I laughed again, louder this time.
The sound echoed softly through the tower chambers.
Menon smiled beneath me with such quiet wonder it nearly shattered my heart.
Because I realized then—he loved making me happy.
Not performatively.
Not possessively.
Genuinely.
Like every smile I gave him mattered.
The matebond wrapped warmly around us both as exhaustion finally began pulling at my body in earnest.
For the first time in years, sleep no longer felt frightening.
No racing thoughts.
No anxiety clawing beneath my ribs.
No endless restless ache.
Just warmth.
Magic.
Him.
I curled closer instinctively, pressing my lips softly against the glowing runes over his heart.
“I love you, Menon Blau.”
His entire body went still beneath me.
Then his arms tightened almost painfully around me.
“And I love you, Amrin Cordoza,” he whispered roughly against my hair. “In every realm. In every lifetime.”
And wrapped in moonlight and magic and the arms of my celestial Monster—I finally slept.
Epilogue 1-Sten
“Hey, Sten, where did you want me to drop the modules for inputting lunar phases in the Nephilim Realm?” Gunner called from across the office.
I looked up from the glowing celestial projection hovering above my desk and blinked slowly.
The fact Gunner McFadden was currently helping me build a multi-realm celestial mapping empire instead of actively attempting to rip my throat out remained one of the strangest developments of my life.
Not unpleasant.
Just strange.
Three months ago we’d nearly started a blood feud during the Spring Equinox Festival.
Now?
