Page 106 of Forged in Twilight: The Complete Series

EPILOGUE

As always, Sam was the last of the brothers to arrive. With an impish smile, he nodded at Micah and Raze, then plopped himself down on the empty seat—the only one without a desk—that was reserved for him. In the sanctity of their office, he let loose his fluffy white wings, letting them hang over the back of the chair.

Kicking out his heels, one ankle crossed over the other, he anticipated Raze’s lecture, cutting off his scowl as Sam said, “Polly Pocket strikes again.”

Raze huffed.

Forever the peacemaker—and much happier to play that role these days—Micah shifted in his seat, turning to face Sam. “What happened?”

“The usual. I told her that Raze was finally back and I needed to talk to you two, and she decided to entertain herself by going to the Twilight Bar and Grille. She learned the hard way that vampires aren’t the best targets, so now she’s practicing on werewolves. I didn’t even realize she was targeting Zev and his brother until she already got a bracelet off of him.”

Raze was sitting behind his desk, leaning forward with his forearms bracing against the wood. His steely blue eyes were darker than usual, his sharp jaw cutting as he glared at his younger brother. Not surprising. Raze considered every moment he wasn’t with his demoness mate a moment wasted, and even if they all agreed that this meeting was for just the three of them, that didn’t mean Raze was happy that Sam was late—or that his sticky-fingered mate was the reason why he was.

“Hasn’t she ever heard of ‘thou shall not steal’?”

Sam shrugged. “Polly’s an atheist.”

Raze’s lips thinned, making the edge of his jaw almost blade-like. “So?”

“So I pointed that out to her once when we were first mated. She says that the commandments are more like… guidelines rather than actual laws she has to follow. Then she patted me on the chest and said that it could be worse.” Sam lifted this hand, ticking off two more of the ten. “‘Thou shalt not kill’. ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ Sorry, bro. I’d rather Polly pick pockets than another male.”

Micah chortled. Not so much because he believed that Polly should get to choose which of the Heavenly Father’s laws she obeyed, but because the idea that the cheery thief would ever cheat on Sam was laughable. She was his soulmate, after all, and they were fully bonded. She couldn’t.

Wouldn’t stop her from delightfully teasing Sam, though.

Or stop Sam from giving Raze a hard time.

Their older brother sighed, shaking his head in ill-disguised frustration. “Just remind your mate that House of Sin is off-limits. Testing her skills with werewolves is fine so long as they’re not our security team. She’s yours which means she’s one of us now. I’ll deal with Zev and Dev if I must, but I’d rather do that than have the human police coming into faction territory.”

Sam saluted. “Will do. And don’t worry. Polly’s been targeting faction-only for longer than any of us thought.” His dark eyes brightened. “She’s good, too. Zev had no idea she got his bracelet off until I asked her to give it back.”

She was, admitted Micah. He’d never forget how his brother’s human mate managed to steal back their talisman from Lucifer himself. Sure, Cinder and Crow had then taken it from Polly, but he’d still be in awe at how Polly tricked Lucifer into handing the talisman over.

An atheist might be a strange mate for a celestial being, but the upbeat thief was perfect for the formerly gloomy angel of death. Just like an innocent demoness was just what the cold-hearted Raziel needed…

Raze scowl deepened. “The first time I ever met my Becca, it was at Zev’s table. I hope your Polly hasn’t made it awkward for us to return.”

Sam waved him off. “The opposite. He was charmed by Polly, wanted to know how she managed to trick his nose when all of his senses said she wasn’t a faction being on her own. When I left her to come up to the third floor, she was giving him a quick lesson on sleight of hand. No worries, Raze. Your date nights are safe.”

“They better be. After my flight to London, I promised Becca I would take her anywhere she wanted to go. A delayed honeymoon for our mating. A dinner for two is at the top of her list. Maybe at the hotel, maybe in some tropical paradise. I’d rather stick around, though. Lucifer’s not going to be happy when it hits him that his curse failed.”

Because Raze’s mission had, thankfully, been a success.

The dragon faction in the City of Souls used their fire—and some of their own ancient magics—to purify Lucifer’s curse from the angels’ talisman. Because Lucifer had stolen it millennia ago, keeping it in his possession nearly all that time, it took longer to purify it. Over the last century or so, Lucifer had collected the talismans that belonged to every other faction—which was how he was able to eventually cast his curse, forged in twilight, in the first place—but he’d had the key the longest, and the lord of Hell had used it as a cornerstone for his curse.

He didn’t even need to call his brothers to tell them that the curse was broken. Both Sam and Micah nearly buckled under the weight of their full celestial auras returning to them as soon as the curse was lifted. Despite the wards built into the Twilight Sphere hotel, the whole building went dark for a few minutes as they got control of their powers.

That was the morning after Micah claimed Cinder for good. So even if Sam hadn’t shown up at the casino the night before to meddle, he would’ve known that Micah and Cinder had formed their bond when Lucifer’s curse broke.

Three princes.

Three mates.

And, clasped loosely in Raze’s hand, one golden key.

Sitting up in his seat, he held it so that his brothers could see it.

As if they needed to. Micah could close his eyes and know instinctively where the key was, especially now that all hints of Hell were erased from it.

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