"There aren't any buts, Artie. I'm the one who made Wulf immortal and gave him his powers. If you want to put that soul back inside someone, then you better call Loki and see if he's willing to release Morginne to you."
She shrieked in outrage. "You tricked me!"
"No. This was the way things were meant to be. You needed someone to breed with Apollo's heiress. As much as I hate your brother, I understand why Cassandra must live and why Apollo can't die."
"You planned this from the beginning," she accused him.
"No," he corrected. "I only hoped."
She glared at him. "You still don't understand the source of your Atlantean powers, do you?"
Ash drew a ragged breath. "Yes, Artemis. I do. I understand them in a way you'll never comprehend."
And with that, he brushed past her and lay down on his bed so that he could finally get some well-deserved sleep.
Artemis crawled into his bed behind him and snuggled up to his back. She nuzzled his shoulder with her face. "Fine then," she said softly. "You won this round against me and Apollymi. I'll credit you with that. But tell me, Acheron... how long can you continue to defeat both of us?"
He glanced over his shoulder to see the evil glint in her iridescent green eyes. "As long as it takes, Artemis. As long as it takes."
Cassandra awoke on her birthday, half afraid all of this was a dream.
Even Wulf never ventured far from her side, as if he were afraid she would evaporate the moment he left her.
He'd come rushing back to her at odd times throughout the whole afternoon. "You still here?"
She'd laugh and nod. "So far nothing's going south."
By the time the sun set and she looked the same as she had that morning, Cassandra realized the truth.
It was over.
They both were free.
Her heart sang in relief. Wulf no longer had to hunt her people and she no longer had to live in terror of her birthdays.
Ever again.
It was perfect.
Three years later
It wasn't perfect.
Cassandra bit her lip as she stood in the middle of the backyard with her hands on her hips while Wulf, Chris, and Urian argued over the swing set she was trying to have installed for Erik.
The workers had withdrawn to the front of the house while the three men argued it out in the back.
"No, see the slide's too high," Wulf was saying. "He could fall and get a concussion."
"Forget that," Chris snapped. "He could rack himself on the teeter-totter."
"Teeter-totter nothing," Urian said. "The swings are a choking hazard. Whose idea was it for him to have this?"
Cassandra rolled her eyes while Erik held on to her hand and wailed because they were taking away his swing set.
Looking at her distended belly, she sighed. "Take my advice, little one. Stay in there as long as you can. These guys are going to make you crazy."
Cassandra picked Erik up and carried him to his father. She forced Wulf to take the crying toddler. "You explain it to the baby while I go inside and add more padding to his nursery walls."