Haley stood up over my body.
I found myself nodding.
Closing my eyes.
And I could remember it too. I could remember…
What it was like to be human…
EPILOGUE
Months later – or perhaps it was even years – Haley found herself behind the wheel of a car parked overlooking a sandy beach and ocean shoreline as the sun set overhead. She could feel her mother’s presence in the car with her, scoping out the energies before them. Feeling anxious about whether she should let her daughter go.
Haley turned and looked to the empty seat beside her. “I’ll be okay,” she whispered. “This time everything’s going to be alright.”
She pushed open the driver’s door and let her bare feet touch the asphalt. The air was cold and she wasn’t wearing a jumper, but she felt no need to return home to get one.
She walked around the front of the car and made her way down the steps towards the beach. The path straight ahead was basically clear. To the left she could see two lone figures walking across the water’s edge. To her distant right, she could see the bonfire. The bonfire, meant for her.
With her arms wrapped around herself she trudged through the thickened sand moving closer towards the fire.
“Haley! Look everyone, it’s Haley! Over here!”
Haley looked up.
A young woman was calling her.
She wasn’t sure she even recognized her voice.
But of course it had to be…
“Riley?”
Riley ran from the fire to where Haley was, trudging along.
“You made it,” Riley said wrapping her arms around her. “We really missed you.”
“Thanks,” Haley murmured. “I missed you too.”
Riley led her back to the bonfire where she saw a few other faces she recognized.
“Haley!” Dino exclaimed, handing her a vodka cruiser. “Have a drink on me.”
“Thanks,” Haley said.
“Well sit down,” Riley offered. “Get yourself situated.”
Haley sat down on the sand.
Jason got to his feet and walked over to shake her hand. “I can’t believe it’s you,” he said. “We thought we’d never see you again.”
“I heard about Luna,” Haley said. “And … Nadine…”
Everyone looked away a moment.
“She’ll be lucky if she ever gets out this time,” Dino said. “They put her away in max security from what I hear.”
“It’s pretty sad that she betrayed us,” Haley said. “And all for that creep Cyrus.”
“But you took care of him, didn’t you?” Riley said punching her in the arm. “You took care of him for all of us.”
“Yeah, Haley,” Jason said. “Tell us what it was like.”
“What was what like?”
“Watching him die,” Dino answered.
Haley looked far away into the depths of the ocean. “I thought we were going to keep things positive.”
“How did you do it?” Riley wanted to know.
“Did you stake him?” Jason asked.
“I heard you set him on fire,” Dino chimed in.
“It was nothing spectacular,” Haley said. “In the end he wanted to go. He wasn’t happy with who he was.”
“Fuck his happiness,” Dino said. “He deserved what he got whether he wanted it or not.”
“So what have you guys been up to?” Haley asked, changing the subject.
“This and that,” Riley said. “Actually we were thinking of getting back into the paranormal investigations. Now we’ve had a break.”
“You mean going back to work for the Centre of Paranormal Affairs?”
“We’re gonna start our own thing,” Jason said. “Freelancing.”
“You’re welcome to join us,” Dino said.
“I don’t know,” Haley said. “It’s kind of hard to come back from everything. I don’t know how you guys do it.”
“Don’t worry,” Riley said cuddling into her. “You’ll get used to it eventually.”
“I hope so.”
Haley then lowered the bottle from her lips. She could see two colorful eyes watching her from the other end of the beach.
She stood up. “Did you guys invite…?”
“Who is that?” Dino asked following her gaze. “Is that – is that –”
Brock.
He had found his way back to her.
“I guess I better go talk to him,” Haley murmured.
“Do you want us to go with you?” Jason asked.
“No, that’s okay,” Haley said. “Just … keep an eye on us, would you?”
“Of course, Haley,” Riley said.
“We’ve got your back,” Jason added.
“Thanks,” Haley said forcing a smile.
She moved around the side of the fire and walked across the beach towards where Brock was standing in his pool of eerie blue light.
When she caught up to him, she could see he was skipping stones across the water. Or at least trying to.
“Give it here,” Haley said taking the pebble from his hand. “I used to be good at this.”
Haley turned the stone to the water and launched it into the air.
One splash.
Two splashes.
Three, four, five, six…
“That’s impressive,” Brock said. “I can’t get past two.”
“That’s cause you’re useless, isn’t it?”
“Thanks a lot,” Brock laughed.
“Yeah.”
A pause.
