Epilogue

I’d never worn a dress like this before. A floor-length, body-hugging silk number with an obscene amount of beading—so intricate I was worried that a dozen pearl beads would fall off if I moved too quickly.

I restrained myself from brushing my hands over the curves of the dress, hating that they highlighted my body but also loving how it made me look. Seir had really outdone himself, and seeing what he could produce when he was actually trying was inspiring. It helped that he was afraid of being kicked out of the city where he had claimed sanctuary from the human authorities for an insanely long list of shoplifting offenses.

The door clicked behind me. Someone’s attempt at a sneaky entrance. I pretended to be enamored with my reflection as Caim snuck up on me. My body jolted as he cupped my waist, and the reaction had nothing to do with surprise.

“You’re nervous,” Caim noted, his red eyes shining with mischief.

“Lots of important people will be at this meeting.” I kept my voice even as I reached for my earrings on the vanity.

“Lots of important demons .” Caim corrected. “The humans aren’t really that important. We just like to let them think they are.”

“I don’t think anyone will react well to being told their city has been claimed by a random Sídhe,” I remarked as I put in my earrings.

“If they get pissed off, just eject them out of the city.” Caim shrugged, his arms still wrapped around my waist.

“Eject?”

“Eject.” He agreed. “Throw them over the wall. Like the Behemoth.”

I sighed.

Caim loosened his arms, placed his palm against my back, and rubbed circles between my shoulder blades. “You do great.”

“Can I use ASL?” I suggested.

Caim gave me an indulgent look. “Do you want me to act as your translator?”

“You think I’m being stupid.” I deflated.

“On the contrary, I think the idea has a certain regal feel.”

“You’re making fun of me.” I turned, punching his shoulder.

Though I didn’t use any force, Caim cupped his arm. “Always.”

I chewed my bottom lip nervously. Caim reached forward, placing his hands on my hips and turning me to face him. He kissed me gently, almost reverently.

I reached up, tangling my fingers in his curly hair, feeling the ridges of his curved horns under my fingertips.

He groaned into my mouth, but the sound was irritated. My brow pursed, and I broke away.

“That’s not the response I was hoping for.” I pointed out.

Caim glanced at the door. “Hair and makeup is here.”

“Do I really need—”

“The summit is being televised. In parts anyway.” He interrupted.

Someone knocked on the door.

I sighed and went to answer it.

Darla .

My nostrils flared.

Just when I’d been having such a good day as well.

I shot Caim a glare, but he feigned innocence. He had assured me he hadn’t slept with her, and Murmur, my demonic lie detector, had vouched for him. Still, he had used Darla to make me jealous; he’d admitted it.

I wasn’t about to let Caim off the hook for that just yet.

Before Darla could say a single word, Caim slipped out the door with a sing-song, “Bye, ladies!”

I could have brought him back, tugged on the claiming to drag him to the room by the scruff of his neck, but there was no point.

I didn’t hate Darla. Not really.

Envy was a strange beast, and I wasn’t immune to it.

Darla’s eyes were wide. She gestured to the case at her feet, waist height with golden clasps. “I was told there was an important client.”

My smile was straight-lipped, and I waved a hand to myself. The movement was self-deprecating.

Though I was growing more comfortable using my voice around my demons, I still struggled around those I didn’t know well. My magic sat in my voice, and though the claiming had helped control it somewhat, I didn’t want to risk it.

Darla followed me into the room and searched for an outlet, plugging in her various tools and dragging one of the chairs away from the vanity. She ignored me as she set up, working with quick and practiced efficiency.

I should have expected to see her. Or Aimee, at least. The summit was being filmed by the Real Housewives of the Red City for their upcoming season. At the very least, the red carpet was going to be televised.

I didn’t understand the pageantry. I was going to a meeting with Asmodeus and Beezlebub—the Behemoth’s boss—hoping that I didn’t have to fight them for the right to claim a city I had already claimed.

Demons and Fae didn’t mix, and though no one knew exactly who I was, every demon in the Red City had felt the power shift. Even if they hadn’t seen the Behemoth burst like a balloon into thin air.

“I’m ready for you,” Darla announced, steeling herself as she turned to face me. “Did you know what you wanted to do with your hair?”

I shook my head, hating that my voice had died between my tongue and lips.

Darla clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “Well, we’ll figure something out. You’ve got enough hair. An up-do?”

I shrugged, getting comfortable in her chair as Darla grabbed her comb and sectioned my hair.

