Page 99 of The Human’s Heart

It was over.

It was really over.

A week or so after the big nymph arrests, Basil stopped by to give us an update. “All the nymphs are paying fines and will be forced to do community service for the next year. They all took deals, so there won’t be any trials or anything.”

“Is that a good thing, you think?” Zay asked him.

He nodded. “Yes. They’re also being forced into counseling, and they have restraining orders for pretty much our entire coven. If they even come anywhere near you or any of the other kids, they’ll go straight to jail.” He made a little airplane-like noise and moved his hand through the air like he was flying them to jail or something.

It made my lips twitch in amusement.

“Good.” Zay nodded. “Do you need anything from us?”

“You already gave your statements, and like I said, they already made deals. It’s over.”

“Does that mean we don’t need bodyguards anymore?” I asked. We’d still had them the last few days while things were being figured out, just in case.

“Correct. No more bodyguards. You’re safe. There’s no one else left who’s connected to Bart… or Theroli, for that matter.”

My brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“We made sure all Theroli’s clanmates were accounted for, and we looked into his history and made sure there were no other threats.”

“That’s good. But… what about the Bart thing?”

He gave me a strange look. “After what happened with Bart over the winter, the BCA hunted down all his associates, checked them out, made a few arrests, and determined that others weren’t criminals.”

I blinked at that. “Wh-what? Really?”

“Of course. We had to make sure you were safe. I’m just sorry we missed this group. Their connection was so small, at least digitally, that they didn’t come up on any of our research. I’m really sorry.”

I waved that off because what the hell was he even apologizing for? Not being perfect? “You don’t need to say that. I… we appreciate everything you’ve done for us.”

To my surprise, he sent me a small smile, stood from his seat, walked around the table, and pulled me into a hug.

Why I was surprised someone in this family was hugging me, I didn’t know. They were the most huggy family I’d ever met after all.

“I’m just glad you’re safe, here with Zay, and a part of our family.”

My eyes started blinking because I didn’t want to tear up around one of Zay’s tough-guy uncles, even when he was being all sweet and soft.

He tightened his hold for a second before he released me, sent me a smile, and gave Zay a small hug. “Love you both. I’ll see you at movie night in two days.”

“We’ll be there,” we said together before looking at one another and laughing as he walked out.

Zay reached over, snagged my hand, and pulled me into his lap. I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned my head against his, content to sit in his arms for as long as he wanted.

“You’ll be stuck here forever, then,” he murmured, overhearing my thoughts as usual.

“Good. I like it here.”

He gave me a squeeze, holding me even tighter.

Epilogue

Hugo

ONE YEAR LATER