Epilogue

GWYNEIRA

Two months later

“ Oh, this is a good one.” Shifting position against Byron’s side on the leather sofa, I angled my book so that he could see.

Glancing up from the novel in his hands, he skimmed where I pointed. Firelight from the massive library fireplace made his green eyes gleam.

As did curiosity.

“That does look good.” He reached for a thin strip of cloth from the pile at his side. “Red?”

“Mm, pink. That scene in the book yesterday was sexier, but I like the positions in this one.”

Nodding, he picked up the cloth. I tucked it between the pages and grinned.

“Your Majesty?” Harran called. “Excuse me, Your Majesty?”

Byron made a regretful noise. “Duty calls, yes?” He kissed the top of my head. “Don’t worry, we can keep reading later tonight. Demon will likely enjoy what I found on page two hundred and six. I know I will.”

I peeked at where he pointed and found myself at a loss for words. “Red for that one. Definitely.”

He laughed.

“Your majesty.” Harran bustled around the corner of a bookcase, papers clutched in his hands. “My apologies for disturbing your reading time, but we really must go over these seating arrangements for the Jeweled Coven’s spring equinox dinner. Seating the ruby witches next to the orcs is hardly— Oh.” He stopped, blinking at the stacks of books surrounding us. “My, are all these for the, uh… new sections?”

“Mostly.” I set my book aside and then nodded to the stack on my left. “That pile is for Valeria when she and Lord Thomas come by for their ‘state visit’ next week.”

I tried to smile past my discomfort, knowing Valeria didn’t want me to be upset that the visits weren’t merely about rebuilding Aneira but also about making sure she had everything she needed as a new vampire. After we found her and the others my stepmother had turned hiding in the deepest parts of the castle tunnels, it had taken some rather ingenious caging spells cast by Casimir, Byron, and the witches to trap them long enough to give them each a vial of giant blood.

But thank the gods, the treatment had worked, and now contributions from very well compensated Erenlians meant Valeria, Fironia, and so many other victims of my stepmother could start to rebuild to their lives.

“And,” I pressed onward, nodding at another stack. “ That pile includes those historical romances you were curious about a few days ago. Ones you thought the new head cook might like to read with you, right?”

“Ah. Um. Yes.” Harran’s mouth moved. “T-thank you.” He cleared his throat. “I’ll see to it that General Valeria’s books are packed for safekeeping.”

I suppressed a smile at the scarlet flush on his cheeks. “Thank you.”

With a shaky breath, he drew himself up again. “Now, about these seating arrangements.”

I set my book aside and climbed to my feet, Byron rising behind me. “I’m not sure I see the problem. The?—”

Footsteps came our way, moving fast, and then Clay poked his head around a bookcase with a grin. “They’re back.”

Excitement quivered in my chest. “Harran, the ruby witches will be fine. Just put Leontine next to their leader. They seem quite enamored of each other, and she’s fascinated by his people’s history. They’ll talk for hours and keep everyone else in line at the same time.”

Harran floundered. “H-how could you know?—”

“A little bird told me.” A smile tugged at my lips as the castle quivered ever so slightly beneath my feet. “Now if you’ll excuse me.”

With Byron on my heels, I hurried after Clay. “Are they okay?”

“Yeah, I think. Cas is Cas, and the pack seems good. Best I can tell for shadow wolves, anyway.”

Relief pressed a breath from me.

“What about the Wild Lands?” Byron asked. “Is it like we thought?”

Clay shrugged. “Yeah. Just diamond trees everywhere and not a ghost nor a what-the-fuck to be seen. Probably not going to be too much longer till the orcs and whatnot want to talk trade routes.”

Byron gave a low whistle, while I smiled. At first, the orcs, harpies, shifters and all the other creatures who’d been brought back from extinction by the Voidborn had been something of a question for us. Many of them came from lands that didn’t exist anymore. Some from entire continents and islands that had long since sunk into the sea. Living among humans and giants was unfamiliar at best, and that was without the fear many humans still felt for them after what the Voidborn had forced those creatures to do.

But to Casimir, the solution was simple. He was the king of an empty country. They were people without a home. Thus, after days of negotiations, the new-old creatures were declared citizens of Zenirya, with each species nominating royal advisors to the throne.

