The September sun rose high in the sky, shining down on the great victory over White Lake. Her Warriors of the Blood remained in the sky, moving back and forth, helping where each was needed. Thorne floated in the sky twenty yards away, fully in command, speaking into his headset almost constantly as he directed the show.
In stages, she began to relax. The scourge of Second Earth was gone and would never be back.
She tried to figure out what she was feeling. Much to her surprise, she was at peace.
There would be work still to do in the future. At the very least, she would need to start negotiations with Greaves’s generals, to do all that she could to end the possibility that one or all of them would decide to pick up where Greaves had left off.
But beyond that, her Warriors of the Blood as well as her Militia Warriors would continue to hunt down the last of the death vampires until Second Earth was free of their horrifying and constant threat. Without Greaves to create new death vampires as he had been doing all these centuries, the threat would diminish day by day.
When at last she made it back to the palace, having left White Lake in Thorne’s oh-so-capable hands, she walked into her sitting room and found Braulio seated in the farthest oversized purple velvet chair.
“You did good, Endelle.”
“I did, didn’t I?”
He smiled, and she held her hand out to him. “Come make love to me, and afterward, I want to sleep for about a century.”
He rose from his chair, and as he moved toward her, he said, “I’ve been waiting for this day for the last five thousand years.”
A family is a fluid thing,
Changing shape with each birth and each death.
Take care to celebrate the simple joys of each day.
—Collected Proverbs, Beatrice of Fourth
CHAPTER 22
A week after the battle over White Lake, Grace sat several yards away from an enormous bonfire smack in the middle of the desert. Marguerite had suggested the gathering for fun, as well as to celebrate that Second Earth had a new future.
Grace had her arm around Thorne’s and leaned her head against his shoulder. She sighed. She swore her happiness knew no bounds. Leto was checking on Kendrew and Sloane and would return anytime. Casimir had returned to Fourth to continue his journey through the redemption pools but had left his sons in Leto and Grace’s care. He would be returning at least once a week to spend a few hours with them and to reassure them that he was still alive and would be a proper father to them once he had completed Auntie Beatrice’s special healing program.
The boys were confused but not nearly as agitated as Grace had seen them in former times. Leto had proved to be quite good with them, so that even he was gaining favor.
She heard the sound of an ax against wood and shifted to look in Santiago’s direction. Once he’d learned that there would be a desert party, he’d started hauling and chopping enough logs to feed at least ten bonfires.
Most of it was stacked off to the side, but some of it was in the shape of huge logs that either Santiago or Zacharius would take to chopping just for fun.
As it was, the fire rose at least thirty feet into the dark night sky.
Marcus and Havily were sitting side by side to the right of Thorne. They were seated on a huge log, arguing about something, until Marcus dragged her into his arms and kissed her. Havily laughed and leaned against his chest. He rubbed her back, then kissed her again.
Kerrick and Alison sat on a blanket well back from the fire. Helena was with them, but because she was so active and very powerful, Kerrick had created a dome of mist over the child so that when she mounted her wings, she couldn’t just take off. The baby had learned to fly before she’d taken her first step. What a challenge.
Grace smiled. But when had parenting ever not been a challenge?
As for Medichi, he’d taken Parisa off into the desert at least a couple of hundred yards away. She couldn’t see them or hear them, thank the Creator. Maybe they’d further disguised their position by sneaking behind a massive saguaro or setting up their own mist. Given the distance and the darkness, a vampire could accomplish a lot with his breh.
Zacharius slammed his ax into a log, leaving it there, then moved to stretch out on a blanket on his side. He threw small bits of something into the fire. The bits would flare and more sparks would rise. Santiago walked over to him and handed him a Dos Equis.
Grace couldn’t help it. She extended her hearing in Santiago’s direction. “It’s just you, me, and Luken, hermano.”
Zach smiled up at him and clinked Santiago’s bottle. He smiled. “Yep, just the three of us. I’ll want to hit the Blood and Bite in a few.”
“I’m with you.” Santiago dropped down to sit beside him. He sipped his beer, and he, too, had that dark look.