Epilogue

" Neliss, why is this rug wet?"

Legna peeked around the corner to glance at the rug in question, looking as if she had never seen it before.

"We have a rug there?"

"Did you or did you not promise me you were not going to practice extending how long you can hold your invisible bowls of water in the house? And what on earth is that noise?"

"Okay, I confess to the water thing, which was an honest mistake, I swear it. But as for a noise, I have no idea what you are talking about."

"You cannot hear that? It has been driving me crazy for days now. It just repeats over and over again, a sort of clicking sound."

"Well, it took a millennium, but you have finally gone completely senile. Listen, this is a house built by Lycanthropes. It is more a cave than a house, to be honest. I have yet to decorate to my satisfaction. There is probably some gizmo of some kind lying around, and I will come across it eventually or it will quit working the longer it is exposed to our influence. Even though I do not hear anything, I will start looking for it. Is this satisfactory?"

"I swear, Magdelegna, I am never letting you visit that Druid ever again."

"Oh, stop it. You do not intimidate me, as much as you would love to think you do. Now, I will come over there if you promise not to yell at me anymore. You have been quite moody lately."

"I would be a hell of a lot less moody if I could figure out what that damn noise is."

Legna came around the corner, moving into his embrace with her hands behind her back. He immediately tried to see what she had in them.

"What is that?"

"Remember when you asked me why I cut my hair?"

"Ah yes, the surprise. Took you long enough to get to it"

"If you do not stop, I am not going to give it to you."

"Okay. I am stopping. What is it?"

She held out the box tied with a ribbon to him and he accepted it with a lopsided smile.

"I do not think I even remember the last time I received a gift," he said, leaning to kiss her cheek warmly. He changed his mind, though, and opted to go for her mouth next. She smiled beneath the cling of their lips and pushed away.

"Open it."

He reached for the ribbon and soon was pulling the top off the box.

"What is this?"

"Gideon, what does it look like?"

He picked up the woven circlet with a finger and inspected it closely. It was an intricately and meticulously fashioned necklace, clearly made strand by strand from the coffee-colored locks of his mate's hair. In the center of the choker was a silver oval with the smallest writing he had ever seen filling it from top to bottom.

"What does it say?"

"It is the medics' code of ethics," she said softly, taking it from him and slipping behind him to link the piece around his neck beneath his hair. "And it fits perfectly." She came around to look at it, smiling. "I knew it would look handsome on you."

"I do not usually wear jewelry or ornamentation, but … it feels nice. How on earth did they make this?"

"Well, it took forever, if you want to know why it took so long for me to make good on the surprise. But I wanted you to have something that was a little bit of me and a little bit of you."

"I already have something like that. It is you. And … and me, I guess," he laughed. "We are a little bit of each other for the rest of our lives."

"See, that makes this a perfect symbol of our love," she said smartly, reaching up on her toes to kiss him.

"Well, thank you, sweet. It is a great present and an excellent surprise. Now, if you really want to surprise me, help me find out what that noise is."

"Okay, okay … where do you hear it coming from?"

"Around here somewhere."

"Always in this spot?"

"No. Not always. You are going to think I am even more insane, but I swear it is following me around."

"Maybe it is my new powers. The power to drive you mad." She wriggled her fingers at him theatrically as if she were casting a curse on him.

"You already drive me mad," he teased, dragging her up against him and nibbling her neck with a playful growling. "Ah hell," he broke off. "I really am going mad. I cannot believe you cannot hear that. It is like a metronome set to some ridiculously fast speed."

He turned and walked into the living room, looking around at every shelf.

"The last person to own this place probably had a thing for music and left it running. Listen. Can you hear that?"

"No," she said thoughtfully, "but I can hear you hearing it if I concentrate on your thoughts. What in the world…?"

Gideon turned, then turned again, concentrating on the rapid sound, following it until it led him right up to his wife.

"It is you!" he said. "No wonder it is following me around. Are you wearing a watch?" He grabbed her wrist and she rolled her eyes.

"A Demon wearing a watch? Now I have heard everything."

Suddenly Gideon went very, very still, the cold wash of chills that flooded through him so strong that she shivered with the overflow of the sensation. He abruptly dropped to his knees and framed her hips with his hands.

"Oh, Legna," he whispered, "I am such an idiot. It is a baby. It is our baby. I am hearing its heartbeat!"

"What?" she asked, her shock so powerful she could barely speak. "I am with child?"

"Yes. Yes, sweet, you most certainly are. A little over a month. Legna, you conceived, probably the first time we made love. My beautiful, fertile, gorgeous wife."

Gideon kissed her belly through her dress, stood up, and caught her up against him until she squeaked with the force of his hug. Legna went past shock and entered unbelievable joy. She laughed, not caring how tight he held her, feeling his joy on a thousand different levels.

"I never thought I would know this feeling," he said hoarsely. "Even when we were getting married, I never thought … It did not even enter my mind!" Gideon set her down on her feet, putting her at arm's length as he scanned her thoroughly from head to toe. "I cannot understand why I did not become aware of this sooner. The chemical changes, the hormone levels alone …"

"Never mind. We know now," she said, throwing herself back up against him and hugging him tightly. "Come, we have to tell Noah … and Hannah! Oh, and Bella! And Jacob, of course. And Elijah. And we should inform Siena—"

She was still rattling off names as she teleported them to the King's castle.