EPILOGUE

A nathema's crescent moon grinned down, its pale light spilling over a sea of desserts and easy conversation in the castle gardens. Kim, Suri, and Adari sipped from their teacups between bouts of laughter, rattling on about some game we "simply had to play." Lana and Tovas sat locked in a heated chess match, her posture straight and proud. I sighed, soaking in the scene.

My home. My family.

The Goddess had worked her magic, piecing together the foundations for a new Anathema seamlessly. Tovas and Adari had graciously stepped into their new roles as Lords of the demon court and—after searching high and low for her parents—had taken Lana in and decreed her the formal heir to Wentworth Manor. Their daughter. Suri, in all her stubborn glory, had taken her sweet time in accepting Kim's and my invitation but had finally agreed: royal advisor to the crown.

Our kingdom was at peace.

Kim met my gaze, her lips mouthing, "I love you."

"I love you more," I whispered back.

"What do you think, Coop?" Suri asked.

I blinked back into the moment. "About what?"

"About a trip to the mortal world? I have always wanted to see what all this talk of mortal heathenness is about."

I smirked. "I think that could be arranged."

"Tovas, Lana, and I would love to join you," Adari added.

Kim chimed in. "I don't know. There's still so much to do and—"

"And we will handle it," I said, and rubbed my thumb across her forearm. "But I think even you can agree we've earned a little respite."

Kim smiled. "You're right."

Magic drifted across the table—Adari taking notice in time—and we turned to find a silhouette darting in the shadows. The hell… I stood with my dagger drawn. A guard stepped forward and bowed, his face wrinkled in concern.

"Your Highnesses, I present Lord Drystan."

He ushered the vampire Lord forward before disappearing in the direction he'd come. Kimber took her place at my side in a heartbeat, her hand slipping into mine as Drystan lowered his rigid shoulders in greeting.

"I apologize for my impromptu appearance, Your Highnesses," he said, "but I have a matter I fear needs your immediate attention."

Kim and I shared a panicked glance. Something was off.

Her grip tightened around mine. "What is it?"

"I—I am not entirely sure." Drystan said. "If you would be so kind as to come with me, I will show you."

I considered for a second if it might be another trap. Another enemy we'd missed somehow, but Drystan hadn't once been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Technically, I had no reason not to trust him. Yet. We followed him to the vampire gate—my grasp on my dagger's hilt unwavering—and wandered through the leafless trees. A thick layer of fog stuck to the forest floor, the stench of decay permeating the air. It didn't make sense. Just weeks before, the woods in the shifter realm had shown signs of healing. Why now did the trees in the vampire court rot instead?

We drifted farther and farther in. My stomach turned the more time slipped by—Kimber's visible concern rocking me further—and my fists clenched at my side. What in the Gods' names could require our attention this far outside the town line? But then I saw it: the iron gate to the mortal realm caked in rust…and open.

"I never gave my consent to reopen access to the mortal world," Drystan confirmed, "and yet, here it is: gates wide open. I simply have no explanation."

"Who else would have the ability to do this?" Kimber asked.

"From within? Only you, my Queen. But from outside…"

I started a slow pace towards the gate, lightning crashing through the sky on the other side. Those clouds… I swallowed hard.

"Kim," I called, and motioned for her to join me.

"What it is?"

I pointed to the sky swirling into a vicious storm overhead. "Do you see what I see?"

"Violet clouds…"

It hit us both with the same biting force. While the gates had been opened wide to another plane, what greeted us was neither mortal sky nor mortal soil. A knot cemented in my throat.

We were standing on the precipice of the Shroud.

"How is this possible?" I whispered.

"I—I have no idea," Kim said. "But this ends now. I refuse to have my peace stolen from me again."

She raised her hands. Her shadows slipped from her fingertips and slithered up the iron bars, stringing themselves across the gap to cinch it together. Slowly, the gates began to close.

Drystan let out a relieved sigh. "Thank you, my Queen. I promise I will keep a watchful eye on this; and should anything change, you will be the first to know."

"Please do, Lord Drystan. You were right to summon us," Kim said.

Their conversation turned to static as the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Through the gate across the flowery field at the tree line's edge, a figure emerged, the horrific sight gluing me in place. Ten feet tall and cloaked in a swirl of screaming sandmen, the being crept closer. Chains jutted from the darkness, attached to an army of corpses dragging their broken ankles beneath them. Sheer horror trapped me in my own skin. My mouth refused to open; words stuck in my throat like paste.

In a blink, the being and its army stopped five feet short of the gate. While the Reigning Reaper's eyes crackled in living flame, this being made their fire—both Cadagon's and Kimber's—look like mere sparks.

Hellfire and screaming faces danced within the figure's hardened stare from four feet above, the rest of its features cloaked in darkness. A bony hand jutted from the chaos and cemented a hold on the gates, preventing them from closing and sending Kimber's shadows cowering back to her.

She stood motionless at my side. What the ever-loving fuck was this thing? Its skeletal face emerged from the flurry of sandmen overhead, and it hit me instantly: a primal sense of knowing. Maggots clawed their way to freedom from the deepest layer of soil beneath my feet to slink into the ancient being's shadows as it hunched down over me.

In a voice layered with ten thousand others, the figure screeched, "Deliver me the sleeping key, or I shall unleash a plague upon thee."

Death's words snapped off the treetops as they boomed through the kingdom, blotting out the moon in their wake.

The Old Gods had awoken.