Mine, page 32
He nodded. “I rather thought I would take a vacation.”
“Where to?”
“Here or there. Everywhere.”
After a stretch of silence, she shook her head. “You’re not coming back, are you.”
A lie would be easier, but he owed her better than that. “No. But I think my presence is best… in other places.”
“Were you going to say goodbye?”
“To her… or you.”
“Both. Either.”
Blade bent down and picked up the bag. It was not that heavy. He had been given some clothes by Daniel, and indeed, he was currently dressed in a pair of the man’s blue jeans and a parka that was very warm and soft. The wardrobe donations had been delivered by the doctor, Gus St. Claire, who, having operated quite competently on Blade’s abdominal perforation on the black-and-white marble flooring of that foyer, had become a bit of a friend: During Blade’s recovery up here, following his transfer from that house, the two had enjoyed fine conversation about a variety of topics.
He would miss that.
Focusing properly on Xhex, he resolved that he would miss a lot of people, and opening his mouth to speak, he… found he did not have the words.
“It’s okay,” she said softly. “I don’t take it personally. And I’ll tell her when she comes up here.”
“What will you say?”
“What you would have, if you were here.”
As their eyes met, he knew she was reading his grid. He did not return the imposition. He already knew that his sister was healed—he could tell just by the way she held herself with such calm ease. She was truly at peace. Finally.
Funny, he had intended to ahvenge her by blowing up all those labs. But the true balance had come not from the explosions, but from her knowing the truth of what he had been doing. That loyalty and revenge had brought her back.
“Are you going to leave me a way of contacting you,” she asked.
“If you need me, I will know.”
“How.”
He touched the side of his head in salute. “I shall keep in touch… somehow.”
She didn’t believe him, of course. And that was okay. Reality did not need to be believed to be lived.
“The wolven’s going to want to thank you,” Xhex said. “For everything.”
“And I would rather have my eyes plucked out of my skull before I must endure such an exchange.” As his sister arched her brow, Blade smiled a little. “ ’Tis quite unpleasant, both experiences.”
“Yeah. For real.”
There was an awkward pause. And then she dropped her hands to her hips and rubbed her palms on her leathers as if they were damp.
“I want you to know something.” Her voice was low in volume, strong in tone. “It’s a two-way street, between you and me. If you need anything, you gotta let me know.”
Blade’s heart skipped a beat and he made a show of looking at the natural spring in the rear of the cave. The bedding platform. The storage trunks and the table with the candle on it.
“I rather thought you’d prefer to never see me again.”
“No,” Xhex said. “That’s not what I’d prefer.”
“Well.” He cleared his throat. “Isn’t that quite lovely. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must be going.”
Bending at the waist, he bowed to her, and then he walked forward. As he passed by her position, there by the passageway’s entry, he thought perhaps she would reach out to him. She did not. And thus he processed, alone, through the narrow confines of the way to the great outdoors.
Emerging, he took a deep breath and felt a burn in his stomach. But it was not bad. Indeed, his healing had progressed quite the thing, and in another week, he would have no residual effects whatsoever.
Physically, that was.
With one last glance around, he expected to see the silver wolf off to the side, looking satisfied with herself in all that she had engineered. Then he closed his eyes and—
“Blade—wait!”
As he turned, Xhex raced out of the cave’s entrance, and the next thing he knew, she was hugging him hard. He did not hesitate to return the embrace.
“Take care of yourself,” she said roughly.
“You, too, sister mine.” He squeezed his eyes closed. “You… too.”
* * *
Lydia arrived up on the mountain’s summit wearing white winter-weight hiking pants, a white turtleneck, and a white parka. Even her boots, which were snow-rated and waterproof, were white. Socks and long underwear, too.
She’d driven Candy’s car—which had previously been her own—up the back trail, and parked it a bit away from the magnificent clearing that provided the view of the valley. As she got out, the cold nipped at her, and she welcomed the burn in her cheeks, the way her eyes watered, the hum in her sinuses.
It just felt good to be alive. And she was excited for what was going to happen soon.
The guests would be arriving in just half an hour—Daniel, too.
She had come early.
As Lydia walked forward, she heard rustling in the undergrowth, and then the howling started. The sound made her heart sing further, and she stopped, let her head fall back, closed her eyes… and thought of Eastwind.
She had moved into his house with Daniel.
And she was taking over from him. Whatever that meant.
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. The symphath’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.”
He glanced around. “Hey, you think someone might let us have a honeymoon here? That natural spring back there is a hot tub if I’ve ever seen one.”
Running her hands up his his pecs, she no longer measured his ribs, or worried about his blood levels, his blood pressure, his respiration and heart rate. He was just Daniel, without the disease.
The thing she had prayed for.
“You know something,” she murmured. “I saw my grandfather right before I left the house just now.”
“What? I thought he was—”
“I don’t mean to freak you out. His ghost does that sometimes. He just shows up—and I was… comforted to see him this time. I feel like he was blessing us. It meant a lot.”
Daniel tucked her hair behind her ears. “I would have liked to meet him.”
“He would have approved of you. Very much.”
“Because I’m a trained killer who can protect you?”
“Yes, and you’re also in love with me.”
