The world was still turning.
There was much work left to do—a world to save.
But here, now, there were just two blood matches who had found the cure to their souls.
Epilogue
Reyna wrapped her arms around Beckham’s torso and hugged him tight. The motorcycle hummed noisily between her thighs. Wind whipped her hair in her face as they zipped out of the city and into the countryside. They traveled through clear blue skies with the sun shining and birds singing. Travel into the city had improved markedly. Only six months post-Harrington and already the world was looking up.
Beckham had taken control of Visage in what he called a temporary capacity. She’d been by his side every step of the way. And while every single step was harder than the next, she never wanted to be anywhere else.
Not when they released the remaining prisoners of Visage and discovered that Everett’s brother, Edmond, had been killed quickly after Everett had stopped giving them information. Or when Beckham offered actual free housing to those in need. Using those rooms for good instead of the horrors that had been committed down there. Or when Meghan and Gabe had spearheaded a conversion of the yard into a memorial for the fallen soldiers. Their names chiseled into stone and wrapped into a semicircle as a reminder and a remembrance.
Miraculously Zoya had pieced together Washington’s research on the cure from a backup server, and a genius task force of scientists had replicated it. Now it was being offered free of charge at any Visage hospital. A surprising number of vampires had come forward for it.
Within those notes had also been the research on Jodie’s blood, which Jodie had decided to destroy rather than give to the scientists. The experiments had done enough damage. They had enough information on the antidote from within Visage.They didn’t need the information on Jodie. When Reyna and Jodie had gone to Visage to liberate the people who had been experimented on, they’d discovered that June had gone into Visage to find Jodie and it had been her blood that had been the ultimate reason the antidote was made. But once Visage was overthrown, all the vampires had killed the human subjects on their way out.
Reyna and Jodie had spent a long time crying over the deaths of their fellow imprisoned humans. They’d insisted on holding a funeral service for them, and while putting June to rest had been difficult, having Reyna and Katarina at her side the entire time had made it bearable.
Thanks to a rather large cash infusion into the economy, courtesy of William Harrington, it finally looked as if the country was coming out of the recession that had held it in its clutches for so long.
Which meant that Brian and Laura could buy a real house in the suburbs to raise their baby boy. Drew had decided to stay in the city and had a new boyfriend—Philippé—much to everyone’s chagrin. But Reyna liked to see her family happy. Even if Visage saw it as another triumph for vampire and human equality.
Reyna felt at ease for the first time in years.
There was always more to do. But not today.
Today, their cares were more singular. And she could finally breathe in the crisp summer air and actually enjoy it.
They were nearly to their destination, when Beckham suddenly pulled off of the road.
“What are we doing?” Reyna called over the sound of the motor.
Beckham didn’t reply. His silences were just as weighted as they had always been. She could have reached into his emotions, but she could read him without it. And sometimes it was fun to guess.
He came to a stop and stepped off of his motorcycle. “Your turn.”
Reyna’s eyes widened in horror. “What?”
“I’ve been teaching you to drive for months, Little One. You can handle her.”
“Um, your motorcycle? You think I can handle your precious beautiful motorcycle? I nearly crashed the car. I thought Gerard was going to kill me.”
Beckham’s lips lifted at the corners at the memory. “Are you suggesting that you don’t want to drive my motorcycle?”
“Are you out of your mind? Of course I want to. Give me anything that goes fast and I’m in.”
“Oh, I know,” he said with a feral look in his eyes.
Reyna blushed. “That too.”
Beckham immediately launched into an everything-you-need-to-know-about-a-motorcycle speech. It was probably the most he’d ever said at once. And by the time he was done, her eyes were a little glazed over. She’d always wanted to learn to drive, but she had needed a car to do that. Now that the worst was over, she was finally getting that opportunity, and she really wasn’t that bad. Hopefully the motorcycle would be okay too.
It took her a few tries to get the basics down. She only landed in the gravel once and she was pretty proud of that. Beckham had actually rolled his eyes at her. Priceless.
“Aren’t you worried we’re going to miss our appointment?” Reyna asked.
“It was moved back. I thought it a prudent opportunity.”
