Epilogue

~ Marie ~

Marie yawned as she leaned against the counter. With her magic mostly gone, she couldn’t take on any cases for the time being. Not that any were coming in.

Her eyes wandered the kitchen as she waited for the coffee maker. There were two mugs left out to dry but the rest of the kitchen was just the way she liked it.

Mostly.

Marie picked up her mug and put it next to the coffee maker before putting Adrian’s away. She wished he’d remembered to take his cooking utensils with him. They were still inside her cabinets along with a new set of dishes and silverware. There was still a lot of food in her fridge as well. Was he going to come back later to collect them? Marie closed the cabinet with a sigh. With no way of contacting him, she had no choice but to wait for him to remember to come pick them up.

Once the coffee maker was done, she took her coffee to the living room. Marie dropped herself onto the couch and leaned back. Her eyes wanted to drift shut but she kept them open. Even without magic, there was still research to do. This wasn’t the time to relax. Sleep could come later. Marie took a sip as her eyes strayed to the spot the roses had been.

Not even a petal remained from the giant bouquet. The roses along with Noah’s contact information had disappeared. She had no idea when Adrian had time to get rid of them but she was sure he had a hand in it. After he had dropped her off at her house, he had stayed to make sure she was fine. Marie couldn’t remember if the roses had still been there or not. A frown crossed her face.

It wasn’t like she had been planning on keeping them. Neutrality was important to her but she was still annoyed that Adrian had gotten rid of them without her permission. Just because he had a problem with Noah, didn’t mean he could touch her stuff. Now, she couldn’t contact Noah and ask what he wanted to talk to her about. She immediately tried to suppress her irritation before remembering that her guests were no longer in the house.

A sigh escaped her lips as she returned her attention to the mail beside her. Marie barely had the energy to check her mailbox this morning and toss it on the couch before needing to rest. She sorted her mail as she went through it. It was always the same two piles of bills and junk since no cases ever came through the mail.

People would either come in person or call if they needed her help. She was about to toss the last envelope on the pile when she stopped.

The paper felt different from the usual envelope. Marie turned it over in her hands as she examined the envelope more closely. The envelope was indeed different. The paper was thicker and a design had been etched into the front of the envelope. It was possible this had been placed in the wrong mailbox. She checked the front. The address had been handwritten and addressed directly to her. Marie opened it up and pulled out the paper inside. The paper was similar to the envelope in that the paper felt sturdier. The writing was an ornate cursive done in metallic gold and silver ink.

Marie scanned the writing quickly. She had been invited to a wedding as the guest of honor. There was just one problem. The wedding involved a woman from the nearby werewolf pack. And with werewolves, nothing was as it seemed.