Epilogue

Meet and Greet

Crossbody

THREE WEEKS LATER

“This is bullshit,” Vince muttered to me through his teeth, making sure to keep the smile fixed on his face.

“It’s not for long,” I murmured back through my own fake smile, mine far more demure and aloof than Vince’s, because that was what the fans expected of High Lord Crossbody.

We were about to take part in a Goliaths meet and greet, and the rabble of fans waiting to meet us were already peering into the room from the corridor outside and waving frantically, trying to get our attention.

Beside me stood Brian, in his werewolf form like always, and on the other side of Vince were Heidi and Dan. Holt had stressed to us that these fans had paid for the experience, so we couldn’t let them down. We had to be on our best game, friendly and welcoming but still in character.

That didn’t mean Vince was happy about it, though. For one reason in particular.

“I’m not a fucking shill,” he gritted out. “Especially not for those turds.”

His disdainful gaze darted to the colourful display of new merch at the side of the room. Larkin and Seb were supposed to be manning the table, but Larkin was distracted making baby faces at Cora while Seb frowned down at his crossword, deep in thought.

My mouth twitched as I glanced at the merch we were supposed to spend this meet and greet promoting—Holt’s new range, designed around the storyline he’d created for Frank and Beans’ abrupt departure a while back. Vince was particularly affronted by that fact.

“It’s not like they’ll be profiting,” I murmured. “You knew Holt would try and capitalise off the endless questions from fans about Frank and Beans’ sudden and mysterious departure from Goliaths. He can’t help himself.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I should have to play a part in it,” he muttered, shuddering lightly. “Every time I think about those dicks, I get phantom ball pain in my left nut.”

I bit back a chuckle and instead made a sympathetic sound, giving his back a discreet rub. He’d recently told me about his and Dan’s unfortunate encounter at Frank and Beans’ former home, including Beans shooting Vince in the testicles with a paintball. And stealing his favourite pants.

The pair had apparently since fled to California, where they were stealing zippers. For some reason. The more I learned about those two, the less I saw any point in questioning anything about them. Only complete chaos could be found in the answers.

“At least it’s before the show,” I said, to try and make Vince feel better. “We’ll still be able to leave at the normal time.”

He grunted. “I would’ve flat-out fucking refused if Holt had told us we were doing this after the show. You promised to wear that white lace thing for me tonight.”

Heat prickled in my cheeks when I saw Dan side-eye us. Then Heidi’s head popped up on his other side, and she shot us both an enthusiastic grin.

“But you’re still coming to Gargy’s tomorrow night, right?” she asked boisterously, slapping Dan on the back and making him almost drop his head. “Crossbody, you promised I could teach you pool, boyo.”

I flushed with both pleasure and embarrassment. It was still strange for me to be so… involved with the other wrestlers. Strange but welcome. Fulfilling. I’d convinced myself I didn’t care about getting along with my co-workers, but I’d been making an effort to chat with them, remember details about their lives and ask them how they were. It wasn’t something I, as a former prince, had ever really been taught—caring about other people in that way. People my mother would believe were ‘beneath’ me. But fuck that. Fuck her.

I hoped she was still finding cake frosting in her hair.

When Vince and I had returned to work a few weeks ago, he’d made a somewhat embarrassing announcement to the other wrestlers, confirming to all of them that we were together. He’d seemed so proud to publicly claim me that I’d fallen even more hopelessly in love with him in that moment.

And then he’d apologised to me, yet again, in front of everyone, about how standoffish he’d been to me for all these years. He’d admitted that it was his own insecurities that had made him hostile toward me, and he said he’d been wrong, because his actions had inadvertently influenced how the other wrestlers treated me too.

He’d apologised to me again when we got home, still looking like he was wracked with guilt. No matter how many times I’d assured him that it was fine, he’d still seemed tense and almost anxious about it.

Until I’d climbed on top of him in nothing but my silk robe and innocently asked him to show me just how sorry he was, not tell me. That had worked wonderfully.

