Katherine tried to wait patiently. Melchizedek said time moves differently in the other realms and that she would have to be patient. Normally, she had no problem being patient. She always tried to be patient. But as days passed, her patience started to dwindle.

She tried to clear her head by praying, reading, doing anything but dwelling on the situation and what could be happening. Instead, her mind kept drifting back to Nex, wondering if he was okay, what was happening, if Lilith was hurting him...

Tears filled her eyes, blurring the words in front of her and she shut her book, wiping at her eyes and staring into the suddenly overwhelmingly empty house. In a way, it was just like when her parents died and she came home for the first time without her uncle or aunt or cousin. She walked in and it was so quiet to the point she felt she was going crazy.

Silence had a way of being unbearably loud when it wanted to be.

Now, once again, the house was quiet and empty. No Nex filling the quiet with his endless chatter and sarcastic humor, no Marcus purposely getting Nex annoyed and going on an endless banter, no Lucian quietly sitting to the side with Kat, amused at Nex and Marcus's never-ending arguments. She was just alone. Alone like she was for months before she somehow accidentally summoned a demon who turned out to mean more to her than she ever could've imagined.

Kat's eyes widened. Of course, she thought. How could she have not thought of it sooner? She rushed to the kitchen and checked the calendar, dragging her finger down the paper until she found it, the next full moon. Two days. In two days the moon would be full again. She still remembered what Nex said to her that day she brought him here without realizing what was happening.

You would have to have fire and blood and the light of a full moon. You would have to repeat the phrase three times.

That's it. She could try to summon him again. Melchizedek told her to be patient but it had been days. She had to try something or she would go crazy. Not only that but if she didn't try absolutely everything she could think of, she'd never forgive herself. Forgoing patience, she rushed to her bedroom and dug through her desk, searching for the script. She was fairly certain she remembered the words but now was not the time to take chances.

Two days passed a lot slower than Kat liked. It felt like an eternity before the day came and even longer for the sun to go down. Kat got out her candles, the same ones she'd used before. She lined them up in a circle and turned off every light and unplugged all the electronics to try to mimic the power going out. Nex hadn't mentioned its importance but she wanted it to be as close to the same as it was that day, hoping it gave her a better chance of getting him back.

She set everything up and lit the candles, trying to remember every detail of that day. Sitting back in the middle of the circle, she glanced to the window. It was cloudy today but there was a break in those clouds and the moonlight shined in. She hesitated for only a moment, slightly concerned that doing this wouldn't summon Nex specifically but someone else instead...

She didn't care. She had to try anything she could think of.

She lifted the paper and scrunched up her face refusing to look as she purposely gave herself a papercut. She winced and let the blood fall on the candles, just like that night, then promptly stuck her finger in her mouth and whimpered. Paper cuts were the worst.

She dragged her finger out of her mouth and read the words that she'd said a million times by now, between rehearsal and the play. "Hoc est actu fasciculum ineptias ego typed in interpretari do vobis, sed ut agnoscamus," she said. "Hoc est actu fasciculum ineptias ego typed in interpretari do vobis, sed ut agnoscamus," she said louder. "Hoc est actu fasciculum ineptias-" She paused. Suddenly things went very dark to the point she couldn't see the script as well. Kat looked back out the window, grimacing when she saw clouds covering the moon.

As if that wasn't bad enough, thunder sounded so loudly the house shook, making it seem like the storm wasn't going anywhere. Kat ran to the window and tried to see if it would be clearing anytime soon but it didn't look like it.

"No no no," Kat muttered to herself, trying not to cry. "It has to clear at some point," she said, rushing out the front door.

She walked past the end of her covered porch and watched the clouds moving. The problem was, the wind seemed to be blowing from every way, causing the clouds to circle and not move in any specific direction. Kat stared up, waiting and waiting for the clouds to dissipate, for them to move, for something to happen that would give her another opening.

Instead, it started to rain.

Kat stared up at where the moon was hidden and she tried. She tried so hard not to cry. She tried to keep her hopes up since her talk with Melchizedek but every passing day that she heard nothing chipped away at that hope until her heartbreak over losing Nex took over the little hope she had left of getting him back.

She couldn't help it anymore. As the rain came down and left a dark spot on the ground, then more came, landing on her face, landing on her sweater, landing on the ground beneath her until everything suddenly became darker, she couldn't stop the tears. She stared up at where she should be able to see the moon, where the dark, unforgiving clouds hid it from her and wondered if she could survive another heartbreak.

The first big heartbreak of her life was losing her parents, the next was losing Nex and she couldn't take it anymore. She cried, covering her face with her hands as it overtook her to the point her shoulders were shaking and she wondered if she would even be able to stand much longer. She grew wetter and colder by the second but it was nothing comparable to the cold emptiness she felt in her heart.

She wiped at her tears and dropped her hands down, tugging her sleeves down and letting her tears fall to the ground with the raindrops, mixing with them to the point they weren't even recognizable as her own tears but just lost in the myriad of precipitation that fell down and washed away nearly the last bit of her hope as her eyes slid shut in defeat.

Then something touched her hand. A dog. Sniffing and licking at her clenched fist.

