Epilogue 1

"The underworld really has a waiting room? Wow." My gaze swept the area: sterile white walls, a sort of backlit white reception desk, and then a small woman with the cutest head of curly red hair behind it.

"Can you think of a better form of psychological torture?" Caspian asked.

"But why punish them before they've been assigned heaven or hell?" Kai slipped his hand into mine and squeezed. "Wasn't dying hard enough on them?"

"Contrary to popular belief, not everything about my realm is a punishment." Hades shook his head and tightened his grip around my waist on my other side. "But to answer your question, the ones who aren't pre-screened and immediately filtered to where they belong have to endure the wait. It ensures no errors are made and, in some cases, that souls who belong together are reunited properly."

"Soulmates?" I whispered.

"Exactly."

"Next!" the woman at the desk called. "Name, death date, and paperwork, please." She glanced up from whatever she was looking at, and her eyes went wide behind the adorable dark-rimmed glasses she wore. "Boss! You've gotta stop sneaking into the line. I feel like you're out there checking up on me and making sure I'm doing my job."

Hades let out a low chuckle, and surprisingly, he gave her a warm smile. "Janine, I need passes for these mortals. They're going to be visiting my realm for a while, and I don't want them to experience any negative effects."

"Now he mentions the negative effects?" Cas whispered loudly.

Tor elbowed him, drawing out a dramatic "Oof."

"What was that for?" he wheezed. "It's important to know these things. You wouldn't sign a contract without reading the fine print, right?"

Janine cleared her throat.

"Why does it matter, Caspian? It's not like you would have opted to stay at Blackwood without Dahlia," Kai pointed out.

Before he could answer, Janine started speaking.

"Prolonged exposure for the living to the underworld may lead to the following: hair loss, premature aging, dick shrinkage?—"

"Hey now!" Caspian protested.

"-—symptoms of an enlarged prostate, joint pain, age spots, abdominal discomfort, impotence?—"

"All right, we understand," Kai interjected.

"— rapid weight gain or conversely rapid weight loss, incontinence, trouble breathing, diminished sex drive?—"

"Wait just a damned second," Tor growled.

"Best just to let her finish," Hades said.

"Thank you, boss. I never get to recite this, and you have no idea how long it took me to memorize it." She cleared her throat and pinned Caspian with a hard stare. "Painful orgasms, blindness, loss of hearing, unexplained vomiting, heart palpitations, chest pain, and finally, death."

"So what were you saying about those passes?" Caspian asked.

I quietly snickered, more than a little amused by the entire exchange. Usually I'd be the one panicking, but I didn't have a doubt in my body that Hades wouldn't have brought us—specifically me—here if he thought there would be a chance of it negatively affecting me.

Janine gripped the arm of her glasses between her thumb and forefinger before taking them off and letting them hang like a necklace. Then she cocked one perfectly arched brow. "Name!" she shouted at Caspian.

"Erm, Hook. Caspian James Hook."

She laughed. "Just kidding, I know. You've been moving up the watch list for the past couple of months. I thought we might nail down your death date not too long ago, but you surprised me. Give me your finger, hun."

Cas shot me a worried glance as he obeyed. She pricked the tip of his finger, then forcibly flipped said finger over to smear the ruby bead on a white placard. The little badge glowed for a heartbeat and then returned to its original unilluminated status. "There you go, sugar. All set. Next!"

"Make sure to keep that on you at all times," Hades warned softly.

Hook wasted no time obeying, and Hades and I shared a silent laugh at his expense.

Once all my men were protected from every horrible side effect known to man, I stepped up to the desk, finger already out.

Janine shook her head. "Not necessary, sweetie. You're already cleared for entry."

"What? How?" I asked, automatically turning to Hades for an explanation.

"The underworld is as much your domain as it is mine. Not only are you my mate, but you're Death's daughter. There's nothing here that could ever hurt you."

My whole fucking chest warmed at the knowledge I belonged here. I'd never really had that, not until I found the four of them. "Okay then, my lord Hades. Give us the grand tour."

He made a low growling sound in his throat and leaned over to kiss me. As was always the case with him, the kiss was no half-hearted affair. He bent me back and kissed me like I was breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. Once he'd thoroughly ruined my panties, he pulled away and winked at me.

Janine tittered behind us. "It's good to see you happy, boss."

He waved away her words, but there was no missing the way his smile widened at them.

"Come on," he said, leading us through the set of double doors to the right.

My god of the underworld didn't even have to touch the doors. They simply parted for him like he was fucking Moses and they were the Red Sea. Or my thighs. It was hot as fuck.

"How come doors don't open like that for me?" Cas muttered.

"Because you're not a god. Come on, pirate. This tour's for you too."

Hades led us down a winding path that somehow turned from a boring white business suite to a winding path leading to a castle on a hill. I turned my head to look back, but the hallway we'd been wandering through was no longer there. I didn't question the physics of it all. We were in the underworld; I was just going to accept everything as it came.

