Then he lifted their hands into the air. A cheer rose up from the remaining members of Elle, who had fought for this cause. Who had done everything that they could to make this a reality. Something like relief flooded her system for the first time in so long.
Katarina rushed in at that moment. Her eyes found Beckham’s and she shook her head. “He got away.”
Beckham sighed. “Let’s finish this up and then we’ll go after him again. We can’t let Roland remain loose.”
“I can’t believe he got away,” Reyna said.
“He would have killed you otherwise. It’s a trade.”
Katarina joined the rest of Beckham’s circle, the friends they’d called in for a favor, and the anti-vamps who were now rounding up the remaining vampires and cordoning them off into separate rooms. The rest of Elle was releasing any of the people who were still locked up. Vampires and humans working together to walk forward into a new world.
Reyna’s friends were standing around a body at the base of the stairs and she glanced at Jodie, who followed her down.
What they saw there turned her stomach. Reyna had seen so much death and destruction, but…Tye. He’d been so good. He’d deserved better than what had happened to him. To any of the fallen.
Meghan leaned into Gabe’s arms, tears freely flowing down her face. Drew was pale and hugged Reyna when she came near.
“It’s over,” he whispered. “It’s really over.”
“This is just the beginning,” she said quietly. “Now we have to rebuild.”
“We need a memorial,” Meghan whispered.
Reyna released her brother to look across the room full of the fallen. “A memorial for everyone who sacrificed themselves to get here. For Tye, Sydney, Washington, Xavier, Tony, Everett, and so many more.”
“So much death,” Meghan said.
“We’ll never forget them,” Reyna said.
Gabe turned to her then. “Well, General, what do we do now?”
Everyone’s eyes shifted to her, and she took in each and every one of her friends. She thought about all the others still working to fix this mess. About Brian and Laura back in Beckham’s safe house. All the anti-vamp people who had risked their lives andworked with the vampires they claimed to hate. About every person who had ever fought for this cause.
“We live.”
It was the best she could offer them. And at the same time, it was everything.
Beckham touched her arm. She smiled at her friends and left them to grieve.
“We need to get you medical attention,” Beckham said.
“I’m okay,” she lied.
“You’re going to run yourself into the ground.”
“Look who’s talking.”
Beckham brushed her hair off of her face and smiled at her. “You did an incredible job today. I’m lucky to stand at your side.”
“Forever and always, right?”
He nodded decisively. Forever and always.
Reyna stared up into his dark eyes, so full of longing. It was amazing that she had ever believed him expressionless. She opened her senses to him and enveloped his heart, body, and soul with all the love in her heart. He pushed right back, colliding, capturing, encasing her. They were both weak from blood loss and using their powers, but they were strong in all the ways that mattered.
She stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. His hands moved up into her hair, tilting her head and melding their lips together.
They had won.
