Page 70 of April's Fool
We stood by as the elves, shifters, the two women and their baby all walked through the portal, leaving us behind.
“What now?” Damon asked.
Epilogue
Damon
The answer to myquestion was simple.
War.
We spent the following days picking up the pieces of the coven after Basil’s devastating attack. Parker was constantly on the other end of the phone, waiting for me to say what we needed.
We sent the witches to their own homes. Luckily, very few lived in the new coven house, which we no longer deemed safe. We couldn’t stay in the coven house because the wards weren’t keyed to me, the coven leader. There wasn’t space for them at the club apartment, so I encouraged, okay, threatened, the witches to take their coven friends into their homes. Thankfully, there weren’t many displaced witches.
There wasn’t much of a coven left.
Many of the coven members were in league with Basil. They wanted a return to the old ways, saw Poppy as too progressive with her continued relationship with the Sweetwater pack. It didn’t matter to them that the support of the pack had been beneficial to all.When the elves came, they brought magical teachings long forgotten or even unknown by witches. Their magic was so compatible, they could perform all sorts together they couldn’t alone.
Witches, like so many people, were afraid of what they didn’t understand.
Alongside going to war with a power-hungry witch, I had to rebuild what was left, so when Poppy and Zinna returned, I could give them back this thing. I didn’t want it. All I wanted was time with my family, Mori, next to me.
“Hey, so I’ve got you, Mori, Barr, Oak and Thyme, a new house. I’ll text you the address. It’s clean and safe, so it’s ready when you are.”
Parker had really come through for us, knowing how much we were struggling all living together.
The five of us were still at the club apartment, which, as a coven house, was a bad idea. With so many witches going back and forth, the shifters were uneasy, and Basil knew about it, leaving us open to attack. None of us could sleep soundly there, each taking shifts. It was far too cramped for five grown men, especially when Mori and Barr went full demon. Hela was showing signs of stress being apart from Toth for so long. We needed a betterhome base.
I was grateful for Barr. He acted as a sort of buffer between Oak and Thyme, the two butting heads more often than not.
Our hellhound friend had waited patiently outside for us. He got to his knees and groveled for forgiveness for being unable to call for help. I felt like shit when I found out he couldn’t work the phone we had given him. We’d left him alone all that time while I was battling with Basil. Anything could have happened to him.
By the time he’d figured it out, the battle was over, and the elves had arrived. Still, he waited where we left him rather than coming inside, just in case. Since then, I’d gotten pretty protective of him. He was ours, part of our family, which just kept growing. No returns. No take backs.
“Okay, we’ll head there with some stuff right now. It’s probably better we keep a low profile around the club just now.”
“Yeah. Okay, I’ve got to go.”
Parker was being cagey. Distracted. I understood Parker was newly mated, however that worked, but I needed his help to navigate this new path I was on. He was so important to me, I couldn’t lose him, especially with everything coming.
I called the others together; we packed and headed for the address Parker had sent, grateful for a newspace and the promise of a decent night’s sleep. Oak had taught me several wards I’d need to lay down for the new property. Magic was… becoming easier to use. It was going to take me much longer than what, a week? To get used to such a fundamental change in my life.
Mori. Well, Mori helped. My demon lover was with me for every step of the way. He could have run, gone home to the demon realm, gone to stay with Cody, yet he stuck to my side, supporting me with everything. I couldn’t imagine loving anyone as much as I loved him.
Parker lived up to his genius. He’d given us a picture so Barr could portal to the new house, one on the outskirts of Northarbor, technically still in the city, though much closer to Sweetwater where our allies were.
The house, mansion rather, was large and set far back from the road, making it hidden from view. There had to be at least ten bedrooms, which was perfect, because waiting there in the doorway, were Cody, Toth, Parker and Gregoris, all looking smug. Fuck, I’d missed them all so much, even Gregoris.
“We figured you’d need us for this next part. No more making us hide.” Parker came forward, wrapping me in a hug.
Crushing him to me, I whispered, “I missed you.”
“Missed you too.” He pulled away, rubbing at his nose. “You smell all spicy now with the magic.”
“Better get used to it. Turns out I can’t give it back.” I shot a mock glare to Thyme, who shrugged.
Mori was in the doorway, squeezing the life out of Cody, before I’d even noticed him move. His arm shot out to grab Toth, who had been inching away. He was made to join the hug, though I thought I saw a ghost of a smile on his taciturn face.
