Phoenix Found (Brothers of Fire #5)

Epilogue

After months away from the castle, a place Perrin had called home from the day he was born, he was glad to be returning. Though it no longer felt like home.

Oliver groaned at the sight of the castle rising on the hill. “The holiday is really over.”

“This one. We can always plan another.” Perrin put his hand on Oliver’s thigh. “Besides, now you have tonnes of ideas for your folly.”

A week into the holiday, Oliver decided that Perrin and the two bodyguards should speak French around him unless he was in danger. They had, even when, after two days, Oliver begged for English because he had no idea what was going on. After a couple of weeks, Oliver had picked up the language and stopped killing the words.

They’d been to beaches and ruins and castles, taken boat rides, and crammed so much into the holiday that Perrin was almost looking forward to getting home and doing nothing for a few days before opening his work emails. Not that he’d ignored them or the calls. And he really wanted to get out to the hunting lodge to check on the progress even though he’d been sent photos and written updates.

For a few more days, all of that was on hold as the entire castle was focused on tomorrow’s wedding—as were plenty of newspapers and tabloids. They’d heard all kinds of stories while away.

The bodyguards were now friends, and Perrin was sure they’d gotten together about halfway through the trip. To an outsider, they looked like a group of four guys having fun.

And they had.

At some point, he’d stopped being worried about the scar and the way people’s gaze snapped back to him instead of sliding away. Now, it was only in certain lights that the silvery lines were visible. He rarely missed the toes, though sometimes he got pins and needles in them, even though they weren’t there.

His mother wasn’t talking to him, but Alice was, and she’d kept him informed of all the gossip. And apparently, there’d been much discussion about ghoulish tradition and its impacts. Rachel’s sister had contacted him via the Coven, asking if he’d be willing to father her children because she had no interest in getting with a man. That was something he’d talked about with Oliver, but it needed further discussion and a contract, so he’d asked for a few months to arrange things with the Coven, and she’d agreed and apologized for her family.

Oliver rested his head on Perrin’s shoulder and ran his finger along the silver chain around Perrin’s neck. “Do you still want to wait until after the wedding?”

From the chain hung a ring with a fire opal in the center. Oliver had a similar ring, but the opal was pale and flecked with green—like his eyes when he fed or fucked. Oliver had surprised him when they’d taken a speedboat ride in the Mediterranean, and it had been the most perfect day .

“This is their moment. We can wait until they return from their honeymoon.”

Though Oliver probably wouldn’t want to wait that long to tell someone that they were engaged.

Fortunately, they were just guests at the wedding, not part of the wedding party, which meant they could disappear into the background. Which was exactly what they both wanted.

The gates opened, and the car wound its way around the back to where the family lived.

At first glance, nothing had changed—Perrin had no doubt the castle would be standing in another thousand years—but he had changed.

They had changed.

And the castle wasn’t home anymore. They were both longing to return to the Maison des Arbres and figure out what came next.