Epilogue

Madison

A month later.

I opened my eyes to the bright morning light flooding the room through the window of our bedroom. Avar forgot to hide his horns last night. As he tucked his face against my shoulder, the purple glow of a horn shone straight into my eye.

It was late morning already, but he looked deep asleep still, and I didn't want to wake him. Yesterday was our moving day, and he'd worked hard carrying twice as many boxes as any human could lift.

I'd finally moved out of my mom's house, sooner than I'd ever thought I would. Avar and I had found a cute apartment in a low-rise about halfway between my restaurant and Mom's place. He insisted on making the down payment since he now lived in my world just as much as in Purgatory, if not more. I agreed because the slowly but steadily increasing profits from the restaurant finally made a mortgage affordable for me.

I'd been back to his mountain a few times, too, in the past month. With no commute time, it was even easier to visit than if he lived next door. The only downside was that I still passed out on the way to Purgatory. That was the consequence of bringing a living body to the world of the dead.

We'd also been carefully researching the best places to donate each of Avar's treasures that he'd brought back to our world. So far, we'd been able to give away almost half of them already.

Avar's beard tickled my arm. He refused to shave it, claiming that a bare chin would make him feel uncomfortable. I didn't mind. I loved his beard, whether it was hair or feelers.

His dark chestnut locks fell over his forehead. I moved it aside carefully and gently kissed his temple. I hated to wake him up, but Avar's brother Gul, the Sin of Gluttony, invited us for brunch today, and we both decided it was finally time for me to meet his extraordinary family. We couldn't sleep in this morning, or we would be late. And it'd be rude to show up late for my first meeting with Avar's brothers.

I kissed his temple again, then his forehead, then the base of his horn. He made a soft sound deep inside his throat and stirred.

Sticking my tongue out, I slowly dragged it along the entire length of the front horn that was closest to me.

He rolled to his back with a low moan and stretched through his entire body, still keeping his eyes closed.

I ran my tongue in a circle around his horn, then wrapped my lips around the pointy tip and sucked gently.

"Fuck..." he exhaled, betraying the fact that he was very much awake now .

His back arched. The sheet tented over his crotch with his erection. His horns were his sinful place, and I loved that.

Wrapping my hand around one of his horns, I peppered kisses down his face, neck, and chest before reaching under the blanket.

Avar preferred to sleep in the nude. His erection sprung into my hand, almost as hard as his horn. Thankfully, in his human form, his dick was a far more manageable size that I could take wherever I liked.

Kissing his chest, I caressed both his horn and his cock.

He grunted, snapping his arms around me. His tentacles extended from his sides, grabbing me in an inescapable hold.

He growled, rolling me onto my back.

"Well, I'm awake now."

"Morning, darling." I smiled, reaching into the drawer of my nightstand for a condom.

In his human form, Avar's orgasm was also human in every way, with no light show, but with a very real chance of ending up in a pregnancy that we weren't ready for yet.

He rolled the condom on, playfully jerking up an eyebrow, then buried his face between my breasts. His corollas fluttered down my arms, scattering light, gentle kisses over my skin and fanning my desire.

A moan escaped my lips. I opened my legs, and Avar lost no time slipping a hand between my thighs. His fingers quickly found my clit throbbing hot with need. He kissed down my breast, then sucked the nipple into his mouth, gently rolling it between his teeth.

Pleasure rolled through me in a swell. With Avar, there was never any need for the cursed collar. He always managed to make me crazy with lust, using only the magic of his touch.

"Fuck me, Avar. Please..." I begged .

"How much do you want me, Maddy? Tell me," he demanded.

"More than anything. I want you more than anything in the world and always will."

Possession was the very nature of the Sin of Greed. The loss of what he had was his worst fear. Since I'd become Avar's biggest treasure, even the idea of losing me terrified him. It was a good thing that I loved being his, fully and completely.

"You have me, Avar, and you always will. I love you, and I'm not going anywhere."

"I love you, too, my treasure. More than anything or anyone, in this world or any other."

He entered me slowly, savoring the sensation of our connection. His thrusts quickly grew more desperate and hungrier. My need for him grew too. I wrapped my legs around his middle. The tip of his tentacle pressed to my clit, teasing me with an orgasm. His other tentacle slipped between me and the sheets from the back, circling my back entrance.

Heat spiked in me. Pleasure crested. My mouth fell open as my eyes closed. He swallowed my moans with a kiss, joining me in climax. We rode the waves of pleasure together, and I didn't release him from my embrace even after.

He kept holding me, too, his face buried in my shoulder.

"Are you sure you want to spend your only day off this week with my family?" he asked against my skin. "Or can I possibly persuade you to spend it just like this? In bed, with me?"

"Tempting." I smiled. Doing anything with Avar was my favorite pastime. Spending it in bed with him sounded even better. "But Gul has been inviting us for weeks, and we finally agreed. It'd be really rude not to show up now."

"He'd get over it," he muttered grumpily. Then sighed heavily, probably remembering that he was way too old for a tantrum. "Fine. Let's get ready." He climbed out of bed. "But we're taking a shower together. And I demand the right to wash you."

"Then we'll definitely be late." I laughed as he hauled me into the bathroom, his corollas already plucking at my nipples again and his fingers straying too far around my thigh.

"It's the price I'm willing to pay," he declared, turning on the shower. "Trust me, we deserve this today before meeting my brothers. They can be extremely aggravating."

AVAR AND I WALKED HAND in hand from his mountain in Purgatory. He still wore his ring that kept him in his human form. It was easier for us to walk side by side this way.