"So you're taking us to your mojo dojo casa house, are ye?" Kai asked, a teasing note in his voice.

"What the fuck did you just say?" Hades asked.

I laughed, and Cas shot Kai an accusing glare. "When did you watch Barbie? We were supposed to watch it together!"

Kai shrugged. "When you'd gone full nutter and she was writing her book."

"Bad form," Cas complained, shoving Kai aside so he could take his place on my other side. "You have to walk in the back with the Viking."

"I chose to walk in the back," Tor said mildly.

"So you can check out my ass?" I asked over my shoulder, tossing him a saucy wink.

His lips curved up in a grin, and he nodded. "You know it, K?rasta."

I wasn't sure how long we'd been walking. I also had no way of knowing what time it was. Only that it seemed, for all intents and purposes, that we were strolling together during a warm summer's night. Fireflies flickered off and on, the scents of jasmine and pomegranate filled the air, and I couldn't help but smile at how much joy it brought me. How familiar it all seemed.

For the first time, maybe ever, it felt like I was home.

Hades twined his fingers with mine, gripping tight. "You are home, baby doll."

"I think this might be my favorite place," I admitted, feeling a little bashful about the confession. "It makes me feel... the same way I do when I curl up on a rainy day in front of the fireplace with a book."

"Safe?" Hades offered.

"Happy. Content in a way nothing can match."

"Just wait until I get you on my ship, love. You'll be singing a different tune."

"Nothing compares to Faerie, or the Highlands, for that matter."

My eyes shifted to Tor, already knowing what was coming. "Novasgard was created by the gods for their chosen. There is no comparison in any realm."

Hades simply shook his head and kept walking. He showed us the castle, taking us through every important space and making sure we knew our way around before stopping outside a closed door.

"What's in there?" I asked, excitement and hope lighting up in my chest.

"Your room."

I deflated. "What do you mean? I'm not sleeping with you?" I glanced at all of them in turn. "I don't want to be away from any of you."

"Not that kind of room, sweetheart. There's only one bed you'll be sleeping in, and it's mine. But we'll get to that later. Now open the door."

Little tingles licked up my belly at the thought of Hades's bed and what later might entail. But my curiosity was too strong to ignore, so I did as he suggested and pushed the black lacquered door open and crossed the threshold.

When they didn't follow, I glanced back at them. "You're not coming with me?"

"No," he said with a soft smile. "Come find us when you're finished."

Curiosity prickled in the back of my mind. There were very few things that would get my men to leave me to my own devices. My writing was one of them.

As I stepped deeper into the room, a soft laugh caught my ear and my eyes filled with tears in response.

"Stop drooling on me!"

"Keeks?" I warbled, running toward her voice. "Ohmigod, Keeks?"

"Dee? Took you long enough," she called, jumping up from the bench she'd been sitting on, her and Asshole racing toward me.

I barely spared a glance at the night garden I'd found myself in. I would have sworn it was an actual room not a second ago, but none of that mattered right now. Only the woman who had flung herself into my arms and felt as solid and real as she always had.

"Kiki," I whimpered, clinging to her.

She hugged me fiercely and then pulled back to look me in the eyes. "Girlfriend, why did you never tell me about the ghost dick?"

I laughed. "What? I wrote a whole book about it."

"Okay, listen. I need you to sit down and prepare your most expressive shocked face while I fill you in on everything you've missed since I died."

Tears streamed down my cheeks at the familiarity of it all. Hades may have promised I'd see her, but I hadn't thought we'd have this. I could touch her, smell her perfume, hug her whenever I needed to.

"Hello? I'm here too, doll face. Did you forget about me?" A deep masculine voice had me glancing around the garden, searching for an intruder. "Down here. Gods, you leave to take a pretty lady to the underworld, and suddenly it's like you don't even exist anymore. What happened to all those head scritches and cuddles, Dahlia? I was your wittle snuggle buddy."

"Asshole?" I asked, glancing down at the fluffy puppy standing at my feet.

"You better believe it."

I dropped down so I could pepper his furry face with kisses. "You are the goodest boy. Thank you so much for taking care of Kiki for me."

He gave me a couple of happy licks. "You don't even know the half of it. I took such good care of her, I even introduced her to her soulmate."

"What?" I went still, pulling back to look up at Kiki. "Is it true?"

Kiki beamed and nodded.

"Why didn't you say something?"

"Hello, I already mentioned the ghost dick. And that I had a story to tell you."

"But how? When? You've only been dead for like... ten minutes."

"Time works differently here," Asshole explained. "It's been weeks for us."

"Well, what's his name? What does he look like? Can I meet him?"

Kiki bit her lower lip and looked away, her entire face radiating pure joy.

I drank in the sight of her, the pain of her passing slowly leaving me. Hades had been right, the jerk. She wasn't gone, just relocated. This is where Kiki belonged. Her happy ever after might look a little different than mine, but after everything she'd sacrificed for me, she was finally getting all the joy and love she deserved.

"His name is..."