Epilogue
Fall turned to winter, and winter turned to spring. Our love as a family grew stronger, and we grew closer everyday. Jack became a third member in our household, holding us up and together through the months that follow my kidnapping. The fact that we know Nic is still out there somewhere haunts me. I do everything I can to focus on now, but fear lives just outside of my reach, hanging over us.
I had a lot of healing to do, being immortal doesn’t get rid of PTSD, it seems. I made the decision to reclaim the Hotel Royal, not only for myself, but for my parents. I deserved to have them and they deserved their happily ever after, but due to circumstances beyond my control, it didn’t work out that way. Nicolas may have tainted the old mansion with his cruel and torturous ways, but now, after months of work, Hotel Royal is ours.
Our home is laid out like a square, with the center being the large courtyard where the vampires threw parties. Our wing of the house looks out over Royal Street, and the library with the corner windows is at the end of the hall. Jack’s winglooks over Phillip Street. The guest wing is next, followed by offices and lounges in the rooms that don’t have balconies or street views.
Tearing out every bit of the disgusting decor and torture chambers, we redecorated offices, parlors, and bedrooms. Turned the old concrete room, where my blood dripped into the sewer, into a lounge for visitors. It is a room I never go in, and that’s ok.
Jack took over Nicolas’s old rooms where he had a sex dungeon. Jack kept that, a huge bedroom with a palatial sized bed—Jack kept the bed too—and a private office, the one where we met after Nicholas revealed my father to me. Jack removed the old freaky paintings and sculptures, and bathed all the rooms in light, mimicking the sun filled days he doesn’t get to experience. It is a place that brings joy to my heart when I visit him.
Bash and I remodeled the wing where my bedroom was previously, creating large apartments for us that consist of a large gothic inspired bedroom, with a black four poster bed with intricate carvings, deep green linens and pillows, and the lush canopy over the top is green and black sheer fabric, embroidered with dark flowers in royal blue, purple, and red. There are deep carpets in varying colors of the night; shimmery silver, bloody crimson, and blackcurrant. A large sofa in midnight blue velvet sits in front of the fireplace that used to be in my old bedroom. It seems counterproductive, I suppose, but that room was the only place I felt safe in this house.
In a connecting room is a large space painted a neutral gray, with no other furnishings or adornments. We will, hopefully, use this room one day, for a family we create ourselves—a family created out of the love between us. I hope, whenever it happens, they’re a miniature version of Bash, with deep brown hair that falls over dark grey eyes.
The room with the balcony, where I shared a meal with Nicolas the first time—where my parents stood overlooking their kingdom—is my private office, a place where I can retreat into myself and reflect on the world we are sculpting together.
Sarah and Ethan have occupied some of the rooms in the guest wing. They are blissfully happy, and planning their own wedding in the Summer. They will make their vows in the courtyard, and we are going all out for the occasion. They will never have children of their own, and I hope that is enough for Sarah. It certainly is for now.
Instead of the princely chair that sat in the courtyard, now, it's all comfortable chairs and couches. Hightop tables pepper the space, and a dining table sits in the center, large enough for everyone to gather. We don’t eat there, but we talk, have meetings, and the council sometimes sits with us. Bash is the heir, and in the last few months, Marcus has begun heavily grooming him for his future role. It seems he was waiting for Sebastien to forsake his bachelor ways and join the ranks of the settled, mated men.
We used the Velvet Tomb sunshine room as inspiration for the courtyard. We may never see the sun again, for ourselves, but sitting in the courtyard in the evenings, we can create our own day and bask in it for hours.
“Elina?” I hear Jack call out as I lay in a daybed under the artificial sun, feeling the warmth on my face.
“Yes, Jack? I’m in the courtyard.”
“Hey,Principessa,” he greets me, leaning over and taking a large inhale of my scent at my neck, before planting a kiss onmy cheek. I’m not sure what his reasoning is for this unusual behavior, but he started doing it shortly after the bonding ceremony, and I haven’t asked him about it. It seems to make him happy, and after everything he’s done for me, I leave him to it.
“Hey. What’s going on? Where’s Katie? I thought I heard her earlier.” He and Katie have gotten much closer, and a lot more serious, since myLegame di Sangue. I think she is here more often than not. Bash is pleased he has a companion, and Jack walks around like a peacock preening.
“She’s…recovering,” he responds, winking. I roll my eyes. “Anyway, Bash is looking for you. I was sent to fetch my lady.” He throws his arms out in a flourish as he bows low over me.
I let out a laugh and raise an eyebrow at him. “Your lady alright. Where is he?”
“He said, and I quote, ‘Begin your search in the library’.”
“Oh, a game?” I exclaim jumping up from my sprawled position. His laughter follows me from the room as I run into the house, up the stairs, and into the library.
The first thing I notice is the smell of roses—an out of place smell in the room that usually smells like dusty old paper. Following my nose, I find a dozen roses interspersed on the shelves and a note;
Roses are red
Violets are blue
If you were thirsty
What would you do?
Snorting out a laugh at the silly poem, I think. If I was thirsty, I would go to the kitchen. Grabbing a rose and my note, I sprint out of the library and run down to the kitchen. On thecounter is a glass of fresh warm blood and another note. Sipping the blood I read;
I’m not a bed but fantasies bloom
Sprawled on the desk, in this room
Leather and whispers, a chair that spins
Where power starts and work begins
