epilogue
EZRA
The top was down on my convertible; the wind flowing through my mate’s brunette tresses. My mate. Gods, she was beautiful. Two years together and I still couldn’t believe she was mine. That she’d actually chosen me.
“What?” Rina said, catching me staring.
I ran a finger over her mating mark, enjoying the way she shuddered from the touch. “Nothing, my sweet belladonna.”
Even with my mark on her neck, sometimes I still worried someone was going to take her from me. That I wasn’t good enough for her. Of course, she liked to remind me every day why that wasn’t true.
She leaned her head across the console, letting it rest on my upper arm. “I know you well enough by now to know that when you say nothing, it actually means something.”
I kissed her forehead. “Just thinking about how lucky I am to have you.”
“Oh.” She looked down at her lap, fiddling with the ruby stone.
We spent our time split between Pleasant Grove and my manor in New York, though I definitely preferred being in her hometown over being around all the vampires. One day, I’d be their leader, but I had no desire to take up that mantle any time soon.
“What do you want to do first once we’re back?” The girls had been texting her, though everyone’s lives seemed massively different, mostly on account of all the babies everyone was having lately.
“Is it bad if I say sleep?” Rina asked, yawning. “I’m so tired lately.”
I frowned. “You sure you’re not sick?” I reached over, resting my head against her forehead. “I can stop at the apothecary in town and get you a brew.” Willow had been dabbling in potions more lately, having a natural-born affinity for brewing them. It came in handy often.
The love potion fiasco from this past Valentine’s Day was practically legendary at this point.
“No.” She let out a soft hum, her eyes drifting shut as I rested my hand on her thigh.
The last few weeks, she’d been feeling under the weather, though I hoped she’d feel better once we got back to Pleasant Grove and were surrounded by her coven for their annual Halloween festivities. I blamed the gloomy fall climate and lack of sunshine.
I was just glad Rina had still been up for the drive, opting for it instead of me simply tracing us to her hometown. It reminded me of that first week we’d spent together, when we’d spent all of our time at each other’s throats.
Ambrose definitely preferred the drive as well.
The full grown raccoon was curled up in the backseat, acting more like a cat or a dog than a wild animal.
He’d never really acted like one, and I often wondered exactly how he was on the side of the road.
Maybe just like Rina and I, it was just fate working magic on the world.
Still, from a woman who chastised me often about making sure I drank her blood regularly so I never felt the effects of withdrawals, I found it strange that she wasn’t looking after her own health.
“Maybe we should take you to see a doctor. You’re looking a little pale.” Her skin lacked its usual warmth.
She shrugged my touch away, waving me off. “Ezra.” Her voice sounded hesitant as she fiddled with the hem of her burgundy top. She was back in those tight, ripped jeans that drove me crazy. “Remember the blood moon last month?”
“Hm?” I nodded. “Of course.” I gave her a mischievous grin. “How could I forget?” We’d spent the entire time in our chambers, indulging in our lust. Or, more appropriately, my lust for her, which still hadn’t weakened two years later.
“Well, I, uh—” Rina bit her lip. “I think I’m pregnant.”
“You—what?” I blinked, not having expected that.
“I just have this feeling. Like, it’s probably too early to tell, but I’ve been feeling off lately, and witches are supposed to have this knowing, right? Like conception dreams, but…” She shook her head. “The timeline matches up.”
“But you were on—”
“Birth control?” Rina scrunched up her nose. “Yeah. But it’s not one hundred percent effective in humans, let alone magical beings. Especially when you add in venom, I’d bet.” She gave me a look, which I promptly ignored.
“You were the one begging for it,” I reminded her.
She rolled her eyes. “I can’t help that it feels so good when you—”
I groaned. “Don’t start right now, or I’ll pull over on the side of the road so you can put your mouth to good use.”
Rina smirked. “You say that like I would say no.” Her hand crept over my thigh towards my zipper.
“Behave,” I warned her.
She gave me a little smirk, then removed her hand, going back to staring at the window, contemplative.
“How do you feel about it?” I asked, taking her hand in mine.
“If you are?” We’d talked about children in the long-term—about potentially having them some day—but neither of us were in any rush.
I knew pregnancy freaked Rina out, the idea of a tiny parasite growing inside of her, let alone childbirth.
Still, in two years, we’d never used condoms. I hadn’t worried. Vampires weren’t overly fertile, and it took my mother a decade to have me.
