Epilogue

Rue

The world looked like hell. No, really. This was exactly what I thought Hell would look like.

Torin moved the compound again and it currently straddled the re-opened bridge between the human and monster worlds. Depending on where you stood on the compound wall determined what you were seeing. Despite being two different locations, they still looked exactly the same.

Bodies laid all over the place, even weeks later. There just weren't enough humans left in the world to bury those that had been killed. Which, of course, only created more death from proximity to decaying bodies.

It didn't take long for nature to begin moving in. In the distance, we could hear the occasional building come down, its unstable structure giving way to gravity. Animals began venturing out, feeding on the dead, exploring once human-occupied buildings and places.

I was currently watching a wolf pack meander around the outskirts of the nearest city.

With no one around to conduct a census, we weren't entirely sure how many humans remained. We'd yet to see more than a couple scavenging here and there, we were lucky and no one from the compound died. But we'd seen a lot of death, and experienced some really scary moments when we'd thought we'd lost someone but miraculously, we all survived.

It was as if some monster god made sure we righted all the wrongs that our brethren unleashed onto the land and made sure we lived to see the end of it.

Technology was still turned on to some extent within the human world because, well, Koa needed it. He said he couldn't live in a world without technology. Not even just supernatural technology—he needed the tie in with human tech, too.

He'd been spending more time as an adult since the fall of Silence. So much of the stress he'd been carrying was eliminated with their downfall, and I was glad about it. Seeing how much stress that man was under had us all concerned. Not just for the monster he could unleash, but for his own mental health.

Koa was doing much better now.

He also finally gained access to all of Silence's systems. Even if he hadn't broken into all of them yet. Some had a self-destruct button, so if they were breached, they'd simply implode. You know, digitally. I wasn't sure what that entailed, but since Silence was gone, we weren't in a hurry to decode everything immediately.

I shifted my gaze and peered into the monster world. I was sitting at the place on the wall that was straddling the worlds, allowing me to see into both.

The monster world fared much better than the human world as far as living people were concerned. Once we finished taking down the six facilities, we re-opened the transportation portals so we could tend to the victims we'd rescued and then immediately abandoned.

Say what you will, but we were on a time crunch. It would have taken precious hours that we simply didn't have to deal with those we'd broken out, and time was of the essence to ensure our plan worked.

"You up here again? "

I looked up to find all four of my husbands joining me. I recognized the picnic backpack on Bryn's back, and Calix was carrying a blanket.

"Just looking," I said.

Getting to my feet, I helped them lay out the blanket and then retook my seat as Javan and Bryn emptied the backpack of the food they'd brought.

"What're you looking for?" Bryn asked.

I shook my head. "Consciously, nothing. But maybe I'm looking for something I haven't acknowledged yet."

"Like your family?" Koa asked.

Was I looking for my family? I'd witnessed one of my father's deaths. But what about the rest of my family?

"Maybe," I admitted.

"They're either deep in hiding or dead," Koa said. "I've looked. I'm not sure which you'd prefer, but I can tell you what I think if you'd like."

"Yes. Tell me."

"I think they were either all at the same facility your father was or at other ones. So, no matter what, I think they're dead."

I took a deep breath and nodded.

Javan wrapped an arm around me, pulling him close. "You okay?"

"Yes. I have to believe they all knew my father was part of Silence. They either looked the other way or supported it. So they were part of it, or they were just as guilty for not speaking out. Which means all the lives lost are just as much their faults. It seems like a rather appropriate punishment. Though… I wonder about my brother."

The monsters my father had created all recognized me. They all knew me and wouldn't attack me. They obeyed me, too.

They were built with a weakness, after all. That weakness was taking commands that overrode anything else from me. I alone could control them completely.

So what did I do? Set them free. We let them roam between the two worlds and find their own habitats. So far we hadn't seen any evidence of them attacking anyone.

The monster world was largely okay. We believed those who remained alive within the monster world were basically the ones already slated to let live. Without getting into the depths of Silence's computer systems, we didn't know what their next plan of attack had been. I had to think it was taking out the compound.

They were close to reaching their end goal.

So while the human world was now on the precipice of going completely wild, the supernatural world would recover easily.

Our newest debate was whether we should do anything to help the remaining humans alive in the world. The vast majority of the opinions were no. Humans made themselves what they'd been once. It's time to let them try again.

I wouldn't lie… I was curious to see how they'd rebuild. Would organized religion be a huge driving force for the hate in the world as it had been? Would territory and resources be fought over until death? What kinds of government would reign—monarchy, dictatorship, communism, or democracy?

For us, we were staying within the compound for now with enough resources and comfortable homes, and our families were happy and safe. We were able to offer medical care for those who'd been the last victims of Silence. We could continue on with life as if this war hadn't happened. All within the sanctity of the walls.

"Did you hear?" Bryn said. "The first Harem Project match since the war just happened."

I grinned, leaning into Javan. "That's awesome."

"It is. They're opening more HP sites in the monster world now, instead of all over the dead human world."

"They probably should have done that to begin with. They are a monster-run and -owned company," Koa retorted.

"Yes, but I think they started branching out as much as they did into the human world because monsters were escaping from Silence in our world. They'd wanted to make sure that all monsters everywhere had a safe place they could run to quickly if need be. And as most things do, they branched out. And it allowed families to find their missing human members, too."

"Multiple birds, one stone," Calix mused.

We sat in silence for a while, just staring between the two worlds. This was a new beginning for everyone, for everything. I looked between my husbands and sighed. I was so grateful that I'd found them when I did. Just a day later, and it could have been too late. I might have missed my chance.

I'd go through this entire nightmare again if it meant I could spend a lifetime with them. Thankfully, I would get to. Without being hunted. It was time that we all got to begin living our happily ever afters.