Our Story So Far

This story is a continuation of "In the Ever Afterlife." If you'd like to start the saga from the beginning, the first story in the series is "The Scar," followed by "Ashes to Ashes" and "The Mark." Canon is current up until Black Magic Sanction, at which point it incorporates some plot elements of Pale Demon (not necessarily in the same way or using the same timeline).

To briefly summarize the story up to this point, Evie is a witch who discovered she is also a Rosewood survivor. There is a third demoness as well, a mysterious young woman named Hope, who is currently Newt's ward. Evie has a complicated love-hate relationship with the demon Ash, who until recently was a hunter of familiars like Al. However, about two months ago he tricked Evie into being his student, and then tricked her into becoming mutual familiars and even (briefly) into being a mated pair, though an accident broke that bond. Technically, however, the demon courts ruled that she actually owns him. (As I said...complicated.)

As far as the events of Pale Demon are concerned, Rachel has just been banished to the Ever After by Nick instead of the Coven, but the effects are the same. In this universe, the Coven pardoned Rachel and lifted her shunning at the convention and the road trip with Trent hasn't happened (Lucy hasn't been born yet). Coven member Leon (who was unnamed in BMS) is named Adrian in this story, and he is sympathetic to Evie and Rachel, though Vivian and the others still view the demon girls as dangerous liabilities who might one day let the world know about witch origins. Evie had been shunned, since the Coven has learned she is a demon's familiar and thus under his control. She hasn't told them that Ash is her familiar as well, having resigned herself to a life in the Ever After.

Ellasbeth is just about to give birth to her child, Lucy, but there is an additional complication- Ellasbeth's parents long ago made a deal with another demon, Zaebos, in which they would provide a healthy demon girl (Hope) in exchange for a sample of elven DNA. They no longer need the DNA thanks to Rachel, and Hope now belongs to Newt. But the deal is still on- and if Ellasbeth cannot deliver Hope to Zaebos, Zee will take her child. Ellasbeth blames Evie (rather unfairly) for letting Newt run off with Hope and promises to unleash a deadly elven curse on Evie if Zee takes Lucy from her. Evie and Rachel both marked Hope to ensure that neither Zee nor Newt could claim full ownership of her. Evie, uncertain of her future, has transferred ownership of hers to Rachel.

The previous story just wrapped up when Nick released Ku'Sox to avenge himself on Al and Ash in particular, and demonkind in general. Ku'Sox killed Nick, and his actions would have killed Ash if Evie had not allied with Al to save him. But Al had his own agenda. In Evie's form, he banished Ash to the surface, and then told Evie Ash had died (which he had, briefly).

This marks a major turning point in the story, so it seemed appropriate to start anew.

The title is inspired by a poem: Along the Road by Robert Browning Hamilton

I walked a mile with Pleasure;
She chatted all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow
And ne'er a word said she;
But, oh! The things I learned from her,
When Sorrow walked with me.

To those of you still reading...holy cow, thank you so much for sticking with this! It's entirely due to your encouragement that I've continued writing and allowing myself to explore and craft such a complex story. As I've said, I have a destination in mind...it may take only ten chapters or another hundred to get there. I love all your feedback and some of my best inspirations come from your suggestions. This has been a phenomenal experience for me- I never expected I had such a novel inside! And the ideas just keep coming!