leaned down and touched his lips to mine.
I sighed, happily. It was like coming home. I caught the side of his face and whispered, “Have I told you how much I love you?”
He nodded, moving his lips over mine. “Say it again. I like hearing it.”
“I love you.”
His eyes darkened, and he shifted so he was lying on top of me. “And again.” His mouth dipped to my throat.
An ache was forming between my legs. I knew he would soon be there, filling me, making me feel whole again, and I sighed as his lips moved up my jawline to find my mouth again. “I love you.”
“And again.” He kissed me. Long. Lingering. And so damn lovingly.
“I love you.” I would never stop telling him, just like he had done the same to me the night before.
After he was inside of me, after we were moving together, after we reminded each other that we could still touch one another, he lifted his head and gazed down. “You mentioned last night that you wanted a new name?”
I laughed, arching my back and pressing against him. “Is now the right time for this?”
He smiled down at me. “I want to know what name to call you when I make you scream tonight.”
“Oh my God.” I laughed, but then sobered up. “Davina.”
“Davina?”
I nodded. It was my full name, one that I hated, but I was different. I was changed. I was no longer the happy and giddy college girl, only hoping to deal with being empathic. I would find that girl again, but it would be a while. It might be a long while, but it felt right. My hands splayed out over the side of his face. I looked up into his depths as he gazed down to mine. I murmured, “It’s a new life for me. I’m no longer Davy. She died when The Immortal took hold of me, but I can still be Davina. That’s my name.”
“Okay.” He leaned down, and his lips lovingly moved over mine. “Have I told you how much I love you today, Davina?”
I laughed and then relished as he proceeded to, over and over again. We were still showing our love for each other as the sun dipped down, the moon came out, and still when the early morning started to peek out again.
When it was morning, I fell asleep, but there were no more worries anymore. I was in Roane’s arms again and I knew if I stayed there, all could be handled. When we woke, we packed up. The rest of our group was waiting for us. The goodbyes were spoken. Lily hugged me tightly and I barely managed to hold back tears. She was such a little girl, but I was reassured that she was protected by an entire village. Tracey and Wren said goodbye. Wren decided to stay with the Mori. She would help protect the newest thread-holder and she wouldn’t have to leave her lover again. There was a special goodbye between Lucas and Wren. She had been one of his best warriors for centuries. She would be missed, but it was a good goodbye, not a sad one. He was holding back some of his own tears as he stepped next to me and took my hand. After the last goodbye, the Mori headed for the center of their village. The bells began to toll. Lucan’s execution was near. As the Mori headed past us, we walked the other way.
We left.
We were outside of the village, and the bells had almost faded when a sudden cheer filled the air.
We all stopped. Gavin, Bastion, and Brown. Gregory found his daughter, so she came with us. We glanced back, and then to Lucas.
His brother was dead.
We traveled another mile when we heard a bush rustling. Both Gavin and Bastion drew their swords, but then we heard, “Hey, man. Shit. What’s with the swords? I thought we were all friends.”
“Yeah,” a second voice crawled out. “You told us to stay put and we did. We’ve been chilling for a week and holy cripes,” a pair of eyes found me and widened, “the psycho bitch is back.”
It was Cal and Spencer.
Gavin’s mouth fell open. He groaned, hitting his hand to his forehead. “We completely forgot about these guys.”
Lucas frowned. “Who are these guys?”
All eyes came to me and I laughed, nervously. “Uh . . . so, it’s a long story, you see . . .”
And, as we continued home, I held his hand and told him everything that happened, and it was a long story indeed, but it was a good story. In fact, it was a great story and while Spencer and Cal were finally sent home, I knew this was a story that I would tell our child. The one thing I never told anyone since the beginning was that I was pregnant, and even though I was a vampire now, with Mori magic in me, I was able to give birth to a healthy little girl.
We named her Saren.