“Very much.” He kissed her. “Very, very much…”
The mouth action started reverently, but it didn’t stay that way. As if Daniel were making up for lost time, he had been making love to her every chance they got—and she was more than happy to oblige. She wanted him, too.
Always—
Lydia inched back and checked her watch. “How has twenty minutes gone by already? People will be waiting for us.”
“Yeah, and I guess I better save something for the honeymoon, huh.”
“I’m not sure who we need to ask to use this cave—maybe we should just apologize if someone else shows up?”
“Deal.” His eyes roamed her face. “So Blade is gone, huh.”
When she nodded, he shook his head. “No goodbye. That bastard.”
“Xhex knows how to get ahold of him. Or at least… I hope she will.”
“Only if he lets her. He’s… complicated.”
“And a lifesaver.”
“Yeah, I did not see that one coming.”
They kissed a little more, and then they were walking through the passageway together. When they stepped out, all they had to do was follow the chatter and the laughter—and the flickering light from the campfire.
And there they all were, standing around the logs that were crackling and throwing out warmth: Cathy and Gus. Xhex and John Matthew. The snippy chef who had made a beautiful cake. The staff of the mansion, who were all relocating down to Houston. Candy, who, in a red-and-green ankle-length wool coat, and hair that was Christmas-tree green and gold, was standing at attention, prepared to conduct the ceremony.
The group was so busy talking among themselves that they didn’t notice the intendeds off in the shadows, but that was good. Lydia wanted a moment to soak it all in.
Eastwind should be here, she thought—
And there he was.
“Holy crap,” Daniel murmured with a start. “Are you seeing that?”
Just outside the glow of the firelight, an old woman and the former sheriff were standing side by side, the two of them ethereal and beautiful, made of moonlight. As they joined hands, it was as if they were joined in many other ways, and were welcoming Lydia and Daniel into the club of happily mateds.
“I am so lucky,” she said as she teared up. “How are we this lucky?”
Daniel was quiet for a while. “I don’t know. But we shouldn’t waste this moment. Or any other.”
“I agree.” She took her future husband’s hand. “Let’s not keep our friends waiting.”
As they both went to take a step forward, and the wedding party turned to greet them, the wolves started howling again, and the old woman and the former sheriff disappeared into the night air. But they were never far. Lydia knew that deep in her bones.
Your true allies, the ones who kept you right and had your back and loved it when your life was going well, never left you, even when they weren’t right next to you.
And sacrifices made for the right reasons were never wrong.
And true love never died.
Just before they got to the circle, Daniel stopped, and patted down his parka. “Oh, you gotta be kidding me. I forgot my vows. I wrote them back at our house and left ’em next to Eastwind’s old BarcaLounger.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Lydia smiled up at her man. “Just tell me how I feel.”
“Oh, that’s easy.” He kissed her again. “I love you, Mrs. Joseph.”
“Well, I think that’ll do very nicely, Mr. Susi.” She patted right over his heart. “Very nicely indeed…”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
WITH SO MANY thanks to the readers of the Black Dagger Brotherhood books! This has been a long, marvelous, exciting journey, and I can’t wait to see what happens next in this world we all love. I’d also like to thank Meg Ruley, Rebecca Scherer and everyone at JRA, and Hannah Braaten, Jamie Selzer, Lauren Carr, Sarah Schlick, Jennifer Long, Jennifer Bergstrom, and the entire family at Gallery Books and Simon & Schuster.
To Team Waud, I love you all. Truly. And as always, everything I do is with love to and adoration for both my family of origin and of adoption.
Oh, and thank you to Naamah, my Writer Dog II, and Obie, who is now a WD in training. They work as hard as I do on my books!
More from this Series
Claimed
Book 1
Forever
Book 2
More from the Author
The Beloved
Darius
The St. Ambrose School…
Lassiter
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
© ANDREW HYSLOP
J. R. WARD is the author of more than sixty novels, including those in her #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series. There are more than twenty million copies of her novels in print worldwide, and they have been published in twenty-seven different countries. She lives in the south with her family.
JRWard.com
Facebook.com/JRWardBooks
Twitter: @JRWard1
FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR:
SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/J-R-Ward
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BY J. R. WARD
THE BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD SERIES
Dark Lover
Lover Eternal
Lover Awakened
Lover Revealed
Lover Unbound
Lover Enshrined
The Black Dagger Brotherhood: An Insider’s Guide
Lover Avenged
Lover Mine
Lover Unleashed
Lover Reborn
Lover at Last
The King
The Shadows
The Beast
The Chosen
The Thief
The Savior
The Sinner
Lover Unveiled
Lover Arisen
Lassiter
Darius
THE BLACK DAGGER LEGACY SERIES
Blood Kiss
Blood Vow
Blood Fury
Blood Truth
THE BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD: PRISON CAMP
The Jackal
The Wolf
The Viper
THE BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD WORLD
Dearest Ivie
Prisoner of Night
Where Winter Finds You
A Warm Heart in Winter
THE LAIR OF THE WOLVEN
Claimed
Forever
Mine
FIREFIGHTERS SERIES
Consumed
NOVELS OF THE FALLEN ANGELS
Covet
Crave
Envy
Rapture
Possession
Immortal
THE BOURBON KINGS
The Bourbon Kings
The Angels’ Share
Devil’s Cut
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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