask is that it’s not quick.”

He dragged the back of his hand across his mouth. “Oh, no. It won’t be quick. I have ways to make sure old Gerry boy is suffering for years.”

Good. That’s what he deserved. I turned to leave.

“How is she?” he said, stopping me. His voice had changed, a pained note making it rougher.

I turned back. “She's good, Lukan. Really fucking good. She’s got lots of good friends, a new coven, and she’s got me.”

He nodded. “I’m really fucking glad to hear that, and for what it’s worth, Relic, I’m glad she has you. I know I’ve never been a father to her, but if I’d gotten that chance, after some fucking with you and making you sweat…” he grinned. “I would’ve given you my blessing. I’m glad she has a male who loves her the way she deserves, someone who can protect her the way I never could.”

I nodded. “She doesn’t hate you, you know, and she doesn’t blame you.”

“My daughter is terrified of me,” he said, his gaze sliding back to Gerald.

“It won’t always be that way. It’ll take time, but we have plenty of it,” I said because I felt bad for the male. I got to be with Fern and he didn’t, and my mate was fucking amazing.

“I hope you’re right.” He glanced back at me and flashed me a grin. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a house call to make.”

He strode to the front door, and as I walked away and swung onto my bike, the sound of wood splintering echoed through the night.

* * *

FERN

Phoebe laughed at Sutton’s imitation of her super-surly new boss, and it was so incredibly good to hear.

My friends were still recovering after what had happened to them. Sutton had gone back to work a few weeks ago, and she said she was fine, but I knew she was just trying to make me feel better. She had a ways to go, but I wasn’t going to push. She knew I was here for her if she needed me and she still called me at night sometimes when she couldn’t sleep.

“More wine?” Sutton asked, topping off her glass.

I went from having no one to having a mate, the hounds, a coven, and Willow and her family had become good friends as well. Even Agatheena and I had grown closer—well, as much as a female like her would allow.

“I’m good.” I curled my feet up under me on the couch.

We had a couple of drinks here at the coven house most Friday nights.

“So, has Relic calmed down about the whole work thing?” Phoebe asked.

I grinned. “Yes, he has. Well, he still calls and texts me a million times a day to check on me, but he’s stopped sending Brick to secretly watch my shop.”

After I’d called him out on his overprotectiveness and told him that he needed to calm the hell down, he’d sent Brick to “guard” me instead.

“I have a feeling it’ll take time after everything that happened for him to relax a bit, especially about my safety.” I winced. “Though, according to Willow, hounds only get worse, and when you have pups, the overprotective thing reaches a whole new level.”

“Pups? Are you—”

“Noooo. Not looking to add a baby into the mix just yet. I’ve barely lived, you know? I just want to be with Relic for a while before we have kids.”

“Makes perfect sense,” Sutton said, pulling her phone from her pocket when it chimed. She stilled as she looked down at it, her eyes widening.

“What is it?”

She looked up. “Jagger just followed me on Nightscape.”

“He did what?” Phoebe said, looking as shocked as I felt.

Sutton held up her phone, showing us his profile, and Phoebe and I leaned in to check it out. No profile picture, no posts, no followers—and he was now following one person. Sutton.

“Is he back?” Sutton asked.

I shook my head. “He’s still in Hell.”

Jagger had been in Hell for two and a half months, helping Maddox with some training for the younger hounds, apparently, and not even Relic knew when he was coming back.

“I can’t believe he did that. It’s almost as if …”

“As if he created the profile just to follow you,” Phoebe said, taking the words right out of my mouth.

Sutton frowned, and her cheeks turned pink. “Why would he do that?”

Relic and I had a theory, but he’d told me not to say a word, that these things had to unfold on their own. “He likes you,” I said because that was obvious, right?

She huffed out a laugh. “The guy scowls and snaps at me whenever we’re in the same room. I piss him off more than anything.”

He’d also held her in his arms like she was his whole world, desperately licking her wounds to heal her after we had found her in that room, after the torture The Chemist had put her through. I didn’t know if she remembered, but she’d made it clear she didn’t want to talk about what had happened during those days with The Chemist, so I hadn’t shared what Jag had done while she was unconscious.

“Are you going to follow him back?” Phoebe asked. “I kind of feel bad for him.”

Phoebe was far too sweet for her own good.

