James Faulkner was walking on a beach. He wasn"t sure how long he"d been walking, but his legs felt as tired as though he"d been trudging along the sand all day, and the hems of his slacks were damp.
It was approaching nighttime now. High tide slopped over the sand. The crystalline waters reflected the darkening violet of the sky.
When he realized that he didn"t know where he was or where he was going, he stopped.
The white condominiums to his right were familiar in their spa.r.s.e lines, as was the well-kept road leading to a park that he could see at the end of the block. People were out bicycling and jogging, even though the air rapidly cooled with nightfall. n.o.body even glanced in his direction. None of them seemed to realize anything might be awry.
There was also a familiar pier nearby. Its steps had been mostly worn away by seawater, wind, and time, but it looked very much the same way that it had last time James had been there.
He was in Klampenborg, a town north of Copenhagen. He"d once rented one of those white condos overlooking the fjord because he needed the private s.p.a.ce to perform the lengthy ritual that had bound him to Elise as her aspis.
That part, he remembered well.
Recent memories were somewhat hazier.
He touched a hand to his throat, feeling where it had been severed. There was no sign of injury there.
"Elise," he said softly. The breeze carried her name away from him.
The fact that James had appeared on this familiar beach in Klampenborg and that it looked so normal meant that Belphegor hadn"t seized control of the genesis.
Elise had done it. She had ended the world...and then saved it.
James closed his eyes and took a long inhale of the clean air. Not a hint of smoke or brimstone. Everything was normal.
When he opened his eyes again, someone was standing on the end of the pier. James was certain that she hadn"t been there a moment before. She looked out of place alongside the leggy Danish joggers in their athletic gear; n.o.body else wore hip-hugging leather and a cropped black tank that revealed two inches of skin between her belt and the hem of her shirt.
She was gazing out at the fjord, hands on her hips, as though surveying a recently finished painting for flaws. Wind lifted auburn curls around her freckled shoulders, tossing it aside so that James could see the hard line of her jaw.
He stopped at the bottom of the steps, toes sinking into the sand. It felt like his heart wouldn"t beat. His legs certainly wouldn"t carry him another step.
James tried to call out to her, but he couldn"t speak, either.
He didn"t need to. She turned around as though she could feel him behind her. Sunset painted her peach skin in tones of crimson, and actual sunlight touched her cheekbones with no sign that it hurt her. The fact that she didn"t glow like liquid moonlight anymore made James ache.
Elise"s scarred left eyebrow lifted as she smirked, silently asking, What do you think?
James pulled himself free of the sand. He scaled the steps of the pier. The rough, uneven boards creaked underneath him as he approached her.
"It"s perfect," he said, answering her unspoken question. He tucked a curl behind her ear. Her skin was warm and smooth.
She felt entirely human. Not a demon, not a G.o.d. Just Elise.
He didn"t understand why, but there would be time for questions later. Much later.
Only one question couldn"t wait.
"About Nathaniel," James said hesitantly.
"I took care of him," Elise said. "He"s fine."
"How so?"
She told him.
It wasn"t a perfect answer, but it was fitting. And Nathaniel would be happy. He would be safe.
"Thank you," James said.
Elise just nodded. Then she took his hand in hers. Their fingers laced together as they both turned to look out at the sunset.
They stood together, side by side in the new world that Elise had made for them, and it was good.
It was all very good.
Twenty-Three.
FOUR MONTHS LATER.
The wedding was held outside on a warm, sunny day, with just enough of a breeze that Rylie could smell the field of flowers on the far side of the pavilion. The weather reports had threatened an eighty percent chance of rain, but luck was on their side-there wasn"t even a cloud in the sky.
It was the perfect day for Summer and Nash to get married.
The angel had healed from the wounds inflicted in the war. There wasn"t a hint of scarring on his face, and what remained on his chest was covered by a dove-gray suit. It was off the rack-with a few adjustments performed by Rylie"s Aunt Gwyneth, of course-but the way he stood made it look like a designer piece.