Since then, the other wrestlers had begun making an effort to include me in things. That tiny part of me that was probably always going to be a bit of a snob, a bit too arrogant and proud, despised how much I craved their acceptance. But mostly, I was thankful. And determined not to isolate myself again.

This was truly my life now. Not just a stopgap. Not just a temporary stay until my mother forced me back to Otherworld. This was it. I could do whatever I wanted, for as long as I wanted.

And I wanted Vince.

My gaze automatically drifted over to him as he grinned at me, briefly smoothing a palm over my lower back.

“I bet you’ll be great at pool,” he said, which made me realise I hadn’t answered Heidi yet.

“Of course we’re still coming tomorrow,” I told her with a smile, then raised a brow only somewhat haughtily as I glanced at Vince. “And yes, I’m sure I will be excellent at pool.”

He chuckled, tucking his arms behind his back once more. “It’s hot when you’re all arrogant like that.”

My mouth stretched into a wide smile before I quickly smoothed my face back into the High Lord’s typical aloof, slightly bored expression, because the fans were getting more wriggly and eager out in the hallway, practically standing on each other to lean in and spot us.

“Oh, I got a new letter from Ianthe, by the way,” I told Vince out of the corner of my mouth.

“Oh yeah?” He looked over at me. “How is she?”

“She and Chrios are planning to visit the human world next month. She asked if we’d like to join them for dinner and maybe show them around town.”

“Sounds fun.” He grinned at me. “Is her dad still mad at her for eloping?”

I huffed in amusement. “I think so, but after all the gossip about the Spring Queen getting humiliated in front of her own court by a group of elderly lizard women and a ‘mysterious ghoul’ who threw a cake in her face, I don’t think he’s going to risk making any sort of scene. All four of the courts are still talking about it, Ianthe said. They can’t get enough. The Autumn Queen had her jesters do a reenactment of the entire scene at a recent ball.”

“Holy shit.” Vince snorted. “Was your mom there?”

My mouth twitched. “Yes. Ianthe heard about it through her former lady-in-waiting. Apparently, Galantha was so furious she turned dark purple.”

I’d struck up a friendship with my former betrothed—after being practically terrified of her for all these years—and I enjoyed receiving her letters immensely. It was almost cathartic for me, seeing letters coming from Otherworld and knowing that now, they wouldn’t be filled with vitriolic condemnation from my mother.

I was excited to see Ianthe again, and to meet her new husband, Chrios. They had been living in the Winter Court since eloping, as the Winter King was the most open and accommodating to outsiders, but I suspected they might have been considering the human world as their new home.

I tossed back my hair as I saw Ludo poking his head around the doorframe. Perhaps I was a bit of a trendsetter among Otherworld’s royalty. I would start a wave of young royals taking off to live their own lives.

None of them better attempt to become professional wrestlers, though. That was my thing.

“Ready?” Ludo asked us with a grin.

Vince sighed, stretching his neck and shaking out his hands before nodding. “Sure.”

We all braced ourselves as Ludo disappeared again, and we heard him call for the first five fans to calmly— the emphasis was heavy on that word—step forward. The fans could be a little… intense sometimes. Most were very respectful, while some believed they were being respectful but still thought it was acceptable to touch us, just because we didn’t wear much when we performed.

Now though, I noticed that Seb had put his crossword book away and left the merch table to stand nearby, keeping an eye out for anyone who got a bit too friendly. Larkin was reluctantly settling Cora in her dog bed and straightening out the display of hats.

We were in a decent sized room, close to the arena, which had previously been unused space, until Taylor became our marketing manager and gave Holt the idea to charge for meet and greets. After discussing it with us all, he’d begun getting this room redecorated to fit its new purpose. Now, there was a big Goliaths of Wrestling backdrop that we were standing in front of, so fans could take photos with us. The merch booth was set up directly beside the exit, and each fan got a voucher for a half-price cocktail at the bar to encourage them to head straight there after leaving.

I had to admit, Taylor was good at his job. And Holt was very willing to put in plenty of effort when it meant he’d be making more money.

