Epilogue
Dorian - one month later.
“Thank you for coming,” I say, pulling out a seat from beneath the dining table for Elizabeth.
She takes a seat, glaring at me. It’s been almost two months since she last saw Edie, and her silent accusation burns between us, her jaw rigid and her eyes sharp, searching mine for answers.
I kept Edie away from her loved ones, not out of possessiveness, but because she needed my help to navigate this strange new existence.
She has resisted the bloodlust, relying on the blood bank as I do, her self-control as strong as Viktor’s.
But immortality has its own price. The hardest part for her is knowing she’ll never age or die, while everyone she cares for will.
“Where’s Edie?” she asks, batting away the glass of wine Viktor offers her.
Unperturbed, he grins, pulling out the seat next to her and dropping into it. “It’s good to see you again, Sunshine.”
Elizabeth pretends not to notice him, but I spot the faint blush blooming on her cheeks beneath his gaze.
“She’ll be here soon. We’re also waiting for Henrietta. I thought she might arrive with you.”
“She got distracted by a man in the foyer,” Elizabeth replies. “I’m sure she’ll come when she’s ready,” she adds pointedly.
Across the dining table, Logan scowls. “What man?”
Elizabeth shrugs. “I didn’t see who it was. She rushed off before I could stop her.”
“That fucking woman,” Logan grumbles, pushing to his feet. “I’ll fetch her.”
He gets up and strides from the room; the door slamming shut behind him.
Elizabeth rolls her eyes. “Henrietta will eat him alive.”
“I highly doubt that,” Viktor says, smiling behind his glass as he takes a sip of wine.
From the opposite side of the room, Edie enters. Her eyes immediately find Elizabeth, and happiness draws her lips up in a smile. “Beth,” she exclaims, rushing forward.
Elizabeth stands abruptly, fists clenched, hurt burning in her eyes. “Don’t you ‘Beth’ me. Why have you ignored us for weeks? Nina’s heartbroken. She thinks she did something wrong.”
Edie stills, her smile slipping. “I’m so sorry. I... I never meant...”
“You’ve been shacked up with him,” Elizabeth snaps, pointing an accusing finger at me. “Meanwhile, your niece has cried herself to sleep every night.”
“I couldn’t come to see you any earlier, I—”
“Why?” Elizabeth’s nostrils flare as she turns her anger on me once again. “Have you kept her prisoner?”
“No.” Edie shakes her head, her hand slipping into mine.
“Elizabeth, perhaps you should sit back down. There are things we need to discuss,” I say, looking to Viktor, who gives me an encouraging nod.
He’s the one who suggested we tell Elizabeth and Henrietta the truth.
I hadn’t wanted to at first, but Edie’s struggles with her immortality and the fact that she’ll never be able to spend time with her niece during daylight forced me to reconsider.
This isn’t something we can keep secret if Edie is still to have a relationship with her family and friends.
And I want her too. I want her to be happy.
“I should leave you both to it,” she snaps, her voice tight with hurt and frustration. Yet instead of storming out, she drops into her chair, seizes the wine Viktor offered, and downs it in a single gulp.
“Easy now,” Viktor says.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” Elizabeth snaps at him.
He holds his hands up. “I meant no disrespect. I’m just looking out for you.”
“Then don’t,” she replies, before exhaling sharply and focusing on Edie. “Alright, out with it. What’s been going on?”
“What I’m about to tell you is going to sound unbelievable, but I need you to keep an open mind, okay?”
“I’m not sure I like the sound of—”
Elizabeth’s response is cut short by Henrietta’s familiar giggle following her through the door. “Wow, this place is incredible!” She stops abruptly, Logan almost running into her back. “Edie, look at you, you’re glowing,” she screeches, rushing forward and throwing her arms around Edie’s neck.
“I’ve missed you,” Edie whispers, untangling herself from her arms as they grin at one another.
“You’re talking as though you haven’t been here before,” Elizabeth says, looking at Henrietta as though she’s lost her mind.
“Of course I haven’t,” she replies, waving a hand at Elizabeth distractedly. “And hello, handsome,” she adds, focusing her attention on me. “Aren’t you just delicious?”
She holds out her hand, and I take it with a grin. “Henrietta.”
“Oh, you can call me Hettie.”
“The hell he can,” Logan snaps, striding towards us.
His fingers curl around Henrietta’s elbow, and she looks up at him, her smile spreading. “You know, I think you rather suit—”
“Angel?” Viktor chuckles.
Henrietta gasps. “How did you know I was going to say that?”
“Are you drunk?” Elizabeth asks, screwing up her face as she watches Logan guide Henrietta around the table.
“I’m not yet, but I might be soon,” Henrietta replies with another giggle, her cheeks reddening as Logan pulls out a chair.
“Sit,” he commands.
