Epilogue

Astrid

" Y ou have everything you need?"

Rolling my eyes at Sev, my lips tighten to prevent a smile. "Yes."

"Snacks for the plane?"

"Yes! I told you. Plus, they'll give me food if I ask for it."

His mouth forms a solid line. "And you still won't let me accompany you?"

"No."

"What about one of us?" Livia interrupts and places her hand on my shoulder.

Facing the women, I tilt my head and give them a broad grin. Pointing first to Veracity, I wag my finger back and forth. "First of all, she just had a baby." Then I point to Ari. "And she's about to. And you have your infant boy at home. So no. Go and rule the ruins of this city like the forces of sanity you are."

Veracity holds her son close to her neck and rocks him. A worried look comes through her green eyes. "And you want no part?"

Shaking my head definitively, I answer, "None. I don't want to be a politician. You all were completely right. The three of you are a great check and balance system here. And you're already starting to rebuild everything my husband destroyed for the people."

"Sacrificed," Arianna says with a toss of her brown hair over her shoulder. "He sacrificed . For us."

Not even speaking to them, I mutter, "I think he'd like the word destroyed." Capturing each of their gazes, I smile. "But you're right. He sacrificed everything for us. I'll be happy to fund the reconstruction efforts. If you all ever need money, send an email to the address I gave you."

"But we can't know where you'll be? What if we want to help you ? And your child?"

Placing my hand over Bert, I sway my hips. "We'll take care of each other. I just want to be alone and disappear from the world for a while."

Veracity raises her red eyebrows. "You know, we may not be politicians if the people vote us out after all this. Anyone can be now. So if you change your mind about it, come back and visit. I'd vote for you."

My arm snares her shoulder in a half embrace, and I pat her son's head. Livia gathers me in a bear hug, then Ari's tiny arms surround all of us.

Over the last two months, I don't think I could have survived without these women. They helped me with even basic things like keeping me fed or holding my hair when I puked from morning sickness. Fortunately, I think I'm past that stage now.

Once I could manage, they even had me over to their houses to babysit. Livia showed me how to change her son Adal's diapers. Veracity taught me how to burp Valen. I visited my brother's grave on the South Side, which provided me with a level of closure I didn't know I needed until I was standing there with Ace. The Donovans have become my surrogate siblings.

Ace and Max are like my protective older brothers. Max insisted on sending guards of his own choosing to surround House Strauss, despite the fact that danger has been completely annihilated. All of it lay waste in the pile of dust and debris that once was the Crimson Angel.

The only thing I requested was a plaque on the library they plan to build there in its place. Just a simple one that reads "Here lies Vladimir Vincente Strauss III. Last of his name. Because of his death, we all may be free."

That's been the harshest part. Not having anything of his body left to bury. There were teeth and bones of others. But none that have been identified yet as my husband's.

Sadness overwhelms me at times, but I twirl my wedding ring on my finger and pat my belly to make me forget for a moment.

House Strauss is transitioning into a wayward home for battered women and children. The people who were working at the Crimson Angel either took full-time volunteer positions or helped with the transition. Knowing that such a place of horror has been transformed into one for help makes me feel some relief.

"Thank you. Seriously. But I'm leaving. I'll send word when I can."

Sev's large hand rubs my back as he helps me into the Hummer and escorts me to the airport.

I've never flown on a plane before, but I guess a private jet is the way to go. The stewardess looks at me with some type of pity in her big eyes. So I assume she knows the backstory of me leaving. Everything I wanted to take is already at my new place, and I'll have fun unpacking it all.

I should probably pick out a better name for our daughter…

And that's what consumes my thoughts as my nose stays plastered to the plastic window while we rise above the skies. While deep in thought, I twirl my ring right off my finger until it bounces on the floor beneath my seat.

With a sigh, I unbuckle my belt and reach for it, then slide it back on. But the light catches the gold and an engraving carved deep in the metal makes me pause.

Meet me at the Crystal Maiden

My heart skips a beat. He did this when he first met me, knowing exactly how much the place meant from one conversation. Maybe both of us were ready to love. All we needed was each other.

No one knows. Not even Sev. But I bought a farm.

It's on the banks of a river and at the edge of a jungle. The biggest distraction over the last few weeks has been my new obsession with gardening books. Survival books. Self-sustaining agriculture books.

And that's where I want to raise… Eve . That's what I'll call Liberty. Eve and I will make our new home in the lush tropical landscape among papayas and bananas.

When I arrive at the main airport, a driver awaits to escort me to my new town in a Jeep. "Mrs. Lynx?"

"Yeah, that's me!"

He smiles broadly and waves his hand toward his vehicle. "Welcome to your new home!"

