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When he went to step back, Z spoke sharply. “You better take care of her. She’s my girl.”
The fighter hitched a breath. “Yes, sir. I promise.”
“Because I’llfuckingkill you. Somehow, I will f—”
“Dad,”Nalla cut in. “Really.”
“What?” Z rolled his eyes. “Fine. Just don’t fuck this up, Nate. You got one chance with me.”
Nate put both of his palms high, like he was at a stickup. “I swear. I won’t waste the opportunity. And thank you.”
“Okay then.” Z left the weapon where it was and extended his dagger hand. “Welcome to my family, Nate.”
There was a pause that seemed to last forever.
“I will love her and cherish her, always,” Nate whispered. In a way that was a vow that was going to last the guy’s entire, immortal life.
When the two of them clasped palms… they held on longer than you would if you were just being polite. Then again, they were going to be spending a lot of time together.
In the future.
EPILOGUE
Three nights later…
As Nate arrived at the Audience House, he re-formed around back. The evening was crystal clear, and out here in the sticks, the stars were brilliant overhead, twinkling in their spin around the earth. Standing with his shitkickers in the snow, feeling the brisk air on his face, looking forward to what was coming after this, the heavens didn’t look cold and distant. They seemed full of possibilities, a whirl of infinite beauty.
After a moment, the fireflies he’d been expecting swirled in beside him, the sparks coalescing into a shimmer before going solid. Rahvyn was smiling as she faced him, her silver hair caught by the wind to come alive around her ethereal face.
“Hi,” she said.
What a simple greeting, Nate thought. And yet in the word, there was so much. Acceptance. Forgiveness. The love that came with community.
“Hi.” It was easy to smile back at her, and he cleared his throat. “Thanks for coming out here.”
“Thank you for calling me.”
Glancing off to the side, he measured the barn that was no barn at all, but a high-tech monitoring facility to rival anything any government had ever built and staffed. Even though he hadn’t done the math on all the monitoring on the premises, he was glad he was doing this with an audience.
Accountability for one’s actions was good.
“I just wanted to say I’m sorry to you,” he said. “For the way I’ve been all these years. I’m not going to explain the whys. They don’t matter.”
“Nate, you do not have—”
He put his hand up and stopped her. “You told me to make peace with everyone. I’m going to do that, but I want to stay. Here, in Caldwell. With my mate.”
That radiant smile returned and it was like getting hit with a bolt of sunlight. “I am so happy for you both.”
“Thanks. And lucky for me, I’ve got all the time in the world. I have a lot to make up for.” He closed his eyes. “When I think about what I did to my parents. The Brotherhood. Shuli—”
“You are going to find that forgiveness is another word for love, Nate.”
He lifted his lids. “I’m going to prove myself. To everyone.”
“I know you are. And I am glad you are not leaving us.”
As he looked at the female now, he could recognize her beauty and appreciate it, but there was no confusion for him about who his true love was. Even when he remembered standing on the edge of that meadow, Lassiter’s carpet of blooms an acre-sized bouquet he couldn’t compete with, he knew that Nalla was who he’d really been waiting for.
