“Yes, mi’ lady,” he says with a mock salute.
I giggle at him and slap his arse as he goes to do my bidding. He enjoys pleasing me as well.
My eyes find Xane and he raises his glass at me before his youngest son crashes into him and he drops his eyes again to see to parenting. Isabella, his fiery, red-headed Witch (in the rea
l sense) is the perfect Queen for him to rule the Underworld with. They rule with an iron fist, with a touch of gentleness that makes me smile. She grins quickly, but then turns to her family to deal with the current crisis effectively.
Frederick hands me a snifter filled to the top with brandy. I roll my eyes at him but smile my thanks as I accept it. I take a sip as I watch Devon and Marguerite laughing about something and then he kisses her lightly before she pinches his backside as he reaches up to drape tinsel around a potted plant with another laugh. They are so loved-up it warms my heart.
Next, I look over to see Remiel and Delinda talking animatedly in the corner. No doubt having one of their infamous discussion about Philosophy or Greek Mythology. They are two of a kind and even though she isn’t really his daughter, you would never know by how close they are. He dotes on her and she adores him. He is happy and that makes me happy. I love him desperately. He has shown me what a good man he can be through our daughter and it makes me weak at the knees. I try not to be possessive over him like I was with Constantine. But it’s hard. Frederick accepts him, but he would be hurt if I started to throw my love for my sire in his face.
“Hey,” a ghostly voice next my ear says, making me jump and spill brandy all down my shirt front.
“What have I told you about sneaking up on me, you fucker?” I bark at Sebastian who just laughs at me. “I will tell Arathia to send you back to the Spirit Realm.” It is an empty threat. I would never do that, but he doesn't know that, so it works as he doesn’t ever want to go back there. I wasn’t best pleased when Arathia summoned him a few years ago, after what he did to me and the way he turned out at the end, but her reasons were valid. She needed someone to speak to her father about, someone who knew him from the very beginning and could tell her stories about him. To her, the obvious choice was Sebastian. So, he has been back from the dead, sort of, ever since.
“Merry Christmas, to you too,” he grumbles and floats off to hover next to Constantine.
I marvel at the small, secret smile that passes between them. It amazes me that they can be on such close terms after Constantine killed him, but it was like it never even happened when they greeted each other like the long-lost friends that they were after Constantine returned from his cursed sleep. Another eye-roll worthy moment, but that is up to them. I am sure they must have talked about it at some point and laid it to rest. I eventually forgave Sebastian for what he did to me, after profuse apologies and explanations, but I have never forgotten, and he knows it. Delinda is another story altogether. She will never forgive what he did. She knows he isn’t her father and the lie hangs there every time I see them in the same room together. She gives him, and then me, a fierce glare, but I smile at her and she looks away, her face lighting up like the Christmas Tree as she resumes her conversation with her Papa.
I shake my head at them and then look at Lincoln. It still breaks my heart that I never found a way to make him human again, but he seems perfectly content as a Wolf. As long as he has Arathia by his side. They have a strange bond that I don’t understand and that Thia refuses to explain to me, keeping it their little secret. I am not worried that Lincoln feels a romantic love towards my daughter. I would have to banish him for all eternity if he did, but he is more like her guardian and her best friend.
“You hoped he would come, didn’t you?” Frederick whispers in my ear as I absently pat at my shirt with the cloth that he handed me.
I shrug vaguely. Every year I send them an invitation and every year I get no response, and no visit. I didn’t expect this year to be any different, but it still hurts. Cole was a massive part of my life for a time when everything changed for me. I will never stop loving him and never forget the role he played. I regret that I didn’t love him enough for him to stick around and I hate how things ended between us and that we can’t even be civil with each other now. I expect he just wanted to forget. Cut ties completely and move on with his new family. “Maybe next year,” I mutter and ignore Frederick’s shaking head.
I take another sip of my brandy, enjoying the warm burn as it slides smoothly down my throat. My eyes are inexplicably drawn to Constantine. It is like a force unknown, only we both know exactly what it is. It is destiny. I still believe that despite everything we have been through and despite my love for Frederick that knows no bounds and consumes me to the point where I can’t think straight, Constantine and I… well, I don’t need to tell you.
We smile softly at each other as we remember last night. It is the first time we have made love since Arathia woke him up and it was perfect. We wanted to wait until the trust between us had built up again, and not fall back on lust and passion and history. I thought it was rather mature of us, especially seeing as we are both the most petty, childish people I know sometimes. Still, it was worth the wait.
I step forward, Frederick grabbing my hand, as I negotiate around Lincoln’s massive form on the hearth, to meet my husband. My first love.
I lean forward to press my lips to his perfect ones, the lips that had me mesmerized so long ago. As we share a chaste kiss, we both feel the spark that lights up between us and we pull apart to stare deeply into each other’s eyes. His amber-flecked ones so full of love for me, and I know that mine reflect the same for him. Despite my love for my sire and the stoic man by my side, the man in front of me is right where he belongs. We both know that we are back where we belong now. With each other. Always and forever.
The Official Series End