Epilogue
PANDORA
Echo loves her new enclosure.
I’ve had it installed across an entire wall of the room, and there are so many great spots for her to slither around and hide in.
I’m fascinated at how she pokes her head everywhere, and I know I’m going to get hours of entertainment observing her doing more naturalistic behaviors.
There’s even room to expand, which I’ll need to do as Echo grows in size.
“It’s secure, right?” Blaze grumbles from the doorway. “She isn’t going to escape?”
Hey, he called her a she instead of it! That’s progress.
Both his eyes track Echo’s movements, even though only one of them has vision.
The prosthetic he got looks identical to his other eye, and the way it fits in means it moves along even without vision.
It’s not always completely natural in its movements, but you’d have to be staring him deep in the eyes to notice.
Which I do on occasion, but a stranger from across the room would never be able to tell.
I step away from the enclosure and head over to him. “Yeah. I didn’t skimp on anything! The only way Echo escapes is if somebody lets her out.” I give him a quick peck on the cheek. “Thank you for letting me set up an entire reptile room in the house, Blabe.”
Not that he had much of a choice. That was pretty non-negotiable. I wasn’t going to move to New Valence without Echo.
Blaze wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me into the hallway.
The house is the one Blaze grew up in. He says it’s historical, and that’s why it has wooden floors everywhere and the hallways are narrow and there’s no open concept anything.
It’s still large, though, and renovated enough that we have the fancy amenities.
I would have put my foot down on a house without indoor plumbing.
“Mom booked the restaurant,” Blaze says. “That’s what I was coming to tell you. She wanted to thank you for the flowers, too.”
Right, the bouquet of dahlias I’d sent her.
I’m trying to be a good future daughter-in-law, but wow do I not know how to deal with parents at all.
It turns out, experience with my parents doesn’t translate to experience with anyone else’s parents.
I don’t think Asch’s mom liked me.
Or maybe she just hadn’t liked being out of the house. Asch had mentioned that she didn’t get out much, and while the restaurant we’d chosen had been small, she’d still seemed on edge.
“You told her Asch and River would be there too, right? And not just as bodyguards,” I say as we head to the back patio. A screened patio. If we didn’t have that, the mosquitoes would literally suck all the blood out of me.
Another point in New Bristol’s favor. We don’t get anywhere near the volume of insects as New Valence does.
Blaze’s jaw clenches. “I told her they were coming, yeah.”
I wait for him to continue, but he doesn’t.
Before I can pester him for information, we step outside, the humid air immediately assaulting me.
“Hey,” River says. “How’s Echo doing?” He’s manning the barbecue, which has an all vegetarian spread of substitute meat hot dogs, hamburger patties, and portobello mushrooms.
Asch glances up from where he’s been tapping on his phone, offering me a smile. “Staying inside her enclosure, I hope.”
I go over to Asch and bend down to kiss his cheek. “Yep. I locked everything, and as long as nobody does something stupid like shoot the enclosure glass, she’s safely tucked away.”
Last year, the thought of anyone doing that would have sent me spiraling into violent thoughts. It’s strange to recognize that, and know that maybe being impulsive all the time was not actually great for me.
Stupid therapy.
Stupid meds.
Sometimes I consider dropping it all and going back to how I was. I had fun before! I got to do everything I wanted and fuck the consequences.
Then I look at River’s missing finger, or Blaze’s glass eye, and I’m reminded of why I’m putting in all this hard work that makes me cry once every other week.
And I do like that I’m no longer questioning reality around me. It’s not like I’m suddenly squeamish or afraid of blood, either, so overall the trade-off is worth it.
Violent, vengeful Pandora—with a bit of impulse control.
We’ll have to take it.
“So no firing guns in the snake room. Got it,” Asch says. He pats the seat next to him in invitation.
I sit down and lean against him, only to change my mind and scoot back. “It’s way too sticky to cuddle. Sheesh, this weather should be illegal. Blaze, that has to go next on our evil crime syndicate agenda: force New Valence to stop being humid.”
“It’s not that bad,” Asch says with a smirk. “You’ll get used to it. Isn’t that what you told me about New Bristol winters? I never did.”
“But it’s miserable here,” River complains. “I feel like I’m walking through one of those mister things every time I step outside.”
