Page 54 of Unseen Lord

Leaving the others to clean up the mess—or at least start to, as this will be a very long process— we head back to the island, where the people have already begun to reclaim their home from the devastation. It will take a long time to rebuild, and I make a mental note to make sure they are sent whatever they need to make the process easier.

We find Ari in the caves, still chained. But her eyes have cleared.

When she sees us, she cries. "I'm so sorry. For everything."

Elias rushes to her and unlocks her bounds, and they hug for a long time. We get her back to High Castle where healers work with her to restore her mind and health.

There is much to be done to fix the damage Aya caused, but in a way this has brought the kingdoms of Inferna and Avakiri together. They were all affected, and Aya was of both bloods. They must rebuild together.

Elias and I hold hands as we stand on the shores of High Castle. Theo and Duke stand beside us. It's been a long week, and more long weeks to come, but finally, the sun is shining, and it is a warm, beautiful day.

Dum Spiro Spero.

While I breathe, I hope.

Chapter 15

Epilogue-Iris

The sun ishigh in the sky and I'm soaking in all the rays as I lay on the grass outside my house, my head resting on my llama, Wit. It's a rare moment of not doing anything significant. Just picking out images in the clouds and daydreaming.

"Don't you have a date to get to?" Uncle Sly asks as he approaches from the house, long purple robes dragging in the dirt. Dude does not go outside much and it shows. He's really more of an indoor kinda guy. It's almost comical seeing him out and about on such a glorious day.

I stretch and raise myself, giving my llamas one more kiss on the head each.

"I have plenty of time. Besides, I needed some recovery after that shit show of a Council meeting," I say with a grin.

"Expect plenty more like those, my dear. Welcome to life on the Council."

That's right, you heard him. Your girl, Iris, isn't just a Watcher anymore. I'm officially representing the vampires on the Council. Apparently being Unseen Lord makes me enough vampire to fill that role, now that Thalius has been demoted.

But man-oh-man, there's a whole shit ton of mess to clean up. Thalius had his ass kicked back down to Hunter, and let me tell you he's a pain in the ass to deal with. Turns out he wasn't corrupt, just incompetent and blind with ambition.

And guess who took over Aya's spot? The man of the hour, my sweetheart, Elias Vane Spero, who is no longer on the Most Wanted List. All charges were dropped once the truth came out about the Tempest and Lix Tetrax and all that shadowy nonsense. That whole group has been infiltrated. Baddies identified. Those in against their will exonerated. It's time to clean up the Hunter's Council from the inside and make it what it should be.

"How's Imenath taking to his Hunter-in-Training status?" I ask. I'm proud of the little guy. He's really made something of himself. And I wasn't the only one impressed, which is why it was agreed he'd paid back his debt to society—after all he'd risked his life in the recent war—and could now train to be a Hunter.

Uncle Sly chuckles. "As you might imagine he's doing. A lot of boisterous gloating without a lot of skill to back it up, but he has potential. He'll get there."

I grin at that news. It's just as I expected. "Any news from Callie?" She's once again disappeared, still seeking the truth, whatever that means, but I get letters from her occasionally. As if on cue, Uncle Sly pulls a parchment from his robes, and I grin and take it, slipping it into the pockets of my jeans.

Don't judge, it's casual Friday.

Uncle Sly slips an arm over my shoulder as we walk back to my house. "I'm proud of you, Iris. I always have been, and I'm especially proud now. You've saved the worlds, and you've grown as a person."

"How so?" I ask as we approach my door.

"You always saw things in black and white. Good versus evil. Which is all well and fine, and served you as a Hunter. But as a Council Member, being able to see the nuances is incredibly important. Your relationship with Elias and his brother, and even with Aya, have helped you see that most of life is shades of gray, and we must use careful judgement and wise discernment to gauge the proper path. It's not as easy, but it's necessary and more truthful."

"You're not wrong, Uncle, though I confess I still sometimes long for the days when everything seemed more simple."

"You saw things as a child then. Now, you see things as an adult. But I understand the appeal. Childhood is simple, for most. Adulthood is a complex web. I have been the latter too long to even remember what the former feels like. Raising you and Callie actually helped me to recapture that sense of youth. You two were good for me, even if I wasn't always the best for you," he says, a touch of unexpected melancholy in his voice.

I turn to him and pull him into a hug. "You were exactly what I needed. Who else could have raised the Unseen Lord and one of the most powerful succubi in the all the Nine Worlds? And look how great we turned out," I tease, pulling back.

He wipes his eyes, and I swear I see a tear, but that can't be. Uncle Sly never cries.

He covers his emotions with a smile. "I took the liberty of having something new made for your date tonight. I encourage you to wear it."