Kat sniffled and slowly blinked away the tears until she could see clearly. A dog with coal black fur, much bigger than most dogs she'd seen, licked at her hand and looked up at her. Then a second approached, doing the same, gazing up at her curiously, wagging its tail. Kat frowned in confusion, not recognizing the dogs. Then all the sudden, she wasn't getting wet anymore.

A light popping and swishing sound above her hand her glancing up, finding a polka dot umbrella shielding her from the rain.

A hand rested on her shoulder, followed by a voice she would recognize anywhere. "Don't cry, my angel."

Kat's eyes widened and she stared up at the umbrella a moment before staring ahead. It sunk in way slower than she meant it to, she was just in shock. Her heart fluttered and she was almost afraid to look back, afraid she was imagining the entire thing. Except she looked back and there he was.

Instead of the crying getting better, it got worse when she saw Nex standing behind her. She turned slowly, not quite believing he was standing on her porch.

"You're here," she said, not sure if it was a question or a statement.

"I'm here," he said, stepping closer to her, setting his hand on her face and brushing away the tears.

If Kat thought the tears wouldn't stop before, it was beyond that now. She threw her arms around him and cried, holding him tightly. He led her back under the porch and tossed the umbrella to the side, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her hair, relishing in the feeling of having her in his arms again.

"I thought I lost you," Kat breathed, holding him tightly, afraid that if she loosened just a little he would be gone. "How are you here? What's going on?" She asked, pulling back to look at the face she spent days imagining from her memory.

"Melchizedek helped us," Nex explained, brushing her wet hair back and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I'm here and I'm here to stay, Katherine," he said, cupping her face. "Nothingis coming between us again."

"To stay?" Kat said, her eyes going wide. "Does that mean you don't have to go back ever? Lilith won't come for you?" She asked, setting her hand on his face to convince herself he was in fact real.

"No, Katherine. Lilith can't come for something that isn't hers," he said, cupping her face and pressing his forehead against hers. "I've been given a second chance at a mortal life."

Kat frowned, letting his words sink in. "You mean... You're human now?" She asked.

"Yes," Nex nodded. "Human and here to grow old with you," he said, pressing his lips against hers.

Kat whimpered not just because she wanted him, or because she missed him so much, but because the ache that had been there since he disappeared didn't feel so heavy and the emotions were overwhelming. Grow old with her. He wasn't going to vanish again. He was here to stay.

"Wait," Kat breathed, breaking their kiss. "You're here to stay? For sure? No one will come for you?" She clarified. She just couldn't believe her ears. She wanted to make sure nothing could ever hurt him again.

"No one can interfere, Melchizedek made sure of that," he said, nuzzling her nose. "I'm here, my Katherine. I'm here to live my mortal life with you and follow you into the eternal life as well," he said, hugging her tightly.

"You're here to stay," Kat breathed, more needing to hear it out loud herself than that she didn't believe him. "But what about-" she paused, thinking of the dogs that approached her moments ago. "Were those..." she looked to the side, finding two giant dogs sitting on her porch, gazing up at Kat and Nex. Both tails started wagging when she looked at them. "Are those... Your hounds?" She asked, looking up at Nex.

Nex smiled and nodded, holding Kat close to him as he moved over, setting his hand on Venandi's head. "This is Venandi," he said before moving his hand to Sicarius's head and patting the top. "And this is Sicarius."

"Oh my goodness," Kat said, her eyes filling with tears as he crouched down and scratched behind their ears. "They're so precious," she cooed. "How could you tell me I can't call them puppies? Look at them", Kat said, petting them while they both melted under her touch, their tails wagging so excitedly they hit the ground with thuds.

Nex held back the sigh and shook his head. "You'll have plenty of time to fuss over them because they're staying too," he said, grabbing her wrists and pulling her up until she was in front of him again. He cupped her face and stared into her eyes, the same eyes that it felt like centuries ago he thought he was staring in for the last time. "How is it possible you're even more beautiful than the last time I saw you?" He murmured, pressing his lips against hers. "I missed you so much, Katherine."

"I missed you too," Kat said, wrapping her arms around his neck and looking up at him. "I was about to try to summon you again," she admitted.

"Let's refrain from things like that and not push our luck," Nex said seriously, rubbing his thumb over her cheek. "I can't lose you again, my love. I missed you more than I can even begin to explain," he said, pressing his forehead against hers.

"I missed you so much," Kat said, her eyes filling with tears all over again. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"I told you," he said, nuzzling her nose. "I told you I'd find a way back to you but then you really saved us, didn't you my angel?" He said, unable to stop the smile. "You drove to ask for help."

"I was so scared," Kat admitted. "But I was more afraid of losing you."

"You're not going to lose me," Nex said, pulling her close against him, cupping her cheek and admiring the freckles he'd always loved. "I'm never going to be away from you again."

"You hated being a human," Kat pointed out, remembering those awful eleven days he was so upset when his powers were gone. "Are you sure you can handle it again?"

"I could handle the worst pain in the world as long as it was second to losing you," he said, cupping her face.

"So you're staying. For good," Kat said, biting on her lip and feeling the tears come again. Except they were different this time. They were different because it was a sort of relief escaping from her. Relief to have the man she loved back in her arms.

"I told you," Nex said, nuzzling her nose. "I love you. And I'm not going anywhere," he said, pressing a kiss to her lips that had both of them sinking into each other, holding on like they would never let go.

And they never did.

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

❤❤❤