“I don’t know,” she admitted, a soft whisper. “It hasn’t really sunk in. Maybe because I haven’t taken a test yet?”
“Do you want to?” There was a market a half mile down the road. I could stop, and we could be in and out quickly, then back on the road to Pleasant Grove.
My mate nodded. “I think so. Better to know before we arrive, right?” Rina slid her hand over her stomach. “I’ve watched all my friends become parents, and I still feel like an irresponsible teenager,” she groaned, her head slumping against the headrest.
Gods, the idea that our child was growing inside her right now was terrifying. I didn’t know the first thing about being a father. The man who sired me had never been a part of my life. Alfred was the closest thing I had to a father figure in my life. What if I fucked this up?
“Ezra.” Rina’s hand landed on my arm. “Breathe. Come on, breathe with me.”
Was I hyper-ventilating? Maybe. I massaged my forehead.
“How is it that I’ve lived for over one hundred years and nothing terrifies me as much as knowing we might have a child?
” I tried to calm my breathing as I pulled over at the store, putting the car into park before I turned to look at her.
“You know that if you don’t want to go through all of this, you don’t have to, right?
Your body. Your choice.” Whatever she wanted—that was what I wanted too.
She leaned over, pressing her lips against my cheek. “I know. Now let’s go inside.” Rina unbuckled her seatbelt, sliding out of the car. I hurried to do the same, getting to the door into the store before her.
My mate gave me a look as I gestured for her to go in first. We found the tests, and after quickly buying one—the box clutched against her chest—she looked at me. “Should I go like… now?”
I shoved my hands into my pockets. “Up to you, belladonna.”
She nodded, and I followed her into the bathroom. While I doubted anything would happen to her in there alone, I couldn’t help but want to be at her side.
“Ezra.” She gave me a look. “Can you at least, like, turn around?”
My eyebrow quirked. “You know we have shared a bedroom for two years, right? I have seen you pee before, sweetheart.”
Rina groaned. “This is different.”
“Fine.” I turned around, facing the door as I waited for her to finish.
“Done,” she murmured a little later. “Now we just… wait, I guess?”
I wrapped my arms around her middle after she had finished washing her hands, both of us standing over the test resting on the sink.
“No matter what it says, I’m happy with our life. You know that, right?” Rina asked me.
I nodded, nuzzling my face against her mate mark through her top. “Me too. I love you.”
She smiled at me through the mirror, running her fingers through my hair.
After what seemed like a lifetime, the test finally finished blinking.
Pregnant.
I blinked. It was real.
Rina’s eyes were glassy, but the smile on her face was unmistakable.
Turning her around, I picked her up in my arms, spinning her in a little circle as she laughed.
“We’re going to be parents,” she murmured.
I couldn’t help but smile. “We’re going to be parents.” Her happiness was contagious, and she didn’t even need to affect my mood for it to be one that was painfully happy.
My hand wrapped around the back of her neck, bringing our lips together. I kissed her softly, unable to stop smiling even as her mouth moved over mine.
“You’re really happy?” I asked her. “You want this?”
She nodded. “I do. Our own little vampire.”
I laughed. “You have no idea.” I was thrilled. Setting her back on her feet, I grabbed her hand, heading back towards the car. Rina still had the test in her other hand, clutched between her fingers like it was her most prized possession.
I opened her car door for her, lifting her in, and she glared at me. “Ezra. I can still do things myself.”
I shrugged. “Let me take care of you. It’s the least I can do.”
I couldn’t believe she was actually pregnant.
Most of our friends had all become parents already, and it was strange knowing we were some of the last. But I was happy we’d had so much time alone these past two years.
Next Halloween, though, we’d be bringing a baby to the annual party.
We’d have our own little vampire-witch hybrid. It felt… right.
“Cullen,” Rina said, drawing my attention.
“What?” I turned to look at my wife. “Please tell me you didn’t just say what I think you said.”
“We could name him Cullen.”
“He?”
She slid her hand over her still flat stomach. “It’s a boy. I can just feel it.”
I bit my tongue, so I didn’t say other things—namely, that we had only just found out she was pregnant, and there was no way she could possibly know it was a boy.
Then again, I couldn’t deny that her coven sometimes were eerily right with predicting this sort of thing.
But still. “There’s no fucking way I’m naming my son some gods-awful name like Cullen. ”
“Right, Esdras. I forgot your name is so much better.”
“If I wasn’t driving right now, you little brat.”