Epilogue - Olivia #2
Riot didn’t react. Not even a twitch. Her face stayed completely unreadable while her eyes moved slowly between both sisters. Then her head turned sharply toward the street.
“She’s here.”
The teasing instantly stopped. Aniyah straightened. Nova’s smile faded. Even Riot seemed somehow sharper as an all-black Rolls Royce glided silently to the curb in front of them.
The back passenger door opened first and a tall vampire stepped out smoothly onto the pavement.
Sweeping white hair framed a face so sharp and pale it looked carved from marble. His tailored grey suit fit perfectly across broad shoulders and a lean, dangerous frame. But it was his eyes that made the world fall silent.
Crystal blue. Cold and haunting. The kind of eyes that had seen horrors most people wouldn’t survive and came out the other side untouched.
He rounded the car calmly and opened the opposite door, bowing his head slightly while offering his hand inside.
A black heel emerged first. Then long legs wrapped in tailored black slacks. A slim tattooed hand slipped into his. And suddenly I forgot every other person standing there.
A woman stepped from the car wearing power like it had been stitched directly into her skin.
Ash-white hair brushed past her shoulders while dark sunglasses hid her eyes. Her fitted suit jacket framed a low-cut cropped vest beneath it, exposing tattoos that crawled from her throat downward beneath the fabric.
Everything about her screamed control. Even the way she adjusted her cufflinks felt deliberate. Dangerous.
She gave the others a single nod as she stepped forward, and instantly I knew exactly who she was.
This had to be Ezra. The leader of the Syndicate.
The sister Calix spoke about with this strange mix of fondness and trust, like he genuinely believed she could bend the world into shape if she decided hard enough.
Sitting here watching her step up to the restaurant like she owned the air everyone breathed, I understood why.
But why were all of them here?
My phone buzzed against the table and it was from Lark. I opened the message quickly.
Lark: Sorry.
Just that one word and my stomach dropped instantly. This wasn’t an accident. Lark canceling. Calix and Rack suddenly getting called away. This was planned.
I slowly lifted my head just in time to see the four women angling directly toward my table and my heart stumbled hard in my chest.
If I’d still been human, I probably would’ve been sweating through my clothes by now. Instead, I dragged in breath after breath that did absolutely nothing to settle me.
People moved out of their way instinctively as they crossed the restaurant.
Each sister was so different from the other, not just in style but in attitude, and yet all of them had the same confidence, like they knew they ruled the world. That they were unstoppable.
The youngest, Aniyah waved at me, smiling wide like we were already friends before practically throwing herself into the seat beside me.
“Hi! You're Olivia right?! You're gorgeous!”
Before I could even respond, she grabbed my hand in both of hers and leaned in seriously.
“Okay. I need complete honesty.” Her expression turned absurdly grave. “Blink once for yes. Twice for no.” She inhaled deeply like she was preparing for battle. “Are you being held against your will?”
I blinked. “W-what?”
“Did Calix brainwash you somehow?” she continued rapidly. “Magic? Manipulation? Stockholm syndrome? Is there a hidden dungeon involved?”
Nova slid smoothly into the booth across from us, laughing under her breath while shaking her head.
“Don’t listen to her.” She leaned one elbow against the table casually, smiling warmly at me. “Some of us are actually thrilled our brother found a mate.”
Aniyah gasped dramatically and whipped toward Nova. “It’s not that I’m unhappy for him,” she defended immediately before turning back toward me.
“I’m simply performing my sacred womanly duty to make sure someone this pretty hasn’t been tricked into settling.”
Despite myself, I laughed softly.
Ezra removed her sunglasses as she slid into the booth beside Nova gracefully, crossing one leg over the other while studying me in complete silence.
Not rude. Not hostile. Just… assessing. Like I was a problem she intended to solve eventually.
Riot stayed standing near the end of the booth, posture loose but eyes constantly moving around the restaurant.
When her gaze landed on me, she gave a small nod. “Hello, Olivia.” Her voice stayed flat as always. “Good to see you.”
Then immediately afterward her attention shifted outward again, staring down half the restaurant until nearby tables quickly pretended not to look at us anymore.
Clear message received. Do not bother us.
“Um…” My eyes bounced between all of them before settling back on Aniyah’s intensely expectant stare.
“No coercion,” I answered carefully. “No tricks.” A smile tugged at my mouth despite my nerves. “Just… saving my life and accidentally falling in love, I guess.”