Nash didn"t seem to care all that much about his suit, or the decorations that the pack had spent the last three days putting up, or even the weather. He only had eyes for Summer.
Who could blame him? She looked amazing, too. They"d had to get an entirely new dress for her after the genesis, since the last one seemed not to have survived the death and rebirth of the entire universe, but Rylie thought this gown suited her much better anyway. It fell just above her knees and b.u.t.toned down the front with tiny flowers embroidered along the hem. Not a traditional wedding dress by far-more like a particularly fancy sundress. But it suited Summer perfectly.
She quivered with excitement.
"You may now kiss," said the priest.
Nash leaned toward her, but he only made it about two inches before Summer lost control of herself. She jumped on him, flinging her arms around his neck, kicking her feet off the ground, and giving him the kind of kiss that definitely would not have been church-appropriate.
Good thing they weren"t in a church.
"For f.u.c.k"s sake," Abel muttered as the watching pack exploded in cheers.
It was so loud that Rylie thought that the whole world would be able to hear the pack celebrating.
She laughed and stretched up on her toes to kiss Abel, clutching the sleeve of his tuxedo to keep from tipping over. He still had to help her by bending down several inches. As a supernaturally graceful werewolf, Rylie had spent most of her pregnancy relatively agile, but even she was getting to be clumsy at nine months. It wasn"t possible to compensate for the sheer size of her stomach anymore.
When she dropped back down, Summer was still kissing Nash. His hands were tangled in her hair, ruining the perfect updo that Aunt Gwyn had put together. Summer seemed okay with this.
Cheers were turning to laughs.
"Get a room!" Trevin yelled.
Summer finally broke away. She wasn"t even blushing. She grinned, gave Trevin the finger, and went back to kissing her new husband.
Rylie watched the crowd, and seeing how happy everyone looked made her feel like her heart might just explode out of her chest.
Abram was right in front, standing between Seth and Levi. She didn"t even care that Levi was there anymore. He"d been less of an a.s.shole since the genesis. Most people had been nicer in the ensuing months, actually.
Nothing quite like the whole world dying to make everyone get a better grasp on their priorities.
Ariane Kavanagh had come to the wedding, too. She was seated in a corner watching Marion and Dana McIntyre, both of whom Ariane was raising now. The girls weren"t paying any attention to the wedding. They fought with branches they had ripped off a tree, practicing sword-fighting and getting mud all over their fancy shoes.
Aunt Gwyn wasn"t far away from them. She"d brought her girlfriend with her, who looked a little astonished by Summer and Nash"s extremely unabashed display of affection.
Brianna and Anthony, in the row behind them, didn"t look much more enthusiastic about it. The witch was making gagging faces at Anthony. He looked like he was trying to ignore her.
Even that just made Rylie smile harder. She hadn"t thought that she would ever see a day like this again. There was no ash in the trees and no gloom in the sky at all-no evidence that there had ever been a Breaking. The sanctuary was in great condition. So was Northgate. The town was still mostly empty, but people were moving back into the more rural parts of the United States now that they realized that the horror everyone had survived over the last couple of years had ended.
Without any scarcity of food or supplies, the pack was growing again, and Rylie didn"t really want it to stop. They were a big, happy family.
It had been a long time since Rylie felt this content.
Actually, she wasn"t sure she had ever felt this content.
Summer and Nash were still kissing.
"Okay, that"s enough," Abel said, stepping toward his daughter.
Rylie held him tight. "Don"t even think about it."
The priest rolled his eyes, dropped his book of poetry, and walked away, leaving Summer and Nash at the altar.
They did stop kissing after a few more seconds, and the pack pelted Summer and Nash with birdseed as they walked back down the aisle. Rylie hung back with Abel. She didn"t want hair full of birdseed.
Through the seed and streamers, Rylie glimpsed two people standing at the very back of the pavilion, hanging apart from the rest of the crowd. She felt a stir of surprise.