Brian was shifting anxiously beside me as the first few fans walked into the room. Two started squealing, clutching each other and jumping up and down, while another was vibrating with excitement as he marched straight up to Heidi and thrust out his The G.O.A.T. hat for her to sign.

I turned my head to give Brian a tiny smile. “It will be over quickly,” I murmured, trying to reassure him. He was incredibly quiet and shy, and I knew he would hate doing this, but we all had to.

His muzzle lifted briefly in some semblance of a smile back, but he didn’t say anything. He just twisted his clawed fingers together anxiously, then seemed to make a great effort to force his hands down to his sides so he couldn’t fidget quite so much.

The meet and greet was only half an hour long, but I knew we had dozens and dozens of fans to get through. At least that meant interacting with each one was brief—a smile, a few words, then usually a photo and an autograph on some piece of merch.

The first twenty minutes passed fairly quickly, despite the way my cheeks began to ache from keeping the smile fixed on my face. Vince reluctantly, through clenched teeth, did what Holt had asked of us and mentioned the new merch for sale to each person he interacted with.

One fan tried to put his hand on my ass while taking a selfie with me, and before Seb could even start striding over to throw him out, Vince was calmly grasping the lampyr’s wrist and pulling him away from me.

“Appreciate you coming to the show, man, but I will break your fucking arm if you touch him again,” he said casually, nodding at Seb, who took the now very pale-faced lampyr by the shoulder and calmly steered him toward the exit. The moment he was gone, Vince turned toward me, hiding his expression from the other fans so he could let the anger show on his face for just a few seconds.

“Prick,” he gritted out, his long fingers flexing repeatedly into fists. “If I see that creep in the audience the next time Dan and I fight, I’m ‘accidentally’ throwing Dan’s head at his fucking gut.”

“I’ll bite him in the dick,” Dan said, then grinned cheerfully at the stunned fae woman who’d just moved to stand in front of him, clutching an autograph book. “Howdy. Great to meet ya. Want me to sign that?”

“I’m fine,” I murmured to Vince, smiling at him. “You’d better get back in line. We’re nearly…”

I trailed off when I glanced over his shoulder to try and gauge how many people were left, and my gaze landed on a familiar face that I had never, ever expected to see in this setting.

Oh gods.

Not him.

Our gazes locked. I felt the blood drain from my face as his eyes lit up with excitement. He began waving frantically at me.

“Vince,” I muttered in a strangled voice. “He’s here.”

“Huh? Who?” Vince tensed and spun around. “Wait, you mean that ass-grabbing creep is back ?”

But only a second or two later, he was choking on a stunned breath and stepping backward until he was pressed against my front. “What the fuck?”

“You’re both looking amazing ,” the incubus from the Elfknot Motel called out, giving us a thumbs up. “Cannot wait to catch up, babes!”

Dan’s brow quirked as he glanced over at us. “Friend of yours?”

“No, he—” Vince shook his head and absently reached for the autograph book the fae woman was holding out to him. “He, uh, works at a… place that… we’ve been to a few times.”

“Have you visited the Elfknot Motel just outside of town?” the incubus was asking the fan behind him in a pleasant tone. “Top-notch facilities, I assure you. Extremely sturdy beds, a collection of erotic artwork and the most sensual bedding patterns, an extensive range of personal… items for sale behind the front desk, free condoms on arrival… Here, let me give you a card—”

“Hey,” Seb called sharply, frowning at him. “No peddling in the line.”

The incubus quickly held up his hands in acquiescence, shooting us an exasperated grin as if we were old friends. By the time he was standing in front of Dan, chatting cheerfully with him, I was dreading what he was going to say to us.

If he mentioned the way I sounded when I was coming in front of my co-workers, I would snatch up Dan’s head and launch it at him.

“Babes.” The incubus stopped in front of us and shook his head, hands resting on his hips. “Look. At. You. Both. Gorgeous as always. It’s been too long, you two!”

“We’re not friends, dude,” Vince said wryly, glancing down at the incubus’s outfit. “And, uh, it looks like you’ve already been to one of these meet and greets, right?”