The silence was awkward.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, careful not to meet her eyes.

“So, you and Caim, huh?” She said after a few minutes, grabbing her curling wand.

I shrugged.

She continued. “I didn’t mean to step on your toes. It’s just...” Darla exhaled, focusing on my hair as she spoke. “I have a sister. She has cystic fibrosis. She came to the city with me. I want to find a way to help her. To make her a Daemon.”

A Daemon was a human corrupted by demonic magic. Immortal, though not as powerful as a pureblooded demon.

Would becoming a daemon cure a chronic health condition like cystic fibrosis? I didn’t know. I’d never had cause to ask.

“I’m going to find someone to help me,” Darla said, meeting my eyes through the mirror. “I didn’t mean to be a bitch, but time is running out.” I nodded in understanding.

I just wished I could help, but I wasn’t sure how.

Once Darla finished my hair and makeup, admittingly doing a much better job than I would have been able to do myself, I was left alone with my thoughts for a few moments.

The television studio had given us the hotel room to get ready. Though the summit was in one of the conference rooms on the lower floor, we’d been told that we had to leave the building out the back and arrive through the front door for some benign reason, probably for the cameras.

I readied myself for a day of hell when someone knocked on the door again. I really hoped Darla hadn’t forgotten something.

Murmur opened the door, slipping inside before I could stand.

My heart leaped to my throat, and my voice died once more.

I hadn’t had a chance to speak to him since the claiming, not really. We had all returned to the Human district to lick our wounds, but Murmur had been curiously absent. Every time I entered a room, he would leave it.

I’d tried not to be offended, but I couldn’t deny that it had hurt .

I didn’t have an excuse. It was my own fault. I had claimed Murmur, Malphas, Caim, and Stolas without consent. Though the others seemed to have come to terms with the new situation, Murmur had yet to voice any opinion one way or the other.

Though silence often said much more than words.

Murmur sat on the hotel bed, brushing his hand over the comforter, his mind a million miles away.

“For someone that sees the truth in things, I’m surprised you’re willing to touch that bed. It probably glows under a blacklight.”

Murmur yanked his hand back.

“I—” His words died as he turned to me, his gaze falling on mine for the first time since Behem’s dungeon. Whatever response died in his throat as he caught sight of my dress and the artfully applied makeup.

I wasn’t sure what the fuss was about. I was still me.

“You—” His teeth clicked together.

It seemed like I wasn’t the only one having trouble speaking today.

“I can’t reverse it.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “You’re stuck with me until I die, and I’m Sídhe, so it’s a toss-up if I last forever. I’m a Bean Sídhe, we’re long-lived.”

Murmur inhaled deeply, closing his eyes, but he held back a smile, which was a good sign. “That wasn’t what I was going to say.”

I jutted my chin, meeting his eyes. Murmur always waxed on about how he saw the truth in things, but I hadn’t thought of the nuisance of that until that moment. The truth was subjective. It meant different things to different people. Even if you gave someone all the facts, the history, and the context, no two people would come to the same conclusion.

Maybe Murmur saw everything. I could understand how that could be a curse.

“I haven’t smoked in a week.” He told me, meeting my gaze in challenge.

“That’s good.” I nodded, licking my lips with nerves.

“I was dying in that cell.” He continued. “You felt it, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I did.” I admitted. There was no point lying.

“ You’re the reason I didn’t die in that cell.” Murmur pressed.

“Yes.” I went to rub my hand over my mouth but stopped when I remembered my lipstick. “I claimed you. It helped with your pain. Then, I claimed everything else. But I claimed you first.”

Murmur nodded as if confirming something, but he turned on his heel and left before I could say another word.

If I were to imagine a demonic summit with genuine kings and queens of Hell, I would picture a round table, castle walls, and chalices made of human bones.

Not a conference room in an upmarket hotel, with a strange landline phone in the middle of the table.

I was thankful the cameras had only extended to the hotel's front door.

Stolas, Murmur, Malphas, and Caim, stood at my back like a wall of guards, affecting a strange, nonchalant but murderous impression.

Before we even sat down, I recognized Asmodeus, her magic like a heady perfume.

It was easier to ignore now, but I felt it lick my skin like an eager puppy trying to gain a foothold.

Asmodeus sat on the office chair at the end of the table, her legs swinging over the chair's arms. She threw her head back and laughed at something I didn’t hear.

I followed her gaze to another demon I hadn’t seen before. A nondescript man in a pin-striped suit. Unremarkable in every way, save for the mountain of food in front of him.