All that had been left was to determine what to do about the Wild Lands—if anything was needed at all. Preliminary scrying spells cast by the witches hinted that, when the energy of our realm returned, the twisted magic of those cursed lands may have been healed somehow, purged of the corruption from the Witch Wars which had made it go feral.

Casimir had taken Ruhl and flown to the west almost immediately, just to see if it was true.

“About time you got here,” Lars said from the throne room entrance when we rounded the corner. “I was about to send a search party.”

Clay splayed his hands. “Hey, if these two keep expanding the library, we’re going to need search parties on constant standby.”

I rolled my eyes at them both. “You’re just jealous because Brock spent half his last visit exploring the new section on Erenlian history.”

“Okay, that’s fair.” Clay shrugged. “Who knew the guy was such a bookworm?”

“Your Majesty.” Dex’s voice felt like a warm hug even before he caught me as I came through the doorway.

I hugged him back. “It’s about time you got a free moment.” I gave Ozias a pointed look. “ Both of you.”

Dex chuckled. “That’s what I told the recruits, but did they listen?”

I grinned. His uniform was spotless—his training wouldn’t accept anything less—but I could still see the exhaustion in his eyes. After we disbanded all that remained of my stepmother’s former group of Huntsmen, Dex had taken charge of rebuilding an elite unit of royal guards to protect us all.

Being leader of the new Huntsmen kept him incredibly busy.

“And you?” I asked Ozias. “What’s your excuse?”

A low, hungry growl left him as he pulled me into his arms. “Shifters talk too much.”

I smothered a giggle. “How horrible for you.”

His growl turned into a rumble of warning. “Careful. I haven’t gotten to spank you in days. ”

My cheeks flushed with equal parts embarrassment and anticipation. “Well, you two will be home tonight, yes? Because Byron and I had a very productive reading time.”

Desire lit their eyes, and promise filled Dex’s voice when he said, “Oh, we wouldn’t miss that for the world.”

Ruhl turned as we came toward them all. Amorphous shapes of shadow and smoke swirled behind him, separating out into the wolf forms of his pack. His green eyes gleaming, Ruhl tilted his head ever so slightly at the sight of me, almost like a nod of acknowledgement.

I nodded back. One day, I would truly to figure out what he actually was. But until then, Byron and Casimir said they planned to scour the archives for information on nyxvarg.

Maybe they’d find an actual description of the nature of his kind.

Pushing the thoughts aside, I continued on to where Casimir stood conversing with the leader of the harpies. Niko was nearby, talking with several of the orcs who served as healers among their people. Roan stood behind him, his brother’s ever-present bodyguard and shadow.

“—easily set up a place for your people in the southern province,” Casimir was saying to one of the harpies, “ if warmer weather is your preference. But the north has?—”

At a short sound from the harpy, Casimir cut off and turned. His lips spread into a broad smile at the sight of me. “Ah, my queen.”

“I hear it went well.”

“Better than well.” He enfolded me in a quick hug, seeming near to bursting with excitement. “With the magic of the Wild Lands gone, we found parts of my nation still standing that I haven’t seen in over thirty years.”

I hesitated, not wanting to dim his enthusiasm, but unable to stop my hope. “Any people?”

He winced. “No. But I made my peace with that possibility years ago. I half-expected never to see anything of Zenirya again, so to even have our museums and schools still standing is…” He shook his head, and then a smile crossed his face again. “And I should add, Ruhl also found the libraries .”

“Oh.” I turned to the shadow wolf, who I swore was smirking at me. An answering grin tugged at my lips. “Well, thank you.”

One of the wolves behind him huffed, and Ruhl glanced back. Some kind of unspoken communication seemed to pass between them, because his body language changed, becoming almost business-like. Rising from his haunches, he paced to a section of the throne room wall, his pack coming with him.

“What is that about, I wonder?” Byron murmured.

I shook my head. “Are you feeling anything odd about that part of the?—”

The stone wavered. Shadows gathered fast, swirling together quickly to form a dark space taller and wider than any of us.

“Gateway.” Byron lifted his hands, defensive magic already swirling around him.

