"Good." Lucien's voice was hard with satisfaction. "Let them rot."
"Detective Webb accepted a plea deal this morning," Darius continued. "Eighteen months in a human prison, followed by permanent dismissal from law enforcement. Azrael's evidence was... comprehensive."
Azrael smiled, serene and faintly dangerous. "I'm thorough."
"The shop's revenue has increased forty percent since we eliminated the hexed shipments," Darius added, his silver eyes finding mine. "Your marketing strategy—the handwritten notes, the social media presence—it's working beyond our projections."
I grinned. "Told you chaos was valuable."
"You did." He crossed to me and pressed a kiss to my temple—a gesture so casual, so natural, that it made my heart ache with how far we'd come. "You were right. As usual."
The door opened one final time, and Selene swept in like a force of nature. Her emerald gown flowed behind her, and her dark hair was piled in an elaborate twist threaded with fresh flowers. She carried a carafe in one hand and five mugs in the other, her emerald eyes sparkling with mischief.
"Who wants their coffee spiked with truth serum?" she asked brightly.
"Selene." Darius's voice was stern, but his lips twitched. "We've discussed this."
"It's a very mild truth serum. You'd only confess your deepest secrets for an hour or two." She set the carafe on the island and began pouring—normal coffee, I noted with relief, though I wouldn't put it past her to have enchanted the mugs instead. "Fine. No truth serum. But I am adding a splash of liquid courage. We're celebrating."
"Celebrating what?" Lucien asked.
"Six months." Selene's emerald eyes found mine, warm and bright. "Six months since the oath. Since we bound ourselves together." She raised her mug. "To us."
"To us," we echoed, and the kitchen filled with the soft clink of ceramic.
I looked around at them—my family, my home, my everything. Lucien, fierce and protective, his rough edges slowly softening under the weight of being loved. Azrael, reverent and creative, his demonic hunger transformed into poetry and devotion. Darius, controlled and commanding, learning to let go, to trust, to be vulnerable. Selene, mischievous and nurturing, the orchestrator of our chaos, the heart of our magic.
And me. Lizzie Saltz. Former marketing manager. Accidental mafia queen. Beloved of a vampire, a werewolf, a demon, and a witch.
Six months ago, I'd been chasing a raccoon through the woods and stumbled into a world I never knew existed. I'd booped a werewolf on the nose. I'd swapped a vampire's cloak for pink velvet. I'd learned to wield fire and growth, destruction and creation. I'd been kidnapped, rescued, claimed, and loved in ways I never imagined possible.
And now I was here. Packing Etsy orders in a sunlit kitchen, surrounded by the four people—and two hellhounds—who would burn the world for me.
The best damn accident of my life.
"What are you thinking about?" Selene asked, settling onto the stool beside me.
I smiled and leaned into her warmth. "The raccoon."
Lucien choked on his coffee. "Thewhat?"
"The raccoon that started all this." I gestured vaguely at the kitchen, the manor,them. "If it hadn't stolen my tote bag, I never would have chased it into the woods. Never would have found your ritual. Never would have booped Lucien's nose and gotten aggressively adopted." I looked at each of them in turn. "I owe that little trash panda everything."
Darius's silver eyes softened. "I'll have Selene ward the property to leave offerings. Snacks. Shiny objects. Whatever raccoons prefer."
"Trash," Lucien supplied. "They prefer trash."
"Then we'll leave it the finest trash."
I laughed, bright and genuine, and the sound filled the kitchen like sunlight. Cerb's tail thumped against the floor. Styx rolled over in his sunbeam, his ridiculous bee sweater bunching around his massive chest. And my family—my beautiful, chaotic, supernatural family—gathered around me, their presence a warm, steady weight that anchored me to this moment, this life, this impossible, perfect reality.
The ring on my finger pulsed with soft light—silver and amber and gold and emerald—and I felt their love through the bond that connected us all. A constant hum beneath my skin. A promise that could never be broken.
I reached for Lucien's hand, squeezed Azrael's fingers, leaned into Selene's warmth, met Darius's silver gaze.
"Thank you," I said quietly. "For finding me. For keeping me. For loving me."
"Thankyou," Selene murmured, pressing a kiss to my temple. "For stumbling into our lives and refusing to leave."