Aniyah made the most offended face I’d ever seen. “Ew.” She physically recoiled against the booth cushions. “A beauty like you could have anyone.”
Her hand waved dramatically through the air. “Everyone.”
She leaned closer conspiratorially. “At the Winged Palace you’d have your own suite. Your own floor. People would line up just to worship you properly.”
I laughed nervously instead.
“Well…” I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. “Honestly, I’m barely surviving the two mates I already have.” Aniyah’s grin turned dangerously slow.
“Darling,” she purred, voice dipping lower, “sometimes overwhelming is exactly what a woman needs.”
Her scent drifted around me sweet and dizzying. She leaned closer until her pale hair slipped forward around us like a curtain, shutting out the rest of the table.
Her eyes sparkled with temptation and playful wickedness, the kind that made my instincts immediately scream danger.
The air suddenly felt too warm. Too close. And despite the white hair and striking features, every instinct in my body immediately recognized one important thing, this was not my Calix.
“Aww, Niyah, stop tormenting the poor girl.”
I practically turned toward Nova’s voice like she’d thrown me a lifeline. Nova winked at me knowingly and suddenly I could breathe again.
“We really did just want to meet you,” she said kindly. “Calix has been ridiculously secretive lately.”
She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Apparently you ‘needed time to heal.’ Then suddenly it became ‘mates need privacy.’”
Aniyah gagged loudly at the word privacy.
“So,” Nova continued with a grin, “we decided to solve the problem ourselves.”
“And by ourselves,” Ezra finally spoke, voice cool enough to cut glass, “she means me.”
The entire table quieted instantly. Even Aniyah stopped moving. And for some reason that made me gulp harder than anything else so far.
“Calix and Rack are going to be occupied for a while.” Ezra’s lips shifted ever so slightly, not quite a smile, but close enough to feel dangerous. “I sent them on a little chase.”
Aniyah snorted beside me like she already knew exactly how furious her brother and Rack were going to be when they figured it out. Nova hid a grin behind her glass while Riot remained perfectly still, though I swore the corner of her mouth almost twitched.
Ezra leaned back slightly, one arm stretched along the booth behind Nova as she studied me over the rim of her sunglasses.
“So.” Her voice stayed smooth and cool. “You have two options.”
She lifted one finger. “You come with us and continue this girls night properly.” A second finger joined the first. “Or you tell us no, and we leave.”
The entire table went quiet after that.
Aniyah bounced slightly in her seat waiting for my answer while Nova looked curious more than anything else. Riot simply watched. Ezra didn’t move at all.
I knew it wasn’t really a choice, not completely, but I also found myself genuinely curious about them.
These women ruled the Syndicate beside Calix and Rack. They were terrifying and strange and somehow already felt woven into my life whether I was ready or not.
I straightened slowly in my seat anyway and nodded once. “I’d be delighted to get to know all of you better.”
Aniyah clapped instantly. Nova smiled wider. Riot gave one approving nod, while Ezra simply slid her sunglasses back onto her face and stood up in one smooth motion.
“Then let’s go.” She turned toward the exit before pausing abruptly beside the table. Her gaze dropped to my half-finished drink, then back to me.
“Are you wasting that?”
The question hung there calmly, but suddenly every sister’s eyes flicked toward me. Watching. Waiting. A test.
I grabbed the glass without breaking eye contact and tipped it back fast enough the alcohol burned all the way down.
When I slammed the empty glass back onto the table, Aniyah barked out a delighted laugh. “That’s what I’m talking about!”
I wiped my mouth lightly with the back of my hand. “Now I’m ready.”
This time Ezra’s mouth definitely curved. Tiny and brief, but real.
She glanced at the watch around her wrist. “We should move quickly,” she said dryly. “We only have so much time before the boys realize they’ve been manipulated and come sprinting back in a panic.”
Aniyah immediately hooked herself around my arm.
“Oh my god, I’m so excited,” she squealed while dragging me out of the booth with surprising strength.
Nova laughed softly and followed while Riot silently fell into step behind us. The second we stepped outside, the cool night air hit my face.
My brain finally caught up enough for me to stop short.
“Wait—I need to pay for—”
“It’s handled.” Ezra never even looked back while saying it. The vampire she’d arrived with was already opening the car door for her before she so much as reached for it. Effortless, controlled, and terrifyingly elegant.
I watched her slide into the Rolls Royce like she belonged on a throne instead of a backseat and couldn’t stop the thought that crossed my mind.