Epilogue
LUCAS
Six Months Later
Wynn didn’t want a large wedding.
She said we had already survived an international conspiracy, multiple biological weapons, a helicopter crash, and General Kane.
Planning a reception for two hundred people seemed unnecessarily dangerous.
I agreed.
Then the Brave became involved.
Now more than sixty people stood in Adam and Raine’s backyard beneath strings of white lights.
Boone claimed only twenty had been invited.
Wren blamed the rest on Hawk.
Hawk blamed Russ.
Russ blamed Olivia.
Olivia insisted she hadn’t invited anyone.
No one believed her.
Wynn stood beneath an oak tree wearing a simple white dress.
Her hair fell over one shoulder.
Her emerald eyes held mine.
For once, no blood stained her clothes.
No bandage covered her forehead.
No armed men waited behind her.
Although Adam had placed two operators near the road.
Some habits took longer to break.
Ghost stood beside me.
A cane supported his weight.
His recovery had taken months, but he had refused to miss the wedding.
The memory of Minser remained with him.
Not as forgiveness.
As a reminder.
People before power.
The oath had become part of the Brave.
So had the truth about General Kane.
The Meridian arrests continued.
Dozens of people had been charged, and more investigations were underway.
Elena returned to Geneva after completing rehabilitation. Roth had attempted to convince her to retire.
She responded by accepting a position overseeing security reform for three international banks.
Roth no longer offered career advice.
Leyla took control of her father’s remaining Aegis research. Every viable biological countermeasure was released to public-health agencies around the world.
The Fate source code, connected research, and remaining biological units were gone.
No surviving Fate material remained hidden in Meridian vaults.
Wynn helped make certain of that.
Her investigation appeared in newspapers across twelve countries.
She refused every award nomination.
Then she accepted one after I pointed out that the ceremony was being held in a city with excellent restaurants.
She still traveled.
So did I.
The difference was that we always knew where the other person was going.
And we always came home.
Wynn reached the end of the aisle.
Adam placed her hand in mine.
“If you lose her again,” he said quietly, “I’m keeping her.”
“I heard that,” Raine called.
Everyone laughed.
Wynn smiled up at me.
“No chance,” I said.
The ceremony was short.
The promises weren’t.
I didn’t promise to keep Wynn safe.
That was impossible.
She was a journalist with no sense of self-preservation and a gift for finding the most dangerous person in any country.
Instead, I promised never to use love as an excuse for silence.
Never to make her choices for her.
Never to walk away because fear convinced me it was protection.
Wynn promised to tell me before entering hostile territory.
She added whenever reasonably possible under her breath.
I decided we could negotiate later.
When the officiant pronounced us married, I kissed my wife.
Again.
This time, I knew what the word meant.
Not possession.
Not protection from every danger.
Partnership.
When the applause ended, Wynn touched my face.
“Are you happy?”
“Yes.”
“Even with all these guests?”
“Ask me after they leave.”
“Some are staying for three days.”
I stared at her.
She laughed.
“I’m kidding.”
“You’re a terrible person.”
“You married me.”
“Twice.”
Music began behind us.
Our friends moved toward the tables.
Ghost raised his glass from beneath the oak tree.
Boone attempted to dance and was immediately stopped by Wren.
Hawk watched the perimeter while pretending he wasn’t.
Adam held Raine close.
Lives Kane had once reduced to pressure points continued all around us.
Messy.
Fragile.
Unpredictable.
Free.
Ghost started toward the house, but Adam stopped him beneath the oak tree.
They stood close enough for me to hear.
“What happens now?” Adam asked.
Ghost looked toward Wynn and me.
“I disappear.”
“You’ve done enough of that.”
Adam held out a black folder.
The insignia of the Brave was stamped across the front.
Ghost stared at it.
“What is this?”
“A choice.”
“You don’t know everything I’ve done.”
“No,” Adam said. “But I know what you did when it mattered.”
Ghost lowered his gaze.
“The man I was died with my wife.”
Adam kept the folder extended.
“Then let the Brave help you discover who survived.”
For the first time, Ghost smiled.
Then he accepted the folder.
Wynn rested her head against my chest.
“What are you thinking?”
I looked down at her.
“That Fate was wrong.”
“About what?”
“Everything.”
She smiled.
I kissed her forehead.
Then I took her hand and led her toward the people who had refused to let us fight alone.
For six years, I believed fate had stolen my wife.
I was wrong.
Fear had taken her from me.
Truth brought her home.
And love gave us the courage to begin again.
THE END
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