If there was a brand of fast food to exist, it was probably in that pile somewhere.

The king of Gluttony.

It had to be.

Despite the sheer amount of food, he took delicate bites, wiping his fingers with a napkin before he turned to greet us with a tilt of his head.

Someone else sat in the corner, but my eyes couldn’t find purchase on them even if I knew they were there.

I ignored them, confident I could protect myself if they tried something.

Stolas made a point of pulling out my chair and helping me get into my seat. Based on the looks of the demons at the table, Stolas’s actions meant more than they appeared.

Though the demons hadn’t gone all out like me. I felt like a little girl playing dress-up.

“Madeleine Speck.” Asmodeus sang, tossing her hair over her shoulder as she faced me. “Defeater of the Behemoth.”

“ He’s not dead .” I signed.

Caim relayed the message.

The other demon chuckled. “He might as well be.”

“Beezlebub!” Asmodeus chided. “That’s what happens when you don’t care for your toys.”

“He was a relic.” Beezlebub waved his hand. “If I could have gotten rid of him, I would have.”

Asmodeus mashed her lips together, but she said nothing.

Beezlebub met my eyes. “The Behemoth was an inherited problem. I am of Hell. I was made in Hell, knitted together from the threads of Sin. The one you know as God made the Behemoth. She has a habit of making beasts. He couldn’t take my kingdom, though he tried. I believe that is why he consumed so many of your kin. The Sídhe. He wanted to turn this city into his own circle of Hell.”

“ I understand .” I signed.

Beezlebub glanced at Caim expectantly as he relayed the message.

“Gluttony will no longer be present in any Red Cities in the Human Realities.” Beezlebub tipped his head. “Those of my sin do not have the control needed to live in this dimension.”

I nodded again. That was acceptable.

“The Sixth Circle owes you a boon.” Beezlebub grabbed one of the burgers from his pile as he stood up. “Think about what you want.”

The king of Gluttony folded out of existence as he took a bite of the cheeseburger, dissolving into thin air.

The pile of fast food dissolved with him.

Asmodeus pouted, sitting back in her chair. “He’s so busy now.” She sighed. “He never has time to play with me anymore.”

The shadow in the corner met my eyes. I recognized her.

Death.

Her magic felt like mine but a hundred times more powerful.

Who was that ?

Before I could speak, Death evaporated as if she was never there.

Though I probably could have walked into any building in the Red City and claimed it like a dictator, the single story in the Human District felt like home.

At the end of the day, I wanted nothing more than to kick my feet up and eat nachos with Malphas. Or watch Caim cheat at Monopoly. Or listen to Murmur gripe about factual inaccuracies in the bible. Or watch Stolas adjust his telescope.

After the Behemoth had been banished from the city, we’d had a week of quiet existence as the dust settled, and it had been perfect.

But none of us had addressed the elephant in the room.

The Claiming.

I could feel them in my chest, like a second heartbeat. Sometimes, I would catch a stray thought. Tied to me with golden threads, each of their souls felt very different, but my magic had snatched them up and braided us together, tying my demons to the city and me.

We had all come home from the summit in the ancient SUV, but my demons had disappeared the moment we’d gotten out of the car.

At first, I thought they needed peace and quiet after the chaos at the hotel, but after an hour, the silence became suspicious .

Malphas wasn’t in the kitchen, where he cooked to relax when stressed.

Murmur wasn’t in front of QVC buying a strange mop variant that nobody needed.

Stolas wasn’t in his study.

That left Caim and his den of inequity.

I hadn’t been in Caim’s room since my misguided cleaning spree.

But as I searched the house, and didn’t find a single demon, only one room was left.

I made sure to knock, not knowing what kind of debauchery I would walk into.

Caim called out, inviting me in. I couldn’t get a read on his voice to know if he was tied to the bed or not.

I pushed open the door into a sea of balloons covering every inch of the floor.

I frowned in confusion. “Is this some kind of fetish thing?”

There was a banner.

Welcome to the Flock, Maddie .

Stiff and buttoned up, Stolas was mid-blow with a balloon to his lips. As soon as he heard my words, his cheeks flamed red, and he let go of the balloon. I laughed as it squeaked and squealed, streaking across the room as it deflated.

“We wanted to claim you .” Caim strode forward, kicking his way through the sea of balloons.

“It’s a party,” Malphas grumbled. “I made cake. Red velvet.”

