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Well, so far, it meant that she and Cathy were reopening the Wolf Study Project. With that hotel starting to do business across the valley, and the ever-present threats from people being on the mountain, her beloved wolves needed protecting now more than ever—and she was just the person to do it.
As Eastwind had had his sheriff’s badge, so she had the WSP, a perfect camouflage for her sacred duty to the mountain and the lair of the wolven.
Maybe she’d stay forty years like he did. Maybe she’d find someone to take over earlier than that. But either way, for however long she was here, she had a job.
And hey, so did Candy. The receptionist had been thrilled to be asked to come back to work.
It was too bad that Gus and Cathy had to move down to Houston, but they didn’t have much choice.The lab was all ruined, and the mansion had painful memories of so many medical staff and researchers dying in the raid. Somehow, the deaths had all been covered. Lydia hadn’t asked any questions. That part of the human world wasn’t her business, anyway.
The important thing was that they had the venom. If Vita-12b had shown some potential, it was nothing compared to what that scorpion had given the world.
And she had her Daniel back—
It was just as Lydia arrived at the cave’s hidden entry that her nose caught a scent, and she followed it deeper into the earth. As she stepped out into the living space, she wasn’t surprised at the female who was sitting at the little table.
Xhex smiled. “Hey, it’s the bride-to-be.”
“Hi.” She looked around. Even though there was nowhere anyone Blade’s size could tuck behind. “Has he…”
“Yeah, he’s gone.”
A sting of pain went through her chest. “I wanted… to thank him.”
Standing up, Xhex tugged her leather jacket down and smoothed her hands over her short hair. “And he wanted you to know that he’s happy for you both, and he’s glad Daniel’s okay. He wishes you all the very best things in life.”
“That’s very kind of him.”
“He’s a very kind male. In his own way.” There was an awkward pause… then Xhex nodded to the passageway. “Now I guess I better go start the fire.”
“Xhex, is your brother…”
“Going to get over you?” The smile had a sad tilt to it. “Do you want me to be honest or make it easy on you?”
“Honesty, please.”
The female shook her head. “No, he’s not. But he’s at peace with knowing your future is secured.”
Lydia remembered seeing that flaring light so close to dawn surround the male. “I owe him… everything.”
“So love your male right. That’s all you need to do. Blade’ll survive—I’ll make sure of it.”
“Then I know he really will be all right. Thank you.”
Xhex smiled and nodded to the passageway’s exit. “I’ll see you out there.”
When Lydia was alone, she went over to the bedding platform and stared down at the indentation where someone had been sitting. Thesymphath’s scent lingered in the air, but she imagined, in a month, certainly two, there would be nothing left of him.
Except for his legacy—
“You’re not rethinking this, are you?”
Lydia looked over her shoulder with a smile. “Never.”
Daniel was wearing all black, from his boots to his own turtleneck and parka situation. In the previous couple of weeks, he’d been rebuilding the muscle he had lost, in the on-site gym. His hands remained on the numb side because that side effect from chemo was permanent, and he did take a nap every now and again, but everything else was returning to him, his energy, his balance… his sex drive.
“We can do this somewhere warmer,” he murmured as he came to her and put his hands on her waist.
“No, I want us to say our vows here. This mountain is our past, present, and future.”
