Epilogue

"F amily first," a female voice Kat knew belonged to the Vranas' witch said. There was a pause.

"Always."

Kat gagged at the banshee's reply. She wanted nothing more than to throw the octagonal black stone across the room, but damaging the magical transceiver would mean losing precious insight into the goings-on of the Vrana Household. Kat crossed her arms as she heard the bustle of movement from the stone. No doubt they were all sweeping into action—

The hair on the back of Kat's neck rose. Her shoulders bunched up as a voice rose from the shadows of the room.

"Have you confirmed the location of the grimoire?"

Kat forced her shoulders to relax and kept her gaze fixed on the stone. "Yes. It's secured in the Vrana Household."

Irial's footsteps lauded his approach, echoing through the private room. Usually, there was one attendant in charge of standing post and recording all transcripts, but Kat had performed the vigil since the catastrophe in the Immolatory two weeks ago. Her lips pursed as heady anger rose in her.

She wanted to be the one to crush Raphael underfoot and that simpering, cowardly whore of his.

"We have no spell book to bind the sorcerer, and the banshee still breathes, leaving our Lord's plans in jeopardy should she learn to harness the seer powers within her blood. This is… unacceptable."

Kat wavered where she stood as Irial's rage smothered her. She felt lightheaded, even as she planted her feet more firmly on the ground. "We have the sorcerer."

Irial growled his displeasure. The sound was like stones being ground and promised the same fate if she didn't do something.

"We also have an opportunity to take down the Vranas once and for all." Kat paused. When Irial said nothing, she continued. "They're being made to expand their household numbers by four."

"This benefits us how?"

"Because we can plant our agents inside with vampyrés that owe us a favor."

Kat glanced at him and then back to the stone with a subtle gulp. He wore a scowl that shriveled her insides. "They'll expect it. No doubt that filthy ungrateful half-breed told them our secrets."

"He wasn't privy to our Lord's greater plans," Kat offered. "And he was never aware of the true purpose behind his mission, or even this listening device. Raphael remains clueless to what matters most to us, I assure you, your Grace." Irial said nothing and Kat swallowed thickly as a menacing tension built between them. She cleared her throat and quickly backtracked, "All we need is the perfect trojan horse to infiltrate the Vranas' ranks. One that's so obvious they'll be overlooked." Kat summoned a confident smirk to pass over her shoulder. "And I already have the prettiest little pony in mind."

"See it done, but I want all the vampyrés picked to be of our choosing, do you understand?" Kat nodded even as a sudden feeling of dread rained goosebumps over her body. "And none of them are to know of each other's involvement."

"Yes, your Grace."

"One last thing, my protege. You will personally see to it that Jax bends to our will and accepts our Lord's binding by the time the grimoire is in our possession. He is to be our Lord's finest weapon—do you understand?"

"Yes."

Kat's arms wrapped themselves around her body as a definitive chill entered the air. Her breath clouded before her. She shivered. Her eyes swept

the room, looking for the source of her sudden flight instincts. And then she laid eyes on her. Kat dropped to her knees; head bowed as waves of grief pummeled her into submission.

"Duchess Carmen—"

"Grand Duchess Carmen," a languid voice cut in. "I was recently elevated."

Irial cleared his throat. " Grand Duchess Carmen, we were just discussing the next steps."

The soft shuffle of feet drifted throughout the room. Slippered feet stopped an arm's length from them. Kat let her eyes travel upward and regretted the move instantly as the urge to end her own worthless life wrapped itself around her throat.

Her heart pummeled itself against her chest, but Kat couldn't peel her eyes away from the Grand Duchess. She was achingly beautiful. Her musk ox horns nearly dwarfed her head and were covered in deeply etched runes that Kat hoped one night would mark her own.

Kat swallowed roughly. She would die for her; knew her own life paled in comparison to the unholy creature before her.

A part of her also knew that it was all a lie—a powerful manipulation she couldn't hope to escape or defend herself against. Despite herself, a tear slid down her cheek as she watched Irial and the Grand Duchess' interaction play out.

"She knows what to do?" The Grand Duchess flicked a wrist in her general direction.

"Yes."

"She is competent?"

"Yes."

"Was not your last meant to be?"

Irial hesitated. "His ambitions fell short of his promise. Make no mistake, Kat will take care of him."

