Epilogue II
“—with gratitude and a deep respect for the work involved, I now turn the stage over to the scientists responsible for this breakthrough.” The speaker steps aside and motions for Evie and Wyatt to come to the podium.
It’s a windswept morning, the sun filtering through fast-moving clouds.
I stand half a block away, though I can still see and hear just fine.
Austin is much the same as before, though the university has long since become overgrown and the property of squatters.
The governor’s mansion is still here, though.
Its grounds unkempt but the building still standing.
A contingent of national guard has kept it free of looters.
The governor who followed Juno quit the post after only two months.
The seat is vacant now, the Saints and what’s left of the US government slowly taking over Austin and creating a new makeshift capitol here.
State lines aren’t as important anymore. A lot of things aren’t as important.
“Um, thanks. So, well, we’re here to talk about the vaccine. Wait, Liz is that you?” He shades his eyes with his hand.
I catch a glimpse of one of the soldiers stationed around the periphery, her hair in tight braids and her eyes on Wyatt.
“Focus,” Evie hisses.
“Right, um, the vaccine. And we can answer, you know, questions or something. But we’re really happy to have helped out, and we, um, we’re pretty cool, so you can ask what you want.” Wyatt pauses, his face going blank. “Or I think we’re supposed to talk for a while first maybe?”
“Such fantastic public speaking skills.” Valen crows.
“Oh don’t be mean, you know he’s doing the best he can.” I elbow him.
Evie leans over to the microphones. “What Wyatt meant to say is that we’re very happy to offer this safe and effective vaccine.
The components are a mix of vampire blood, human blood, and inactive virus.
We are both vaccinated and fully stand behind this vaccine.
We’ve also conducted trials in conjunction with the US government, and all those records and findings have been peer reviewed by scientists both here and abroad. ”
The smattering of press in the small crowd begins to raise their hands, some already shouting questions.
“Just like old times.” It’s only been a few years since I was here watching Juno field questions about the plague. It feels like several lifetimes.
“You certain you aren’t jealous you don’t get to take credit for it?” he asks, his fingers stroking along my side.
“I was never one for the limelight. You know that. Juno was built for life under the magnifying glass. Not me. I’m just glad we were able to do it, to finally beat this virus.
We’re going to save a lot of lives.” I look up at him.
“You are, too. You’re the one who arranged for the lab and all the supplies we needed.
Maybe you didn’t do the science, but you’re a big part of the vaccine. ”
He makes an uninterested face. “I only do what makes you happy.”
“You make me happy.” I lean against him, savoring this moment.
“—dude, what? No. We worked as fast as we could on this. No one was hiding a cure somewhere. That’s crazy talk.”
“Then why did you wait a whole year after the end of the war to trot it out?” a reporter shouts.
“Trot it out?” Evie’s tone turns cross. “We had to do research, testing, science. We can’t just magic up a cure out of thin air. It takes testing and more testing to ensure it’s safe and effective.”
“You were working with the vampires?” Another question.
“We needed vampire blood to create the vaccine. So, yes.” Evie shrugs.
Click.
Valen and I turn our heads at the same time. Then he’s gone.
I stare at a rooftop about fifty yards from where Evie and Wyatt are speaking. Quick movement, and then the snap of a neck breaking. Valen kills the would-be assassin before he can pull the trigger.
I breathe a sigh of relief as Wyatt rambles on about cooperation among species.
Valen returns, not a hair out of place, and hands me a small square of fabric, a halo embroidered in gold thread.
“Shit.” I stare at it.
“It seems the Saints were serious when they said they’d fight the vaccine.”
“Conspiracy theorist idiots.” I take the fabric and toss it away.
“True, but they aren’t going away. The humans will fight amongst themselves again. Maybe soon. It always happens.”
“Happens with vampires, too,” I retort.
He smirks. “Did I hit a nerve?” He wraps his arm around my shoulder again, pulling me to him. “Ready to defend your humans with fang and claw?”
I roll my eyes. “You’d defend my humans, too. Always pretending you can’t stand Wyatt, but I saw you smoking with him a few days ago.”
“You saw no such thing.”
“I did. Get a buzz?”
“No.” He frowns.
I laugh. “Don’t look so sullen. Wyatt can win anyone over. It’s his superpower.”
He stiffens, his gaze frozen on someone in the crowd.
“What is it?”
I follow his line of sight.