Dex grabbed for his sword. “How the hell did it get past the warding around?—”

The sound of someone clearing their throat came from within the darkness.

Something about it was familiar.

“Is that a gateway demon?” Clay asked.

“Doesn’t matter.” Roan stepped between Niko and the gateway, his muscles tense like he was on the verge of shifting into his demon.

Pfft! came the voice of one of the smaller-sounding gateway demons. ‘Doesn’t matter’ he says. Just for that we shouldn’t even ? —

A grunt followed, almost like somebody elbowing someone else.

“What the…?” Lars murmured.

Ruhl gave the portal an exasperated look.

Fine! The throat-clearing sound returned, and then the gateway demon made a noise like it was imitating a trumpet. Introducing his hideousness, his monstrosity-ness, his enormous ? —

Get on with it! another demon snapped.

Sounds of a tussle came from within the gateway, like the two demons were wresting, and then a deeper, older voice said tiredly. Just move. My mate wishes to see her sons.

I froze. Ahead of me, Niko and Roan did the same.

Something shifted in the darkness, and then a figure swelled into existence.

My eyes widened. It was a demon, larger even than Roan’s other form, with jet-black horns curving from his head, broad wings, and long claws on his hands and feet. He wore black leather breeches and a flowing linen shirt the color of smoke. When his eyebrow arched imperiously at the sight of all of us, the expression was so reminiscent of Roan, it stole my breath.

An Erenlian woman stepped from the darkness behind him. Her hair was as black as night, while her skin was light-gray marble. She wore a dress of rich, red velvet that shifted to orange like dancing flames when she moved.

When she saw Niko and Roan, a smile broke out across her face and tears rose in her eyes. “Oh…” She pressed her fingertips to her lips like she was trying to contain herself. “There you both are.”

Neither of the brothers moved. I didn’t know what to do, whether to speak to break the silence or let them find their way through it first. My eyes darted to one side of the gateway, seeking Ruhl like maybe he had the answer, even if I knew the wolf wouldn’t respond.

At the forefront of his pack, the wolf didn’t seem perturbed in the slightest. He simply turned to the demon and placed one paw on the creature’s massive clawed foot. After a moment passed, the demon nodded, and Ruhl turned back, sinking onto his haunches, utterly calm.

Somehow, the sight helped.

The woman took a step forward, her eyes never leaving Niko and Roan. “I-I don’t know if you… Oh, gods, how to do this?” She drew a steadying breath. “My name is Jessora. I’m your mother.”

A shocked breath escaped me, but happiness was on its heels. Their mother?

“Um…” Niko’s eyes darted briefly to Roan. “Hi.” He cleared his throat. “I mean, hello.”

Jessora’s smile returned. “Hello. You… you’d be Archerias’s son, yes?” An awkward sort of worry flickered over her face. “I’m sorry. I… I don’t know what they named you or?—”

“Niko,” Roan cut in, a tense, protective edge to his voice.

She nodded quickly. “Niko. And you’re Roan.”

His head moved in brief acknowledgement, cold and cautious. Her smile still flickered back to life at the sight.

Something in my chest twisted at the expression. It was so clear where Niko had gotten his bright and sweet nature.

Her smile unchanged, she nodded to the demon beside her. “This is Xarcist, your father and my… well, his people call it?—”

“Your mate,” Roan interrupted again.

Xarcist’s brow arched. “You’re familiar with that, I take it.”

Roan’s shoulders rolled back and in an instant, he shifted entirely into the demon. “Yes,” he said flatly, protectiveness clear in his tone.

Xarcist didn’t bristle at the obvious threat. Instead, one corner of his lips curled up in a proud, approving smile.

And that, too, looked so like Roan that it left me speechless.

But at the sight of his demon form, Jessora made a breathless sound of joy. “You… oh. You’re…”

With a wary look at Niko, Demon pulled back a bit, seeming thrown. “What?”

Xarcist regarded him, still seeming proud. “There was little chance you and the demonic power within you could both survive intact. Most half-bloods become one or the other—if they don’t simply rip themselves apart from within, unable to exist as either side.”

My lips parted in shock. That…

Oh gods, so that was why they were the way they were. A demonic force and a man, half and half.

