Never once did she lower her hand or turn her focus from Eric Paulson’s direction.
“Interesting choice,” Liam said quietly to her, pressing his lips to her hairline and gently rubbing a soothing hand in circles over her lower back.
“When faced with the two of them, it was the only choice. I could have killed Paulson and stuck to my original plans as far as Ambrose was concerned, but the truth is Phoenix needs a new Alpha and Paulson needs to be held accountable for his crimes. It would have been selfish of me to deprive a great many other Morphates of the opportunity to see this sick bastard locked in a tiny cold cage of his own. They’ve waited fifty years for this, and he makes, by far, the better choice. I think Ambrose’s death and Phoenix’s new Alpha makes the point for obeying the Council laws well enough.”
“I would have to agree,” he said, looking carefully into her eyes. “So let’s bundle Paulson up and get him in front of your Council then, shall we? It’s long past time you got home.”
Epilogue
The face of the world was changing.
She had been instrumental in it.
Nick Gregory watched through the balcony glass as Devona turned over the E-pad in her hands, effectively turning off the news program she’d been watching. He reached out to touch Amara’s hand, stroking her fingers in just such a way that, after fifty years, spoke very clearly to her.
“You thought she would be happier,” Amara said with a strange smile on her lips.
“She worked long and hard to achieve the things she did. But she hasn’t smiled once since coming back into our fold.”
“That’s because she left something behind,” Amara said softly.
“Something?”
Just then the bell to the apartment rang out, drawing its owner’s attention out on the balcony. Devona stood up and crossed through the living room, acknowledging her first visitors with a nod of her head before going to let in her next one.
“But now that the Freedom Act is on the verge of passing, I think things are going to change,” Amara told her husband wisely.
Devona opened the door and froze in shock to see the frame filled with Liam’s presence. He was by far the most beautiful thing she’d seen in weeks. The return to her pretty penthouse home in Dark Manhattan, the retrieval of her identity, the faces of her friends, all of it had been glorious, but nothing had made her feel the way opening that door and seeing his face made her feel.
He looked a little tired … a little haggard. But despite that, he was as huge and gorgeously male as ever. He was vital and strong, so intensely alive in front of her that she could almost feel the beat of his pulse emanating off of him. In just a few heartbeats she was wet between her legs and parched against her tongue and craving him in both places.
But they hadn’t spoken once since she had returned through the Dark Manhattan gates. Not one call. Not a single email. He’d simply said goodbye to her and they’d left it at that.
“Here’s the deal,” he said in a rough rasp. “I’m human. I’m going to grow old and die. I love my job. I love my business. I’m not going to give any of that up. But …” He swallowed so hard she heard it. “But I’m pretty damn sure I love you, too, and I’m not willing to give you up either. So … you’re the smart one. Figure out how we can do this.”
Devona took a deep breath and slowly, suddenly, began to smile. She reached out to touch him, her fingertips on his chest, her breath leaving her on a sound of great relief.
“Well, nothing says you can’t live in Dark Manhattan. And in a few months I can leave the reservation and we can stay anywhere you want.”
“I heard the news and I came right here. I didn’t want to interfere in the homecoming you waited so long for. Worked so hard for,” he said, finally stepping over the threshold and taking her up in his arms.
“It wasn’t as special as I wanted it to be,” she confessed breathily to him. “It was missing you. This is all echoes of the past, and all I craved was possibilities of a future. Do you really love me?”
He smiled down at her.
“Yeah. I’m pretty well stuck on you, honey. I figured it out after about a week of missing you, wandering aimlessly through my life and feeling like someone kicked my puppy.”
“I’m a Morphate,” she felt the need to remind him as he started to kiss her with no little amount of heat.
“I think we’ve established that,” he said with a chuckle.
“I won’t grow old. I won’t die. I’m going to fang you frequently. At this very moment I’m dying to get my claws into you.”
“Thank Christ!” he declared hotly.
“And … I think I’d like to have children. But I have to unlock some of these genetic anomalies we’re seeing. And our child would be a hybrid. I’m not sure there’s been a hybrid of human and Morphate before, or if it’s even possible. It ought to be, since we work the same reproductively …”
Liam sighed and pressed his cheek against hers, his gaze falling on the couple sitting just beyond her shoulder.
“She gets like this sometimes,” he said to them with a grin.
“We know,” Amara said with a smile.
Liam wrapped Devona up in the biggest, most powerful hug he could manage, pulling her feet right up off the floor.
“Just say ‘I love you, Liam,’ he instructed her softly against her ear. “And all the rest will take care of itself.”
“I love you, Liam,” she said obediently.
And it did.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
New York Times bestselling author JACQUELYN FRANK is the author of the successful Nightwalkers series, which first introduced the world to her unique paranormal romances. She has since gone on to create two more successful, bestselling series, The Shadowdwellers and The Gatherers.
Jacquelyn Frank has been passionate about writing ever since she picked up her first teen romance at age thirteen. Since then, she’s gone on to write over ten bestselling books, with more on the way. Before Jacquelyn became an author, she worked as a Sign Language Interpreter and substitute teacher.
For more information on Jacquelyn Frank and her books, readers may visit her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/Jacquelyn-Frank/371620872548 or visit her website at www.jacquelynfrank.com.
eKENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
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Copyright © 2013 Jacquelyn Frank
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
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ISBN: 978-1-6018-3059-3
First electronic edition: September 2013
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