Roaring Dawn: Macey Book 3 (The Gardella Vampire Hunters 10)(55)

“Nothing more.” He lifted his brows.

She shook her head. “I don’t love him, Grady. I’ve only ever loved you…and I hope some day you can truly forgive me for what I’ve done.” She wiped her eyes once more, silently damning herself for being such a waterworks.

“When Flora shot you—right in the chest, right there—and I thought you were dead, I realized right then that I’d forgiven you, a rún. And I thought I was too late.” His voice was rough and broken. “Savina…well, she’d helped me to look at things in a different way.

“It wasn’t that she was trying to convince me of anything. I think she was actually trying to convince herself that she and I don’t really…that we can’t fully understand what sort of life, what sacrifices you and your family are required to make.”

He sighed, looked at her, took her hands. “What you did was horrible, Macey, but I understand now it wasn’t out of malice or selfishness—well, maybe a little bit of that, of protecting yourself,” he added with a harsh laugh, “but it was mostly for love. And that, my heart, is a very noble cause.”

She smiled at him through watery eyes. “Thank you. I’m so glad Wayren didn’t do what I asked. And that she gave you a choice.”

“There is one thing you’re going to have to do for me, though, lass. To help me get past all of this angst.” The quirk of a smile—the first real hint of humor and teasing she’d seen in days—curved his lips.

She held back a relieved grin of her own. She thought she knew what he was going to say—he was a man, after all. And make-up sex was particularly satisfying, as she’d so recently discovered.

But he surprised her.

“St. Patrick’s,” he replied, reaching for a slice of apple.

“What?”

“We’re getting married at St. Patrick’s. Where you spent an awful lot of your time—and Sebastian Vioget too.”

“But I’m not Catholic,” she protested…yet she loved the idea. To be married—married?—in the same church where she’d lost Sebastian, where he’d found his salvation and completed the long promise with his own beloved Giulia. She couldn’t think of anything more fitting.

“I know a priest,” Grady said with a little chuckle, then pulled her over to cover her mouth with his. He tasted like apple, but she didn’t mind. “I’ll take care of it. As long as you promise to be there, in a lacy dress and with a flower in your hair—like you wore that first night at The Gyro. You will make an honest man out of me, won’t you?”

“Nothing would make me happier,” she told him. “A rún.”





EPILOGUE

~ Endings & Beginnings ~



Thirty days later



Santo Quirinus was a tiny, unassuming church in a very old part of Rome. Hardly noticed by passersby and completely ignored by tourists, the minuscule cathedral nevertheless acted as the threshold of a very special location.

If one walked through the tiny worship space—which was stark and simple in comparison to the other architectural wonders of Rome—and found a certain confessional booth, and pushed a certain lever…the screen between the priest and confessor opened to reveal a secret staircase.

And if one descended those curving steps—taking care to avoid certain ones that would set off an alarm below—one would soon find oneself in an underground chamber quite different from the other catacombs of Rome.

In the center of the entry chamber was a large fountain that gently bubbled from a center spire, with water that spilled over in a constant stream. In the bottom of the pool, if one looked closely, one would see not coins, but tiny silver crosses fastened to the small hoops that had once been pierced through the flesh of some fearsome Venator.

From this main chamber, several entryways led off into a warren of corridors, saferooms, and laboratories.

This was the Consilium, the heart and center of the Gardella family of Venators—and all those who wore the vis bulla or fought alongside them in an effort to eradicate the evil of Judas Iscariot’s vampire race, as well as other forces of malevolence.

On this day in particular, the usually quiet and empty church of Santo Quirinus was filled with a small crowd of people. But today was an unusual day, for the Summas Gardella was getting married for the second time…and everyone was rejoicing that he had at last found love again.

Macey stood by, holding Savina’s bouquet as the lovely woman vowed to always love and honor and respect (but not necessarily obey) her husband, the fierce, intense, and charming summas.

Standing across from Macey was her own deliciously handsome husband, looking slightly harassed as he fumbled through his pockets for the rings with which Max had entrusted him.