And by some miracle, they’d managed to survive. To coexist.

To become the amazing man and demon who meant the world to me.

“What is your name, son?” Xarcist continued.

The demon was silent.

“We…” Niko glanced at the demon uncomfortably. “We just call him Demon.”

Xarcist’s brow arched with affront.

“Whatever you’re thinking—” Niko took a step forward, “—take care before you speak.”

His protectiveness drew Demon back to himself. “I need no other name.”

Xarcist watched them both and then tilted his head in a small nod. “So be it. But should you wish to know—” He glanced at Jessora briefly. “—your mother and I would have called you Kaos. That was the name we chose when we…” Pain flickered over his face.

Jessora gave him a loving, sympathetic look. “There was a time when we first met when we thought we would be able to stay together so easily. But soon after I learned I was pregnant, his realm pulled him back again. Crossing between his realm and ours has always been… perilous . Almost impossible, really. When Archerias’s enemies kidnapped me, Xarcist broke about a hundred laws and combusted an uninhabited pocket realm just to return here to rescue me.”

“Small price to stop those who threatened you,” Xarcist muttered.

I buried a smile at the sentiment so reminiscent of the demon.

Or rather Kaos , if he decided that was he wanted to be called.

“Is that why you never came back for me?” Niko asked. “For us ?”

Jessora’s expression turned sad. “I’m so sorry. With Roan… I was young. Xarcist was gone, my village cast me out for ‘consorting with the unnatural,’ and when he was born as a—” She winced apologetically at Roan. “—a dwarf , I thought…” She shook her head. “I knew nothing of what it meant for my child to be a half-blood. I only wanted you to have a better life than I could give. A life with a family who had the resources to protect you from the cruelty and judgement I knew you’d receive.”

A heartbeat passed, and then the demon shifted back into Roan. “They were that… while they lived.”

Silence followed his words.

“What happened with me?” Niko asked quietly.

Jessora’s pained expression deepened. “I didn’t mean to leave you. I swear. After Xarcist rescued me, he and I tried to return to where I’d hidden you in the woods, but the tear he’d opened between realms caught us before we could. I…” Her voice caught. “I never knew if you survived or…”

Xarcist put a massive hand to her shoulder. She reached up, clasping hers over his, accepting the support.

“I’m so sorry,” she finished to Niko.

For a moment, my sweet giant seemed at a loss for words. But then he shook his head. “It… it was okay. A healer woman found me. Marnira. She raised me.” He smiled. “It was a good childhood. You don’t have anything to be sorry for.”

Gratitude filled Jessora’s eyes. “I prayed to the gods for both of you every day. And when the barriers between the realms weakened and there was the chance to finally come find you again…” She pressed her clasped hands to her lips like she was trying to hold overwhelming emotions inside. “All I—all we —want is to be part of your lives, in whatever way you’ll let us.”

Niko looked over at Roan, hope in his eyes. “I… I would like that.”

Roan’s wary, distrustful expression didn’t change, and his eyes never left his father. “He’s a demon. I won’t risk that. Not with her.”

Xarcist’s eyes narrowed, flicking to me. “Your mate,” he said like he was filling in a blank. His fiery gaze swept Dex, Ozias and the others. “And your…”

“Family.” Roan spat the word.

But again, Xarcist didn’t seem offended, only proud. “I think you’ll find, my son, that while little in all the realms is sacred to a demon, a mate is the most sacred of all. And if they are your family, then…” He nodded like he was making a decision that had more weight and solidity than stone. “They are mine as well. Any who harm them or your mate will face my wrath.”

Roan was motionless, and my heart went out to him. I crossed to his side, putting a hand to his arm.

A breath entered his lungs. His eyes went to mine.

I smiled, and after a moment, he nodded like he was regaining his footing. “I…” He looked back at Xarcist, only to hesitate with a look I was starting to know well.

His demon was speaking to him.

He cleared his throat. “Kaos and I agree. We would like you to be a part of our lives too.” Roan’s brow flickered down briefly. “Though he would also like to know if you’re going to be ripped out of this realm again and whether we should move our mate away from you for her safety, just in case.”

