Evermore (The Night Watchmen Series Book 5)

by Candace Knoebel

  Everyone claps behind us as the world clicks into place, just like I had always dreamed it would.

  “Your father sold it to me,” he says as he sets me down, eyes lit up brighter than the lights. “It’s our first Christmas together as a… well… as a normal couple, so I wanted to give you the best present I could imagine.”

  “Wait… Go back a step… He what?” I can barely string his words together.

  Jaxen nods, his face lit brighter than the lights behind him. “Yes! Your father sold it to me. It’s our home now. A nest we can begin a family in.”

  “I… I don’t know what to say,” I stutter as my eyes blur with heat. As a wave of gratitude and love crashes over me.

  “I’d think a thank you would be nice,” Weldon mutters jokingly.

  “Thank you!” I say, overcome with emotions. “I can’t… I can’t believe it!”

  “You had to move somewhere close to where you’re sectioned to. Can’t very well be a good Watchman if you’re making an hour commute,” Gavin says as he stares at Cassie. He’s been trying to talk her into moving ever since we left Ethryeal City and were assigned to our permanent Night Watchmen positions.

  Cassie rolls her eyes, and then places her hand against his chest. “I told you… find a good place and maybe I’ll change my mind.”

  “Yeah, right. You’ve always had penthouse taste.” Jezi snorts. “Lucky for you, we got the big payout from the Divine for being such good sports about repairing their screw-up.”

  “Hey,” I say in their defense. “They’ve done an excellent job of making it up to everyone. I’ve never felt more unified. The sequester was removed and opened to everyone. Most of the Darkyns have been rehabilitated and entered back into society. Even Charlie and the Underground have been playing fair with them, keeping our jobs focused more on vampires and other pests. What more can we ask for?”

  “How about The Seven? They made life so much more interesting when they were following you around,” Jezi says with a smirk.

  I look to her. “I told you I dismissed them. I don’t need their protection. They can do more for the Divine than they can do for me… I’m just a simple, ordinary Night Watchman.” It feels good thinking of myself as nothing more than ordinary. No more expectations. No more hoops to jump through… just a simple life fighting against paranormal threats.

  “You sound like a walking billboard ad for the Coven, Faye,” Weldon says. The others laugh. “And Charlie is only keeping his head on straight because of rolling around in the sac with Evangeline.”

  “Oh, come on,” Gavin says, face curled in disgust.

  “Really, Weldon?” Jaxen follows up, making a gag face.

  Weldon scrunches his face. “What? Did you suddenly become prudes?”

  “I’m going to grab a beer,” Gavin says, pulling Cassie toward my new front door.

  “Take me with you!” Jezi shouts, heels crushing through the snow.

  Katie glances over her shoulder to her old house as the quiet rushes in. “You think she’ll ever be the same?” she asks.

  A cloud settles over us. Weldon looks to his feet. Jaxen pulls me against him. Chett hugs her close. Honesty coats my voice as I say, “I don’t know, Kat. His magic did a number on her mind.”

  She looks down, and I can tell she’s trying to hide the tears. We’ve spent many nights curled up together around a bottle, gushing our feelings about everything that’s happened since that night. Mostly talking about Eliza and the coma she’s remained in.

  She picks her chin up, swats at her eyes with the back of her hand, and then forces a smile. “I don’t know about you, but I’m freaking freezing out here. A drink sure does sound good.”

  She tugs on the collar of Chett’s jacket, and then pulls him past us, toward the house.

  “You don’t think it’s because of how I knocked her out, do you?” Weldon asks, the guilt on his face knocking the strength from my knees.

  “No,” I say at once. “It was his magic, Weldon. I felt it. I know what it did to her mind. She was gone before we ever even saw her again.”

  He nods, like he’s trying to absorb what I’m saying, but I know him better than anyone. He will blame himself until the end of his days.

  “Don’t be emo,” Jaxen jokes, looking to Weldon.

  The pain on Weldon’s face dissolves. “Who me? Hell no. That job is solely reserved for you, asshat.”

  Jaxen hooks his other arm around Weldon’s neck and brings the three of us in until our foreheads are touching. “I’m glad you’re here, bro,” he says, eyes peering up to Weldon.

  “Me too. Had to have someone tell you how to put a plug into a socket, didn’t you?” Weldon jokes.

  I look to Jaxen, my insides swarming with nerves and heat.

  “Seriously though, we’re glad you’re here,” Jaxen says, his voice turning solemn, like he’s trying to say something Weldon isn’t picking up on.

  “Yeah. I heard you. Me too,” Weldon says with a short, uncertain chuckle. He pauses. Looks between us. “Is there like… something you’re trying to say here that I’m not picking up on? ‘Cause… you’re kind of weirding me out. I did the whole Ménage à trois thing back in the day. Don’t get me wrong… it was a blast… but with you two…”

  “Weldon!” I shout over hysterical laughter. “Will you shut up already?”

  His mouth clamps shut.

  “We’re glad you’re here, because we wanted to ask you something,” I say, wiping tears of laughter from my eyes.

  “You sure do take a long time to get to the point,” he says, eyebrows furrowed.

  “How do you feel about the title The Godfather?” Jaxen asks, looking to me with a twinkle in his eye.

  “The movie?” Weldon says. “I don’t know. Blood. Betrayal. What’s not to love?”

  We don’t say anything, just look to each other, waiting for it to sink in.

  “Wait a minute,” he says, looking between us. “You’re not… you’re not talking about the movie, are you?”

  I shake my head.

  His eyes drop to my stomach. His face pales a little. “Oh.”

  “Well?” I ask, suddenly unsure about our decision to ask him to be the godfather.

  He looks back up at me, eyes slick with tears. “Are you sure? I mean… I’m half-demon, Faye. Are you sure you want that for your—”

  “Oh, just shut up,” I say, launching myself into his arms, squeezing away the doubt.

  He eases into my hug, and then laughs in excitement as he realizes the weight of what we just asked him. As he realizes just how much he means to us.

  We are a pair.

  And it will always be that way until the very end.

  Weldon turns to face the house, cupping his hands around his mouth as he shouts loud enough to create an avalanche, “Woman, we need to get married! We have a godchild on the way, and we can’t go about living in sin. What would that teach him?”

  Did you enjoy Evermore?

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  ♥ Candace knoebel

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  Candace Knoebel is the award-winning author of Born in Flames—book one in a young adult fantasy trilogy. She discovered in 2009 through lunch breaks and late nights after putting her kids to bed, a world where she could escape the ever-pressing days of an eight to five Purgatory. And an outlet for all the voices residing in her head.

  Published by 48fourteen in 201
2, Born in Flames went on to win Turning the Pages Book of the Year award in February of 2013. In January of 2014, the last book in the trilogy, From the Embers, was released, thusly completing the trilogy. She now works on the Night Watchmen Series, while guzzling Red Bulls and pretending to be a ninja on Heelys.