He shrugged.“What else is there?”
“Aren’t you curious about what happened after you transitioned?”
He stopped trying to wiggle his hand beneath her dress. “I never was. I figured once ‘The Future’ was gone from the streets that the vermin simply took over again. But what I’ve realized since working with you is something far more important.”
Now he had her full attention. “What?”
“I always blamed Blair’sdeath on my decision to walk through one of the underground alleyways that night. We could have stayed above on the main road, but I was anxious to get home. Like Cameron, I felt guilty, that I was at fault. But I was wrong.”
She could sense him trying to find the right words. The importance of his new understanding obvious. “How so?”
His hand sought hers as if he wanted her to understand, too.“Because of Blair’s death, I became judge, jury and executioner for the criminals I caught. I was a one-man force far more powerful than any single Watchman because I was unpredictable and gave no quarter. The weaker vermin scattered and the stronger were whittled down one by one. Glasgow became safer for everyone. When I was killed, I ended up here. That tells me that I was meant to clean upthe criminal underground that had developed there.”
She held his hand in both of hers. “So, you don’t blame yourself for her death anymore?”
He looked her in the eye. “I blame it on fate. When I looked at Cameron’s possible futures and every one of them ended in his early death, I finally saw my own life in a similar perspective. I was meant to clean up the city. I finally looked at Blair’spossible futures and if Blair hadn’t died that night, she would have died in a similar fashion that would have sent me into the same vigilante rage.”
“I see you’ve come to terms withyourlife. What about me?” Cameron’s voice as he floated down to the ground opposite them made her jump.
Still, she was relieved. “I’m so glad you’re still with us.”
He solidified and sat on the ground with hislegs crossed, his kilt falling between his legs. “I’m not that easy to be rid of.” He turned his gaze on Malcolm. “So, what about me? You said I was fated to die sometime that year. Was every scenario one where I risked my life for a cheap rush?”
“Yes.” Malcolm tone was lower, even more serious. “Because that was who you were. That you had five years with Holly was your bonus. You were able toknow true happiness, just as I did and I do now.”
Cameron leaned back on his hands. “Except now I must wait for my return to happiness and at this rate, that will never happen.”
Concern wormed its way back into her heart. “Why? Won’t you and Holly be together again?”
Cameron shoved his hair off his forehead. “Only if I can get her to accept Ethan.”
“Oh.” She looked at Malcolm. They’d seenher reaction to her own son. It wasn’t good. Then again, what if the boy’s existence was threatened? There was nothing stronger than a mother’s instinct to protect her child. “I think the key to that is her son, but will you be allowed to send more spirits?”
Cameron wouldn’t look at them. “I don’t know. I had thought she wasn’t supposed to know about Ethan, but now I think she was. I’m just notsure how to proceed.” He grimaced. “I haven’t discussed it yet with my superiors.”
Disappointed, she sighed. “So, you don’t know yet if Malcolm will be able to continue on as a spirit guide?”
Cameron smiled tiredly. “Yes, I do know that. He won’t.”
“What?” She scrambled off Malcolm’s lap, but he kept her from moving into her superior’s space. “You just said we accomplished what needed to bedone, and I can attest to the fact that he only did what you wanted.”
Cameron frowned. “What are you talking about? He didn’t change his methods. He still shocked the living, many times, as a matter of fact.”
“But I did, too. You told us not to be subtle.”
Cameron stared at her for a moment then broke into a laugh. “Ach, I meant foryounot to be subtle. Nothim.” Cameron pointed at Malcolm,still chuckling. “That’s what I get for trying to help.”
She sighed with relief. If he admitted he said it, though he meant something different, then maybe Malcolm could stay. “If you want, we could continue to work as a team.”
Cameron rose to his feet, shaking his head. “Not for me. My troubles are still ahead, but you two are done. You’ve both come to terms with your lives. You no longer needto be spirit guides.”
“Done?” How could that be? She hadn’t done anything wrong?
Malcolm rose and gave her his hand to help her up. “Aye, Joy. We’re done because we have somewhere else we need to be.”
She looked from him to Cameron, who was nodding, and back to Malcolm. “We do? Where?”
“Don’t ye feel it, lass? The happiness? The contentment? The love?”
Shedidfeel it, but it wasn’t justfrom him or inside her. It was everywhere. She looked to where Cameron stood, and he simply waved, half his body no longer visible as warmth and light surrounded her and Malcolm. “What is it?”
He wrapped his arms around her. “It’s our future.”
She smiled up at him, love filling her heart. “Oh, yes.”
