He tucked his women close.
He held them tight.
And he did this for a long fucking time.
Epilogue
All That We Can Be
Delilah
As the sun snuck beneath the horizon, the sound of Abel’s guitar strings bounced against the rocks of the bay.
A bay that was crowded shoulder-to-shoulder with vampires, wolves, wraiths, phantoms, and humans.
Up front, his khaki pants rolled up his ankles, the breeze blowing at his white linen shirt, the sea lapping against his bare feet, stood Yuri.
To one side, leaning in, her hand in his, her head on his shoulder, stood Aurora.
On his other, her arm around him, her head also on his shoulder, stood Sonia.
And at Aurora’s side, also holding hands with her daughter, stood Barb.
A few feet behind them, arms wrapped around each other, stood Callum and Regan.
And we stood behind Callum and Regan. Me. Leah and Lucien. Jian-Li, Xun, and Chen, the boys holding up Wei who, even with his injuries, refused not to come. Dad, Ursula, Moose, Poncho, his auntie, Josefa, and Jabber. Aurora’s witch buddies. Ryon, Calder, and Caleb.
All of us held hands (except one of my hands was unavailable since my arm was in a sling, so Leah held me about the waist at my other side).
The rest, there to pay respects, stood to our backs.
Our eyes were on the Viking ship drifting peacefully on the waves.
Abel’s guitar was joined with another, the power of the strums reverberating through our bodies.
And as Abel’s voice rang out, the strings of an orchestra joined him.
In his baritone, he sang John Denver’s “The Eagle and the Hawk.”
The words tore through me as tears raced down my cheeks.
But I listened.
I listened to every beautiful word.
As the final notes drifted through the still air, hundreds of flaming arrows arced their buttercream light through the dark lavender blanket of sky.
Some hit the water.
Most hit the boat, and it and its precious cargo, taking its final journey, burst into flames.
I failed at swallowing back my sob and Jian-Li’s hand in mine tightened.
The boat burned.
No one moved.
I felt Abel push in beside me and take my hand from Jian-Li’s to hold in his.
“All that we can be,” Leah whispered.
At her words, more tears slid down my cheeks. The burning boat was blurry, but I kept my eyes to it.
Soar, Gregor, I prayed. You’ve done your job. We’re safe now. The whole world is safe now, because of you.
Sparks shot to the heavens on my thought.
I tasted salt as I smiled.
Aurora lifted her head from Yuri’s shoulder and we all heard her say quietly, “I’m glad I got the chance to know him, Yuri.”
With his gaze straight to the sea, Yuri dropped her hand and curled an arm around her shoulders.
But he made no reply.
Callum did.
“You will never meet a stronger man in your life,” the king of wolves declared, his eyes on the burning ship. “With eternity lying before us, not one of us will.”
Sonia looked back at her husband and smiled through her tears.
I dropped my head to Abel’s shoulder and gave him my weight.
And Abel, my mate, he stood strong and let me.
* * * * *
Lucien
“Where were you?” Lucien demanded.
“We were there,” Avery replied.
“You were? You were where?” Lucien clipped.
“We were there. The Ancients are everywhere. Do you think the insurrectionists had the ability to hack satellites?’ Avery shook his head and his eyes claimed Lucien’s in an unbreakable hold. “The humans, Lucien, they had to see.”
“You televised it?” Lucien hissed.
“They had to see.”
“You’ve said that,” Lucien bit out.
“The magic, Lucien, the magic that makes us, the magic that binds us, the magic that gives us immortality, links our races, flows through all of our veins only exists because of hope. Hope and love. Etienne and his minions represented the death of that. The Three was its salvation.”
“If you knew what they had planned, why didn’t you help us?” Lucien asked.
“We did,” Avery told him.
“And how’s that?” It was a scoff.
“For the last several decades, we gave you Gregor.”
Lucien’s jaw went hard.
He changed subjects. “After he attacked Leah, I could have dealt with my father. You wouldn’t allow it. I could have done something before he violated concubines, slaughtered villages—”
“Yes, but if you had, they would not have seen.”
Lucien blew out an infuriated breath. “I don’t understand your logic. In love and hope, you accept innocent collateral damage?”
“If you don’t understand, then I’ll tell you this,” Avery returned. “If I’d told Gregor he would lose his life to this fight, he would not have changed one thing he did, including going to aid his son, his daughter, you. That’s love, Lucien. That’s hope. That’s beauty.” He leaned forward. “That’s magic.”
Fuck, but Lucien couldn’t argue that.
“They saw,” Avery continued. “All around the globe, they saw you fight. They saw you bleed. They saw you sacrifice. They saw you face an undefeatable foe. And they saw you beat it. They saw the power of hope. They saw the might of love. And now, what do we have?”
Lucien didn’t answer.
“Harmony,” Avery whispered. “Immortals and mortals, after millennia, living together in harmony.”
He wasn’t wrong.
In the five days since the battle, there had been incidents.