Epilogue

“We’re going on an expedition!” thirteen-year-old Estie announced. “Is everyone ready?”

“Yeah!” her siblings yelled behind her.

Telos watched as twelve-year-old Ariel made sure their three siblings were accounted for.

“We all have our backpacks,” Ariel said.

“Let’s go!” Estie yelled.

They began running—Estie taking the lead, Ariel sticking to the rear to make sure no one got left behind. In between them, ten-year-old William flapped his arms, eight-year-old Terry rolled into a somersault on the grass and picked himself up, and seven-year-old Pearlyn tried to catch Estie.

Telos and Mav walked behind them, hand in hand, while the butlers filled the carts with even more snacks.

They climbed a short hill—one among several on the private land that Mav, Telos, and their friends had pooled together some money to buy. This land was sprawling, added to every year, so the dragonets would have somewhere to fly and play without being seen.

At the top of the hill, the children wriggled out of their clothes and shifted.

It was always exciting to see which creatures they’d pick. Sometimes they chose to be dragons, and sometimes they chose to be pterodactyls. Sometimes they were other creatures—Mav had pictures of five woolly mammoth cubs racing through the forest.

Telos had ended up keeping his penthouse for the view and the height. The children were allowed to take off from there once they’d mastered their shifts—never as dragons, but they could fly as any other creature they wanted.

Like Telos, Estie favored the dinosaurs, although her siblings chose to be all manner of cuddly (and sometimes creepy) creatures.

“They grow up so fast,” Telos sighed, leaning into Mav’s side.

Mav leaned back. “Want to make another?”

Behind, Hilly-Billy whispered loudly, “Our parents are pregnant again.”

Telos covered his face. “I don’t want to know about their sex life.”

“ Both of them are pregnant,” Hadley added.

“Maybe one day, I’ll knock Mav up,” Telos said. “Somehow. There has to be a spell.”

“Maybe,” Mav said. “I don’t know if I trust magic that much.”

Telos shrugged. He didn’t mind being pregnant, especially when Mav kept volunteering to rub his feet. And instead of keeping the spell that had started it all, Mav and Telos had gone back to Uriel for something that didn’t hide Telos’ shapeshifter nature. The new spell was simpler, one that allowed them to share their emotions and magical energy like what they had before.

It was comforting, having Mav’s emotions in his head.

These days, their hoard had merged—Telos’ fossils were scattered throughout the vault, and Mav’s horse sculptures had made their way between those pedestals. Dinosaur-themed decorations had invaded every room in the mansion.

“We should make another,” Mav said decisively. “While the kids are distracted.”

They looked at where Estie, Ariel, William, Terry, and Pearlyn were flying close to the ground, tussling with each other.

“We’ll stop the carts from following you,” Hadley said generously. “Go ahead and connect your love rods.”

Mav dragged Telos away before Hilly-Billy could demonstrate with his hands how their ‘love rods’ were meant to work. “Fuck off.”

“We love you too,” the butlers called back.

Mav waited until they were far enough away, before pushing Telos up against a tree.

“Ah, just like old times,” Telos said with a smirk.

Mav crowded close and gave him a hot, deep kiss. “Better than old times.”

“Definitely better,” Telos groaned.