“So you tracked me down, huh?” Haley asked. “Doing a bit of detective work yourself, are you?”
“Maybe,” Brock said. “Or maybe it’s a right place, right time, kind of thing.”
“I don’t think we’ve ever had one of those. It’s usually the opposite.”
“Yeah, that’s generally the way of things.”
Haley lowered her head. “So you were just watching me the whole time? When I was running around Cyrus’s maze?”
“I had faith in you,” Brock said. “I knew you’d kick his ass.”
“The whole time you were trying to blame this whole thing on the Count, and it had nothing to do with him. He wasn’t even dead either.”
“Us vampires seem to have a way of coming back from the dead, I suppose.”
“Shame us humans don’t.”
“Yeah. That is a shame.”
Haley swallowed. “Do you realize we’re still technically married?”
“What’s technically? We are married.”
“You still calling yourself the Count?”
“No, that wasn’t for me. I became too much of an asshole filling his shoes. So I gave the agency back to him.”
“Good.”
“Yeah, I’ve just been by myself. Wandering the world.”
“Not killing anyone, I hope.”
“Well, I’m not going to lie, there was the odd girl or two that caught my eye.”
Haley stared at him angrily.
“Only kidding,” Brock chuckled. “You should see your face.”
“That’s cause it isn’t funny. Not even funny at all.”
“I miss this,” Brock said. “I miss us.”
“Yeah, well you’ve got a long way to go before you’re in my good books again.”
“Really? I’m in the doghouse, am I?”
“I think so.”
“Well, what am I going to do about that? How should I try and make it up to you?”
“Brock, seriously. You can’t make it up. It was too much bullshit for too long.”
“Bullshit?”
“Bossing me around. Controlling my appearance. What I say. You were a total psycho.”
“I know I was, but I still think I deserve a second chance. Let’s not forget how much I –”
“Don’t you dare.”
“Don’t I what?”
“Don’t say you love me,” Haley said cynically. “I�
��m not a fool you know. It’s not going to work on me.”
“But what if I’m telling the truth? What then?”
“I’ve seen what you do to people you love. At least in the long term.”
“But what about the short term? What about the present moment? Isn’t that what it’s all about?”
“You’re a cheeky bastard, you know that, don’t you?”
Brock smiled. “I was born cheeky.”
Haley looked down towards the ground.
Brock got down onto the sand and stole her gaze. “Haley, I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?”
Haley didn’t know what to say.
“Please say yes,” Brock pestered.
Haley shrugged. “Whatever.”
Brock stood and moved in beside her. “May I hold your hand?”
She didn’t respond.
He took it anyway. “I’m holding it,” he said. “Alright.”
Then he turned.
And they watched the ocean together.
“Do you think it’s going to last this time?” Haley asked.
“I promise it will last as long as you want it to,” Brock said. “Because all that matters to me is you. And hopefully one day, starting a family together.”
“You want to start a family? Really?”
“Surprised?”
“I don’t know. How can we bring a child into this world when there’s all this danger that surrounds us?”
“Because we love them,” Brock said. “And because we believe.”
“We believe. In what?”
“In there being another place outside of this. In everyone that has passed away still being out there, somewhere. That all life is eternal. Not just a vampire’s.”
Haley thought on what he’d said. She couldn’t help but smile.
It seemed perhaps there might be some light at the end of the tunnel, after all…
THE END
COMING SOON IN SEPTEMBER 2016
The First Book Of
ROSETTE BOLTER’S NEW SERIES
“PARANORMAL MYSTERIES”
Complete standalone Paranormal Mystery Romances featuring shifters, vampires, witches, wizards & many other strange creatures.
The books will be novel length and will be able to be read in any order.
No more cliffhangers, I promise!
Thank you so much for reading this story till the end. I appreciate all feedback, as it helps me to improve my stories for the future.
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BOOKS BY ROSETTE BOLTER
Vampire Dating Agency
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GB6NLFW
Shared By The Dragon Clan
(Paranormal Saga Book 1)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NW436ZC
Badass Dragons
(Paranormal Saga Book 2)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QIYMP1Y
Worshiped By The Bear Kings
(Paranormal Saga Book 3)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RWDP18O
Engaged To The Vampire Twins
(Paranormal Saga Book 4)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VGU2LTQ
Stepbrother Bear
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TFU3D5A
Vampire’s Valentine
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BSL9HD0
Vampire Dating Agency: The Finale Page 5