“Oh.” I see him. Red hair bright in the sunlight, his gaze riveted to us. “Surely, he can’t see—”
“The fucker is coming this way.” Valen grates.
He breaks into a jog.
“Maybe we should go.” I take a step back.
Valen pulls me forward again, holding me tightly. “And miss the captain’s tears and squirming? I’d rather not.”
“You don’t have to attend every fight you’re invited to.” I sigh.
“What rubbish. If I’m invited, it would be rude not to attend. If nothing else, I have my manners.” He’s grinning now, a cat ready to play with its prey.
“Can you give me a minute with—”
“No.”
“Valen.” I elbow him again. “Let me talk to him. I’m pretty sure he’s not going to ravage me while—”
He scoffs. “Ugh, don’t say such horrid things on this beautiful day.”
“Just a minute, okay? That’s all.” I get on my tiptoes and kiss his cheek. “Please?”
Grumbling, he pulls my chin up and kisses me hard. “Only a minute, kedves verem, and if he touches you—”
“He’s dead. Yes, yes, I know.”
He narrows his eyes, then disappears somewhere at my back.
When Gage makes it to me, he stops, his eyes roving all over my face. “It’s you.” He huffs out a breath, his face pink from running. “I knew—I fucking knew he was lying to me!”
“Gage, it’s good to see you.”
He peers at me, and I see when the realization hits. He goes cold and backs up a step. “He turned you.”
“He saved my life at the Black Cavern. Yes, he had to turn me.”
“You’re one of them. You’re …” The disgust in his tone is unmistakable.
“I’m still me, Gage.”
“You’re not.” He shakes his head.
“You think I’m a monster?”
He doesn’t answer, his entire posture rigid. Then he glances over his shoulder. “You had something to do with this, then?”
I shrug. “We worked as a team.”
“You worked to preserve your food source. That’s all. You worked to keep us alive for your new master. Who is it? Valen or Harald? Or maybe the Corvidion, what’s his name, Coal?”
“Master?” I put a hand on my hip. “I don’t have a master. What are you talking about?”
“God, you wear her face so well.” He shakes his head. “But you’re not her. You’re a fucking demon.”
“That’s enough.” Valen snarls at my side. I’m surprised he managed to stay away for this long with all the seething he was doing through our bond.
Gage stumbles back, surprise in his eyes.
“You turned her into a monster, took her from her own kind.” Gage spits the accusation at Valen.
“Valen, don’t hurt him,” I say through the bond.
“What you really want to say is that I took her from you, captain,” Valen sneers. “Which I did not. She was never yours, never would have been yours. She was always meant to be mine as I am meant to be hers.”
Gage’s face is redder now, his hand twitching toward the gun at his hip.
Valen shrugs. “Perhaps one day you’ll find your own mate.
Surely out there right now, a litter is being born, or perhaps a brood mare.
Something more fit for a cretin like yourself.
” He kisses my hair. “But you see, Georgia was never an option for you. She is a queen, both among humans and vampires. As I told you before, she is your god, though I see now you aren’t even fit to worship her. ”
“Laying it on thick.” I shake my head.
“Just telling him the truth, my Blood.”
Gage takes another step back. “The Saints were right. This vaccine is some sort of trick, some way to get us all under your control.”
“No, Gage, it’s just a vaccine. That’s all. We made it to save lives, and that’s all it does. With—”
“I don’t believe you.” His hand is on his gun now, his fury turned toward Valen. “You’ve twisted her into something wrong, something evil.”
Valen steps in front of me, his snarl visceral as he splays his claws. “You dare threaten my mate?”
“Gage, just go.” I grab Valen’s arm. “Go!” I yell.
He takes off, the acrid scent of fear left in his wake.
“You should’ve let me end him, my Blood.” Valen turns back to me, his eyes feral. “He’s a threat.”
“He’s misguided and scared.”
Valen cups my cheek, his eyes returning to normal. “He won’t rest. You know that, don’t you? Not until he has you. I will kill him eventually.”
“He just called me a demon,” I deadpan. “I don’t think he’s interested anymore.”
“This isn’t over, not for him. I know his covetous heart.” He leans down and kisses me softly, so softly. “And one day I will rip it out.”
“Maybe let him get the vaccine first?”
“I would never steal your laurels, my love. Vaccinate the whole world if you wish. I already have what I want.” He kisses me again, holding me close as the sun shines, Wyatt continues to say all the wrong things, and my hope, though battered and bruised, basks in the new dawn.