Epilogue
The Villain
“Can I open my eyes now?” I asked growing increasingly impatient.
We got back from Bora Bora two days ago and I already wanted to go back.
Hemlock and Whisper were waiting outside the luggage pickup with Eva.
I tried giving her shit for it but my loving wife tore me a new asshole, then very excitedly hugged each one of her friends.
I had to keep myself in check when Poison Weasel held onto her longer than necessary.
Then we got back to the apartment and all her hospital friends were waiting in her living room to throw her a welcome back party. There was so much squealing and screaming, but my wife was happy so I couldn’t complain.
I got an official introduction to everyone—as Austin. Although, I think a few of them may have suspected I was also Avalanche, no one said anything.
Violet called me her fiancé instead of husband, which was fair enough.
Then there were a lot of questions—I got put through the fucking ringer.
They backed off a little when Eva said that she introduced us and called me her brother.
But I was fine with the grilling, these women were fiercely overprotective.
Good, she deserved better friends than Amber.
Speaking of Amber, her body was found in the wreckage of the mountain along with—no pun intended—mountains of evidence outing the organization known as New Dawn.
Her parents called Violet crying, asking if their daughter had been a part of what she’d gone through while she was trapped in the mountain.
Violet had opted to save their feelings and said she hadn’t seen Amber but she couldn’t be sure.
In the forty-nine hours we’d been home, I’d had exactly one waking hour alone with my wife. And yeah, I was fucking grumpy about it. So standing here, with my eyes closed, in the first moment of peace since we got back, was irritating as fuck.
“One more second,” Violet called from the bedroom.
I knew we should have turned around and got right back on the plane the second I saw Hemlock and Whisper. I can’t believe Eva would bring—
“Okay, you can open now.”
My eyes fluttered open to find Violet standing right in front of me. My jaw dropped as I took her in. Blonde wig covering her hair, orange mask designed like flames, and full body suit designed exactly like mine except red with flame textures instead of my blue with icicle textures.
She spun so I could get a better look then held her arms out. “What do you think? Eva’s been working on it since we left.”
“I…” lost the ability to form words apparently.
She grinned. “That good, eh?”
I just nodded. She laughed.
“I wasn’t sure about the wig, but I wanted us to match when we’re out there together. If that’s okay, I mean.”
“Okay? It’s fucking brilliant. You know what would make it even better?”
“What’s that?”
“Wait right here.”
I raced into our bedroom and rifled through my nightstand. I found the little black box exactly where Eva said it would be. Like Violet, I’d asked my sister to make something for when we were fighting together.
I knew we couldn’t wear our usual wedding bands, someone might recognize them—considering most of her friends already suspected, I wouldn’t be surprised if they noticed right away. But I wanted to make sure the whole world knew she was mine and I was hers.
I was back in front of Violet thirty seconds later, hiding the box behind my back.
“Close your eyes.”
“Is this payback?” she asked, closing her eyes anyway.
I laughed. “No, I also had a surprise waiting.”
“Ooh, I love surprises.”
I took two rings out of the box and placed them side by side on my hand.
“Okay, open.”
Her eyes went right to the two rubber rings. One was smaller, ice-blue and covered in snowflakes. The other was bigger, red with orange flames. I asked Eva to make them rubber so we didn’t risk breaking them or having them fly off while we were fighting.
“Oh my god! I love it!” She squealed, taking the blue one. “I’m actually a little sad I can only wear it while we’re out there like this.”
“I thought you might say that, which is why I also asked Eva to make these.”
I gestured to the box I’d placed open on the table to my right. She squealed again as she took in the two black bands. They were made from palladium. The visible side was black but the inside part was designed the same as the rubber rings—hers with snowflake, mine with flames.
“It’s perfect!”
I pulled her toward me and kissed the top of her head. “So what do you say, Nightshade? Ready to make your villain debut?”
“Hell yeah!” she exclaimed.
“It’ll be tough to match mine, but we’ll see what we can do for you.”
She shoved my shoulder. “Technically, my debut was taking down a mountain, and one might argue that was more impressive than your little avalanche.”
“Yeah, but you decided to keep three of your powers a secret, so no one knows. Therefore, I still have the best and deadliest debut.”
I stuck my tongue out at her. She shook her head, failing miserably at keeping her laugh hidden.
“Real mature.”
“You love me.”
“Yes, by some miracle. You should thank god every day for that.”
I grinned. “I do.”
She grinned back. “Let’s do this.”