Lucas said the wedding could be in his restaurant or the new hotel he bought, but the idea of being indoors hadn’t sat right with me. It hadn’t sat right with me ever since we returned to Benshire. Being captured by Lucan and then again by The Immortal, I’d been yearning more and more to remain outside. It was wintertime, but I still did. The winter didn’t touch me, which was one of the nicer qualities about being a vampire. Still. I was transitioning to my new state in life. I was free. I was a vampire. I was going to be a wife, and feeling my hair getting tugged, I looked down at the best transition in my life. I was a mother.
Saren waved her plump hands in the air and started to tip back, laughing. She didn’t go far. I had her tucked in my arm so her head hit my arm lightly, but she loved it. Peals of more laughter filled the air.
“Is she hungry?”
Pippa asked the question, eager, but Brown was right next to her. Since we got back, Brown had been wonderful. She’d been by my side the entire time, making sure I was okay. Pippa came for Saren’s birth, and she stuck around. She was going to try college again. So was Brown. Both had dropped out because of my captivity. I knew that was the elephant in the room. They wanted me to go with them, but neither asked yet. Vampires could go. It’s where I met Lucas. We could walk in the light. We could do almost everything a human did, but it was different.
I had to mourn not being a human. Going to college—it would be in my face every day. I would never grow old, weak, diseased . . . and I was an idiot. I was grieving not being fat? I was a vampire. They were always gorgeous and since my transformation, I’d gotten the gloss over too. It wasn’t that my looks were totally changed, but my skin was clearer. My eyes darker. My hair was shinier. I was already slender, but I became more toned.
Saren started kicking her legs and gurgling.
This one, my hold on her tightened, she was worth it. Everything. If I hadn’t spent so much time with the Mori, Lucas’s sperm in me wouldn’t have taken root. I was human, but he wasn’t. It was their magic, just being in their lands, that helped make Saren possible.
“You should get your dress on.” Pippa came forward. Her hands were already up and she was smiling at Saren. “I’ll take the little one.”
Brown jumped beside her. “I can’t wait. A bridesmaid. I’m a bridesmaid. I’ve never been a bridesmaid.”
Pippa slid her hands under Saren and stepped back with her. She grinned at Brown. “You’re a Bright bridesmaid.”
“And you.” Brown clapped her on the shoulder. “You’re a werewolf bridesmaid. I can’t wait till I get drunk. You’re nursing, Davy—in a . . .” She trailed off, glancing away.
That was another transition.
I told her, “It’s fine, Brown. You’re not the only one. Trust me.”
Pippa groaned, rocking Saren back and forth. “Oh yeah. I’ve been calling her Davy since I arrived.”
Both sobered and gazed at me. Brown sighed. “It’s not that we don’t want to call you Davina. It’s just . . .”
They were torn. They loved Davy. I was alive. I reached for both of their hands and squeezed them. “I’m different. I know, but I’ll get back to my old self.”
The Immortal.
Lucan.
Losing my humanity—the last year before Lucas broke me free had been hard, but I felt the old me coming back. The old me would come back. I squeezed once more. “I love you guys, and you are helping the old Davy spark to life again. Thank you. And thank you f
or being a part of my wedding.”
“Well, hell yeah. Of course.” Brown gestured outside my bedroom window. We were back at Lucas’s house, the one by the cliff where Lucan captured us in the first place. There weren’t great memories, but each night Lucas helped push those bad ones away as he made new ones with me. And there was land. There was lots and lots of land. I didn’t feel so ‘constricted’ here. The cliff was where the wedding would take place. Emily was the wedding planner and she was utilizing everyone to help. The entire backyard was transformed so it looked like a magical forest. Trees had been relocated and spelled to grow tall. Flowers hung everywhere. Logs made up the seats. It didn’t look like it was next to a cliff at all. And within a few hours, it would be filled with vampires, werewolves, witches, and a few humans (those who were either clueless or brave.) There would be a few slayers as well. A group of them were waiting for us when we returned. They took Kates with them. I knew they were going to help her heal. Her time in captivity had been the worst of all of us. There’d been a few correspondents between the two of us. We were both getting better, and I was excited to see her again. She’d been my childhood nolstage. I wanted to get to know my best friend once again, well not my real best friend. That was Lucas now, but Kates held a special place in my heart. She always would.