“Where? On your face?” Henrietta replies, fluttering her eyelids at Logan before taking a seat.
Viktor bursts out with laughter. “I really, really like her.”
Logan throws him a look that would flay skin from bone. “Don’t even think about it.”
“What the hell is going on? Am I in an alternate universe or something?” Elizabeth asks, looking between the five of us. “Why is Henrietta acting like she’s never been here before, or met any of you—”
“Because I haven’t, silly,” Henrietta says, reaching for an olive from a bowl on the table and popping it into her mouth.
“As a matter of fact, why do you look like... like...” Elizabeth motions towards Edie, her eyes narrowing on her face. “Like you’ve been—”
“Thoroughly screwed?” Henrietta interjects, throwing a look of glee Edie’s way.
Elizabeth shakes her head, tutting. “Would you stop with the sexual innuendoes, Henrietta, and whilst you’re at it, drop the act.”
“What act? What’s gotten up your nose and laid an egg? If anyone’s acting like they’ve been taken over by an alien, it’s you.”
“Okay. Okay, I think it’s time. Dorian,” Edie says, canting her head towards Henrietta.
“Time for what, exactly?” Elizabeth asks, her eyes tracking me as I traverse the table and tug on the back of Henrietta’s seat, twisting her to the side so I can crouch beside her.
Logan shifts over, but I feel the intensity of his stare as I reach for Henrietta’s hand, holding it in mine. “What’s he doing?”
“Just wait a second, okay? Everything will become clear in just a minute,” Edie says, dropping into the seat beside Elizabeth. They exchange a look, and I see the worry Edie holds in her body. Whatever the outcome is tonight, I’ll know she’ll need me to be there for her.
“Henrietta,” I begin.
“Hettie,” she replies, shifting in her seat, her eyes glazing over as my compulsion reaches for her.
“Hettie. You don’t remember this, but I glamoured you some time ago. I did it because I thought I had no choice.”
“Glamoured her? What’s he talking about?” Elizabeth asks, her gaze drilling into the side of my face.
“Just wait,” Edie urges, and Elizabeth falls silent.
“And now I mean to reverse what I did. This won’t hurt. You’re perfectly safe, okay?”
Henrietta nods, her body relaxing as I slip easily past her defences, searching for the memories I’ve blocked from her conscious mind.
Finding them, I grasp her hand tighter. “You will remember everything I’ve hidden from you.
All of it. There will be no part left hidden.
” With a gentle shove, I push against the shield I put in place, and it disperses like warm air in winter.
Henrietta gasps, her whole body going rigid. Then her eyes lose their softness and focus on me. She snatches her hand from mine, then slaps it across my face. The sound of skin meeting skin cracking in the air.
“Henrietta,” Edie cries.
Next to her, Elizabeth’s mouth drops open with shock. “What the hell?”
I hold my hand up, pushing to my feet. “I deserved that.”
“You deserve a stake to the heart too, you bloodsucking vampire.”
Viktor chuckles. Logan grinds his teeth, and Elizabeth snaps her gaze to mine.“Vampire? What the hell is she talking about?”
“Let me explain,” Edie says, reaching for Elizabeth’s arm.
“You bet your arse you’re going to explain, Edie,” Henrietta says, rounding on her. “He drank your blood, and then he glamoured me so he could kidnap you. I thought you were on a bloody sabbatical, raving it up in Europe somewhere. Have you been here all this time?”
Henrietta slams her palm on the table so hard that it topples a wine glass, smashing it.
She doesn’t even notice a shard slicing through the back of her hand until it’s too late.
Before I can stop him, Logan reaches out, his fingers wrapping around her wrist as his fangs drop and his eyes turn crimson.
Elizabeth lets out a blood-curdling scream and launches upright, her panic overtaking any sense of caution. In her scramble to get away, her foot snags the chair, and she hits the floor awkwardly. I hear the snap of bone before she’s even realised her arm is broken.
“Elizabeth,” Edie cries, dropping to her side. “Are you okay?”
“Viktor, help Elizabeth. I’ll deal with Logan,” I say, gripping his shoulder. “Let Hettie go.”
“It’s Henrietta to you,” he bites out, eyes pinned on her, but despite the possessiveness of his tone, he releases Henrietta’s wrist.
“Stay the fuck away from me,” Elizabeth yells from the other side of the table, shuffling on her arse across the room as Viktor tries and fails to help her.
“He’s a doctor. Let him see your arm,” Edie begs, but Elizabeth recoils, refusing his help as she climbs to her feet. Tears well in her eyes, and her breath comes in short, sharp gasps as she backs away.
“A doctor?” She bares her teeth. “Bullshit. You’re one of them, too, aren’t you?”
“I’m both, and I won’t hurt you. I promise,” Viktor says, his voice soft. “I need to make you a sling. Let me help you.”
“Go to Hell!”