May 19, 2017. Austin, Texas.

"Lalita Kyrkos. Doctorate of Classical Archaeology."

Cheers and applause erupt as she crossed the stage in her black doctoral gown.

Kell couldn't be more proud.

It had been eleven months since he met Lily. Despite all of the dangers and her becoming a goddess, Lily insisted that she finished her degree as a human. She returned to her lab and processed her artifacts and ran tests. All of the artifacts were returned to their country of origin in one piece. Except for Harpe. Savitar and Harpe worked together to create a non-dangerous copy that was recorded as having been plundered from an Egyptian tomb.

Lily wrote her paper as they spent time on Savitar's strange private island and he trained them on how to use their magic.

He was an odd man who seemed to prefer that they weren't there at all. However, he did train them. Lily said that the chthonian had a lot of pain to deal with and that they shouldn't push for more than he was willing to share. Kell agreed and that seemed to work at keeping the man relatively congenial.

Acheron had suggested that Savitar be the one to train them as he wanted them to be free of any pantheon, even his own.

Kell, still was not used to the idea of Ash being an Atlantean god. It made sense once he heard it. All of the man's power and stuff, everyone knew that he was unique amongst the Dark-Hunters. However, he did agree to keep the secret from the other Dark-Hunters.

Through it all, Lily helped him adjust to a new life. She juggled the school work, the new magical studies, and a life with Kell with grace. She was his rock and anchor.

Though he had lost the Dark-Hunter powers when he regained his soul, he still had the psychic powers. And of course, the god powers. Just think. Two versions of Kell who both had the powers of gods. Yeah. Kell shuddered. At least he wouldn't burn up if a double version popped up somewhere in daylight. But, it was far better to have Lily in his bed every night to keep that from happening when he was asleep and not consciously in control of any doppelgangers. Though, Kell had less fear of it all. Lily had truly healed the shattered man that he had been. He was whole. And she was strong. He still worried for her. However, he trusted her to be able to defend herself.

Of course, Kell and Lily lived together and were engaged. She refused to get married before she graduated, so the wedding was planned for December. Her parents and Niko were thrilled. Though Niko was a little disappointed when Lily announced that she was going to work for a private think tank instead of pursue an academic position somewhere.

That was the easiest lie that they could come up with to hide the fact that she no longer wanted to do serious research and didn't need to work at all. She just didn't know how else to tell her colleagues anything else. Kell understood. If she admitted to one thing, they would question until she admitted to another, then another, etc. For a girl who was very bad at outright lying, it was best to keep it simple.

Her parents knew the truth. Yet, Lily couldn't bring herself to tell her uncle Niko. She loved him dearly. However, he also loved his career. And as much as learning about the reality of history affected her desire to continue the study, she didn't want to risk taking that away from Niko. It was best to let him continue to live in the wonder and passion of re-discovering something that had been long lost.

Kell smiled as Loukas clapped a hand on his shoulder, bringing his thoughts back to the graduation as Lily ran up to him.

"Congratulations, beautiful." He growled low and seductive as she threw her arms around his neck and he lifted her up.

She didn't say anything as she buried her face into his neck.

"Lalita Margarite, get down and give your mama a hug." Molly scolded.

Lily slid down his body and he was ready to take her home so he could feel that without the clothing between them. She winked. Then she turned to hug her parents and uncle before hugging Roxie Colt, Aiden, Leta and Kari who had all come for the ceremony.

Acheron walked up as people parted in the crowd to give the man extra room. No matter where he went, people gave that man space. Only individual women would push past his predatory aura to try to flirt with his sex appeal. Of course, being a six foot seven god dressed in total goth didn't help the mixed reactions.

Lily laughed at the sight. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"I was invited, right?" He smirked.

"Yes, you were. But, I thought Tory had graduation to attend in New Orleans?"

Ash shrugged. "Life of faculty. Attend graduations for their students every semester. I love my wife, but I don't have to sit through all of that for people I don't know. Not when I have this one to go to."

Niko perked up. "You are married to a faculty member somewhere?" Everyone could hear the skepticism in his voice. It wasn't that Niko was an academic prude. Rather, he was confused as he looked over the goth kid that looked to only be twenty one years old.

Lily smiled wide. "Uncle Niko, meet Acheron Parthenopaeus. His wife is Dr. Soteria Parthenopaeus." Of course Niko knew about her. She was a serious researcher who nearly destroyed her career over a family legacy of trying to find Atlantis. Lily wasn't about to tell him that in addition to Atlantis, she found an Atlantean god. But, whatever. "They are also good friends with Dr. Julian Alexander." Now, that was a man that Niko respected.

"Nice to meet you." Niko offered a hand.

Leta walked over and offered a welcome to Ash as well. Being a former dream god, she had known Acheron for centuries.

"Well, Dr. Kyrkos, now that you graduated, what do you have planned?" Kell asked as he snaked his arms around her once again.

Lily looked at Kari. The two girls smiled wide and both answered. "Ice cream!"

The End.

Thank you so much for reading my story. I hope you enjoyed it.

Please leave reviews.

I really do appreciate them. Especially constructive criticism. I may not always agree with every critique as there may be reasons for my choices that you are unaware of. However, I do take them all seriously. And they may affect how I approach other stories. (I can think of one specific one that I have received that I had not realized could be taken that way. I won't change the first story, but it does affect what I include in later stories.)

This whole story started as a request by someone in the reviews for my Bear Essentials story. It took time and was a challenge. (But, see, I do read the reviews and love them!)

For those of you who are new to the Dark-Hunter world, I do strongly recommend the books and Sherrilyn Kenyon's website.

Kell is a character from Ms. Kenyon's world. However, he is a character that is mostly mentioned in passing. Very little is written about him. There very well may be pieces of information that I had not caught, that would alter this story. But, there was lots of little tidbits, including a reference in Talon's book about him having a girlfriend who was a source of irritation for Acheron and Kell just being freaky anyway to get away with it.

So, to put it all together, and mix it up for a new romance that I could add a new character for... that is how we got the story you just read.

Phew.

All characters were Ms. Kenyon's except for Lily and her family, Roxie, Jenna (mentioned briefly), Steven, and Harpe. I don't claim ownership. I just point them out in case anyone tries to find their character bio's on Ms. Kenyon's website. :)