The small town just down the road from my farm holds everything I need. An Amish grocery, a post office, a veterinarian, a local practitioner, and a hardware store. Various brightly colored shops line the main street. And when the driver drops me off, I tip him generously and head into a local restaurant first.

A tourist group fills the bar area as I walk inside and ask the hostess for the bathroom. Once I get back to the main room, the crowd has thinned, but I do hear them say they are heading to the Crystal Maiden with a guide.

Happy sighs part my lips. I'm where I should be.

"What will you have?" the bartender asks as I pull up an empty stool.

"Um, just water and whatever the chef makes best. I'm hungry!"

The kind-eyed woman gives me a nod and jots a note down on her writing pad, then walks away.

She returns with a tall, icy glass of water for me with a straw, and I check the cell phone I brought just for emergencies. There's only one bar, but hopefully it will be enough to call for help if I need it out on my land.

When I look up, a large figure has taken the spot next to me, and I slide away politely to give him more room. The light brown of his hair glimmers in the afternoon light as I give him a cursory glance, noticing his pastel tropical shirt.

The waitress smiles broadly at him and slides a drink down the mahogany bar. He catches it in his hand, which bears a gold wedding band. He must be a local.

After taking a sip of his drink, he swivels on his stool, and my eyes secretly take in the side of his face. My stomach swoops as I gasp.

His broad lips lift into a smile as the corner of his gray eye crinkles. Looking down at me with mirth covering his cheeks, he murmurs, "Come here often?"

My breaths stutter, chest tightening.

Am I hallucinating? Or…is this my dead husband?

"Wha-what?"

Fully swiveling to face me, I get a better look. His cheeks are fuller and the light behind his eyes is brighter. Instead of pale, icy skin, it's glowing with a tan. A hint of stubble lines his sharp jawline and his knee brushes my bare one.

"Who…who are you?" I manage to squeak out, convinced I'm seeing some weird ghost.

"I'm Phoenix. Phoenix Lynx. Your husband. If you'll have me."

Tears heat my eyes as all the delusions I had over the last two months come true. I must have completely lost it. Lifting a palm, I touch his face, and he places his warm hand over mine, closing his eyes as if savoring it. "What? How? Is it really you?"

"Yes, my angel. Did you miss me?"

Nodding rapidly, I let the streams from my eyes fall freely, and sob. Without hesitation, he gathers me in his strong arms and lifts me up off my stool.

"Hazel! Tell Mack to make the orders to go. I'm taking my wife home."

Burying my face in his neck, I let his scent envelop me, soothing my pain and putting my broken pieces back into place. It's really him! His body, his form, is here . How can this be?

By the time he gathers our food and carries me to another Jeep, my confusion has turned to raging anger. When he gets in the driver's seat and places our food between my legs on the floor, I slap his arm. Then again. And again and again.

"Ouch!"

"Why did you let me suffer? Where have you been? What happened?"

He grips my face with his sure hands and presses his lips to mine as I fight him. Digging my nails in, I try to pull him off, but he won't leave. I give in and kiss him back, deeply. Some of the fury simmers to an ardent passion before he pulls back and grips my hand. My claws are ready to release at any wrong word.

Using both of our hands to throw the car in gear, he pulls onto the main road.

"I wasn't sure if it would work. But Dilan set the bombs along the perimeter for the sacrifice weeks prior to the Winter Solstice. Her last duty was to check them. Falcon prepared the baptismal pool for me. She left a gas mask under the water and cut the fiberglass enough that I would hopefully be able to kick out the bottom and crawl into the basement. From there, I shimmied out of the coal shafts to the outside and ran to the woods."

His eyes narrow as he continues with a sad smile. "I wasn't going to even bother with that last step, until I met you."

My heart seizes with warmth at his words. He was willing to try everything to come back to me. Tears flood my eyes, and he takes a thumb and brushes them away, then sticks it in his mouth.

We drive up a dirt road, through a wooden gate, and he stops in front of the house I'd seen only on the internet and through videoed walk-throughs. The place is breathtaking. And it looks just like the place I'd drawn from my dreams so many months ago.

He grabs our bags and shakes a finger at me, warning me to stay put. Skirting around the vehicle, he opens my door and helps me to my feet.

As we walk up the stairs to the front door, he pulls me back and sets down the plastic containers. I'm stunned to silence when he gets on one knee and places his fingers around my ring.

"Astrid Lynx, life isn't worth living without you in it. I love you. Will you marry me?"

All the anger I held against him vanishes. "I'd marry you every day if I could, Vincente."

