Page 134 of Dark & Dreadful Brutes

Instead, I watched the water run smoothly, without taking pause.

The stone I hadn’t touched was still covered in an obscene amount of ice that stretched over halfway into the river, but the one I’d focused my magic on only had a thin layer.

I had almost done it.

I had almost erased the magic completely.

And it was more than enough; the water was flowing just fine.

Satisfaction flooded me. “I did it. I burned away most of the enchantment.”

“And that saved multiple fae an endless number of hours, day after day,” Ravv rumbled. “You should be proud of yourself. You’re stronger than you know.”

I was stronger than I knew.

And veil, I was proud of myself.

I wasn’t the same woman I had been in the cellar. I wasn’t scared, lonely, or desperate. My luck wasn’t bad, at all.

Not anymore, at least.

I had been rescued by a gorgeous fae king, who became my mate.

I had been brought to a magical city where my power was useful, not dangerous.

And I had fallen in love with a man who had become my closest friend.

It seemed safe to say that somehow, I had become the luckiest woman in the world.

Epilogue

Ravv—Many Years Later

“Are you sure this is safe?” I eyed my very pregnant mate, gripping her hand tightly as I walked beside her. We’d taken one last trip to the icy shore of one of our beaches, so we could watch the waves in peace once more before our baby joined us.

“It’s a chunk of ice, Ravv. I think I can walk on a chunk of ice without managing to off myself,” she drawled back.

“Ice becomes very dangerous when you’re pregnant, Laeli,” Elwynne called from where she sat on the beach, cradling her newborn. The golden handprint on her shoulder glowed brightly beneath our suns, and Orvay leaned over to press a kiss to it.

Elwynne and Laeli had managed to get pregnant at nearly the same time without discussing it, even though a handful of decades earlier, they had both proclaimed that they would never be mothers.

Change was a natural part of life, though. When my teary-eyed mate told me she had decided she was ready to be a mother, I simply took her into my arms and told her how wonderful she would be at it, then offered my baby-making services.

She had smacked me for that last bit—but I clearly knew what I was doing.

“Who knew?” Laeli tossed back.

“Every male fae with any good sense,” I grumbled. “Especially the ones with mates who run hot.”

“You’re all a bunch of overprotective bastards,” Laeli agreed, though her words were full of fondness. She had grown used to my protectiveness long ago, and though she would never admit it, she loved it.

“What are we going to name him?” she asked me. “I think he needs a strong fae name.”

“I think she needs a dainty human name,” I countered.

We had been making bets on the baby’s gender since nearly the moment we found out she was expecting.

The bets only grew grander as her abdomen swelled. Currently, the winner was set to earn six months free of any type of labor, including cooking, cleaning, and anything else they could come up with.

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