In his other hand, Avar carried a basket with two bottles of wine and a platter of canapés I made for Gul's brunch.

We took the narrow road that ran around the town and into the fields where Gul's house stood. It was a sprawling one-story building with a wraparound porch with white railings. Made of thick yellow logs, the house had a red roof with corners curved up like in Chinese pagodas. The tall contraption above looked like a bell tower with a gazebo on top and a bunch of gothic turrets.

"This is the most confusing construction in terms of style," I noted.

Avar shrugged. "Gul wouldn't let the limitations of just one style hold him back in his indulgence."

Despite the seemingly random assembly of architectural elements, Gul's house didn't look ugly. It seemed to be a happy place, surrounded by a field of blooming sunflowers, and I instantly regretted not accepting Gul's invitation earlier .

The entrance opened into a spacious room with lots of comfy seating and a large screen in a crystal frame on the wall above the fireplace. A rerun of Friends playing on it was dubbed in a language that sounded Italian with what looked like Korean subtitles on the bottom. The sins wouldn't care about the language, of course, since they understood them all.

The room was empty.

"Is that the TV?" I asked, pointing at the screen. It was odd to find it in Purgatory even as I knew of Pandora's gift.

Avar nodded. "Pandora's box."

"That's one way to call it, I guess," I said, turning around to take in the rest of the room brightly lit by sunshine spilling in through the several sets of open patio doors.

A rustling sound of something shifting along the floor came from behind me.

"Hi, Invi," Avar greeted. His tentacle immediately whipped around me, forming a protective circle.

Apprehension slithered into my chest as I turned around.

The shape of the sin entering the room was humanoid, but the wavering outline of it betrayed that it'd been something else just a moment ago. The outline settled into the green glowing shape of a handsome man with luscious waist-length hair.

"Hello, Madison," he said in a deep, melodious voice I recognized.

"You must be Invi. You were there the day I was taken... I mean, when Avar took me from the alley, weren't you?" I offered him my hand. "It's nice to finally meet you face to face and under much better circumstances."

"It's a real pleasure to see you again." Instead of shaking my hand, Invi bowed gracefully and placed a kiss on it.

Not expecting the gesture, I glanced at Avar, who worked his jaw in annoyance .

"Invi's manners are outdated," he explained. "He doesn't come to the human world often."

"And who is to blame for that?" Invi retorted, releasing my hand. "If Avar didn't hoard the transcendence potion—"

"You'd follow me on every trip and grab twice as much of anything I take," Avar finished his brother's sentence.

A red streak of irritation flashed through Invi's emerald shape.

"Where is everyone?" I changed the subject to ease the tension.

"Out in the yard." He waved a hand at the open patio doors. "Gul sent me here to get more lemonade."

"Do you need help?" I asked.

"He'll be fine." Avar took my hand.

"Thank you, Madison. I'll manage on my own." Invi bowed to me politely. "Welcome to the family. I'm looking forward to getting to know you better."

"The fuck you are," Avar gritted though his teeth as Invi headed through an arched exit into what looked like a ginormous kitchen.

I jerked Avar's hand. "Hey. He's being nice to us."

"To you ," he corrected. "He is being exceptionally nice to you , Maddy. To me, Invi is just being envious, like he often is. He always wants what others have. Just look at him." He gestured in the direction his brother had departed. "He isn't even in his own form. He'd rather look like someone else than himself."

Invi seemed to take the siblings' rivalry to a whole new level. But he was the Sin of Envy. It was expected from someone like him. Personally, I found Invi's flair of old-fashioned charm endearing.

"He must have his reasons for taking a different form," I said in his defense .

Shaking his head, Avar led me out of the patio doors.

"Well, there are more where Invi comes from. Are you ready to meet the rest of my brothers? Or should we go home before it's too late?"

Avar might find his brothers annoying, but I knew he thought them safe. He would never bring me to a place he thought held even a shred of real danger for me.

When I glanced at the group gathered for brunch, however, my apprehension surged higher.

Gul's yard was a large clearing in the sunflower field. It was set up like an outdoor living room, with wicker furniture, several gazebos, a firepit, and a huge outdoor kitchen.

Five giant, monstrous forms lounged around, with a golden yellow one standing by the grill. The mouth-watering aroma of marinated grilled meat wafted over the field, reaching the house.

"They are..." I swallowed hard, taking in the array of tails, wings, hooves, and horns...so many horns.

"Monsters?" Avar finished for me. "That's right. They are." He took the magical moonstone ring off his finger and placed it into a candy dish under Pandora's box. "But so am I, Maddy. I'm a monster too."

His human form turned transparent. The purple glow burst through his disappearing clothes. Tentacles and feelers unfurled. Horns sprouted. He grew, turning into the monster he truly was, but I loved every horrifying part of him.

"Whatever comes, I'll protect you, Maddy. Even from my own family." He wrapped a supportive tentacle around me, then handed me the basket with wine and canapés. "Here. You made these. Do you want to give them to Gul yourself? He's the yellow one by the grill."

I nodded, taking the basket from him.

Gul and Sup, the Sins of Gluttony and Pride, had helped Avar to take care of me during my early days in Purgatory. They fed and clothed me. I already met Invi, the Sin of Envy. And I loved the Sin of Greed, madly.

The seven deadly sins weren't as bad as the world had made them out to be. One just needed to look deeper to find the good side of each.

"I'm ready." Gripping the basket, I stepped out into the yard. "Let's meet them all."