Page 123 of Fall into Place

“I’ll tell you later.” She kissed him again. “How did you know we were here? And why did you come back?”

“It was your blood.” Callum took her hands. “I knew feeding you my blood could tie you to me, but I never knew it could work the other way around. Having your blood inside me, when you were in danger—I could feel it. I didn’t know exactly where you were, but Octavia suggested we try the hotel. I thought about you, and Konstantin, and what I wanted my life to look like,” Callum said. “You made me feel like I could be a hero. I figured I should probably start acting like one.”

Tess’s throat was tight, and he held her close.

“Joni’s the real expert on the topic of heroes,” she said. “But I think you did pretty damn good.”

“Ow!” Joni yelped from the bathroom. “That’s too tight!”

“That’s literally the point!” Octavia snapped. “It’ll help keep the swelling down!”

“Who died and made you Dr. Quinn!” Joni retorted.

“You’re being pretty bitchy to someone who just saved your ass.”

“I saved your ass first! And I missed my job interview for you!”

“I’m obviously going to glamour your department chair so you can reschedule, so stop whining!”

The bathroom door banged open and Octavia huffed out, with Joni hobbling behind her. Tess and Callum caught each other’s eyes and grinned.

“Hey, do you guys mind if I go out to the terrace for a minute?” Tess asked. “I want to watch the sunrise.”

“I’ll come too,” Joni piped in, and Octavia exhaled dramatically. Joni rolled her eyes and grabbed Tess’s elbow. “Let’s go.”

Tess and Joni walked onto the terrace, which had a view over the pool and the cabana suite five floors below, where Flora was still holding up the portal. As the rising sun warmed their faces, they saw a blaze inside the suite—the vampires were burning. The pool deck was dotted with the other vampire corpses; Flora would send them through a portal to a crematorium as soon as the others were dead, and she’d leave Fern trapped in the cabana suite until the witches’ council could get there. But in the meantime, that was it. It was finally over.

“You know what’s funny?” Tess looked toward Joni. “They didn’t have sunlight on the Isle. I didn’t know if I’d ever see a sunrise again.”

“It’s pretty good, right?” Joni took Tess’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

“Yeah.” Tess nodded. “It’s really good.”

They stood together for a long moment, Tess and her best friend, feeling the ease of each other’s company, the breeze off the East River, watching the sun glint rainbows across the Williamsburg Bridge and Manhattan’s glittering skyline. The water wasn’t lilac and the bridge wasn’t crystal, but to Tess, it felt something like a promise, or maybe a new beginning.

Because after three years of darkness, Tess Rosenbloom was finally ready to let in some light.

Epilogue

——Forwarded Message——

From: The Georgia Hotel

To: Octavia Yoo

Sent: August 30, 11:43 AM

Subject: Final bill

Dear Ms. Yoo,

Attached please find your itemized final bill, including charges for the various scorch marks and piles of ash that needed to be cleaned upon your departure, as well as the charge to replace the carpeting in the cabana suite, which could not be salvaged. It was our pleasure to host you at The Georgia—and may we say, our staff really appreciated the twenty thousand dollar tip! We certainly hope you’ll choose The Georgia for all your future trips to New York.

Have a wonderful day, and let us know if we can be of any further assistance!

Taylor Litman

Manager, The Georgia Hotel