"Oh good, he's done," Mav laughed, sounding a little more like himself.
"Forever," Sang went on with a huge grin on his striped face, "and ever and—"
"Oh god," Void groaned.
I just laughed, my heart buoyant and light.
"And ever and ever andever," Sang said brightly.
"And ever," I agreed, smiling through my tears, so fucking happy, my chest hurt.
We were all back together, despite the countless nightmares that had tried to end us. And now that the keepers wouldn't be hunting me down, and I was safe with these monsters … there was nothing stopping me staying with them.
Forever and ever and ever.
EPILOGUE
"No, this isn't right," Void muttered, shaking his head when I unlocked the door to my flat on Earth and pushed the door as wide as it could go. My mates might have been in human form, but they were still tall, bulky, and intimidating to anyone who didn't know them as well as I did.
"What isn't right?" I asked, casting a keen eye around the living room and kitchen area, looking for movement under the sofa or a shadow behind the TV. Nothing. It was completely still, as I left it before Sang and Mav snatched me up and took me to the void.
There was even a melted pile of goop on the counter where I used my magic on Thief's snacks. If I knew I'd be gone for so long, I'd have cleaned it up.
"This house is tiny," Void replied, throwing a look at Mav and Sang for backup.
Sang threw himself down on my sofa and began to roll around until he was comfy. It was weird seeing him without stripes, a tail, and fuzzy ears, but his features were still the same, just shrunken to fit in a six-foot tall human body.1
Void shook his bald head, his skin golden instead of grey in his glamour, his expression fierce. "You couldn't possibly have lived here. There isn't even a bedroom."
"It's through there," I replied, waving at a door and fighting a smile. I knelt and peered under the sofa Sang sprawled across, searching for my missing best friend. "Wait," I said quickly, springing up. "I should have said this before, but it just now occurred to me. Thief is a pet—and my friend. Please, please, do not eat him."
Mav rolled his eyes, a smirk on his lips. He looked identical to Vann in this form, and it hurt, but I'd begun to slowly make peace with losing my friend.2
"We won't eat your hamster, firecracker," he said, shaking his head.
But I gave Sang a stern look, suspicious of the sweet smile my kitty mate wore.
"Not even a nibble," I warned him. "I'll be sad if you eat Thief, Sanguine."
His expression sobered. "No. You're not allowed to be sad. It's against the law."
"What law?" Mav asked, laughter in his voice as he began opening the lids on my tea and coffee canisters in the kitchen. Void went into the bedroom; I could distantly hear his low, raspy voice muttering to himself.
"The one I just made up," Sang replied defiantly, stretching out across the cushions in a languid arch. His feet hung off the end by a lot, but he didn't seem to notice. Or care if he did.
"That is not a bedroom," Void said gravely, reappearing with the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up. "It's a cupboard, and it's unfit for a mongrel, let alone a woman."
"Don't say mongrel like that," I huffed, getting on my knees to look behind the TV, then opening the drawers on the cabinet beside it. "Mongrels are cute."
Sang snarled, a sound I was familiar enough with now to understand its meaning.
"Not as cute as Sang, obviously," I said, reaching behind the cabinet and hoping my fingers brushed fur.
The growling cut out, replaced by a soft purr, and I smiled.
"What colour is Thief?" Mav asked, the sound of clattering in the kitchen signalling him searching as hard as I was.
"A blonde-brown colour, and he's, uh, chunky."3