Kat tried to confirm, but all that left her mouth was a whimper. Neither the Duke nor Grand Duchess acknowledged the sound.

"Very well. There is much to prepare. Come, Irial, Duke of Wrath… I have not forgotten what fate awaits you and your failures."

There was a shift in the room's energy, but Kat couldn't place it. Irial's menacing scowl crumpled into stoic submission as he dropped to a knee. The Grand Duchess closed the space between them and laid her hands on either side of his face.

Irial trembled as her hands crept up the side of his head until they reached his horns and gripped them by their base.

"Not only have you failed, Duke Irial, you have deeply displeased our Lord. Your punishment, as agreed, is death."

Sorrow, dread, fear, loneliness, and harrowing despair saturated the room. Kat couldn't move. She couldn't breathe . The two-ton weight of the Grand Duchess's manipulation made black spots appear in her eyes.

The Grand Duchess moved with terrible speed and grace, twisting Duke Irial's head by the horns and snapping his neck. The Grand Duchess let his body thud to the floor, sparing no backward glance at Kat as she walked toward the shadows.

"Fail in your expectations and your fate is as his," Carmen proclaimed with deathly softness and exited the room through the Ether.

Warmth immediately reentered the room once the Grand Duchess was gone. Kat's hands clutched at her chest as she took in deep breath after deep breath. Once she felt herself again, she found herself frowning.

"Fuck." She glared at Irial's fallen body. He'd been her mentor of sorts and her surest route to more power. Kat slammed a fist on the ground. "Fuck!"

Pulling herself to her feet, she wiped the tears and snot running down her face. A shiver of disgust and anger rolled through her at her weakness. Kat held onto that anger, letting it warm her before approaching the podium with the stone and recording tools.

She had a job to do.

First, sabotage the Vranas from within.

Second, kill Raphael. Preferably slowly while his whore watched.

And third… A wicked smile carved itself across her face. Kat was going to pave the way for their Lord to ascend with their newfound sacrificial lamb; Jax. Her smile ate up more of her face as she cocked her head to the side. She ought to pay him a visit.

Jax's eye ran over the runic text for a third time, the tedious translation slow to filter through his mind. He closed the book with a huff and shut his eyes. His concentration was off.

Scratch that.

He was off, and understandably so after the utter catastrophe committed by his hands two weeks ago. Jax's throat tightened as guilt pummeled him. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and tears stung the back of his eyelid. Gods, what did I —

With a growl aimed at himself, Jax hastily stuffed his knuckles against the offending eye and rubbed away the coming tears. He couldn't change the past. He couldn't bring Nova back. How many times did he have to run through the same agonizing script before it sank in?

His throat remained conspicuously tight as he opened his eye and stared down at his new accommodations with grim determination. He could only move forward.

A tremor ran through him, and Jax rolled his neck from side-to-side in hopes of relieving the tension crawling beneath his skin. He stood, tossing the ancient spell book aside, and began to move toward his workbench.

When he'd fled the night of the incident , his mind had gone eerily blank. He knew he had returned to his lab for some of his personal projects and books and items too rare to let go of, for they now populated his new apartment. But arriving in the Lunar Court of all places? He didn't know what had drawn him there or much of the events that followed that secured him his place.

All he knew was he'd sought refuge with a passionate argument he barely remembered, and they'd taken him in. Hell, they'd given him his new quarters without question and left him be to settle as if his coming had been… expected.

That particular detail bothered him, but it wasn't enough to override his gratitude for the escape. Now if only he could get himself to stop questioning why he continued to stay.

Because you can't go back , an inner voice reminded him harshly.

Jax's shoulders sank. That was the ugly truth of the matter at hand. If he went on bended knee back to the Vranas and apologized, he was sure they'd take him back.

But he wouldn't do it. He couldn't because he was a coward.

A knock startled him from his thoughts. Jax frowned at his apartment door, before shuffling over and peering through the peephole. His body tensed. It was Kat. Jax contemplated ignoring the demoness but decided against it. If she wanted to speak with him, she would find a way. She'd already proven herself capable of doing just that.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Jax intoned as he opened the door.

Kat smiled at him. "May I come in?"

Jax sucked on the back of his teeth as he moved aside for the demoness and shut the door behind her. She wandered into the apartment's main living area, stopping near one of the trios of overstuffed chairs.