Brown said, “This wedding is a dream wedding and hello, Roane in tuxedo.” She fanned herself. “Swoon right there.”
Pippa frowned. “He’s going to be her husband.”
“But he’s gorgeous. I can see. I can appreciate.” Brown nudged Pippa with her shoulder. “Just like I can appreciate the hotness of your brother. Hubba hubba. Come to me Christian Christane.” She leaned over and grabbed Saren’s thumb, but paused and asked, “Does he have to be betrothed to another werewolf? Is that a thing? What about a witch? You think I got a shot? He can be my Alpha any night of the week.”
Pippa’s frown deepened and she turned, giving Brown a curt response. Brown retaliated, another laughing joke. It had been like this over the last few months and I sighed, listening, but I loved it. The teases were flying. The jokes were sent back and forth. Pippa would huff about something, and Brown would follow with one more outrageous suggestion, all the while trying to hide her grin.
This was normal. This had been my life, and I knew it would be again.
The old Davy was rearing up. She wanted to join in, but the slight tease I had was held back. If I joined in with the joking, they would be quieted in shock. Then, they’d want more. They’d start looking for the old Davy every minute, every hour, every time they were around me and she wasn’t there. Not yet. But she was coming. I felt her in me again.
I turned back to the window and gazed down. Roane was there, listening to Emily who was pointing at a post that was covered with flowers. Her hand movements were sharp, and his frown grew, even as I watched.
Emily never wanted to bother me with anything, so she bothered him. I thought it was hilarious.
“Having fun?” I asked him.
He looked up, knowing exactly where I was. He thought back, “Your old roommate still drives me crazy.”
“Remember when she had a crush on you?”
He groaned. “I was using her to get to you. I should’ve known better.”
Resting a hand to the window frame, I leaned closer. I teased back, “Oh, come on. Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re a stud.”
“Don’t start.”
I laughed under my breath. “You’re the last living Hunter. You’re a legend, Lucas.”
“Davina.” He sighed.
I kept going, loving the sweet torment. “I know you’re a legend in my mind. A legend in bed.”
His eyes flashed a warning. “If you keep going, I’ll come up there and show you how legendary you can be, too.”
My hands curled around the frame. “Promise?”
He groaned again, shaking his head. Emily quieted, and stared at him blankly. Her eyes trailed up, following his, and when she saw me, understanding flared over her face. She lifted a hand, giving me an impish grin, and said, “I’ll let you two be alone. Davina, dress.”
I opened the window and hollered down, “Aye, aye, Staff Sergeant.”
I didn’t think, but as soon as the words left my mouth, I cringed. Emily’s eyes widened and she sucked in her breath. That was the old Davy. Sarcastic. Teasing. Still grimacing, I waved back. “I will. Thank you, Emily.”
A sheen of tears showed and her hand waved again. Her smile softened. “I’ll be up in a bit. Your hair looks beautiful.”
She darted around Lucas, hurrying and waving at someone else. Lucas was still there, and my eyes found his again. He asked, “You okay?”
I nodded. “I am.”
“I love you.”
Warmth rushed through me. “I love you, too.”
“You’re going to be my wife in an hour.”
I gave him a half-grin. “You have an hour to run away. You’ve been warned.”
“Never.” His eyes glittered, his love shone brightly there. “Never, Davina of the Roane Bloodline. You are mine forever. You are in my heart. You are in my soul. We are of one now.”
Saren shrieked behind me and both of us grinned at the other.
Roane thought to me, “One day we’ll explain why she’ll age older than us.”
I barked out a laugh. “It’s a hell of a story.”
“Yes,” he answered. “It was, wasn’t it?”
I held his gaze and let out a soft sigh. He was right. It really was.
THE END
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