by Jon F. Merz
“Understood.”
Niles leaned back. “How you doing?”
“Fine.” I grinned. “You know, considering I had sex with a demon.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
“As sure as I can be.”
He paused for a moment. “You know you can talk to me anytime you need to. I’m no genius at this stuff, but I’ve got a pretty good ear.”
I smiled. “Don’t sell yourself short my friend. You’re pretty awesome at this stuff and you know it.”
“If you say so,” said Niles. “Get out of here and get some rest. You look as though you could do with some.”
Talya and I were sitting at our favorite table in Sorellina, our favorite restaurant in Boston. It was late February and it was the first time I’d seen her since December. She looked radiant and stunning and lethal all at the same time and I marveled at the woman I had before me. She was dressed in a sleek black dress, tastefully set off with diamond studs and stiletto heels that made her legs go on forever. But it was her eyes that captivated me the most. As dangerous a woman as she was, her eyes showed a depth of soul that I’d never seen before. There wasn’t just lethality in them, but something far more important: hope.
And love.
I held her hand across the table as we sipped our wine and stumbled around the small talk that we usually stumbled around as we tried to not talk shop. I had no idea where Talya had been and she had no idea what I’d been up to.
It didn’t matter.
Just being there with her was what mattered the most. And I knew that as many Liliths as there might possibly be throughout the entire span of time across how ever many universes existed, there would never be, never ever be, another Talya.
She squeezed my hand and I squeezed back.
“I love you,” I said.
She smiled and leaned across to kiss me lightly on the lips. “What brought that on?”
“You did,” I said. “And I’m glad you did.”
“If you’re jockeying for top position tonight,” her voice trailed off with a playful lilt.
“I’m not,” I said. “I just wanted you to know.”
She frowned. “That must have been some op you were on.”
I smiled. “Sometimes we need to see the things we don’t have to make us appreciate what we do have.”
“And what did you see, Lawson?”
“A lot,” I said. “A lot of myself I didn’t particularly like.”
“You know as well as I do that we need that darkness sometimes. We need the dark to find the light.” She squeezed my hand again. “What matters is that we do find it. And then we carry on.”
“Always?” I asked.
“Always,” said Talya. “No matter what. That’s the promise I make to you every single day I’m fortunate to remain alive.”
I took a breath. My throat was tight again. Damned if I wasn’t becoming emotional in my old age. “There’s a lot I want to tell you.” I paused. “But for right now, I just want you to know how much I love you and how much I’ll always love you.”
She smiled, its brilliance flooding her face and making her all the more radiant. “It won’t change how I feel about you, Lawson. Nothing ever will because I know the man you are. And I know your faults and your vices like you know mine. That’s what makes us so perfect together.”
“How is it,” I said, “that I was lucky enough to find you in this crazy world of ours?”
She winked. “Maybe I was the one who found you.”
I raised my glass. “Here’s to finding each other.”
She clinked her glass against mine and we drank.
Around us, the rest of the world carried on, oblivious to the love we shared.
And that was perfectly…
…okay.
Also by Jon F. Merz
The Fixer: A Lawson Vampire Novel
The Invoker: A Lawson Vampire Novel
The Destructor: A Lawson Vampire Novel
The Syndicate: A Lawson Vampire Novel
The Price of a Good Drink: A Lawson Vampire Story
The Courier: A Lawson Vampire Mission
The Kensei: A Lawson Vampire Novel
Enemy Mine: A Lawson Vampire Story
The Ripper: A Lawson Vampire Novel
The Crucible: A Lawson Vampire Novel
Incident at Palmyra: A Lawson Vampire Mission
The Shepherd: A Lawson Vampire Mission
Mission: Malta: A Lawson Vampire Mission
The Enchanter: A Lawson Vampire Novel
A Fog Of Fury: A Lawson Vampire Mission
The Infiltrator: A Lawson Vampire Mission
A Forced Disappearance (DARK OPS 1): A Lawson Vampire Mission
