Page 74 of Devastation
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I open my eyes and see the vines and flowers on the ceiling of our bedroom in the goddess realm. Panic seizes me as I try to recall what happened in my final moments of consciousness in the demon realm.
My head is a jumbled mess of questions as my breath becomes erratic.
Is Erebus dead? The queens? My men? Are they okay? Did they all make it?
My heart pounds so hard it feels like it's going to jump out of my chest but instantly settles as all of my tethers shine brightly in my mind.
We’re alive.
"Guys!" I yell, feeling stiff as I try to sit up, but needing to see my mates with my own eyes despite knowing they are okay through our bond.
The door bursts open and they all run in, huge grins on their faces as they jump on the bed and lay down in various places, making sure they can all touch me in some way.
Erebus. Nyx. Hypnos. Thanny.
“Who is alive still? Is it over?” I ask with wide eyes.
“Erebus is gone. I felt you pull on my magic and I knew what you had done. I checked his body myself. It was completely charred from the electricity you funnelled through him, but his soul was no longer there,” Ash tells me.
“That damn lightning is the reason we couldn’t catch you earlier though. Between the angels and dragons we were circling you both as you were falling but we couldn’t get close enough without getting zapped,” Hale mutters, sounding perturbed at me for preventing him from helping me earlier.
“Yeah, and Thanny with the Phanny popped down to our favorite amusement park—River Styx—and said he’s going to personally escort him to Hades to burn into ash. Apparently, he has that power of completely obliterating a soul—pretty cool, huh?” Luke asks after that whirlwind of information.
All I can do is laugh in pure joy at the knowledge that we made it through this war and can now focus on settling the balance of the human realm. All of the supernatural realms will come into their balance with all of the queens in their rightful places, leaving me to focus on the realm Gaia once presided over. Exactly as it should be.
"We made it," I say with an air of incredulity. The twins squeeze my legs as Hale and Ash stroke my arms and Zedd leans in to kiss my forehead.
"We made it," he echoes.
"We brought you here for the energy of this home to heal you. I know you just woke up, but we were wondering...what do we do next?" Hale asks.
I breathe in the floral scent of this room and accept the truth in my heart. Taking turns glancing at each of them, I admit, "I love this home and what it represents, but this isn't our home. Our home is back on earth and that is the realm that is mine to protect now that all the queens are settled in theirs. Just as Gaia did."
They listen quietly and I take their silence as a good sign. I would have stayed here if they wanted to.
"What do you guys think about building our own home in the human realm?" I ask, feeling oddly nervous.
Despite having lived together practically the entirety of this life, we hadn't lived together as lovers and mates. It felt like I was asking them to "move in" with me, and from a relationship standpoint that was a big deal for most, right?
"I could think of nothing I'd love more," Zedd admits and kisses my head once more.
I glance at Hale next and he nods, "That feels right."
Moving my gaze down to the twins, who have begun rubbing my feet, I see matching grins as they chirp in unison, "Let's do it."
Finally, I glance to Ash at my side, and he flashes me a rare full-fledged smile and says, "Let's build a home."
Love pools in my chest, burning so brightly that I can't help the tears that prick my eyes, and for the first time in so long, I can finally say they are happy tears.
We made it.
Epilogue
Lana
Six months later
