AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My thoughtful mate glares as if he’s readying the most cutthroat comeback.
I kiss him instead, then kiss Jace. “Good thing we will have centuries together to figure it out. Have I mentioned how much I love you both?”
EPILOGUE
THE WORLD: LOVE FULFILLED
Jace
Ayear later…
I crouch on a rooftop, stalking Rosemarie.
My queen.
My mate.
She looks exceptional tonight by the light of the two moons, but then she’s stunning every night. While Atticus and I remain awake throughout the day, the rest of the gargoyles in the keep still only come alive by the light of the moons.
For the past few months, most of the gargoyles have run a bustling trade route that’s the safest stop in the Borderlands, providing charity to every species who needs it. Plus, supernaturals from all realms come to gaze upon the Bridge. It thrives under our queen’s rule, sparkling in a rainbow of crystals to welcome the souls who cross.
“Watching your queen?” Howard calls from below, snagging a snack from the stalls outside the Royal Reception Tower where souls now wait in luxury for their turn to see the queen. My mate, Atticus, and I still live in the twins’ tower where Rona frequently hosts her new best friend Lala, the Spidress, and anyone else she considers our extended family. Tonight, the Dullahan doesn’t have a soul with him which means Howard’s only here to gawk at my mate.
“I’m captain of her guard,” I call down. “What’s your excuse?”
He snickers a horsey sound only Howard could make. “She’s a beauty,” he says. “The Bridge, I mean. Though your mate’s not bad for a human. I can’t believe you made the queen of legends climb the cliffside all those times.”
“It served her well in trials,” I say aloud. I don’t share how much fun she, Atticus, and I have had at the cliffside whenever we could get away this past year. Flying fuckery is a favorite of my queen’s.
“Lucky for you.”
He has no idea.
Howard flicks his ears. “Got to go collect a soul.”
“Later, Howard.”
Laughter from the Bridge has me fixing my attention solely on Rosemarie. An ornate crystal garden with quartz benches and jade columns is Rosemarie’s favorite place to greet souls, and that’s where she sits now. My mate shines, her runes flickering in a colored light show to amuse a soul while Huey flies upside down with his neon feathers shimmering. She dips her head in farewell to the soul, her custom crown created from the stone out of her favorite bracelet sliding low on her brow. The soul vanishes in a trail of twinkling stars.
Atticus walks through the courtyard, giving instructions to a group of gargoyles along with a few orcs and a banshee. He runs the keep’s planning and operations the same as I oversee its security. While she calls us her two kings, Rosemarie didn’t leave the other Diviners out of new roles.
She appointed Wilborne as the chief historian and librarian, a role in which he excels. Cutter replicated Lala’s tarot cards in ornate crystal artwork that earned him commissions across the realms. His workshop is one of Rosemarie’s favorite places to visit. And Mildrake? Well, she put him to work caring for the cupids. Those little terrors keep him busy.
Stepping onto the Bridge, Atticus drops his serious commander-of-the-castle expression to gather our mate in his wings. She glances my way, tipping her head in invitation to join them.
I launch into the air.
I’ll never leave my queen waiting.
Bonus Epilogue
Atticus
Centuries in the future…
Rona pings her way across the kitchen in a rapid series of blinks into and out of existence, popping up by the sink one second and the stove the next. I stand still, not needing her to slam into me on one of her jumps because it would of course be—according to the brownie—all my fault.
“So many royals to dote on,” she says. “So many queens. And our little prince too.”