Blaze sits down across from me. “The humidity builds character. And I never have to worry about chapped lips, in summer or winter.”
“That’s not a problem in New Bristol either,” I mutter. I peer at Asch’s phone. “Who were you texting?”
“Samantha,” Asch says.
I wait for the jealousy to rear its ugly head, but it doesn’t come.
“I was just checking in on her,” he continues. “I told her she could come down here with us, but she’s doing stuff with that church you introduced her to in New Bristol.”
“At least she didn’t have to go back home to her shitty family,” River mutters, flipping one of the burgers on the grill.
I’m genuinely happy for Samantha. She’d opted to stay at Dyschord despite everything, in part because a lot of the threat is gone—exploded—and in part because Reaper promised to look out for her.
Asch, Blaze, and I decided we’d have additional protection on her, just in case, but so far, she’s not anyone’s top priority.
They’re much more concerned with all the other things we’ve been doing, including shutting down the larger operations.
We’ve already had to murder one particularly unhappy underling. I think he’d screamed loudest when I was carving up his cock.
See? I’m still me, despite everything.
Asch slides his phone back into his pocket, focusing his attention on the three of us. “Are we still on for dinner with your mom?” he asks Blaze.
“Yeah. She made the reservation. It’s that fancy all-vegetarian place that opened up by the boardwalk.” Blaze grins sadly. “We never could have gone there with my dad. He would have refused.”
I know Blaze is weirdly sad about his dad’s death, but so far, I haven’t learned anything about the man that didn’t make him sound like a total douchebag.
I do know better than to say that, though. Impulse control. Yaaaay.
“I think it sounds good. The menu is really fancy.” I drag my foot along Blaze’s calf under the table. “I’m willing to concede that New Valence might have some good restaurants. A few. Not as good as New Bristol, but it’s passable.”
River starts to take the hot dogs off the grill, piling them onto a platter. “Well, we’ll see if this food is good. I’ve never tried this brand before. Why did I not get something non-vegetarian for myself?” he asks.
“Because you didn’t want to be left out,” Asch suggests.
River scoffs.
Like Blaze and I would have bought the non-fancy kind of vegetarian food. There’s no reason to suffer for Blaze’s morals.
I still think it’s hilarious that he’s perfectly fine goring a man open, but he draws the line at eating an animal.
“The cow never did anything to deserve it,” Blaze had muttered when I asked.
Asch told me they’d visited an abattoir once, and Blaze had become vegetarian after that. If that’s true, why isn’t Asch a vegetarian as well?
“So, while we eat in our nice outdoor space, with the fan going loudly, anyone want to fill me in on how we’re doing on wrangling the Bouchard losers?
” I put a burger together with both a fake meat patty and one of the portobello mushrooms. “I know what’s-his-face said he was loyal to the Bouchard name, but how much do we trust that? ”
“You’ll have to be more specific,” River says, then makes a face. “When did I turn into your Daddy? I sound just like him.”
Asch arches a brow.
“Pandora comes by that honestly,” River explains. “Her Papa can’t ever be bothered to remember anyone’s names.”
“Oh, he knows everyone’s name.” I bite into my burger. It’s pretty good, just like I thought it would be. “He thinks it’s funny not to specify. Anyway, you know who I’m talking about. Toupee guy? Sneered at Asch before he figured out Asch was important?”
“Bobbi’s looking into him,” Asch replies. “Because no, we don’t trust him at all.”
I nod. Bobbi’s been pretty solid ever since she got her sister back. First she’d told us she never wanted to see any of us again, then somehow she changed her mind and she wanted to help with the whole ‘dismantle the old system’ thing.
Personally, I think she needed a paying job that was more reliable than occasional assassination contracts.
The gig economy is so volatile these days.
“There are a lot of people we don’t trust,” River remarks, putting two hot dog into buns and coating them with ketchup and mustard. “But we’re also picking up new people that I think we can trust.”
Blaze has been quietly eating. He’s quieter now than before the injury, more likely to let other people take the lead in the conversation.
When he lets loose, it’s still as glorious as ever, though.
“It’s been about five hours,” Blaze says. “Our other problem has probably stewed enough by now.”
Ah, yeah.
The other problem, who is currently tied up in the small, window-less room near the greenhouse.
