Epilogue One

Two weeks later

"Please don't be mad at me," Mickey says out of nowhere.

I just put the final touches on the solarium. It's almost ready to use. I need to test it first. I'm going to throw my entire body against it as hard as I can to see if it will crack.

Or maybe I can bend Mickey over again and reenact what broke it the first time.

"Being mad at you is impossible. What's on your mind?"

"I know a lot has gone on over the last few weeks. We're finally getting our footing. We feel like a family, you know?"

I grin, my gaze falling to her stomach. "Oh, I know." We found out she was pregnant a few days ago and I've been riding the high ever since.

"Have you felt like something has been missing? You don't talk about your old life at all."

I think of Fitz and the thought of my best friend searching for me changes my mood. It's better off this way. He will let go of me one day and live his best life. I'll be a thing of the past.

"No, nothing."

"Nothing?"

I narrow my eyes at her, charging up to the bed. "What did you do?"

She puts her weird monster smut book down before knee walking closer to me. Her grin is guilty, more like a cringe as she gathers the courage to tell me. "I saw Fitz's commercial on TV looking for you. He has an entire operation called Rescue Rhett. I told him you were here. And now he's only twenty minutes away."

I remain calm. The panic slows my ability to think or to process. "I have to go. He can't see me like this, Mickey! What? Why? Why would you do this?" I rub my hands down my face, knowing my friend will hate me forever once he sees me. "Fitz has me as a human to remember. He has those memories. He will hate me, disown me, and he will always think of me like this instead. Mickey, I can't. You have to call him and tell him no."

"I can't do that. And I won't. You need him. I know you do, and I can tell he needs you. He hasn't stopped searching for you. I told him you weren't the same. Give him a chance."

"Not the same? Mickey, I didn't get a haircut. My entire being is different. I have a tail! A tail."

"Oh, I know all about that tail," she purrs, the words sultry and sweet.

Thunder clashes inside my chest. "Mickey," I warn.

"Give him a chance. He deserves that much. Maybe he'll surprise you."

"Or maybe he'll kill me and skin me to use me as a rug."

"So dramatic."

The doorbell rings and I check the clock, grabbing it from the nightstand. "He's early. You said twenty minutes."

"He must have been closer than he thought." She jumps out of bed, slips on her slippers, and leaves me in the bedroom. "Stay there. I'll call for you."

I nod, standing in the bedroom as far away from the door as possible.

"Hi, Fitz, right? I'm Mickey."

"Mickey—" his voice echoes down the hallway. He's let himself in the house. "It's good to meet you. It is, but where is he? Is he here? Rhett? Where are you?" he shouts through the house.

"I know you're happy to see him, but before you do, you need to know that he was kidnapped by horrible doctors, tested on, and now he isn't the same. He looks very different. He is different, but he is the same Rhett. Okay?"

"I don't care if he is half teddy bear, okay? I need to know."

I decide to put him out of his misery and timidly walk down the hallway. "I'm fine, Fitz." I stay in the darkened hall where he can't see me.

"Rhett?"

Mickey sighs. "Rhett, come out."

I growl, inching forward into the light so he can see me. The real me. His eyes widen as he tilts his head back to look up at me. Fitz blinks fast when his brain is in overdrive. I wait for him to say something. Anything. Preparing myself for the disgust.

Instead, he wraps his arms around me in a tight hug. He holds me tight as he sobs. I wrap my arms around him too, my own emotions getting the best of me.

"I'm so glad you're alive. I have been so scared, man. So scared. I thought you died."

"I did," I push him away, patting his shoulder before gripping it and forcing him to look me in the eyes. "The old Rhett is gone. I'm this and there is nothing to be done about it."

"I don't care. You can tell me all about it and what you are, but you're alive. You're fucking alive!" He cheers. "I knew it. This time, I knew it. I felt it. I've brought everything I own to move here. It's what took me so long to get out here and Rhett, I passed a rundown shop on the way into town. We can fix it up. We can start over."

"You want to move here?"

"It's where you are, man. You're my brother."

"Your sister—"

"—I'll miss them, but we can visit."

"All your things?" I ask him in confusion. "Fitz, I'm part crocodile, gargoyle, vampire, ghost, and jellyfish. I'm a monster."

"That is a lot to unload without a beer, but I don't care. I am curious… when you say jellyfish…"

"Yep," Mickey pipes up, a hot flush taking over her face as she glances down. "Sorry. I got too excited."

"Wow. You have to show me that."

"I'm not showing you that."

"Dude, you have to. You have to show me all your ways and when am I ever going to see a jellyfish dick again?"

I snort and laugh until I can't breathe. When I meet Fitz's eyes, they are watering again.

"It's good to see you, Fitz."

He hugs me again. "I'll tell you everything you want to know but it won't be pretty."

"I'm all ears. I've been wanting to know for months. No matter what, I don't care what you are, you're my best friend. Nothing can change that. Not even this. I think it's pretty cool. It solidifies the fact that I know ghosts are real."

"They are so real. So, so, so real." Mickey sounds drunk thinking about me fucking her mouth while I was in ghost form last night. She loved it.

"Mickey."

She shrugs at me.

"See. I think I need to be jealous. I'm going to grab my bag and then can we catch up?" Fitz asks, hopeful and happy.

I nod at him, trying not to lose my control and sob. When he is out the door, I pick Mickey up and spin her in a circle.

"Thank you for bringing him here. Thank you."

"He accepted you without hesitation."

"That's weird, right?" I set her down, worried.

She shakes her head. "Maybe he has a mate or is open-minded. Who cares? Don't ruin this. He has been nonstop looking for you. He only cares that you're alive."

Everything in my life is coming together and to my shock, it's better now than it has ever been.