04 Last (61 page)

I saw Reaper’s eyes brighten with her offer. She was offering him more than she knew – the chance to have parents in his life, the chance for all of the Saints to have parent-like figures. It was something they all craved, even if they did not say it aloud.

“I’ll think about it,” Reaper said, though I sensed him already planning a move to King’s Cross.

The idea of the Saints being in King’s Cross set well with me. Daniel and I would settle there as well…Our house was waiting for us. It would be nice to have friends we trusted with our lives so near.

I looked around the others to see how they felt. King, Preacher, River, Sara, Shawn, and Moira all appeared to have no problem with the offer. A place in King’s Cross would have peace. They could all do with peace.

My eyes moved beyond them to the others. I knew many of the Saints would leave to find their own way, to pick up their lives, but most would stay. They had formed a place within the Saints. That didn’t change just because Marcus was gone. If anything, it made it easier to settle.

As I looked at the Watchers around me, Anna caught my eye again. I knew she would not stay. Her place, and the place of many of the Nightstalkers who were now human, was a place without walls. They were wanderers by nature; they had not changed that much with the return to humanity. I eyed her group curiously. There was a mystery I could not explain. How permanent was the change back?

“What happened to the Nightstalkers?” I asked. “You said they all changed back…but is that for good…or?”

“The ones you didn’t share your blood with seem to not be able to change between forms any longer,” Daniel said. “Those of us who did share your blood can still shift.”

“Strange…” I said.

“You should know that the light made its way around the world,” Daniel added. “Reaper has his people out, and they are all reporting the same thing. The Nightstalkers on the battlefield were not the only ones to be changed. You changed them all. And the dead Watchers terrorizing people disappeared with the light. Even the illness plaguing people stopped. It was as if the light directly reversed the deeds Marcus had done to wake the sword.”

“Really?” I asked.

Everyone nodded at me. The world was still changed. There was no undoing the past. The attacks, the dead Watchers, the illness would be on everyone’s mind. People would be searching for answers to the madness. There would be a process of healing. But then people were notoriously good at adapting. They would survive. And that’s all that really mattered.

“There have been no new reports of the illness in four days, and people are starting to be able to recover from the sickness,” Beatrice added. “Even our experiments were destroyed.”

“That’s good news,” I said.

“The question is what the rest of us do now,” Daniel said.

“Whatever we want,” I said.

“Great…because I really want a shower and a hot meal and a warm bed and my pajamas,” Naomi said.

“And I want pickles with fish and Pop-tarts,” Ellen said.

“Gross,” I said.

“And I want a home with all of you.”

We all turned to stare at Twitch. His eyes were on me. He had had never looked happier. His words were soft and perfect; they mirrored his thoughts completely. It was the first words I had ever heard him speak.

“Man…I knew you were pretending,” Spider complained. “All this time…”

“Yeah, Tiny Tim, what gives?” I asked.

Twitch giggled mischievously, and I felt a smile stretch across my face. A home was exactly what we had created together. Despite wherever we went next, I knew we would never truly be separated. I had friends and family that would last for as long as I did. My ability to walk the space in-between meant that I would be able to see them whenever I wanted. Distance meant little. It was an idea I took comfort in.

The party swirled around us and less serious matters surrounded our conversation. After a couple of hours of talking, it was decided we would start moving the camp. People who wanted to go their own way would be taken wherever in the world they wanted to go. Those who were staying would be taken to King’s Cross. Reaper had made up his mind – he would accept Han and Beatrice’s offer. As Sara and Shawn started ferrying people across the globe and the camp emptied of the less serious members of the Saints, Alex walked away from the gathering. Reaper had disappeared, to oversee the departure of the others and to wish them luck wherever they were headed.

I squeezed Daniel’s hand briefly, to let him know I was going to follow her. He smiled and nodded knowingly. He let me go and focused on the conversation he was having with Han and Spider about something called the ‘photoelectric effect.’

I found Alex in a tree. She was sitting on a large branch that overlooked a large clearing below. Reaper was below, doing his best to keep from noticing her. The struggle was obvious in his eyes. Her blue eyes were sad as she looked down at him. The distance between them was painful; she could not hide the pain any longer. Eli’s death had made the pain harder to hide. When I sat next to her, she put her head on my shoulder.

“I lost him,” she said after a moment of silence.

“Reaper or Eli?” I asked.

She sighed.

“I hate when you try to be psychological,” she said. “You suck at it.”

“I know,” I said. “It’s fuzzy science.”

“You just don’t like it ‘cause you can’t perfect it,” she replied.

“I can, however, tell when someone is trying to change the subject,” I said.

Alex didn’t reply.

“What are you so afraid of?” I asked.

She didn’t seem to know how to put her emotions in to words.

I patted the tree we were on.

“You are already out on a limb…what’s the harm in jumping?” I asked.

She smiled and shook her head.

“You are such a dork,” she told me.

“Yeah,” I agreed.

Her expression hardened, and her eyes narrowed as she thought about what I was saying. A light took hold of her blue eyes – a light I knew was dangerous. I had woken something up in her.

“But you’re right. I’m tired of this…”

She jumped up and made her way to the clearing below. Reaper saw her coming, but he was not quick enough to escape her purposeful march. A Watcher had distracted him from the danger descending. Alex stopped directly in front of him, shooing the person Reaper had been talking to away with a hand gesture. The person didn’t try to argue – he was wise enough to back away while he had the chance.

“Reaper…” Alex said. “Do you like me?”

Reaper was angry at her question. His silver eyes brightened with emotion he had been carefully hiding.

“That doesn’t matter,” he said.

“Why not?” Alex said.

“That doesn’t matter either,” Reaper said.

