Marcus touches the side of my face. “I’ll take care of it.”
I settle my palm over the back of his hand and press him closer before turning my attention to Veyn.
“What happened with your brothers?”
“They will not harm you ever again. I have made certain of it. They are gone.”
“I’m … I’m sorry about that,” Marcus murmurs. “I didn’t realize I was making an offering.”
Veyn sighs. “They were manipulative. Since you refused to destroy my altar, binding you to them in the way of a sacrificial offering was their only other option.”
“They were shitty brothers,” Marcus mumbles. “No wonder you kept them locked up.”
“I didn’t always. After first creating them, they were by my side. My brothers. Inseparable. But the more they witnessed the worship of humans and their weakness, the more they turned into something I couldn’t trust. In their minds, humanity was placed on earth to worship us. That it was their duty to be slaves. That wasn’t what my temple was for. It became clear quickly that I would need to contain them which I did by binding them to me.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, reaching for him.
He shakes his head. “It was a lesson. There is a reason my kind exists alone.”
I consider his explanation, contemplating the best way to explain that he’s not alone. That he has us.
Marcus beats me to it.
“Well, you’re not alone anymore so…”
“No, I suppose I’m not,” Veyn murmurs so quietly, I nearly don’t hear him.
“And I will try not to kill you,” Marcus continues.
“Marcus!” I scold.
But to my surprise, Veyn laughs. “You nearly bled to death because of a scratch. I feel confident I can kill you first.”
“It wasn’t a scratch,” Marcus gasps with outrage. “I was bleeding all over the place.”
“Wuss.”
I smile as the two bicker over me. Ella continues to sleep in her makeshift bed crafted from a dresser drawer and blankets. The sky outside is a flawless, cloudless navy that spans into miles of possibilities. An unknown future waiting for us to navigate together. I may not know when I’ll be with my boys again, but for now, until that day, I will live my life the best I can with the people … and demon, I love.
Epilogue 1.1
Lenora
Five years later…
“Ella,putyourhatback on.”
Five-years-old going on sixteen, Ella looks me dead in the eye and chucks her cap to the ground in defiance. Her short, curly pigtails swing like dark horns from over her ears.
“No!”
That has become her favorite word, and I wish I never taught it to her.
“Yes, or we go back inside.”
Her small, pink mouth purses into a tight, white line. “No!”
I heave a sigh and set my spade down amongst all the other tools now scattered across the yard even though she has her own child-friendly tools.
