“And lack any proof aside from unreliable witness accounts,” Darius interjected smoothly. “As we determined already, the charges against my guildeds stemmed entirely from the Court of the Red Queen’s attempt to discredit and destroy my guild before I could uncover their secret operations.”

“Exactly so,” Sweater Woman agreed, as though nothing in Darius’s statement was at all alarming. Not that we hadn’t been over it already in this meeting, but it was still shocking to me, so why not her?

The center council member hesitated over his papers.

A slight cough from the far corner of the room.

“Sorry to interrupt.” Agent Lienna Shen stepped forward. “I’d like to add that our investigation into the attack on the Crow and Hammer so far indicates that Robin was present, but no one reported seeing her demon.”

Nope. And no one would report seeing her demon, because all anyone had seen was a mysterious “demon mage” running around in all black clothing and a hood. Who even knew which side the unknown demon mage had been on?

“Thank you, Agent Shen.” Ponytail Man nodded firmly. “Charges dismissed, and we’ll leave the rest to you, Captain Blythe. We expect a full report on this week’s events, and if further investigation is required, notify us immediately.”

“Of course.” Blythe cast a flinty look across Darius. “You’re free to go … for now.”

Darius’s smile was faint, but judging by Blythe’s suddenly clenched jaw, she hadn’t missed it.

Stifling a victorious grin, I hustled after Darius and the guys as they headed for the exit. As we filed through the door, I caught a pair of mischievous blue eyes—Agent Kit Morris, standing in the corner with his partner, Lienna. He smiled crookedly as I passed him.

Darius knew where he was going and led us unerringly to the staircase. As he started down, the guys following eagerly on his heels, the strangest thing happened.

The word “WAIT” appeared in front of my face, glowing like a neon sign.

I jerked to a halt, wondering what the hell was wrong with me. Was I hallucinating? Did I need medical attention?

The commanding vision vanished and a voice called my name.

I turned around to find Kit striding down the hall toward me.

He grinned. “Don’t look so freaked out. That was me, not you.”

Him? He was the reason I’d just seen a disembodied word?

My eyes narrowed. “What sort of mythic are you?”

“I’ve been told I’m quite charming.”

“Huh?”

“I’m a charming sort of mythic, obviously.” He held out his hand, fingers curled loosely around a small object. “You should take this.”

Brow furrowing, I held up my palm. He dropped a grape-sized white crystal into my hand—the gem that had proved Ezra was Demonica-free.

“I convinced the gremlins that, after all he went through, Ezra should get a souvenir for his trouble. Since they’d already witnessed the test results, they agreed.”

Gremlins? Oh, he meant the Judiciary Council. I peered at the crystal. “So why’re you giving it to me?”

His humor faded. “Take a closer look.”

I pushed the crystal with my thumb, rolling it across my palm. The fluorescent lights overhead shone across the glossy white surface. I flipped the gem over.

On the bottom, a crimson starburst marred the white surface.

“Lienna noticed a similar marking after the first test, too,” Kit explained quietly. “She said if Ezra were a demon mage, the crystal would be solid red. If he were a demon contractor, it’d be marbled with red. She can only guess what the starburst means.”

My pulse fluttered in my throat. It could only mean there was still a little bit of Eterran in Ezra.

My fingers closed tightly over the crystal. “You hid that mark from the Council, didn’t you? Why would you do that?”

“Petty revenge.”

“Huh? Seriously?”

“Yep.” He pressed a finger to his lips. “So don’t tell on me, ’kay?”

Snorting, I pocketed the crystal and turned toward the stairwell. “Later, Agent Morris.”

“Later, barkeep.”

I hurried through the door and down the stairs. Darius and the guys were waiting for me, and I merely shrugged my good shoulder when Kai asked what had kept me. On another day, they would’ve pestered me until I answered, but we were all way too tired for that.

As Darius guided us through the precinct’s main level toward the exit, I slipped my hand into my pocket and touched the crystal. That crimson starburst …

Whether it was a remnant lingering in Ezra’s body or in his soul, a tiny piece of Eterran had survived. His strength lived on in Ezra, and I knew the aeromage wouldn’t waste whatever the demon had, knowingly or unknowingly, passed on to him.

Pulling my hand from my pocket, I rushed to catch up as Darius threw open the precinct’s front door. Early morning sunlight blazed over us in a wash of amber and gold, the sky a beautiful, clear blue.