"So," she began. "How are you liking your new apartment? Have you made any new friends since arriving? Hopefully, the necklace has left you feeling safe and secure against the big bad demons down here."

A muscle in Jax's jaw ticked at her put-upon pleasantries.

Said necklace hung around his neck, and it had kept him safe from the many demons that occupied the sixth subfloor. Or their manipulations at least, as it was meant to. The necklace had been a peace offering from Kat, to get him to hear her out about Raphael's duplicity.

The muscle in his jaw ticked again.

"The apartment is adequate. The people are fine. The necklace works," he drilled off. "What do you want, Kat?"

"Only adequate?" Kat mused. "Sorry we couldn't meet your royal standards. We're a much humbler sort down here."

Jax bit his tongue to suppress his annoyance. "What do you want?"

Kat perched on the chair's arm, finally deigning to glance back at him. "To help you, of course." Jax snorted and approached her. She eyed him innocently and offered him a sly grin when he stopped in front of her. "I figured I'd let you settle in before diving into the meat of things. That and word around the court is the Vranas are officially looking to recruit some new members to their household—vampyré only, obviously. Since they're moving on, I thought you might be ready to as well."

"They're—" Jax blinked in astonishment, unable to process the news. He felt the blood drain from his face. "They're recruiting ?"

Kat nodded.

A lump formed in his throat. He hadn't expected the news, nor for it to pierce as deeply as it had. Recruiting new members? New vampyrés . It had to be an order or an ultimatum pressed upon them. He swallowed back the lump, but the thick emotion of disappointment refused to leave him. Kat groaned aloud.

" Ugh , you're not seriously upset over this are you?" Jax bristled. "What good will being sad do for you in a fight?"

"I suppose anger would be better? And what fight—"

"Yes," Kat snapped. "It would be better. If you hadn't noticed, there's a war brewing that's been a long time in the making. Certainly, far longer than my kind has been here. Do you think the vampyré elite are going to give you a pass because you're feeling sad ? You killed one of theirs and now the Vranas will fill that void with four new vampyré."

Four? He thought dumbly.

"Wake up, Jax. You're either with the vampyrés and assisting in your own oppression, or you're with us. Isn't that why you came to us in the first place? You wanted to fight for change. Well, here I am on behalf of the Lunar Court ready to formally accept your offer."

Jax sucked in a sharp breath and looked away. It was why he came, or at least close enough to what he'd argued initially to ensure himself sanctuary.

Now that he was being confronted with his impassioned words though? He didn't know. His mind was in constant turmoil over what he'd done to Nova and, by default, Ruby, and the rest of the Vranas. But he was also so damn angry that it had come to such a tipping point. If they had just listened to him. If they had only treated him like an equal and not some renegade that couldn't be trusted.

His jaw set in a firm line. He refused to take all the blame on his shoulders.

"I don't see what good I'll be to your cause given my powers are being… restricted by my patron." Ever since he cast that damnable spell, his magic had been unreliable. It was as if Anubis was punishing him. Jax ground his teeth together. He is punishing me .

"That's not a problem, because our Lord is interested in being your patron. He wants to give you the power to change the tides."

Jax's gaze flicked back to Kat. "I have no interest in becoming a demon."

"You would make a shit demon—too much heart," she explained with a cutting smirk. "So, he has no interest in you becoming one either. He likes you just fine as a sorcerer."

"Who is it exactly? Your… Lord ?"

Kat slipped off the chair's arm. "All will be revealed in due time, but before it is, our Lord wants to be sure of your commitment. Only then will he take you under his wing and give you the power and knowledge you seek."

"And what of my powers until then?"

Kat shrugged, then gestured to the wall of books behind her. "Read. Gamble and fuck. I don't care, all I need to know is if you're in or you're out."

In or out… she made it sound like such a simple choice when this decision was anything but. It would change everything for Jax. There would be no going back to the Vranas if he said yes. Could he really turn his back on the only family he'd ever known?

Haven't I already?

Jax's heart thundered in his chest as a new face flashed into his mind. One that wore only concern and understanding. River. His wrist tingled from where her touch had imprinted on him last, and a corresponding shiver raced up his spine.

He wasn't prepared to go down that road. He refused.

Familiar grim determination stole through him again . Only forward .

"I'm in." It was time to take destiny into his own hands.