“Yes it does,” Alex said. “Tell me. I have a right to know.”

Reaper crossed his arms defensively. The hurt was apparent around his aggressive stance.

“Because you made your choice in Eli,” Reaper said. “You are not going to choose me as second best. I am not going to be the guy you come to just because you don’t want to be alone. You wanted to be with him. If you wanted to be with me, you would have chosen me. It’s too late for take-backs.”

Reaper started to walk away, but Alex wasn’t having it. Alex’s hands moved to her hips, a dangerous sign.

“Reaper! Get back here before I get mad!” she yelled.

Reaper stopped walking. He knew better than to argue with that threat. It wasn’t the fact that she could still turn in to a Nightstalker that urged him to obey. Alex without the Nightstalker was dangerous enough. He turned around to face her, his expression dominated by irritation. He just wanted to be done with the argument, so he could move on.

“And what are you basing all this on?” Alex asked.

“That day you were coming up the stairs,” Reaper said. “I could tell you had been with him from the way you were touching him.”

“With him!” Alex scoffed.

“There was a level of intimacy there,” Reaper said. “You’re not the only one who can read people.”

“You don’t know a thing!” Alex said. “I had just finished telling him that we couldn’t be together, because I am in love with you! Unlike you, he was adult enough to decide that we could still be friends!”

Reaper’s eyes had widened with her admission. “But the joining…”

“I want you!” Alex said, totally frustrated that he wasn’t getting it. “All that matters is if you want me back!”

A smile dawned on Reaper’s handsome face at her words; a smile I knew was the answer Alex was searching for. He crossed the space separating them and kissed her, wrapping his arms around her body as he did. Alex threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back. The passion in their kiss was overwhelming.

“Halle-freaking-lujah!” I yelled down to them.

Reaper flipped me off, while Alex ignored me entirely. She was too busy kissing the man she loved.

Daniel sat down next to me. He took my hand and smiled at the sight of them. They finished their kiss and then, hand-in-hand, they went off in to the jungle to talk and continue their kissing in private.

“Do you think they joined?” Daniel asked when they were gone.

“Does it really matter?” I asked back.

Daniel’s smile grew.

“Nope.”

We sat in silence for a moment. The silence was welcome, but I spent the whole of it thinking of the battle, catching up to the events that had changed my life forever. Marcus’ expression before he had faded to ash circled my mind. Daniel spoke again.

“How close did you come to giving in?” Daniel asked.

He meant with the sword. He could tell I had held that part of the story back. It was not something I wanted to admit to everyone.

“I did give in,” I said. “I was ready to kill everyone in my way.”

“Why didn’t you?” he asked.

“You,” I replied. “I thought you wouldn’t love me if I was a monster.”

“I would love you even then…”

“But you would put me out of my misery, right?” I asked.

Daniel smiled archly.

“Maybe,” he said.

“There’s no ‘maybe,’” I said. “Would you or would you not kill me if I turned in to a monster?”

“Define ‘monster,’” Daniel said.

“You know, ‘evil-scary-rawr!’” I said.

Daniel pulled me to my feet. He laughed at my description.

“I’m going to need a better definition than that,” Daniel replied.

Arguing over the definition, and his inability to answer a simple question, we made our slow way back to the others. Our hands were linked – a link that would never break. Our argument and our competitiveness filled the air between us.

For once, I was not a girl destined to be the most powerful Watcher in the world, and he was not the boy who would turn in to a Nightstalker. There were no questions about our future or about my abilities. We were just two people crazy in love.

We just were.

Epilogue

When everyone who was leaving had left the camp, Ellen made an announcement. We were all gathered around her. Alex and Reaper were holding hands; they had finished their conversation in the woods. Alex was happier than I had seen her since I had been reunited with them in New York. The others were around us, enjoying the party that was still raging.

Ellen stood up and held her hands out to Sam. He stood as well. Their thoughts were swirling with love and emotional fervor. I knew her announcement was no small thing.

“Sam and I decided that we would like to get married soon…” Ellen said. “So, I’ve decided we’re going to have a service today. Naomi will be officiating. I want you all to be there.”

“Naomi isn’t a preacher,” I said.

“I got my license online,” Naomi corrected me.

“Don’t you want to get married somewhere more romantic?” I asked.

Ellen shrugged.

“I just want to get married wherever Sam is,” Ellen said.

Sam beamed at her.

“Awww…” I said. “But seriously, what about France?”

“France?” Ellen asked Sam.

“Paris would be amazing. It is the city of love, after all,” Sam replied.

“I know just the place,” Daniel replied. “If that’s what you want.”

Sam and Ellen exchanged a look that said volumes. Getting married in France would more than exceed their expectations. It was perfect. They nodded at us, their expressions excited. I was just as excited. I was eager to see Ellen married and settled. I was eager to know she would be okay.

I held out my hands to my family. They all took my hands without hesitation. They were ready to leave the jungle; they were ready to be somewhere with running water and real food. After Daniel shared the location with Sara and Shawn, the others closest to us took their hands. I flashed in to the world of darkness as easily as breathing.

When we came back out in to the light, we were in a city I had never seen before. The buildings were a mixture of old and new. There was history, a magnetic quality to the feeling of the city. The Eiffel Tower was in the distance. Our area of town was full of condos and penthouses. There were storm clouds surrounding the city, but I knew Margaret would keep them at bay. She would not let the rain ruin the impending wedding. We had touched down on the top of a large building. It was the roof of an apartment. The interior of the apartment was elegant and full of warm colors and rich textures. I thought I recognized the decorator. The others looked around the apartment curiously. Beatrice and Han looked less curious. They had seen the building before.