Epilogue
HARLOW, TWO WEEKS LATER
The bell over the bookstore door chimes softly as I step inside, and the sound settles something deep in my chest that I didn’t realize was still rattling loose. A quiet sense of belonging settles inside me, and I welcome it with a full heart.
The air smells like paper, coffee, and sugar.
I inhale deeply and love the underlying hints of ink, cinnamon, and warmth.
These are all the things that make a place feel safe.
Whole. Alive. Snow clings to the edges of my boots, melting into small dark spots on the old hardwood floor as heat rolls over me in gentle waves.
I pause just inside the door, taking it all in.
The Savage crew fills the broken Chapter bookstore in a way that somehow doesn’t feel overwhelming.
Laughter carries between the shelves. Coffee cups steam in callused hands.
Charli argues with Beast about whether enemies-to-lovers or second-chance romance is superior, and the sound of it makes my mouth curve into a smile before I can stop it.
This is what survives the fire.
People. Love. Found family. Like the phoenix on my back, survival and rebirth are woven into these people.
Cipher is across the room, broad shoulders bent slightly as he flips through a paperback with a cracked spine and a cover featuring a shirtless man who looks suspiciously like he could be one of his brothers.
His black hair is still damp from the snow, curling at the nape of his neck.
The scar along his jaw catches the light when he smiles at something Beast mutters under his breath, and my heart does that stupid, traitorous thing where it stutters and then slams hard against my ribs.
I love him the way I love breathing.
Someone bumps into me gently, pulling me into a hug before I can react.
“You made it,” Charli says, squeezing me tight. She smells like vanilla and espresso and something floral I can’t place. “I was starting to think Cipher was gonna keep you locked away forever.”
I laugh into her shoulder. “He tried, but we couldn’t keep me cuffed to his bed for long.”
He looks up at the mention of his name, and we exchange a knowing glance.
Charli pulls back, eyes bright, and presses a book into my hands. “Here. I saved you a copy.”
I glance down and recognize the cover immediately.
My eyebrows lift. “You marked it.” There’s a million stickies sticking out of the side.
Charli grins, wicked and unapologetic. “Red stickies are the spicy scenes. Blue ones are the emotional damage that makes you want to put your head back and warrior cry for your fellow female. You’re welcome.”
I snort. “Good to know. I’ll skip the blue ones.”
A familiar arm slides around my waist from behind, and fills me with a welcomed heat and home all at once.
“Liar,” Cipher murmurs into my ear. “You love the blue ones. I’ve seen you cry over a book three times this week alone.”
I lean back into him, breathing him in. Leather. Coffee. Snow. Something uniquely him that I’ll never have words for. “I love when you read them out loud like you’re not emotionally wrecked and raging mad for your fellow heroines.”
He huffs a laugh when I snort my denial and then presses a kiss into my hair.
He passes me a cup of coffee and a small plate with a slice of cake that looks dangerously good.
“Fuel. You’ve been running on adrenaline and stubbornness for far too long.
Besides, when this group gets going, you’re gonna need the extra energy to keep up. ”
I watch him walk across the room to speak with his brothers. I see the way he listens now instead of standing apart from them when he was only a prospect. As if he feels my eyes on him, he turns and sends me a heated gaze full of possessive need.
He exchanges soft smiles and a few head nods with the men he’s bled with.
They are his family as much as I am. Knowing neither of us are alone in the world is a comfort I didn't know I needed until now. We’ve both come a long way.
The biggest lesson being you don’t have to sacrifice happiness to be your true self.
I didn’t know love could look like this.
Cipher holds a hand out in my direction, and I join him. He leans closer, voice low and private. “Third red sticky. I wanna try that one tonight.”
I flip the book open, find the marker, and glance up at him through my lashes. “Only if you’re the one in handcuffs this time.”
His green eyes darken instantly. “Deal.”
Heat coils low in my belly, familiar and welcome and safe.
Later, after we’ve shared cake and spent more than an hour discussing the latest book club pick, Cipher pulls me aside. Tucked into the back room of the bookstore where the noise is a low hum, Cipher pulls out his tablet and shows me lines of information scrolling across the screen.
“I’ve got programs running in the background,” he says quietly.
“Anything that matches or even closely resembles her signal gets flagged. It won’t be long before we find the chemist. We’ve plugged in all the numbers off Grudge’s cell phone.
Someone somewhere will mess up and use the wrong cell phone that will tell us their location.
We’re looking for anything that isn’t their usual location. ”
I nod, hope tightening my throat.
“And the antidote? Have you been able to do anything with it?”
“Reaper has the antidote formula with his contacts.”
I nod. “And my bosses are looping in our science teams. It’s slow, but it’s moving.”
Cipher taps Beast on the shoulder as we step out of the backroom and he passes us in the hallway. “Hey, brother. Keep us posted if anything pops up, will ya? We’re gonna take off to my place.”
Beast nods once, serious. “Always.”
When we step out into the cold, snow is falling harder now, thick and quiet, blanketing the alley in white. Cipher pulls me close, his coat warm around my shoulders, his heartbeat steady beneath my cheek.
“I didn’t know you had this many connections,” I murmur.
He smiles, soft and proud. “We’re more than gearheads and beer-guzzling bikers.”
I glance at him. “Huh. Ya know, speaking of I haven’t seen you on your bike.”
“Not safe in the snow.”
“Touché.”
I grin, tugging his hand. “But I do know what is safe to ride in a freak New Orleans snowstorm.”
He laughs, reading my dirty thoughts. “Yes, ma’am.”
We don’t make it far before Beast bursts out the back door, breath fogging in the cold.
“Yo, hey. We found her.”
Cipher and I freeze, then ask in unison, “Seriously?”
“For real,” Beast confirms. “She’s alive. And I’m going after her.”
Hope blooms so bright in my heart, my chest hurts.
Cipher pulls me into his arms, forehead pressed to mine. “I love you,” he says, like a vow. “We’re so close to getting this shit off our streets. Thank you for trusting me to help.”
I close my eyes, heart full. My world is finally steady again. “I love you too.”
And for the first time in a long time, I believe in tomorrow.