Epilogue #3
He had tip-toed around Lark’s power, tried in equal measure to insist she ignore it or simply avoid telling her what it meant.
In the end, it was Sera who found the necessary balance.
Lark could sense Death in others, whether anyone liked it or not.
But smothering her power or lying to her wouldn’t help her deal with it.
Instead, they had simply approached it with calm rationality.
They explained what she was seeing, answered any questions that popped into her head, but did not imply in any way that it was something she needed to see or look for.
They attached no importance to the ability one way or the other.
How Lark chose to use it in the future, would be up to her.
But she would not be compelled by a need to serve others.
And she would not fear love or affection at the risk of losing her Sense.
At least, that was the hope.
As night drew on, Lark’s eyes grew heavy and Kieran carried her to her bedroom.
The family wing of his home had been completely aired out and refurbished.
Gideon and Rachel often stayed for a few days to spend time close to their niece and there were rooms available for Varian and Seth.
Sera had one of the master chambers all to herself, as well as the room she shared with Kieran.
And Lark had her own bedroom. The room that had once belonged to Jerica.
It was not an easy transition, but leaving the room covered in dust and rotting away the years wasn’t helping anyone.
All his life, he'd worked to severe all connections and emotional attachments to those around him.
Sera was the first time he'd ever allowed himself to feel for another person since his family, but Lark had stolen his heart from her first breath.
He could not have stopped loving her if he tried and from there, allowing himself to let others in had grown easier.
Though, his reputation as a stoic, cold no-nonsense politician had remained.
Kieran opened the door, no longer hit with the wave of awful memories or crippled by their sting. Instead, he felt peace. This room had made his sister happy while she was alive and now it served his daughter. There was something healing in the embracing of change and moving forward.
They tucked Lark into her bed, a pile of dolls and books taking up most of the space—though Lark had hollowed out a nest at the center that she deemed was ‘plenty comfortable’—Kieran still bent to remove the pointed edges of books from near her face.
Hand in hand, Kieran and Sera crossed the hall to the master suite, the room they shared.
Sleep was the first cold-vs-human challenge they overcame.
Sera was happy to snuggle into his body heat, wrapped in a thick blanket, and Kieran could surrender his arms or legs so long as most of him remained uncovered.
But they had no immediate plans to sleep, removing their clothes in a hot, heady embrace of mouths and hands.
“You are not entirely forgiven for the state of my desk,” Kieran said into her skin. Sera squirmed under him, his weight pressing her into the bed. A comforting sort of pressure, as Sera knew instinctively that she could free herself at any point.
“It was well within the rules,” she said, her arm curling around him, threading her fingers into his hair, then down his back.
His lips stopped, hovering just above her breast as she continued to draw her hands over his skin.
She felt powerful, cherished, knowing how much her simple touch could unravel him.
Even after all these years. She felt his muscles shiver, his breath hitch.
It made her feel loved.
He flipped her to break the trance of her touch. “It was underhanded.”
“I needed a win, okay?”
Sera maneuvered so that she straddled his legs, but hovering so there was no contact.
It was hard to remember a time when she found the silver of his eyes harsh or distant. When she looked in them she could only see softness and affection. Even now, when he was cross with her about the disorder of his oh-so-precisely-ordered-desk, the cool gray shimmered with love.
“It wasn’t just you. I’ve… work has been challenging lately.
I don’t know if it’s even possible. I’ve got the best chemists on my staff working on a solution, but it’s just wall after wall.
Even with Lydia Harrow's help. Her synthetic variations just aren't having the same results as in her medical work.”
She eased backward to sit on his thighs. Her mind had drifted now, the concerns and problems all starting to simmer when Sera had always been the one to insist that work stay at work. Over the years, Kieran had needed the advice less and less, but her… she needed the reminder more than ever.
Kieran brought his hand to her cheek, and she leaned into him, taking the support.
“You’ve tackled every set-back eventually. If there is a solution, you’ll find it.”
“There may not be,” she said on an exhale.
“We may be fighting a losing battle on this one. Divinity is… it’s unstable.
Divine blood was never meant to mix with other races.
I don’t know if I can make it safer or… even just less potent.
” She rubbed at her forehead, pushing the thoughts away.
“I’ve killed the mood, haven’t I?” He pulled her closer, so she was forced to reposition her legs and she could lean against his chest as he hugged her.
Then she felt his lips near her ear. “It sounds, my dear, like your confidence is taking a hit again.”
A shiver raced through her.
“But I’m always here to remind you that you are brilliant.” He dragged his lips down her neck. His hands started to roam over her hips.
“Clever.”
His hands rounded her backside, tucking under her thighs. Sera arched closer, biting her lip.
“Intelligent.”
He slowly guided her hips, lifting her with ease so her heated core could glide up his hardening length pinned between them. Sera’s head fell back, a hiss of pleasure proceeding a flurry of moans as he let her slide back down.
“Shall I continue?” His lips danced along her shoulder with the words. He never stopped the measured pace of lifting her up and down.
Sera managed a breathy, not quite ‘yes’ in reply.
She felt his grin on her skin.
“You're a genius. The envy of scholars everywhere.”
On the final upward motion, Sera arched her back so that when he lowered her—his pace maddeningly slow—the velvet heat of him could fill her inch by inch.
Neither of them spoke again until Sera was stretched out on the bed next to him, her body still humming as she enjoyed the cold against her fevered skin.
Kieran settled next to her, hugging her close to whisper, “Don’t think I’ve forgotten this afternoon. Retribution will be swift.”
Sera fought to keep from giggling, but couldn’t hold it in.
It was easy to laugh with him, as surprising as that was, but even though the past had never fully left—the odd flinch or repressed jolt of fear surfacing when she didn’t expect it—she also knew with absolute certainty that here, now, she was safe and cherished.
She could embrace herself and her mind with him, not hiding when thoughts popped into her head.
And it had been several years since she had called herself ‘stupid’ aloud.
Maybe her thoughts betrayed her occasionally, but all she needed to do was look at Kieran, her daughter, the growing list of projects with her name taking over the city, to know that her mother had been full of shit.