The woman was wearing a red cotton dress and sandals. A thick braid hung over her shoulder, decorated just over the ear with a big white flower the size of her palm. She looked so pretty in such an ordinary way that Rylie wouldn"t have recognized her if she hadn"t been standing between James Faulkner and a muscular pit bull with a pink nose.
Elise Kavanagh had come to Summer"s wedding after all.
Rylie had invited her a long time ago, but she hadn"t actually thought Elise would come. Especially since n.o.body had seen her since the genesis. Everyone had a.s.sumed that Elise just hadn"t survived her last fight against Belphegor.
She wasn"t just alive. She looked great.
Rylie had so many questions for them.
She moved to follow Summer and Nash down the aisle, clinging to Abel"s hand for balance. She only made it two steps down from the stage before she felt a strange pop, like a rubber band snapping deep inside of her belly.
Warm fluid gushed down her legs.
Rylie looked down. She couldn"t see past her ma.s.sive stomach to her feet, but a puddle was spreading over the steps, and she could still feel fluid draining from her belly.
"Um," she said.
Abel smelled it an instant later and looked down. "Did you just...?"
"Yes," Rylie said faintly. "I think I did."
Aunt Gwyn was up the stairs in two seconds flat. A contraction hit Rylie hard, wrapping around from her back to the front of her stomach, radiating down her thighs, and sucking her breath away.
She staggered, but her aunt caught her.
"I think you"re going to have to miss the reception, babe," Gwyn said.
Rylie thought she was probably right.
Once the news of the baby"s arrival hit the reception, it quickly turned from a celebration of a wedding to a belated baby shower.
Summer didn"t seem to mind. If anything, she seemed happy to have the excuse to duck out of the party with Nash. Elise spotted them enjoying private time in the forest. The kind of private time that occupied their attention enough that they didn"t even notice Elise pa.s.sing with James.
"Seems like it won"t be long before the pack"s celebrating the arrival of another new member," he muttered once they were safely out of Summer"s enhanced earshot, his voice m.u.f.fled by the sounds of carousing in the sanctuary.
Elise didn"t respond. She and Ace had stopped just outside the second pavilion, where the reception was being held, and her dog"s tail had started wagging wildly. Ace had smelled familiar people. No longer broken by his time with the cult, he wanted to join the party.
It did look like they were having fun. Seth and Anthony were pouring congratulatory beer down Abel"s throat while others cheered them on. Luckily, werewolves were more or less impervious to alcohol poisoning. Abel would have to drink a lot more beer than anyone had brewed since the genesis to get sick.
She liked seeing Seth and Anthony enjoying themselves. She had been keeping an eye on them for the last several weeks, and they had mostly been working together. Starting a new version of the Hunting Club, just the two of them with Brianna. They had a new office in Las Vegas. McIntyre would have been proud. Elise knew that she was.
Part of her wished that she could join them.
A much larger part of her was far happier in seclusion with James. And Ace, of course.
Evening had fallen since the wedding, and the entire pavilion was lit with gold lanterns, casting the party with an inviting glow. But even though Elise didn"t have problems with light anymore-something she occasionally forgot-she hung back in the shadows.
Anthony probably would have been happy to see her, but she didn"t think she and James would be welcome guests where anyone else was concerned. Too many bad memories. Too much trauma.
It didn"t matter. Elise hadn"t gone to the wedding to visit with the pack.
"Let"s go talk to her," Elise said.
They headed to Rylie"s cottage. There were people talking outside, and more women in the living room. Elise and James slipped around back. The bedroom window was open and Rylie reclined in bed, alone except for her new son.
Summer had made it clear that Rylie wasn"t taking visitors yet when she had announced the new baby at the reception, but Elise didn"t ask permission to visit. She unleashed Ace to let him sniff around in the forest, then entered through the back door, taking James along with her.
Elise knocked twice on the bedroom door. Rylie said, "Come in." She didn"t need to ask who was visiting her-not with her sense of smell.