A gruff chuckle burst from Xarcist. “No. Crossing realms is dangerous, as your mother said. Or, it was . The walls are weaker now. Cracks exist. We won’t be pulled away this time.”

Apprehension swirled in my gut. My stepmother’s destruction had done that. I had no doubt at all.

“Then,” Niko started, only to glance at the shadow wolves like he had a suspicion of the answer to his own question. “How did you know to find us?”

Xarcist sighed. “After we were torn away from this realm before Jessora could return for you, Jessora was heartbroken. And when one’s mate suffers…”

Understanding seemed to pass between all my men, as if they knew what he spoke of only too well.

“Thus, I swore to find my mate’s sons.” Xarcist glanced to one side. “And the nyxvarg took an oath to assist me. They stole across the realms, completing a crossing even my kind would not survive. But as their alpha tells me, when they arrived here, tangled magic delayed them. By the time they could orient themselves enough to conquer it…” His mouth tightened. “Both of my mate’s sons were nowhere to be found.”

A rolling movement went through Ruhl’s body, like he was shrugging off the discomfort of that memory.

I hesitated, but I had to know. “Can you speak to him?”

Xarcist’s fiery gaze turned to me, respectful and calm. “After a fashion. When they choose to do so, the nyxvarg share images. Emotions and such. In this form, they will truly speak only to one another and their mate. But for all others, to receive even the more limited form of their communication is quite rare. It is a sign of their highest respect and esteem.“

Ruhl’s glowing eyes met mine. He tilted his head in a tiny, acknowledging nod.

Niko looked between Xarcist and the wolves. “So all this time, Ruhl and his pack were here to find… us?”

“Originally, yes. Though I understand they developed a fondness of the strange country in which they found themselves as well. When you stumbled upon them, they acted to protect it and you.”

Watching Ruhl, Jessora crouched down. “Thank you for protecting my sons.” She smiled. “You can go now. Your oath is complete.”

I blinked, looking between her and the wolf.

Ruhl caught sight of my reaction. Rising to his feet, he paced over to me.

“What does she mean, go?” I asked him.

The wolf glanced back at Xarcist and Jessora.

“Back before the barriers weakened, the nyxvarg had their own reasons for risking the journey to this realm,” Xarcist said. “Their kind have a connection to their destined mate that transcends realms. But the curse of this is that their mate can be in any realm at all. Thus many nyxvarg never find them.”

I stared at the wolf. “That longing. The searching.”

Ruhl’s glowing eyes were solemn.

“But,” Xarcist continued, “as we said, the barriers are no longer what they once were. Whatever realms their mates occupy, the nyxvarg may well be able to find them more easily now.”

Ruhl sank onto his haunches with an expectant look at me.

I crouched down. His paw came to rest on my knee.

The gratitude that poured from him made tears burn in my eyes. He could feel her now, stronger ever than before. We’d shattered the sky, and with it, the barriers that kept him from the one whose soul was out beyond the darkness, calling to him.

And it was time he and his pack found her.

“But—” my voice broke, “—if you go, we’ll miss you. I’ll miss you.”

Gentle affection came from him. He leaned forward, softly bumping his forehead to mine.

Warmth filled me. Friendship.

And the sense that now everything would be all right.

After all, perhaps someday he, his pack, and their mate could come to see us again.

I nodded, sniffling a bit. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Ruhl’s wry smirk returned. He huffed, almost as if chuckling. Rising again, he walked back to his pack. But at the edge of the gateway, he turned, his glowing eyes finding Casimir.

The vampire smiled. “Thank you, my friend.“

Ruhl bowed in a solemn, respectful nod. Behind him, smoke rose from the rest of his pack, as if they were on the edge of shifting.

With a huff that radiated excitement, Ruhl threw his head back and gave a wild, exulting howl.

His pack took up the cry. In a surge of swirling darkness, the shadow wolves raced into the gateway.

Their howls faded into the distance.

Ozias put his arm around me. “Are you okay, little mate?”

I smiled, resting my head on his side. “Yeah.” I looked over at all my men, my heart swelling at the love in their eyes. “After all, everyone deserves to find their treluria.”

Thank you for reading Forever After: Crimson Snow.