"Thank you. For everything. And I'm sorry about what happened," Trista said as she offered me her hand.
We shook and I wasn't sure what to say so I just gave her a nod. She began moving toward the cluster of vampires that were still bound in the garden, probably trying to calm them down.
“Well, let’s put this case to bed.” Vance turned back toward us, completely ignoring Daniel, and smiled at me. “Could I convince you to come have a drink with me? I could get ol’ Atonal to open up.”
With a smile that I was sure made me look totally mischievous, I looked over at Daniel. “What do you say? Shall we all go for a drink?”
Daniel swung his arm around me, and his grin was even more mischievous than mine as he turned it toward Vance. “I think we’ll skip this time, but we sure do appreciate the invitation, Vance, old friend.”
Beth and Carol bit back laughs, and Deva didn’t bother. She openly guffawed as Bryan pulled Carol close and hugged her tight.
We waited for Vance to back out and pull down the driveway. “Now,” Daniel said once Vance’s car was out of sight. “Shall we go celebrate our victory?WithoutVance?”
We all nodded, and Bryan said, “I think there’s only room for one vampire in this crew.”
“Agreed,” Carol said as she lifted her face for a kiss.
Daniel shrugged. “I think I can get behind that.”
TWENTY-FOUR
Emma
We were finally back home,and definitely in the mood to celebrate. Bryan had taken a shower, was wearing some of Daniel's clothes, even though they were a bit big, and Vance had dropped off some blood for him, knowing he must have been starving after being kidnapped for that long. We'd thanked Vance and been surprised when Carol simply put Bryan's blood in a glass, then broke out the champagne for the rest of us. I know I was dating a shifter, but the blood thing would have freaked me out. I could see it in Bryan's face too, he had been worried how Carol would handle his need for blood, and his expression when she made the drink for him said it all. He knew she was the woman for him, and that with her, he'd never have to be embarrassed about being a vampire.
Even if the rest of us might need a little time to get used to him and having a vampire in a group. But for Carol, we'd do anything.
“I dare you to do the chicken dance,” Beth said, pointing her champagne flute at Deva, already on her third glass, not that we minded. I was pretty sure we were all on our third or fourth glass.
Deva moaned and stood, flapping her arms while singing the tune to the chicken dancewayoff key. The rest of us dissolved in giggles at her antics. It truly did feel like the end of a ridiculously long week. But it was more than that, it'd been a really emotionally draining week. Seeing Carol in love, seeing her hurt, and trying to untangle the chaos that was figuring out vampire secrets had not been easy. What we needed now was fun and laughter, which was exactly what we were doing now.
Work hard, party hard. Apparently, that was my new philosophy in life.
“There!” Deva collapsed into the recliner with a laugh and Beth handed her another glass of bubbly. “Who’s next?”
Harry and Alice both said, "not me," at the same time, which only made everyone laugh harder.
Daniel wrapped an arm around my shoulder, and I leaned into him, feeling like I was wrapped in a blanket of love. "I feel like if we could get through all of this, we could get through anything."
He grinned down at me and then planted a kiss on the top of my head. "Agreed. Although these experiences always remind me not to piss off karma."
I laughed. "And don't you forget it."
Bryan cleared his throat, and all eyes turned toward him. He'd finished his blood, which somehow made him look less pale. "I just wanted to say thank you, to all of you. When I became a vampire, I thought my life was over. I thought I'd never have friends," he glanced at Carol. "Never have love. Never have a real family. But you guys have shown me that being a vampire doesn't mean I'm... without value. It's still hard for me, but I can't thank you enough."
"No worries," I told him with a gentle smile. "We're just glad to see how happy you make Carol."
"I'm going to spend my whole life making her happy and making up for the time we lost," he says, his hands clenched into fists.
Carol planted a kiss on his lips. "I'm going to do the same."
He looked down at her, pure wonder in his eyes. "How did I get this lucky?"
"Not luck," Beth said with a laugh. "Just karma. The good kind you rightfully deserved."
He nodded, and then his gaze met with Daniel's. "I also want you guys to know that as much as I loathe my coven, I'm going to try to put those feelings aside. I'm going to try to fix what's broken in it and make it... something better. No more turning young kids. No more reckless spending. That coven is going to be shaped up by the time I'm done with it."
To my surprise, Daniel salutes him with his glass. "I believe it." Then, he untangled himself from me and headed for the kitchen.
