Epilogue

DAISY

Six months later.

The taxi pulled up outside the familiar building and a bout of nerves came over me. I'd been to Jinx HQ a couple of times for meetings with Aine about the commission, but this time felt different. Maybe it was because I was a guest and not a contractor at this particular event.

The door opened and Thor held out his hand to me. I took it gratefully and let him help me out of the car. I smoothed down my dress and tried not to fuss with it too much. I knew it looked good on me, but I was about to be standing next to a literal beauty goddess while unveiling my finished sculpture, and I wasn't sure I was up to that task.

"You look beautiful," Thor said, clearly guessing the direction of my thoughts.

"I'm glad you think so." I went onto my toes and kissed his cheek.

He moved at the last second and kissed me deeply, leaving me no doubt how he felt about me in the dress. Though in fairness, he kissed me like that when I was wearing my scruffy work clothes too.

"We should go inside before I suggest getting back in the cab and going back to your place," I half-joked.

He paused. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you about that."

"Oh?"

"I know it's early, but how would you feel about moving in with me?"

I blinked a couple of times. "You want me to move in?"

"Yes. You said that Danny and his boyfriend are getting serious, and that you feel like a third wheel. You stay with me most of the time anyway, so yeah. Live with me?"

I took a deep breath, realising as I did that it wasn't something I was nervous about. "Okay, yes. I'll move in with you." I found myself grinning without realising it.

"Did I tell you that I don't pay rent?"

I snorted. "It's come up." But considering he's had so many years to own his property, it made sense. "All right, let's go inside."

The man on the door nodded us through without even consulting his list. Either he recognised me from the meetings I'd had here, or he knew who Thor was. I wouldn't like to say which.

"Ah, Thor," a dark-haired man said.

"Hades," Thor responded. "It's been a long time, I wasn't aware you were coming tonight."

Hades. Actual Hades .

I tried to keep my cool. I'd met several gods over the past six months, not just because of the time I'd been spending at Jinx HQ, but also Thor's friends and family. And yet it was nothing compared to meeting someone whose stories were so well known. Then again, Thor was my boyfriend, so maybe I needed to get over that.

"Who is your guest?" Hades asked.

"Actually, I'm her guest," Thor responded. "This is Daisy Dixon, she's the artist behind the sculpture we're here to unveil."

"Ah, a pleasure to meet you," Hades said. "I'd love to stay and chat, but there's someone I must talk to."

"It was good to meet you," I said, though really I was confused, especially when he walked over to the bar and didn't talk to anyone.

Thor chuckled. "I think talking to someone means that he's trying to avoid Persephone."

"What happened between them?"

"I'm not really sure, you'll have to ask Hel next time you see her, she knows more about it."

I probably wasn't going to do that, I wasn't sure what to make of Thor's niece, she was a little intimidating, so asking her for gossip wasn't exactly at the top of my to-do list.

"Ah, Daisy, there you are," Aine said brightly, heading my way in a deep blue dress that made her normal beauty even more dazzling. "I don't know if you remember my partner, Min." She gestured to the man beside her.

"We've met a couple of times, I think."

He nodded. "Good to see you again."

"We'll be doing the unveiling in about half an hour," Aine said. "So relax, get yourselves a drink, and I'll come get you when it's time."

"Thank you." I offered her what I hoped was a friendly smile. I liked the goddess, she seemed very normal even if she was old and powerful. And she'd been surprisingly easy to work with.

We got ourselves a drink and mostly people watched while we waited for the unveiling time. I'd never been to an event like this, and it was quite something, especially when Thor kept pointing out the different gods and goddesses and who they were with. I'd been reading up on mythology since I started dating Thor so I wouldn't be completely out of my depth at events like these, but it was still unbelievable how much he knew that I didn't.

Eventually, Aine came to get me and took me up to the platform where my sculpture sat ready to be unveiled. I was even more nervous than I had been during any of the rounds of The Great Sculpting Challenge , probably because this one meant more. I might have won the commission fair and square, but that didn't really change the conflicting feelings of pride and nervousness I got from so much money exchanging hands.

Aine tapped her glass, and the room fell silent. "Thank you all for coming tonight," she said, her voice carrying easily across the room. "I'm really excited to unveil the new sculpture for the Jinx lobby. It was created by the very talented Daisy Chains , who is with us here tonight." She gestured to me.

I gave an awkward half-wave, wishing that I didn't have to be up here right now, but seeing that it was important to everyone that I was.

"So, without further ado, I'd like to reveal it." Aine gestured for me to grab one of the tassels on my side and I pulled it. The curtain in front of the sculpture rose up quickly, revealing the metal beneath. It was a lot bigger than the version I'd made during the competition, with more pinks incorporated, and different-sized hearts. They dangled between two large leaves, catching the light and sparkling just like I intended it to, but better.

Applause sounded from around the room and I felt pride swell up within me. My art had achieved that. It was now standing in a room full of influential people, and I was starting to think that it would make even more of a difference than I originally thought it would for my business.

And that was something amazing.

I headed back down to the main floor and found Thor. He pulled me into his arms straight away and kissed me without a single care for who was watching. It filled me with warmth, and even though we'd probably kissed hundreds of times by now, I still wasn't used to it.

"Your sculpture is beautiful," he said.

"It is," I agreed. "It turned out even better than I expected."

"It's as good as I thought it was going to be," he responded. "But I knew that it was going to be great."

"I'm glad." I kissed him again swiftly. "I love you."

"I love you too," he responded instantly.

"And I can't wait to move in with you."

"I can't wait for you to move in," he replied. "I'll have your bed all ready for you."

"Am I not going to be staying in your bed?" I asked, a little confused by what he was saying.

"Oh, yes. And it's all ready for you to go back to tonight," he joked.

"That's fine, I like your bed."

"I like it too, especially when you're in it."

I laughed and wrapped my arms around his neck. Even if it was slightly intimidating to be in this room, I was glad that I'd won the competition and gotten my art here.

And not just that, I'd found something I hadn't been looking for in the process. And that just made it even more perfect.

Thank you for reading Competing With Thor , I hope you enjoyed it! If you want to find out more about what's going on with Hades and Persephone, you can find out in Winning Back Persephone , the next book in the series: https://books.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/winningbackpersepehone

If you want to read chapter 9 from Thor's point of view, you can download it here: https://books.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/thorbonus