He smiles and stands, wrapping his arms tightly around me and gathering my lips into his. "Please keep calling me that, but otherwise, I'm Phoenix now. It's what they know me as. And what our son will know me as. Vladimir Vincente Strauss is no more." Tucking locks of my blonde hair behind my ear, he lets his finger trail over my heated cheek. "Barrington is no more. We'll make up whatever last name you want. Lynx? So be it. But this is a fresh start. Together."

"Together," I whisper.

"And after I make love to you in our new house and we eat the local fare, I'm taking you to the Crystal Maiden. Okay?"

It's then I realize how in love with the man that I am. The power of the emotion barrels through every ounce of my being as I press my lips to his cheek. "Okay."

He swings me up into his arms and carries me across the threshold of our new life.

The humble home has been set up already with furniture and, despite being barely decorated, it's cozy. "H-have you been living here?" I ask, while he escorts me to the bedroom.

His eyes crinkle with a bright smile. "Yeah. Been here since you bought the place as Mr. Lynx, your husband. Made some friends. Got things settled. And I kept my eyes on you."

My brow scrunches, still in a state of shock and awe. "How?"

"Through the cameras in the house. Your new phone… And through a friend's help."

I plant my feet on the threshold of the second bedroom, forcing him to stop. "What friend ?" My chest hurts thinking of him with another woman.

"I appreciate your jealousy, but there's only one woman for me. Cal Von Dovish helped me. He and his wife are the only people, other than you, who know I'm alive. And it's best to keep it that way." It makes sense that Cal would do something like that. He's known this whole time and didn't tell me. If I weren't so ecstatic to have the love of my life with me, I think I'd have to secretly feed the traitor some steak.

Setting me on my feet, he opens the door with a flourish and tears rush to my eyes. It's already been transformed into a beautiful nursery. Blue striped wallpaper covers the walls and a white wooden crib topped with a handcrafted mobile adorns the corner. A soft rocking chair sits ready for night nursing sessions. Children's books and hand-crafted toys line a tall shelf near the window covered in blue curtains.

"You like?" His hands gently massage my shoulders as I weep with joy at the sight of our baby's room.

"Vincente… It's blue ."

His eyes scan the room, as if this is very evident. "Yeah, for our son."

A giggle bubbles past my lips as I turn and face him, thrusting my arms around his waist in a tight squeeze. "I love you. And our daughter will have to learn to love blue."

His lips press into the top of my head as he chuckles. "I'll take you to our room." The warmth of his palm brings me back to reality when he grips my hand. He's truly here with me. It feels like I'm living in Heaven.

Even more so when he opens the double doors to the main bedroom, decorated in traditional tropical style with cherry wood carved furniture broken up by palm tree branches and bold red flowers as simple bursts of color. The bed has a wispy white netting draped around its canopy and louvered windows above it.

It's safe and comforting when he wraps his taut arms around my waist. I close my eyes to memorize the feeling, one I never thought I'd experience again.

When I face him, I study his countenance, letting the reality of his presence sink in. "Never leave me again."

His soft lips brush across my cheek as they aim for my ear. " Never ."

My nails dig into his neck so I can jump into his hold, and he carries me to the bed, laying me gently on my back while climbing over me. A deep growl rumbles from his chest as his fingers work down to my pants. "Jeans again, huh? That needs to change. I can't get at your pussy when I want."

With a smug smile, I give him what he wants to hear. "Yes, master." But I know I'll be wearing whatever the hell I want from now on.

While he sits on my thighs and rips off his shirt, I unbutton his shorts and help him tug them down, releasing his girthy cock. "I missed this," I say, wrapping my hand around it and giving it a pull.

"Fuck, I have to get inside you." His length throbs in my hand as the crown turns red, the veins along the sides bulging with blood.

I slide off my own clothes as he slots himself between my open legs, then dips his tip inside my wet lips once, twice…plunging as I lose my breath at the stretch of him. "That's my good girl. I'm never leaving this pussy again. Better get used to me being right here inside you, all day and night."

My fingers lace through his longer locks at the base of his neck as I lift mine to latch my lips onto his. "Fuck me, Vincente. Fuck me hard."

"Oh, angel. I've missed hurting you." With a forceful thrust, his hips pick up speed until the rhythm is the one I need to transcend. "Scream how much you love me."

As the breath is knocked out of my chest, I wrench my eyes open and am met with his heavy ones. "I love you, Vincente!" I scream while reaching the height of pleasures, relishing every sensation as our gazes stay locked.

When he fills me, he collapses, covering my body with his sweaty one. His head drops to my neck, and he murmurs, "I love you, Astrid. With every cell of my being. So much so, I returned to life just to live it with you. To be inside you again. You're mine, and even death can't separate us."

And he and I live there. In our world…

One where snakes, bulls, bears, foxes, wolves, and enemies don't exist.

Only our love.

THE END.