“Why do you feel bad for him?” I asked her.

“He obviously doesn’t know how Nightscape works. His account isn’t even private, and I get the feeling Jagger’s a private male. I also doubt he knows we can see that Sutton’s the only person he’s following.”

I thought she was probably right.

“Should I follow him back?” Sutton asked, biting her lip. She had a major thing for him, but wasn’t admitting it, not even to us. “I should, right? Fuck it,” she said. She hit the Follow button, then quickly put the phone on the coffee table like she was afraid it would bite.

There were so many things I wanted to say, but I held them back, for now anyway. “Right, well, I’d better get going. Relic’s taking me for a ride tonight.”

That had become a tradition as well, one I absolutely loved, which included a ride through the city, before finding a secluded spot on the way home so we could tear each other’s clothes off. Our very first ride had been a bit different, though. That time, we’d ridden out to where The Chemist had kept me prisoner for so much of my life, and I’d watched as Relic blasted it with hellfire, flames pouring from his palms until the place was completely engulfed. He’d held me in his arms, and we’d watched it burn.

My friends walked me to the gate, and Sutton’s phone chimed with the distinctive Nightscape notification sound. One guess who that was. As I opened the gate, I bit back my smile.

We said our goodbyes, and I closed my eyes, visualizing the clubhouse, and embraced the sensation of falling. My feet hit pavement a moment later, and I opened my eyes. I was getting better at it every time I did it. A few more weeks, and I was sure I’d be able to land in our den.

Tonight, though, I’d landed just outside the clubhouse gates. “Hey, Brick."

He grinned, opened up for me, and I headed up to the main doors and inside. Friday night was often a party night, and the hounds were blowing off steam. Magnolia, her cousin Jasmine, and their mates were there as well. Mags waved me over.

I grinned. “Relic’s waiting for me, but next time, for sure!” I called over the music, and she gave me a thumbs-up.

I headed down to the dens and along the cave. When I opened the door to our den, I found Relic standing in the middle of the room, and as always, when I saw him after being parted from him for any length of time, my heart skipped a beat.

“Hey.”

He grinned wide and closed the space between us, pulling me into his arms. “Hey, baby. Missed you.”

“Missed you too.”

He was fresh out of the shower, dressed in jeans and his leather vest, his chest bare underneath. Now that it was warming up, he did that a lot, and I wasn’t sad about it.

“You ready for our ride?”

“Can’t wait.”

I sat on the edge of the bed, and he sat on the floor, his back to me. I slid my legs around him and under his arms, then took his damp hair in my hands and sectioned it off.

“You have a good night with the girls?” he asked as I started braiding.

“Yeah, really good.” I rested my chin on his shoulder. “Jag followed Sutton on Nightscape.”

“Jag’s on Nightscape?”

“Well, it looks like he just signed up, and Sutton’s the only person he follows.” I tied off his braid.

“Fuck.” A low, sexy laugh rumbled from my mate. “Though I’m not surprised. He’s probably getting fucking desperate.”

“What do you mean?”

“After I met you, staying away from you was impossible. Jag’s been in Hell for close to three months. He’s tasted her blood, seen her hurt and at her most vulnerable. Being away from her has to be torture for him.”

I straightened. “Then why is he staying away?”

Relic stood, and I got off the bed.

“Fuck knows. No idea why he’s holding out. Unless we’re wrong about those two?”

My mate led me out of our room, through the party, and out of the clubhouse. We got on his bike, and I wrapped my arms around him.

“Ready, Tink?” he said, his voice so full of love and rough with hunger.

“Always,” I said, sliding my hands up under his vest so I could feel his skin against mine.

We tore out onto the street. A laugh of pure joy burst from me, and I felt Relic laugh as well. Gods, I loved when he laughed.

If Jag was Sutton’s mate, I didn’t know why he was holding out either. Resisting was a waste of time, but then again, some of us needed time to realize we were worthy of love.

Relic sped around a corner, and I stopped thinking and hung on tight to my mate—my home, my whole world.

And I would never let go.

* * *

THANK YOU!

I hope you loved Relic and Fern’s story!

Jagger and Sutton’s book is next in:

BAD MAGIC

If you want more in the same world, check out

A CURSE IN DARKNESS

Willow and Warrick’s book!

OR

BLOOD MOON BOUND (VAMPIRES!)