Well, what a time it’s been, following Caris and Carol on this dark, incredible journey! So much to take in, and it’s time for Kay to bring this series to a fitting end. So what’s gonna happen to Aurelius, now that he’s realized he’s not in charge? And what about our insane couple? Let’s find out!

Kane took one final look at Marvel Mansion as Selah loaded the last bag into the car. His plans to take back his empire had unbelievably backfired in the worst way, and he had accepted that he would never be able to take back what was rightfully his.

“All done, bossman.”

Kane continued to look at the house.

“Such a waste, man. This was supposed to be a monument to my immortality in this world. Now I have to leave it.”

Selah closed the trunk of the car.

“Boss, it’s really not my place, but I’ve been meaning to ask why we came here at all. Everything was going smoothly before we came, and now we have the syndicate on our ass and we seem to be leaving with nothing.”

Kane responded without looking away from the house.

“We could have been kings of this world, man. We could have run the world with all this. If only Kana had done his job.”

Kane turned around and was about to sit in the car when his phone rang. Selah showed it to him, and it was Kurtulus.

“My brother, I cannot speak much right now. I am in the middle of something.”

“No worries, my brother. I just wanted you to know that your package was delivered.”

Kane smiled. At least one piece of good news today. The syndicate would no longer be a problem.

“Wonderful, my brother. You will love the bonus I am sending to you tomorrow.”

“No need, my brother. It already came.”

“What?”

“My bonus. It already came.”

Kane realized that something was very wrong, but he played along anyway.

“Ah. I see.”

“In fact, I called to thank you. I put a little extra in the package as well because of how much you mean to me.”

Kane looked up and saw the business end of a silencer staring him in the forehead. Selah’s face had no emotion, almost like he’d been turned into a robot.

“Compliments of the syndicate.”

Kurtulus hung up. Kane laughed as Selah held the gun firm against his head.

“So, this is how it ends. Well played, Selah. I guess Kana was the wrong one to take my anger out on after all.”

Selah winked at him and delivered his final sentence.

“In His Service.”

Kane’s face became a ball of shock right before it was shattered into pink mist.

******

ONE YEAR LATER

The wooden floors were rocking, and the couch kept sliding as Carol went to work on her husband.

Once they’d been rescued by Inspector Kpodo, they’d had to relive that incident and the original murder of Kane thanks to the many interrogations Kpodo put them through. Then they’d had to go for trauma counseling for about six months, where their counselor had recommended that they abstain from each other until the entire period was over. Unsurprisingly, that was their least favorite part, but they got good at sticking with it.

They also had the small matter of finding a new home to live in. After all the drama they’d experienced, they decided against living in any of Kane’s old properties. They’d sold almost all of them just to make sure they had no more association with his name. Thankfully, Katherine had been kind enough to help them find a place outside the country, which they had fallen in love with the first time they saw it. They bought it the same day, but they’d spent quite some time figuring out how to decorate it properly. Caris had also decided to spend a few months with Katherine, just to catch up and try to rebuild a relationship with her.

All those months without touching each other had led to a buildup of energy, which Carol wasted no time releasing the second Caris walked into the house for the first time. He’d come with his energy too, but Carol made it quite clear just how this was going to go. He’d barely had a chance to catch his breath for the last three hours. Not that he cared; he was making sure she had no air as well. He was making sure that he would not be the only one without any energy at the end of this, and she seemed to be doing the same.

Another forty-five minutes and multiple shifts in the power dynamics passed before they both finally collapsed to the floor, barely able to take in any breaths.

She looked over at him. “Goddammit, Mr. Benton. I thought I was going to dominate the hell out of you, but you came ready.”

“You must’ve forgotten who you’re dealing with, Mrs. Benton. I won’t lie though, your riding skills almost had us crashing through that wall. So damn aggressive!”

She could barely lift her head. “Damn straight. Do you realize how long it’s been? Well, clearly you do, cos you damn near broke the ground with how hard you were pounding me.”

“You know, if this is how I get welcomed home every day, I will gladly be away for long periods at a time.”

Carol tried to punch him, but she had no strength left in her arm.

“You’re lucky I’m spent.”

“That makes two of us.”

They both went silent as they tried to catch their breaths. Once her heartbeat had gotten close enough to normal, Carol turned to Caris.”

“Baby.”

“Yeah, babe?”

“What are we going to do about the furniture?”

Caris looked around. The couch they’d started in used to be in the center of the room. It was now blocking the front door. There were two single couches which used to be on one end of the room that were now upside down on the complete opposite end. There were a few other rearrangements and a few broken vases and picture frames from when he was nailing her to the wall. He looked back at Carol.

“Why do anything at all when I know we’re going at it again as soon as we’ve gotten some food in us?”

Carol smiled mischievously at him. “The rooms upstairs are pretty well put-together.”

Caris shook his head at her. “You filthy animal.”

“Just how you like it.”

She rolled onto him, and they both lay there on the floor, still breathing heavily and drenched in sweat.

*****

Katherine hung up the phone and smiled. She’d just gotten a status report on Caris and his wife, and it seemed that they were doing some serious reconnecting. She’d had to stop a very amused Winifred when she tried to go into details as to the shocking sounds she’d just heard, but she was happy that Caris was happy.

She looked at the picture of Cassius that was on the wall across from her.

“I did it, father. I lived up to my promise. Heaven’s Mercenaries will carry on, and I will continue to build upon your legacy.”

She stood up and put her left hand across her heart while she raised her right hand up.

“To the Mercenaries of Heaven. In His Service.”

THE END

Well, about the couple, we leave them as we first met them: wildly partaking of each other. And it’s obvious that Katherine lifted the curse off Caris. Lucky him. And Aurelius got his comeuppance; well-deserved, I can’t lie.

What an incredible journey! Nothing short of a wild ride! Thanks for reading, and as always, continue to enjoy yourself around the State!