Valkyrie

Epilogue

"What do you think?" Trey's sister asked as she handed me a small mirror. I gazed at my reflection, unsure if it was actually me I was seeing in the glass. The only thing I recognized was the amber color of my eyes floating like flames in the dark in the black that she'd painted around them.

"Erinn," I said. "This is... amazing." I looked up into silver eyes so like Trey's, it was like looking at a female version of him. She gave me a beaming smile, complete with dimple, and clapped her hands while I smiled at my reflection. It looked like a skull smiling back from the mirror which is exactly what I was going for. If you're having your wedding reception in a haunted house on Halloween, you have to dress up. Our guests were in costume so we should be, too. Trey and I had eloped on the twins first birthday but had never had a proper reception. We'd been putting it off for a couple of years for one reason or another but had finally been able to coordinate everything for all of his siblings, my grandpa and uncles, and everyone else to show up.

I handed her the mirror and stood up, brushing my hands over the black, silk dress that I was wearing. I wasn't really a dress person but I liked this one. It was modeled after a Victorian mourning gown with a flared skirt, tight bodice, and long sleeves. It had taken Erinn and my mother both to help me into it and to get it all laced and buttoned up. I had on so many underskirts, I wasn't sure how I was going to move comfortably. My golden hair was done up in a series of complicated braids and twists and pinned up. Erinn picked up the small fascinator made up of black silk flowers and feathers and attached it at an angle on my head before pulling the netting that was hooked to it over my face.

A knock sounded at the dressing room door before my mother-in-law slipped in, my mother on her heels. "Everyone's here," Elizabeth said. "Oh, Erinn," she cooed when she stopped in front of me. "This looks amazing!"

"Thanks, mom," the girl said. A pretty blush flushed her cheeks, barely seen under the glitter that was dusted over her face. She was dressed as an ethereal fairy, complete with a set of delicate, mechanical wings that she'd made herself. She'd made all of our family's costumes except my mother's. She was in full Valkyrie glory, gorgeous raven wings out and her polished armor shining in the light. Her golden hair was done in a series of braids that flowed down her back to her waist. People had been complementing her on how real her wings seemed and how authentic her armor was. She would smile and thank them and move on.

The door burst open and my two little hellions burst through, Odin hot on their giggling heels and looking a little harried. There was a red lollipop stuck in his braided beard and his eyepatch was a little askew. He was dressed in dark brown, calf skin breeches with matching boots and vest and a forest green tunic, the laces at the top undone. One of his ravens was perched on his shoulder, flapping its wings to keep its balance as he ran after the twins. They ran a circle around me, laughing the whole time and singing a nursery rhyme in German that my grandpa had taught them. So far, they spoke English, German, a little of the obscure Russian dialect that Alexi and Dimitri spoke, and the Old Norse that my mother spoke.

"Momma!" The boys shouted together as they came to a stop, their high voices one of my favorite sounds. They were dressed in little tuxedos. One black with orange pumpkins and the other orange with black pumpkins. They had insisted on them when we'd seen them in the costume shop we'd been browsing through the week before and wouldn't take no for an answer. At three years old, they were as stubborn as their father and the best gifts he'd ever given me. Their black hair was in wild ringlets around their faces and their silver eyes were full of mischief as they gazed up at me with dimpled smiles on their plump cheeks. I didn't think I could ever love anything as much as I loved them and their father.

"What are you doing to your poor uncle?" I said as I crouched down and pulled them into a hug. They smelled like a mix of vanilla and pine with a hint of the cherry lollipops they'd been eating. "He's an old man. You shouldn't be making him run after you. He could fall and break a hip."