“It isn’t a dream. I promise you.” She moved to where I sat and leaned down, hugging me gently. “This is real. He’s going to be okay, Katy.”
“Thank you,” I said, voice thick with emotion. “Tell Archer I said thank you.”
Dee responded, but I was focused on the sound of Daemon’s heart. I was only vaguely aware that after some time, Dee left the room. I stayed where I was and there was no stopping the tears. They kept coming, streaming down my face, dampening the thin blue blanket that was tucked under his arms.
Minutes passed. Maybe hours. I didn’t move—wasn’t capable of it and didn’t want to. My heart finally slowed. So did his, and then it thumped when a heavy arm settled over my waist. Startled and full of hope, I lifted my head.
My eyes locked with a pair of brilliant emerald ones.
“Daemon,” I breathed. The waterworks really picked up then, and his beautiful face blurred.
His lips slowly parted. “Don’t cry, Kitten.” As if it took great effort, he lifted his other arm, brushing the tears off my cheeks with the back of his hand. “Come on.”
My chest twisted. “I never thought . . . I’d hear you say that again. I thought you were gone and . . .” My throat closed off as I placed my hand over his, pulling it to my mouth. I kissed his knuckles.
He made a sound in the back of his throat. “Did you think I’d leave you?”
I shuddered.
“I heard you,” he said, and then he tried to sit up.
“Don’t,” I said, my eyes going wide.
He made that sound again, this time more frustrated. “I heard you out in the yard. I wouldn’t leave you, Kat. I’d never do that. Now . . . get down here and kiss me.”
“But you . . . you took a bullet for me, Daemon.” My breath hitched in my throat again. “She was going to shoot me and you . . . you could’ve died. I thought you had died.”
A moment passed as he stared at me like I’d grown two heads. “What else would I’ve done?”
Now I gaped at him through fresh tears.
“I love you,” he said, his eyes incredibly bright as he spoke those words. “If your life is in danger, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure you’re safe. That’s what love makes you do. Right?”
“Right,” I whispered, still stunned somewhat. He spoke as if it wasn’t a big deal.
“I’d do it again.”
Oh God. “Daemon, I . . . thank you.”
He frowned. “You don’t need to thank me.”
“I do.”
The corner of his lips tipped up. “Okay. Thank me by getting down here and kissing me.”
I did just that. I lowered my mouth to his and kissed him softly, reveling in his taste and the warmth of his lips. “I love you so very much, and I’m going to spend every waking moment proving it to you.”
“I like the sound of that.” He tugged on my hair as I lifted my head. “Where . . . are we?”
I gave him the quick version of what Dee had told me. “They’re not sure how you survived.” I sniffled, using my shoulder to wipe the tears off my cheek. “But you’re so stubborn.”
Daemon coughed out a dry laugh and the grip on my hand tightened. “You know how I love a challenge.”
My heart lurched as I remembered those words from the day we’d learned we were connected, and I’d shot him down when he suggested we should get together. I leaned over him, brushing my lips across his forehead. I closed my eyes, sent up as many thank-yous as I could to every God and deity and prophet I knew. “So do I, Daemon. So do I.”
EPILOGUE
Eleven months later . . .
{ Katy }
Bright sunlight streamed in through the bedroom window of the townhome at the foothills of the Flatirons. An early bout of October snow had capped the tips of the mountains, turning them white.
It really was beautiful here in Colorado—the air fresh and trees everywhere. It reminded me of home, my old home, but with easy access to a lot more cool stuff.
Like Starbucks.
Which had reopened two months earlier, just in time for the return of the pumpkin spice latte, a sure sign mankind would trek on. Humans were probably the most resilient and stubborn creatures in all the universes.
Something the invading Luxen, those who’d managed to escape the Arum, had learned quickly. Days after the battle, while our little group had holed up in Northern Virginia trying to decide how and where to move on, the remaining invading Luxen left.
It had been like a reverse D-Day.
Lights had flashed upward in steady streams, all across the world, for several hours. It had been a sight to see, just like it had been when they’d come. Something I would never forget.
But we all knew that there still could be some here, and there was no stopping them from coming back. Maybe one day they would, but if I’d learned anything in the last two years, it was that I could not look toward the future if I lived in the past.
It was hard.
Not a day went by that I didn’t think of my mom. Like with my dad, it got a little easier, but there were days when something would happen or I’d just get bored or want to talk to her, and I’d reach for my phone, seconds away from calling her when I’d realize she wasn’t there, that she’d never be there.
Those days were rough, full of tears and anger. I wanted to resurrect Ethan just so I could kick him in his junk and kill him all over again. The fury and helplessness and, oh God, the hurt could be so raw some days. If it weren’t for Daemon and my friends—my new family—it would be unbearable.