The Demon of Angels (Bk. 2) | ✓

Epilogue

SIX MONTHS LATER

GLISTENING WHITE FLAKES of snow shimmered against the cold ground, layering the once green grass in piles of frozen rain. My eyes glistened with tears as I watched the movers pack up Zeke and Evan's home. The funerals had been hard enough, but watching the results play out, in reality, was a knife in the chest and churned my heart.

Evan's death still haunted my dreams, and almost every night, one of us woke up with nightmares. It had been over six months since the war, and despite our best efforts, it seemed as if everything had still changed.

Noah had reacted the worst and was no longer the boy I had met on my first day of school all that time ago. He was now a temperamental Hellhound with pent-up frustrations, heartache, and guilt. I would hear his pained howls as they rang out into the cold air on a nightly basis. I felt his pain, but there wasn't much he let me do about it.

My best friend hadn't shown up for Morgan or Evan's funerals. He told me he couldn't bear to see their bodies, let alone watch as they were lowered six feet under. I understood, of course, but it didn't erase the sadness from my Protector any more than it should have.

Zeke was doing better than I imagined, and when I asked why that was, he simply replied that it helped to have me. Noah didn't have that special someone to coax his nightmares away or to ease the heartache buried deep within his chest.

After the war with my father, quite a few things happened. For one, I had died. Creating that vortex, and pushing that much power out of me had killed me.

If it weren't for Zeke and Noah pushing their powers through their bond– for days– I wouldn't have come back. Our bonds saved my life. I felt guilty we couldn't do the same for Evan. His bond broke the moment when his life left his body, taking his soul with it.

As I watched the movers transfer Zeke's items into our newly rebuilt house, a silent tug at my bond and the tingles that shot up my spine alerted me to my mate's presence. A breathy sigh parted my lips as I turned around, my eyes resting on Zeke as he leaned up against my bedroom door frame.

"Hey," I murmured, dipping my eyes from his knowing gaze.

"I don't like it either," he told me, referencing what was going on downstairs and next door. We had been putting off going through their house for months, and Zeke had finally stepped up and made the call this morning.

"I know," I replied, running a shaky hand through my hair. None of us could believe that he was truly gone, but the constant sharp pain in my soul from his broken bond reminded me of that truth.

Zeke stood to his full height, walking his way over to me. I turned and gazed out my window again, his arms encircling themselves around my middle. I leaned into his embrace, resting my head back on his shoulder.

"How's Noah?" I whispered the question, already knowing the answer to that question.

Zeke sighed heavily. "He could be better, but he could be worse." I nodded my head, expecting as much.

Several thuds and movement from downstairs were the only things that weren't drowned out by the silence that followed. Zeke and I lost ourselves in our thoughts, emotion clogging any rational or positive concept that came to mind.

Evan and Zeke's house was going to be up for sale in about a month's time. I was trying to get Noah to move in with Zeke and I, but he pushed my offer to the side and told me that Hardin and possibly even Axel were going to move in with him. Hannah had moved out two months ago, and lived on compass now at the University she was attending, and the same one we would all be attending next fall.