Epilogue #2
Lilith nodded enthusiastically, dragging me by the hand. But she didn’t pull me up the stairs toward the apartments she’d shared with Jules. Instead, she guided me into a sitting room on the ground floor.
“This is what the house was like when I was a child,” she explained, throwing Callum a look that was so filled with love it warmed my heart. “I like to think Maman would be happy to know we are back here.”
I nodded, squeezing her hand tightly. “I think she would be. Who else is here?”
But I didn’t need to ask as we made our way into the sitting room.
Seth stood by the mantel. He’d been watching the flames but turned at our approach.
My heart jolted for a moment as I remembered the last time I’d seen him, but this was not that house and not those rooms. Seth frowned as if he could feel my panic, but Eamon’s love through the bond smoothed the fear until my shoulders dropped a fraction. Safe. I was safe—we all were.
I was surprised to see Mateo by the window with his arms crossed.
Though he had a smile on his face, the grief was plain, as if it was a shroud he tightly wrapped around himself.
I wondered if, to Mateo, this place was full of ghosts.
Henry stood beside him and it was clear he was struggling to put on the same calm facade.
He breathed out a heavy sigh, closing the distance between us in an instant.
“I am so relieved to see you are well,” he said, embracing me as best he could with my hand in Lilith’s and Eamon at my back.
“Henry healed what he could of your infection,” my mate offered.
Henry drew back. “I am sorry I could not do more.”
There was so much regret in his voice I could not understand, but I offered him a small smile, taking his hand with my free one. “You did more than enough. Thank you for giving me the gift of your magic.”
He bowed over my knuckles, kissing them. “Welcome to the family, Madame Azad.”
A small bolt of heat shot up my spine. I blinked, turning to Eamon, who looked at Henry with narrowed eyes. The latter kissed my hand one more time before straightening.
Adrienne Azad. I couldn’t help but smile a little, despite the bittersweet grief.
It was traditional for a fledgling to take on the last name of their maker—I would never be Adrienne Valois again.
My mind drifted to my brother and I hoped he was safe wherever he was, having shed our family name as well.
Now, I hoped, we were both free.
“I must be going, but I will see you soon.” Henry moved so fast that even to my preternatural eyes it looked as if he disappeared.
I frowned. “What was that about?”
Eamon chuckled, running a hand over his mouth. “Noah is coming.”
“Noah? But why would he…”
The rest of my words were drowned by the crash of the door flying open and heavy footsteps falling on the old wooden floor.
“If you broke our wall, Noah Iver, you will be fixing it yourself,” Callum rumbled.
Noah flew around the corner a moment later, his footfalls stuttering to a stop.
It was easy to see what a mess he was and guilt twisted through my insides so tightly no amount of reassurance through the bond would ease it.
He was covered in small gashes that could only be from the venefica he fought nightly, but they littered his face and neck.
A deep purplish bruise marred his light brown skin and I wondered how he’d gotten it when venefica didn’t have fists.
“Addie,” he breathed.
Tears pricked my eyes and I closed the space between us, throwing my arms around his neck. “I’m so sorry, Noah.”
Immediately he wrapped his arms around me. The scent of dirt and earth and parchment clung to him, along with something else I couldn’t quite place, fresh like snow. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. If this is what you wanted then I’m happy. That’s all we’ve ever wanted for you.”
I nodded against his chest. “I’m happy.”
He patted my back, drawing away to see my face. “Then I am happy too.”
I stifled my urge to frown, because it was clear that wasn’t quite true.
He slung an arm around my shoulders and guided me to the sitting room.
After hearing so much about how Vyenur magic affected vampires, it was a little odd to experience it.
Noah’s magical energy did not put me on edge exactly, but it did make me more aware, as if all my senses had been heightened to another level.
I’d always assumed they only impacted them negatively—stirring up the more primal side of a blood drinker—but perhaps because of the love we shared I was not so impacted.
Lilith bounded forward to kiss his cheek and he offered a hand to Callum to shake, but when he got to Eamon a small awkwardness crept through the air.
“I will not apologize for what I said, but I ask for forgiveness for the way I said it,” Noah said, his arm falling from my shoulders.
Eamon smiled graciously and extended his hand. “It was what I needed to hear. I am grateful to have such an honest person in our family, Noah.”
My best friend’s shoulders dropped with relief and he turned to find Mateo waggling his brows at him. “You just missed Henry.”
Some of the frostiness of a moment ago returned as Noah snorted and turned back to Eamon as if Mateo had not spoken. “You have the Vyenurs. Those who were in Mael’s pocket say as long as we’re given the space to follow our calling, none will stand in your way.”
“None?” Eamon’s brows rose in surprise.
Noah shrugged, tracing the spine of a recipe book displayed on a nearby bookshelf. “If there are any who disagree, they are few and will be dealt with easily.”
Eamon had explained last night how the Covenant had fallen and, in the aftermath, most assumed he was the one who would lead.
But the weight of that responsibility was heavy on his shoulders and it slithered through our connection.
I urged him to sit on the nearest settee, forgetting the usual decorum.
He fought me for a moment, looking toward his maker until Seth waved a hand dismissively.
“Your modern rituals are so strange,” he murmured. “Sit if you want to sit, but do not stand because of me.”
Everyone in the room found a seat while Seth stayed near the fire.
Callum composed his long limbs in a nearby armchair, but when Lilith went to take the one beside him, he grabbed her wrist and tugged her into his lap.
She rolled her lips together, fighting a smile, and I looked away when he leaned in to whisper something in her ear.
It was a relief to see her so happy, especially after the trials of this past year.
“You have the support of the Lycans as well,” Mateo added after a moment, perching on the windowsill and crossing his arms over his broad chest. “Especially after returning Elaina Belovuk to her pack. Her betrothed, Alexander Darcay, has extended an invitation to us to join them for dinner on their estate.”
From the corner of my eye, Seth stiffened, his gaze dropping to the flames. Eamon must have noticed it too from the way he paused, assessing his maker before answering. “This is all good news. I’ll send Alexander a message tomorrow night accepting his invitation.”
We spent a good amount of the night discussing the future. No matter how much Mateo or Callum—or even Noah—urged, Eamon refused to accept the title of leader.
“Too much power can be a terrible thing,” he said after the third reference Mateo made to the idea. “I will not fall prey to the same temptations as my brother. Time can make monsters of us all if we are not careful.”
It was a fear I knew all too well. I wrapped my hand around his biceps, turning to kiss his shoulder.
He sighed, leaning into my touch. I thought of what they’d said tonight, of the different factions of supernaturals in our world giving their support to Eamon coupled with the fears we held for our future.
Fears of what might happen when power was placed into one person’s hands.
“Then let it be a group,” I said. “A collective not just of vampires, but Lycans, Vyenurs, and witches.”
A shimmer of pride flickered through the bond. Around us, Callum and Mateo began to speak excitedly, Lilith chiming in on top of them with Noah and Seth occasionally commenting. But I only had eyes for my mate, for my maker, as he looked down at me.
“No matter what happens, in this future we will be together,” he promised, stroking my cheek.
I nodded. “Tomorrow and the next.”
He smiled, leaning forward to press his brow to mine. “Tomorrow and the next.”