Page 43 of Avenger of Sins

No. Let them have their reunion. It’s been a long time coming. He’ll come get us when he’s ready.

“But he will be all right?”

“Yeah,” Caleb said aloud. “I think he will be.”

That evening, as the last light of the sun clung to the sky, John walked through the historic district with Caleb and Gray by his side. He felt…he wasn’t sure, exactly. Exhausted, overwhelmed, happy, sad, angry, all of it tangled in a ball in his chest.

She’d recognized him in an instant, his mother.“I always knew I’d see you again,”she’d said, crying into his shoulder.

He’d told her…not everything, not yet. But she’d seen the news coverage of Jo’s allegations, and had broken down crying again when he told her he’d been taken away to be another testsubject. He explained his memories had been lost until recently, which was why he hadn’t come before now.

“I know you would have if you could,”she’d said, patting his hand.

As for her, a few lucky breaks had given her the opportunity to get out of poverty. Now she was a community organizer working to help the city’s many poor and unhoused. She’d done so much good, even after everything that had happened to her, and he was so very proud.

They’d go back tomorrow and visit her some more, maybe help her with her work if there was anything useful they could do. Technically he was on leave, and he hadn’t yet told her he’d be returning to SPECTR despite all it had done to their family.

Because Kaniyar wasn’t just going to let Gray walk away and settle down to have a quiet life among mortals.

In the depths of February, few people were out, except for the ghost tours which were as much a part of Savannah as the vampire tours were a part of New Orleans. Caleb paused to listen to a guide’s patter as they passed by, then shook his head. “I could do better than that.”

“Maybe you should hire on.”

Caleb snorted. “Hmm, considering how my last gig ended, I think I’ll pass. Besides, Kaniyar probably isn’t going to let us stay long enough to bother with a job.”

Night was back at their hotel, gone dormant and waiting until Gray returned to hunt. Savannah had any number of old cemeteries, and if the local SPECTR office kept those cleared of ghouls, there were always the swamps beyond where anything might lurk. If nothing else, the two drakul would be happy and fed while they were here.

At last, they reached their destination: the terracotta fountain outside of The Cotton Exchange building, with the statue of a winged lion standing proudly at one end of the pool.The water was cut off this time of year, but in the dying sunlight the lion gleamed red as blood.

John stopped by the statue. “This is where it all began. Where SPECTR agents saved me from that lycanthrope, then betrayed me to the Center.”

“I’m sorry.” Caleb leaned against the edge of the fountain. “We’ll find a way to get free, somehow.”

John didn’t reply, only took Caleb’s hand. Caleb squeezed his fingers, then changed the subject. “So, what name are you going to use going forward?”

“Shit, I don’t know.” He sighed. “Every legal document I have says ‘John Starkweather’ on it. ‘John’ is fine, it’s close enough, but if I want to change my last name back to Low I’m going to have to jump through some hoops. And I’m willing to, but it’s just one more damned reminder of what happened, you know?”

“True.” Caleb let his hand drop and cocked his head contemplatively. “Hmm, you know, there is another way you could change your last name.”

John frowned, confused. “What do you mean?”

He caught a whiff of petrichor; Gray was just on the border of manifesting, apparently wanting to be a part of the conversation. Caleb slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small box. “I think John Gris has a nice sound to it, don’t you?” he asked, opening the box to reveal a plain gold band.

John put his hand to his mouth, feeling tears springing to his eyes. “Y-Yes,” he said, a smile threatening to split his face. “It really does.”

Caleb grinned, then pulled him close, and they kissed before the fountain as the darkness drew in.