A basement would have worked a lot better, but they don’t even do basements in New Valence. Something about the local ground water level, and also the danger from hurricanes.
That whole “being a literal swamp” thing makes building houses so inconvenient.
All this means is that Bouchard Senior had built a little torture room attached to the greenhouse, disguised as a regular toolshed.
“I bet he’s pissed himself,” I say. “And he’s crying.”
“I’ll take that bet,” Asch says. “What do I get when I win?”
River shakes his head. “You’re not going to win that bet,” he remarks. “That guy was already ready to piss himself just being grabbed. He’s definitely been stewing.”
Blaze snorts in amusement. “Yeah, Pandora’s winning. I don’t know what prize you could possibly want that we don’t already give you. Spoiled princess that you are.”
I stick out my tongue at him. “You’re just as spoiled as I am. Anyway, I wanted to try out the dildo I bought. With the harness. One of you is getting pegged tonight.”
“Of course you bought a dildo and a harness,” Asch says, shaking his head. “Yeah, okay. If I’m wrong, I’ll take it. If I’m right… I get to top Blaze.”
So far, Blaze has managed to avoid bottoming. I think it would be hot for him to bottom, but… so far, no dice. Not even when I edged him really nicely. Or really cruelly.
Same difference.
“In your dreams,” Blaze says. “You can take River’s ass, though.”
“Hey, none of you think I can win.” Asch smirks. “You may as well take the bet. Unless you’re too scared?”
River sets his empty plate aside. “I’ll take it, since Blaze is too much of a chicken to risk giving up his ass.”
“Does that mean it’s your ass I’ll be pegging?” I ask sweetly. I make a show of eyeing him up and down. “I think you have a great ass for it, River.”
River groans. “I don’t know. Asch would be gentle. You’re the wild card.” He gets up, standing so he can more easily lean in and kiss me. “We’ll see. Asch is going to lose anyway.”
I smile back. “Asch would be gentle, and also eventually he’d come. My dildo would be able to keep going for hours.”
“Your thighs wouldn’t, though,” Blaze points out with a smirk.
I pout at him. “Don’t ruin my fantasy.”
“You can build up your stamina with Asch,” River says. “If he’s going to keep making stupid bets, you’ll have plenty of opportunities.” He nuzzles my neck, his breath hot on my throat. “But one of us should definitely be fucking you from behind while you do it.”
Blaze slaps a hand against River’s side. “Sit down. You’re blocking my view of Pandora.”
Aww, that’s sweet. River does sit down, though, and I go back to my food.
“Anyway, make sure not to make too much of a mess with our problem, because if clean-up is a bitch we can’t have wild, rough sex after,” I say.
Blaze, River, and Asch all share a look.
“We need to make sure not to make a mess?” Blaze raises his brows. “Isn’t there a saying about this? Something about a pot and a kettle?”
Asch gets up, starting to clean up the mess we’d left behind. “The messier it is, the better the sex will be,” he remarks. “So…”
“Just as long as I’m not the one on clean-up with our guest,” River says. “I don’t know how I keep ending up on cleanup duty.”
“Because you’re so big and strong?” I suggest.
“And it’s not like Asch will do clean-up,” Blaze adds.
“I’m picking up after you messy assholes,” Asch says, shaking his head.
“That is not the same as blood and gore,” River argues, but he doesn’t get up to help Asch clean up.
Asch has been surprisingly tidy since the move, but it’s still early to tell if he can keep up with those habits or if he’ll slide back into the mess he’d surrounded himself with back at Dyschord.
I get up to help Asch while River goes to clean off the grill. Blaze takes a few calls while we do, sounding exactly like the leader he was always born to be.
It’s downright domestic.
As much as a whole organized crime family can be domestic.
When we’re all done, we make our way to the secret torture room.
As soon as I open the door, I know I’m right. It positively reeks of urine.
I grin at my men. “I win. Get your asses ready for me tonight, boys.”
They grumble, but I know they aren’t really complaining.
Pandora’s box was full of evils, but as Mama liked to remind me, it also contained hope.
I don’t think anyone will argue that my men are good, or represent hope—but they’re mine, and they make my heart swell, and our twisted form of love is just as good as something trite like hope.
Better, honestly, because good guys definitely don’t have as much fun as we do.