Page 139 of Demon's Bane

“Together, Joan.”

“Together,” she gasps. “Always together.”

I bring my hand down between our bodies, stroke her to the very edge of her sanity, and as soon as I feel the first tremorsof her release I sink into her knot-deep, binding the two of us together in a whirl of magick and pleasure and forever.

We stay suspended like that—somewhere outside of any realm, any time, anything we might have known before—and with each ragged inhale and each passing moment, it’s like I can feel the two of us being bound together. Close and closer still, until there’s no distance, no realm that could keep us apart, nothing but Joan and I and the single soul we share.

And even when we untangle ourselves, it’s still there. The tether between us coils tight and steady. Unbreakable. Eternal.

The two of us stumble—fully clothed, thank the Goddess for that bit of magick—out of the Veil and into the clearing back in the human realm, everyone we hold dear waiting for us there.

Joan

The glow of witchlight, the hum of happy conversation and laughter, and a sparkling, bubbly sort of magick wend their way through the evening air.

It’s the kind of night I never even knew to dream of.

Witches and demons, every single important person in our lives, fill the clearing outside the Veil. Rhett’s family and a handful of demons from his village and his travels outside of it. My little patched-together coven. Allie and Eren. Soleil and a few of the other witches I used to be close to growing up.

Even my mother and aunt made an appearance. They seem to have temporarily called a truce between them, though—as usual—they also seem more preoccupied with the fact that the king and queen of the demon realm are here, or are busy making mental notes of the other witches in attendance, but it hardly matters.

My heart’s too full to be bothered by any coven politics tonight, too overwhelmed by what Rhett and I shared in the Veil.

Even hours later, and even when we’re not standing next to each other, I feel him. Like a phantom limb, a piece of my heart walking around outside my body, I’m aware of him with every breath. Our two souls, entwined and bound, a second pulse beating in my veins.

Not that we spend much time away from each other, not tonight. We hover close as we drift from well-wisher to well-wisher, talking and laughing and accepting toasts in our honor.

“I’m so happy for you,” Allie whispers in my ear as she pulls me close, one of the rare times tonight Rhett and I aren’t connected at the hip. “And for Rhett. The two of you are going to have a wonderful life together.”

Tears well in my eyes, and I blink them rapidly away as I return her hug. “And we’ll never be too far away. No goodbyes, remember?”

“No goodbyes,” she echoes. “And you’ll let us know if there’s anything we can do for you? Or, I don’t know, if Esme starts being a pain in the ass again?”

“Of course we’ll tell you. And she’s behaved herself so far. I think you’ve been keeping her on her toes.”

We both laugh at that. The path forward between our realms hasn’t been without its hiccups, but other than what I hear from Rhett about the work he’s doing as emissary between the demon court and the coven hall, the bits and pieces I get from Allie when we see each other, and the gossip that filters into the shop, I’m trying to stay out of it.

I’m trying to keep my focus on the wonderful life I’ve made for myself outside the Crescent Coven.

My mate. My shop. My own little coven. My future.

The ten years I’ve got to figure my shit out when it comes to my coven membership seem long and distant—though, maybe not so much now that I’m mated to a demon and by all indications will share his long life span—but I don’t know if eventhat will be enough time to sort through all my tangled feelings about it.

And even if I never untangle those thoughts completely, I’ve got new knots to tie, new bonds to forge, a new future that’s mine and Rhett’s and is more than enough for me. I’ve got room to live, to breathe.

And I’m doing so much more than breathing tonight.

I’m savoring.

“There you are,” a deep, familiar, beloved voice rumbles behind me, followed a heartbeat later by the wrap of arms and wings around me.

It’s all I need. Here, now, in my demon’s arms, I can’t think of a single damn thing I want that I don’t already have.

The rest of the night passes in a haze of contented joy, with only one small ripple of discontent.

Though I barely catch it from the corner of my eye, a flash of blond hair and a brief golden shimmer of the Veil are the only two things that announce Seren’s exit.

Over the din of celebration, my eyes immediately find Soleil.

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