He was already decked out in full Goliaths merch. A Rolling Rimmer hat with a disco ball on the top and a long tongue draped over the brim. A pair of High Lord Crossbody fake wings awkwardly sitting on top of his real wings. A spiked black Silent Scream fanny pack, a black and red Blood Suckapunch cape and one of the T-shirts from Holt’s new merch line. “ I almost got eaten with Frank and Beans by the giant mutant sewer rats under the Goliaths of Wrestling building and all I got was this T-shirt, ” it said on the front. On the back was an illustration of a zombie-like rat sitting in a bowl of baked beans, eating a frankfurter.

The incubus waved a hand. “Last night. Bought tickets for the whole week so I didn’t miss you two.”

“I thought you hadn’t been to watch the wrestling before,” I said suspiciously. “You made it seem like you didn’t know who we were when I… saw you.” I quickly side-eyed Dan, who was staring at us avidly. “At the place.”

“So you were going to a motel?” He snickered. “A seedy incubus love motel? Vin, you dog.”

“I hadn’t!” the incubus told me cheerfully. “Still haven’t, actually. Only came to last night’s meet and greet. Just decided to support my two favourite motel guests by buying some merch. So how’ve you guys been?” he asked conversationally. “Still making wild, passionate love for hours and hours at a time? Honestly, sometimes I struggled to keep up. And I’m an incubus, for fuck’s sake.”

“Dude,” Vince gritted out as Dan burst out laughing and the fan standing in front of Heidi gasped, gawking at us.

“That’s not—That makes it sound like he… was involved,” I got out, my face hot with embarrassment. “He was not involved,” I assured anyone listening.

Which was, coincidentally, everyone in the room. Even Ludo had inched closer to the door, and I could see the side of his head peeking around the doorframe as he eavesdropped.

“No, unfortunately not.” The incubus chuckled. “Still got to reap the benefits, though. The sexual energy you two pumped out was…” He brought his fingers to his lips and kissed them. “Perfection. Just absolutely first-rate stuff, you two. Sterling work.”

“I’m feeling strangely proud of you, man,” Dan told Vince, squeezing his shoulder.

“You’re holding up the line,” Vince grated. “Do you want us to sign something?”

“Oh, sure.” The incubus dug into his pocket and pulled out a white jockstrap. As one, Vince and I stepped back.

“We’re not touching your jockstrap,” Vince told him bluntly.

“Don’t worry, it’s new!” the incubus assured us brightly. “Bought it just for this. So, when are you two coming back? I try to keep room fifteen available at all times. Just in case, you know? I’m an optimist.”

“You even had a specific room ?” Dan asked in disbelief. “How many times did you go there?”

“Nowhere near enough,” the incubus told him earnestly, as Vince huffed, snatching the jockstrap out of his hand to sign it so we could get away from him faster. “But trust me, they made their presence known . It was like… magic. I swear, the entire motel’s energy felt different after the first time they came.”

Dan snickered. “Came as in…”

“Don’t fucking encourage him, asshole,” Vince snapped, reluctantly passing me the jockstrap so I could sign it.

From across the room, Larkin timidly cleared his throat. “So, um, what motel is this exactly…?”

The incubus perked up. “The Elfknot. You can find us online if you just search on the ArachNetwork. And if you call to book a room, just ask for Klaus. That’s me. I’ll give you a good rate.”

“Noice.” Larkin darted a quick look at Seb and flushed. “Thanks, broseph.”

“And thank you for this.” Klaus held up his signed jockstrap when I passed it back. “I’m going to mount it. Hang it in the front office.”

“Or maybe don’t do that,” Vince deadpanned, resting his hand on my lower back.

To our relief, Klaus was busy moving on to stand in front of Brian, who he hadn’t seemed to notice until that moment, because when he looked up at the towering werewolf, he choked on a breath.

“Unholy shit.”

Brian blinked, giving him a nervous smile. “Hi,” he said shyly. “Thanks for coming.”

Klaus just stared at him in silence, before slowly tracking his gaze down Brian’s tall, muscular frame.

“Unholy shit,” he repeated hoarsely.

