The Demon Queen (Otherworld Series #5)

Epilogue

I fell through the portal and landed on my ass.

"Oow." I complained but quickly got up and looked around for signs of danger.

The sky above was dark grey, stormy and scary and I was smack dab in the centre of a maze on a raised dias. The darkness was one, the air made it worse. It was stuffy. It was stale.

I dusted my ass as I stared at the scene before me.

Four entrances surrounded me. The walls of the labyrinth were made of a rusty bronze-like metal. Thunder rent the skies and I felt like a chicken but still managed to take a step ahead.

"I'm the ultra bitch." I told myself and I took a deep breath. I was low on strength, I knew I could die if I transformed right now but I had to, for Nikolai.

I closed my eyes and I imagined his face. I thought about the times I had cursed him while I was imprisoned. I thought about the times we had fought, our wedding night, I had been poisoned, for him. I thought about so how he had taken care of me, how we'd had hot, raunchy sex, how we'd gone places, how passionate he'd looked when he'd told us stories about the Dire Wolves.

Nikolai had become my life for those few days. By some magic, I had fallen in love with him. I knew that it hadn't been true love, but the way I look at it, it had been some type of love, some type of attachment.

And I wasn't going to just forget it like that. I wasn't going to give up on him.

I used up all my remaining strength and transformed into a crow. I took to the skies, looking over the maze, a deathly reminder of the dangers that could be.

I flapped my wings faster when I saw a tower in the distance, I could almost feel him. I could almost taste him.

---

Nikolai stirred when he felt the box buzzing under him. He groaned, his body aching, he tried to pry his eyes open but they refused.

His hand reached out towards the box.

"What...What's wrong?"

"Something approaches, sire." Startled, Nikolai groaned as he stood up, he could hear his joints make a cracking sound, he'd thought he wouldn't ever hear it. Demons don't age, they don't die. Nothing in Otherworld does.

He took support of the box, wishing he'd had clothes to cover himself up, he'd rather not fight someone with his junk hanging.

"Are there any clothes around? "

"You are on the top most tower of the abandoned castle, there is a room nearby with clothes but whatever approaches is coming in fast, there is no time."

He cursed. "Well, I hope whatever approaches is shy as hell so that they drop dead as soon as they see my naked hot body."

He straightened a bit and turns into his demon form, his claws unsheated.

"Which direction?" He's asks, because now that he was blind, he could be facing the wrong direction and he wouldn't know, the enemy could have struck him from behind.

"To your left, two steps ahead is the window that looks out, I would suggest that you could stand beside the window and attack the enemy as soon as they enter. "

He turned to his left and took two steps ahead, he felt around for a window and found it.

"I see the enemy."

Nikolai shivered but at the same time, he felt his anticipation rise. He wanted to fight. He wanted to hit something or someone. Just to make him feel like he wasn't completely useless, being blind.

Is this how blind people felt?

His muscles clenched. Nikolai kept his ears open for sounds. He heard the clapping of wings. He scented the enemy....Delicious....wait, that was a familiar scent.

He didn't have time to think, the enemy entered and Nikolai's arm shot out to wrap around a small, firm, feathery neck.

The thing cawed. Like a crow....A crow. The familiar scent. Had it been so long that he had forgotten the sweet scent of his wife. His Queen?

He let her go, but was still on guard. What if it wasn't her? What if it was an imposter?

---

Nikolai stood with claws unsheated. Tears welled in my eyes.

He was stark naked. His body was ridden with scars. His eyes shut tight, his ears stained with blood.

"Nikolai?" I whispered and a sob broke free. I spread my arms and ignored his claws as I stepped closer.

"Don't move!" He growled. He took a step back, his tail swishing, uncertain of my presence.

His body was slightly shivering, it made me mad that Runeria had traumatised him so much so that he couldn't recognize my voice.

"It's me, Nikolai. " I pushed his hands out of the way and bravely cupped his face.

A voice chimed from the corner of the room. "You're rescue has arrived, sire."

I didn't look away. I kept my gaze on his face, to catch even the smallest reaction and his nose twitched before he finally collapsed in my arms.

I held him and went down with him until we both were kneeling on the floor, blubbering and kissing and holding each other close. Finally reunited.

I kissed his lips, I pulled at his horns, he tugged my clothes off, stroked my hair. And soon we were a tangle of naked limbs on the floor. Holding each other close, sloppily moving against each other.

We made love. And at this moment, I knew that our love may be the fruit of some spell but, in that moment, I knew, I just did, that we were made for each other. And our love was true, in my heart and in my eyes.

I whispered in his ear. "I love you, Nikolai."