“That will be a decision for head office,” Pierce said curtly. “I don’t have any influence over that.”
But that was only a half-truth. Luckily, Pierce had earned enough of a reputation that when he’d gone to announce his decision to Lausten, Lausten had done him the courtesy of asking him who he thought should replace him –Though really, Hardwicke, it won’t be a matter of replacing at all. You’re irreplaceable, after all.
Pierce had thought long and hard about it, before deciding to recommend Rowan for promotion to his position – Rowanwasthe most senior agent after all, and with his mate, Emilia, expecting their third child, he’d thought Rowan could use a change of pace. Field work took him away from his growing family quite often – it’d be better for him if he could stay close to them, and help Emilia to take care of the children.
But that can be a surprise for Rowan when he gets called in to head office tomorrow,Pierce thought, smiling internally. Far be it from him to circumvent protocol – he’d always done things by the book, after all.
“I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I think I’m going to miss you, Hardwicke,” Garrett said, his gravelly, rumbly dragon’s voice sounding a little less gruff than usual. “I mean… if you hadn’t sent me on that stupid Christmas vacation, I never would have met Georgia.”
“And if you hadn’t accepted my, uh, resignation, I never would have met Callie,” Declan chimed in. “And thenunaccepted it when it turned out she was my mate and I didn’t have to make an arranged unicorn marriage after all.”
“If you hadn’t sent me to investigate all that flooding last year, I never would have met Willow,” Noah said. “I was new to the team, and you trusted me with a bigger assignment than I thought I was ready to handle. But it turned out it was more than evenIthought it’d be.”
“And if you hadn’t trusted me to break up that gambling ring – even though youtoldme I was being approved for vacation leave – I never would have met Annie,” Beau said, his eyes shining – but then, Beau, being a hippogriff, was a little more open with his emotions than the others.
Pierce looked around at each of them in turn, feeling pride swelling in his chest, though he made sure to keep his face neutral.
No point in them thinking I’ve decided to retire because I’ve gone soft or something like that.
But still, he couldn’t deny hedidfeel proud of them. He’d seen each of them find their mates, start their own families, and become stronger, better people for it. Of course, he’d never told any of them that he’d found his own mate long ago and then lost her – and now, had found her again. He wanted to keep just alittlemystery around himself.
“Well, if you’ve finished, then I need to get going,” he said coolly. “I’m retired now – none of this is my responsibility anymore.”
“Just as long as you know… whoever they get to replace you, they’ll never live up to you,” Rowan said fiercely. “They’ll have their work cut out for them before they can impressme.”
Pierce pushed down his internal laughter – he wondered what the expression on Rowan’s face would be when he found out the person who’d have to work so hard to impress him was actuallyhimself.
“Well, that’s appreciated,” Pierce said, finally allowing the faintest glimmer of a smile to pass across his face. “But if you’ll excuse me, I have a retirement to enjoy. Perhaps I’ll send you a postcard.”
As he turned and crossed the floor of the office, heading toward the elevators, Pierce wondered how they’d react if they knew the real reason he’d retired was because he didn’t intend to spend another moment apart from the mate he’d spent so long waiting for.
He couldn’t really say he’d ever thought much about Christmas or what it meant – and hedefinitelydidn’t believe in Christmas miracles. The fact that each member of his team – orformerteam now, he supposed – had met their mates at Christmas hadn’t really meant much to him before.
But now…
The elevatording!ed and the doors opened onto the foyer. Through the wide glass doors of the front entrance, Pierce could see Celeste standing on the sidewalk, the sun sliding through her hair, as she waited for him.
The smile that had long been threatening to break out across his face couldn’t be held back anymore as he looked at her, oblivious to his stare, as she turned her face up to the sky, obviously glorying in the sunshine – but then, he supposed, she’d been shut up in a lighthouse for so many years, on a rocky crag that wasn’t exactly known for its pleasant weather.
Half the fun of the last few months had been in watching Celeste be amazed by everyday creature comforts – or simply in having the freedom to do what she wanted, when she wanted to do it. There had been a period of time when they’d gone out to eat every day for a month, just so she could sample a new restaurant, a new kind of food every day. There hadn’t exactly been a wide selection available to her at Portsmith, after all, though Celeste had loyally said after every meal that nothing could really live up to her friend Chrissy’s meatloaf.
We can go back and visit them any time you like,Pierce had told her with a smile.
I’d like that,Celeste had said, with a small, answering smile.But for now, I’m ready to see the rest of the world.
And so, that was exactly what they’d decided they’d do.
Celeste looked up as he pushed open the doors, and Pierce didn’t think he’d ever get sick of seeing the smile that broke across her face as her eyes lighted on him.
Of course not,his pegasus huffed.She is our mate. There is no part of her that is not completely perfect.
“Pierce!” she said, laughter in her voice as she threw her arms around his shoulders before pulling back a little, her face growing more serious. “So… how did they take it?”
“Better than I expected,” Pierce told her as he raised his hand to brush a few strands of hair back from her face. “A little surprised, but I can’t really blame them for that. I did keep it quiet until the last minute.”
“Well, I still think you should have given them a chance to say a proper goodbye,” she said, cocking her head to one side. “You said it’s a pretty tight-knit team, right?”
“That’s true,” Pierce admitted. “But you say that as if I’ll never see them again. That’s not the case – it’s only for now, while we make up for lost time. I’m sure I’ll be able to find a way to drop in and see how they’re doing. At some point.”