Malphas really got me.

Murmur, who had been silent until that moment, approached. Caim slipped back, allowing the other demon to have his moment.

“I know you think I am yours because I do not have a choice.” Murmur met my eyes. It felt like staring into the eyes of the universe.

I opened my mouth to speak, but he placed a finger to my lips.

“I know you, Madeleine Speck. I have seen your heart, and I would like to be yours. If you would have me. Just as I would like for you to belong to me.”

“Those sounded a lot like vows.” I worried my bottom lip with my teeth.

“They are,” Stolas said, brushing his hands down the front of his shirt. “Demons can form soul-bonds, much like your claiming. To us, this is marriage.”

Marriage.

I’d married four demons.

Until that moment, I hadn’t really thought about what that meant.

“And the balloons?” I joked. “Is that how demons celebrate marriage?”

“No,” Murmur replied, somehow more serious than I had ever seen him. “They celebrate like this.”

He grabbed me so quickly that my breath exploded from my mouth with a squeak.

I wasn’t a thin woman, but somehow, Murmur picked me up as if I weighed nothing and swung my body until my back hit the edge of Caim’s substantial bed.

His lips descended on mine with the fervor of a starved man.

Murmur tasted like dark chocolate and secrets. I moaned against his lips, finding my body melt as I reached up and gripped his shoulders like I was afraid I would float away.

His kiss was harsh.

Demanding.

And I was just along for the ride.

There was so much pain inside of him. I felt it under the surface. I wanted to soothe his aches, to bring him comfort.

Murmur climbed onto the bed, settling between my legs. I felt his hardness through the fabric of my underwear, pressed against the seam of his trousers. He rocked his hips almost involuntarily, and I bit back a moan.

Until then, I’d almost forgotten about the others, though I sensed their gaze on mine.

Murmur broke our kiss, almost reluctantly, as Stolas approached. The two demons looked down at me, studying me with darkened eyes.

“Clothes off. Now.” Stolas’s voice was rough with arousal.

I hadn’t expected the command from Stolas, and seeing a new side of him sent a shiver down my spine.

I pulled my dress over my head. Revealing my breasts. My nipples hardened until Stolas’s stare, and I resisted the urge to wrap my arms around my chest.

“I’m going to taste you,” Stolas growled, kneeling at the foot of the bed.

Murmur began to remove his clothes as Stolas placed his hands on my thighs and leaned forward, striping a stripe through the fabric of my underwear—nudging my clit with his tongue.

I bit back a whimper.

Stolas moved my panties to the side, brushing a stripe from my pussy to my clit with his index finger. Drawing a circle with my wetness.

I laid back, closing my eyes, as Stolas pulled my underwear over my hips.

I’d never had someone do that before. Lick me... There.

My cheeks heated as I felt Stolas’s breath against my core, a moment before he pressed his lips to my clit. The tip of his finger pushed inside of me, filling me, as he began to tease me. Kissing me all over. My inner thighs. My pussy lips. Everywhere but my clitoris.

I was going to grab his head and suffocate him between my legs in frustration when he finally pulled the tiny nub between his lips and sucked it into his mouth. I jerked, unsure if I liked the sensation or not, when Stolas used the flat of his tongue to paint a circle around my clit.

Soon, I was panting. Aching.

I was going to cum.

And then he stopped.

Before I could threaten to kill him, Stolas replaced his finger with his cock. Filling me to the hilt. The orgasm that had almost died roared back to life, crashing over me.

It didn’t stop.

Stolas continued to thrust inside of me as he held my legs up. The sight of his cock disappearing inside of me was available for all to see.

I felt him cum, as he pressed inside of me to the hilt and held himself there, filling me with his seed.

My chest was flushed, and though I had just cum, I didn’t want it to end.

The moment Stolas removed his cock, his cum running down from my pussy to the crack of my ass, Murmur stepped forward, plugging my hole with his cock—forcing Stolas’s cum back inside of me.

The harsh sound of wet slapping, or Murmur’s cock, sliding through Stolas’s cum, filled the room.

Malphas and Caim stood beside him, forming a line.

Murmur reached forward, gripping my nipples between his thumb and forefinger, and the world went white as another orgasm stole through my body.

The following day, I switched on the news, surprised to see reports of a small localized earthquake in the Red City in Northern California.

The Gluttony district had been reduced to rubble.

Luckily, no one was hurt.

The time of the earthquake had started at the same time as my evening activities.

I definitely needed to work on my self-control.