27. EPILOGUE

EPILOGUE

SERA

One Year Later

Tiny paws yank at my wings as a little Anubis tries to crawl up them.

"Help me, Auntie Sera!" she squeals as her brothers come racing up.

Quickly, I pull her into my arms and flap my wings until I'm well out of the boys' reach.

"Hey, no fair! That's cheating!" Heqaib, Fern's and Ahnou's eldest son, calls.

"Nothing is cheating in The Veil, kiddo. You're tied to this realm like any other creature of life and death, so you best learn how to bend it to your advantage."

"But I can't do this stuff on Earth!"

"Nope. The Veil is special."

And I mean it—nothing compares to this world.

"What's Uncder going to teach us today?" Heqaib's sister asks as I come back to the ground.

I grin at her adorable combination of ‘uncle' and ‘Ender'.

"Today, we're going to open portals!"

"Oooo, fun!"

"Not fun!" Ender barks, appearing out of nowhere. "This is serious business!"

He ruins it by making a face, and the small circle of kids falls over laughing.

I smother my chuckle behind my hand, but nothing is as funny—or cute—as Ender the Teacher of Death Children.

"Opening portals is one of the basic tenets of anyone living in The Veil."

"Did you just use the word ‘tenets' with a bunch of little kids?"

"Hush," he scowls, and this time, I don't try to cover my laugh.

"As I was saying, opening a portal is one of the most important things you can learn. Sera here just managed to do it last year."

Now it's my turn to scowl.

"Rude!" I grouse, and all the kids laugh again.

In my defense, you're supposed to use your emotions and envision where you want the portal to open, but I was already so happy where I was, I couldn't do it for weeks.

It was so embarrassing, and Ender hasn't let me live it down since.

What a jerk.

But you love me , he purrs in his mind.

An egotistical jerk.

"Right, so to open a portal, you have to channel your power through your emotions—preferably ones with a higher vibration, like happiness or love—and envision where you want the portal to open, and it will. Easy."

Easy, my ass.

Heqaib raises his hand.

"Does it have to be happiness or love? Can it be revengy?"

Oh boy, do Fern and Ahnou have their hands full.

But Ender just shrugs, not at all fazed by the question.

"If the emotion is strong enough, it should work, but sometimes our darker feelings are harder to control. You can create a portal too big or not one at all. Allow me to demonstrate."

For the next thirty minutes, Ender shows the children how to open—and close—portals.

I'm in awe of how engaged the kids are, entranced by my mate.

And damn if he isn't just the most adorable thing, looking like a cuddly nightmare.

His head snaps up at this thought, and he shoots me another glare, but I'm unsure if he's pissed because I called him cuddly or a nightmare.

Ender doesn't answer me, but calls Heqaib to try opening a portal first.

The Anubis' face pinches with concentration, but then a soccer-sized hole opens up.

"Ah-ha!" he cries in triumph, rounding on his brother. "I knew you stole my ankh!"

"No, that one's mine!"

Before I know it, the two are rolling around on the ground, fists flying.

My mate wades in without a care in the world, yanking the boys apart.

"Enough! Or else I'll send you back to your parents!"

Instantly, the Anubises apologize. Ender folds his arms over his chest but doesn't say anything more about it.

He instructs Heqaib to close the portal, and it takes the boy a bit longer to do this than opening one.

We all clap when he's done, and Ender calls another child to try.

After an hour, it's finally the last kid's turn, and it's Neri, the one who calls Ender ‘uncder'.

"Ok, sweetheart, just like we've talked about. Think about something that fills your power with happiness. Now knot that feeling in your center and balloon it outward while imagining where you want to go—this is the portal opening."

The little girl screws her eyes shut in concentration, and my heart melts a bit at the sight.

She looks so much like Fern, their only child with human features.

Except Neri also has ears and a tail, as well as paws and black skin that matches her hair.

The tips of her hair are bright red, and I can't get over how beautiful she is.

Suddenly, the world around us ripples as a portal blasts open, larger than I've even seen Ender do.

Fog seeps through the opening and then clears to reveal…

Fern bent over in the shower, her hands pressed against the wall, while Ahnou rails her from behind.

The kids all scream—none more loudly than Heqaib—and I slap a hand over Neri's eyes.

Ahnou's in the middle of coming and knotted inside Fern, who's trying to yank away and wrap the shower curtain around her naked body.

The entire moment is pure chaos, and when I look over at Ender, he's…

Doubled over, losing his shit.

Of course.

Waving my free hand, I close the portal and set about to calming the children since my mate can barely breathe.

"Lunchtime!" I decree, sending all the kids inside to eat. "Will you please stop laughing?!"

"I…can't!" Ender wheezes.

"You know we just traumatized a bunch of children, right?"

"They'll be ok. Death kids are resilient."

I roll my eyes.

"Say that to their therapist when they're older."

"Do you think we could have sex now that they've seen that?"

"Ender!" I roar, smacking his arm playfully.

Ever since the children arrived last week, I've made my mate keep his hands to himself.

The size of his house now makes sense and why the rooms are all located upstairs except for his.

Even still, I don't want to risk one of the little ones walking in on us.

"They're only here for a few more days, you big baby."

"Good," Ender growls, pulling me in for a kiss.

He does it on purpose, hoping to make my resolve crumble.

It won't, but he knows it still gets me all hot and bothered.

"You're going to miss them," I whisper against his beak.

"We'll see them again next year. Besides, I enjoy having you to myself."

Ender's never brought up having children, and I know working the camp is enough for both of us.

It's taken a year to right The Veil, but everything is finally back in order and restored.

We've only just now begun to focus on ourselves.

A breeze fills the air with the scent of almaberry flowers, and I lean against my mate.

"I love you," I whisper against his chest, where I'm tucked.

"And I love you."

"Have you had any more premonitions?"

"Not since you fixed the rift."

I ask this question every day, and Ender always answers it the same.

"Do you wonder why?"

"No. My abilities as an Erlking are meant to help protect and aid those within The Veil. We've done that. It doesn't mean there won't be another threat in the future, but for now, I think it just means everything is as it should be."

"And how should it be?"

"Like this—with you by my side."

I lean up and cup his cheek before kissing his beak.

Never could've I guessed that the broken, resentful girl I was would become the happy, in-love woman I am now.

And it's all thanks to my mate—to us. We definitely have our ups and downs, but I know it'll turn out perfect if I just stick with it until…

THE END