Elias cleared his throat, which had Thea turning on him. “You knocked up my best friend, didn’t you? What happenedto magical birth control? Why weren’tyouon magical birth control?”
“That is a good question,” I muttered, barely looking at any of my mates. “The birth control failed—which is a good reminder for you, Eloise, to never trust it one hundred percent.”
Eloise covered her ears, eyes wide and filled with embarrassment. “I donotneed that talk now.”
I grimaced, shrugging. “Well, surprise, we’re having twins.”
Thea scrubbed a hand down her face as a squeal sounded behind us. “Did someone say grand-babies?”
“Mom,” Thea warned, but I turned to find her parents strutting towards us, looking like tourists who just stepped off a cruise ship.
“I always knew you would be the first to grace us with babies,” Mama Riley said, pulling me into a hug. “Oh, Goodness. Andtwins. Lordy, it’s a good thing you have so many pairs of hands to help you, sweetie. You know I’ll always be here for you if you need me.”
The hug made me miss Kerry even more, and it took a lot of effort not to break down into my best friend’s mother’s arms. “I appreciate it.”
“And, uh.” Thea’s dad cleared his throat. “If they hurt you, I can’t say I’ll be able to hurt them in return. But I can give them a stern talking to.”
“I told them all about your mates,” Thea whispered, her arms going around me. “Sorry. They know everything.”
“Everything?” I asked, looking at her.
She gave me a shameful nod. “Mom and I got drunk. Everything.”
“Then I think it’s time to take you guys home,” I said, looking back at my mates. “We can all go home.”
I was never letting any of them go again. Not my mates, my sisters, or my best friend. Hell, I’d keep a tight hold on her parents, too.
As we started for the beach, holding onto one another, Icouldn’t help but think about the day it all started. With nightmares and a desperation for answers.
“To think,” I said, leaning my head against Thea’s, “all we did was go to a fake psychic. And look at where we are now.”
“She was right about you,” Thea replied quietly. “You came in serious contact with love.”
I grinned as I watched Elias swing Maisie into his arms, as Eloise slipped her hand into Maeve’s, and Ginny swung between Arthur and Xerxes. “Maybe she wasn’t a hack after all,” I whispered.
Maybe that was always meant to be my destiny.
Epilogue
NYX
“Ididn’t expect to find you here, brother,” Nyx said as she entered the old, empty throne room of Hades and Persephone. “I thought you would have left my realms by now.”
The male rolled his shoulders back, the leather of his jacket making little sound as he stared at the two, giant empty thrones before him. “She’s not here.”
“No.” Nyx stopped beside him, admiring the old stone, the ancient room a distant memory. She remembered a time where she could walk it freely, where she was not more than just a ghost wandering aimlessly between the realms. “I believe she is hiding.”
A growl, dark and tumultuous, left his lips. “Why would she hide?”
“Because you made a mistake.” Nyx turned on him, eyes taking the mortal form he’d created for himself; piercing blue eyes, crawling tattoos, a youthfulness that made him appear both unassuming and dangerous. “The great and powerful Hades, no better than a mortal male. There is areason?—”
He cut her off with a hand that was meant to go around her throat. Instead, Hades stumbled, landing on the stone steps that once led to his throne. “Nyx,” he gasped, breathing hard, desperation burning in his eyes. “Ineedher.”
“Persephone does not need you.” Nyx reappeared behind him with a sigh. “She is not your mate.”
“She is.” He turned, taking in the exposed bone of his sister’s face without flinching. “Iknowshe is. This is it.”
“She is not real.” Nyx took a threatening step towards him, stilling at the look in his eyes. For a moment, the immortal blue flame of her brother, the last of his deadly magic, flickered to life. “Hades…”