“Uh…” Brian cast us a nervous glance. “Um, I’m guessing you don’t want me to sign anything, seeing as you obviously came here for Crossbody and Rimmer—”

“No,” Klaus blurted, patting over his clothes and looking around desperately for something. “No, I want you to sign—hold on. Please. One moment.”

He practically lunged for the merch table, which made Larkin take a tiny step back.

“Tell me who he is,” he rasped in anguish, gripping the edge of the table. “I need to know.”

“We can all hear you,” Vince told him.

“He’s B. Were, dude.” Larkin gave him an odd look. “You gonna buy some merch?”

“B. Were,” Klaus said in a breathless, dreamy voice. “Yes. I need B. Were merch. Whatever you’ve got.”

“Um…” Larkin reached for a blue baseball cap with “ Beware the were ” printed on it and held it up in one hand. With the other, he presented a pair of powder blue booty shorts that had, “ Watch the tail ” printed across the backside. “We got this or this?”

Klaus stared at them both for a moment, then croaked, “The shorts.”

Once he’d paid for them, he hurried back over and tried to casually smooth back his hair. “If you wouldn’t mind signing these?”

He held out the shorts. Brian hesitated, then took them and uncapped his pen.

“Just across the front is fine,” Klaus said quickly, his face still flushed as he gave him a coy smile. “Just right across the front. In the middle. Yeah, right there.”

Brian ducked his head, hunching his shoulders self-consciously as he quickly scribbled his signature across the front of the shorts. My mouth twitched when he handed them back and I saw Klaus intentionally brush their fingers together.

“Thank you so much,” the incubus purred, then let out a tiny chuckle as he fanned his face and looked around. “Wow, is it suddenly way hotter in here? Phew.”

“Maybe it’s all the polyester,” Seb commented flatly.

“Oh my gosh, you’re so funny,” Klaus told Brian with another little laugh, reaching out to gently nudge his shoulder.

Brian’s brow wrinkled with confusion. “Um, I didn’t say that—”

“Time to move on, buddy.” Seb crossed his arms and raised a brow at Klaus. “The guys have more fans to meet.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” Klaus was still gazing at Brian.

Vince and I exchanged a quick look. It seemed he’d already forgotten all about us.

Thank gods.

“Um, nice to, um, meet you?” Brian said hesitantly, still seeming a little confused by what was happening.

“You too,” Klaus breathed, taking a very reluctant step away. Then another. And another, until he walked backward directly into Seb and had to finally turn to look where he was going.

“Can’t fucking wait to tell Rafe about this.” Dan cackled as he signed the Dullahan Dan hat of the excited fan in front of him. “An incubus love motel. You two are dirty little fuckers.”

“Thanks, bro,” Vince said flatly, then leaned forward to peer around me at Brian. “You okay, Bri?”

“Um, yeah.” Brian was definitely still confused. “Who was that, again?”

“Just this…” Vince waved a hand. “Horny incubus who works at a motel outside of town.” Leaning in closer to me, he lowered his voice to add, “Although, I kinda like the idea of going back there. Maybe just one more time.”

A sly grin stretched my mouth as I glanced at him. “Oh yes?”

“Yeah.” He discreetly slid his hand onto my ass and squeezed. “Maybe we could try and pick a night Klaus the Creep isn’t working, though.”

I cast Brian a brief look and muttered to Vince, “I don’t think we’re who he’s interested in anymore.”

“That kinda just makes me want to up my game.” Vince smirked at me. “So, up for it, your highness? Room fifteen?”

I raised a brow at him. “You can deal with Lady Potato’s temper tantrum after we leave her home alone for an entire night, then.”

He grinned. “Worth it.”

“You might regret it,” I warned him, remembering the other night when we’d got home slightly later than anticipated and she’d already vomited in the centre of Vince’s pillow.

“Still worth it.” He glanced around, then leaned in to kiss my cheek, smiling against my skin as he murmured, “You’re always worth it, you dirty little slut.”

I didn’t even care if one of our colleagues overheard. I was smiling so wide my face hurt.