As planned, Macey and Grady had been married at St. Patrick’s a little more than two weeks earlier, with the affable priest in attendance—as well as Max Denton, Savina Eleaisa, Jameson Linwood, and others. The bride had worn a silver-gilded white rose in her hair and a silvery-pink frock, and her wedding ring had belonged to the groom’s Aunt Camilla.

Now, as the former groom and current best man to the Summas Gardella looked up in dismay at the couple currently being married, he saw that the groom, with a broad, cocky grin, was holding the two rings he’d pickpocketed from Grady.

“I’ve been practicing,” Max murmured to his best man before turning back to the incandescently beautiful woman who was becoming his wife.

Once the vows were exchanged and the wedding ceremony was over, the guests made their way down to the main chamber of the Consilium to celebrate the nuptials, as well as a memorialization of Temple Deveraux and Sebastian Vioget.

Macey, who knew both of the fallen better than anyone present, spoke briefly about them.

“Sebastian acted as both a father and a mentor to me during the year I knew him,” she said. “And when he was reunited with his Giulia, it was one of the most beautiful scenes I’ve ever witnessed. It came after a terrifying, horrible event, and through it all, he remained strong and cognizant—even when tested to his limits. Even then, I could see the Venator strength burning in his eyes. Though an undead himself, he has always had a place reserved in the gallery in the library, to have his likeness hung there, along with Max Pesaro, the famous Brim, and, of course, Kritanu.” She’d boned up quite a bit on her Venator history in preparation for the visit to the Consilium.

“Temple Deveraux was one of my closest friends during a most unsettling year. From the first time I met her—when she dragged me out of a dance club during a vampire raid—I was impressed by her strength of body as well as her heart and mind. She taught me everything I know about how to wield a stake, and what to do with my arms and legs, and even my forehead, when faced with a vampire—or anyone else trying to back me into a corner.

“She was filled with advice on everything, from how to wear a fascinator to how to perfectly clean the bar counter of every bit of sticky ale, to where my strengths and weaknesses are when training in the kalari. She showed me how to read texts that seemed too faded to see, and she always had a wise comment when I needed to be brought back to reality.” She glanced at Grady and her vision began to swim. “I’m going to miss her so much, and I’m mostly saddened that she was cut down in the midst of a great love affair—the only time I ever saw her truly happy. I hope the sister of my heart and her Dr. Joseph are happily together in the same place Sebastian and Giulia are.”

Everyone clapped, and when Macey went back to her seat, Grady had a cream-colored handkerchief ready for her. But this one had her initials—MDG—embroidered on it, along with a delicate shamrock design in ivory. A set of them had been one of her wedding presents from him, and he’d stashed them all over the house and always carried one on his person.

Max rose and moved toward a pair of shrouded paintings. He whisked away the coverings to reveal Temple’s and Sebastian’s portraits, which would hang in the library.

“In honor of two of our own,” he said, standing tall and handsome in his dark suit, “let us have a final moment of silence.”

After that, the somber mood of the guests broke up into one of celebration. After all, Nicholas Iscariot was dead, Rekk’s Pyramid was destroyed, Rasputin’s amulet was safely locked away…and their summas was back in Rome…along with the daughter most of them had never met. Thus, as the heir apparent to the Gardella legacy, the new Mrs. Jameson Grady was even more popular than the bride and groom.

Macey, who had only arrived in Rome two days earlier, and was visiting the Consilium for the first time, was fairly giddy with excitement as she and Grady selected glasses of champagne—delightfully legal in Italy—and visited with the other Venators, Comitators, weapons masters, medics, and others who helped in the battle against evil. She met Bellitano and the elderly Paolo, and the handsome and clever Liam Stoker—who wanted to know all about the bulletproof corset that had saved her life.

But it wasn’t until Max, still glowing with happiness from his nuptials and pride over his daughter, took Macey into the main corridor that angled off from the fountain room that she was truly overcome by her family’s calling.