As we stepped across the threshold, I caught Ezra’s hand and entwined our fingers. He looked down at me, a soft smile on his lips, one eye as warm and sweet as melted chocolate, the other pale as snow and a touch icy.

Would that hint of steely, ruthless power someday fade? Or was it as much a part of him as his aero magic, his scars, and the violent past that had shaped him into who he was?

Only time would tell—and I was more than ready for that journey to begin.

Epilogue

Four Months Later

I sleepily ran my hand across warm, smooth skin. Bare, delicious skin enveloping the second-most beautiful abs I’d ever laid eyes on. The most beautiful set belonged to a demon and I wasn’t touching them with a ten-foot pole, so I was one hundred percent content with these most beautiful human abs.

My fingertips ran across hard-edged scars as I caressed my way across firm pectorals and the inexplicably mouthwatering lines of his collarbones. Why did I want to chew on his collarbones? It made no sense … but the world was full of nonsensical things. Why fight it?

Following that thought, I pushed up on one elbow, leaned over, and grazed my teeth across Ezra’s collarbone. A drowsy inhalation lifted his chest, and I resumed my exploration of his physique as I breathed in his mouthwatering scent. Moving my mouth to the side of his neck, I did the teeth grazing thing to the underside of his jaw.

Another sleepy breath. “Are you chewing on me?”

“Complaining?”

He turned his head until our noses touched and studied me with grave sobriety.

My lips twitched.

Without warning, he rolled on top of me. The blankets tumbled off the bed as his mouth closed over mine. He kissed me slow and deep. I wrapped my arms around him—and, for good measure, I wrapped my legs around him too.

He rumbled against my mouth and pushed me into the bed with his hips. I moaned in answer. I loved sleeping naked. It made mornings so much more fun. And lucky for me, it’d taken exactly one morning together for Ezra to come around to my way of thinking.

Tearing my mouth away from his, I craned my neck to check the alarm clock glowing on my nightstand. Whoops. We’d slept in too long.

I rocked my hips against his. “We don’t have much time.”

His lips nuzzled down my throat. “Do we need that much time?”

I grinned. No, we did not. I could feel how ready he was.

We made it out of the bed not long after, sweaty and breathing hard. I stretched my arms over my head, arching my back. “How is it so hot? I was hoping for a cooler June.”

He kissed my shoulder on his way by, heading for the bedroom door. “We could talk Aaron into installing air conditioning and spend the summer with him.”

I wrinkled my nose. “No thanks.”

Ezra glanced back as he pulled my bedroom door open. “He only teased you a little, Tori.”

“He needs to grow up.”

Which wasn’t an entirely fair assessment, since Aaron had only started teasing me after he’d walked in on Ezra and I making out like horny teenagers in various rooms of his house about six times in two days.

“Speaking of Aaron,” Ezra added, “when is he arriving?”

“Fifteen minutes.”

“Oh, shit.”

As he hastened for the bathroom, I grabbed my lightweight housecoat and pulled it over my naked body. I didn’t strictly need to cover up in my own apartment, but I never knew where Twiggy might be lurking.

I hopped in the shower first while Ezra shaved. He’d made the switch from a scruffy jaw to clean-shaven shortly after Eterran’s exorcism. I wasn’t sure why he’d decided on the change and I hadn’t pestered him to explain.

Lots of things about Ezra had changed, some small and some big—but at his core, he was the same man I’d fallen in love with.

He wasn’t quite as cool-headed as he used to be—though not because he’d suddenly gotten temperamental. Not even close. He was as steady as ever, but he’d gradually become more opinionated. When he didn’t like something, he let us know. When we annoyed him, we definitely got to hear about it.

And I loved it—because after ten years of suppressing every spike of negative emotion, Ezra was letting himself feel again.

He wasn’t merely indulging in occasional grumpiness, though. His smile was brighter. His laugh was louder. His happiness was bolder. And his protectiveness of his friends was fiercer than before.

He was still soft-spoken. Still perceptive and kind. Still a little shy. But he was also evolving, growing, discovering who he was—and I was with him every step of the way.

We switched places in the shower, and I massaged hair product into my long curls while we discussed my training session tomorrow. Aaron was refusing to start me on a real weapon until I’d mastered my brass knuckles, which was completely unfair. I wanted a giant-ass sword like his because hell yes.

I opened the bathroom door, letting a wave of cold air inside. Wrapped in a towel, I hurried across the hall.