Epilogue
Cain grinned and shook his head when Angel made it to the Vincent motorcycle before Jake did, and rapidly straddled it. Damn, she was fine when she straddled a bike. He laughed softly at Jake’s discombobulated expression when she started the machine up with one kick, and it purred beautifully beneath her ministrations.
“You lose,” she told her lover. “Fair is fair.” She grinned, flashing those cute little fangs she was so proud of. “I get to ride solo.”
Jake swore softly and ran a hand through his hair. Then he mumbled something about women not playing fair because they were fucking hot and that was distracting, and Angel laughed, revved the bike, and tore out of the lot. Several Monsters clan members tore out after her, flashing Jake shit-eating grins.
Cain laughed harder as his second-in-command stood with his hands on his hips for a moment, then broke into a blurred run toward the garage, and came out a split second later with another motorcycle, a Softail Springer from mid last-century. His tires ripped the tarmac up as he raced after his girl, and the remaining clan members laughed as they gradually followed suit.
After a few seconds, Cain alone remained in the Monsters safe house lot.
In the solitude and the sound of a V-twin idling underneath him, Cain leaned back in the saddle and looked up at the night sky. His vision was quite a bit better than that of a human’s. He effectively blocked out the light pollution from the city and gazed steadily into the milky substance of the cosmos.
He thought about the events of the last few weeks – and what they meant for the future.
Michael Clemens was still out there somewhere. No one knew where. Not even the seers. Victor Maze had been easier to find than the warlock. But then again, Maze had wanted to be found. There was no telling how much trouble Clemens was going to stir up in the days to come.
Malek Taal and the Unseelie King had come to an agreement of sorts and things were tense but quiet. The fae were experiencing a kind of cold war. It was an uncomfortable time, and it would continue to be so until the Taal got this shit figured out.
Cain had respect for Malek, in all honesty. At the very least, he could certainly relate.
Dmitri Voronin was out there too. But knowing what he knew of Voronin now, and with Angel having been turned, Cain had a feeling the Apex wasn’t going to pose any further problems.
Speaking of Angel, she’d decided to stay with her clan for the time being. The Vega clan was her family. But at Jake’s begging bequest, she agreed to move into the Monsters safe house any time the boys were in town. And of course, she reserved the right to change her mind at any given point in the future. She was a woman, after all.
Cain took a deep breath and let it out through his nose in a steady sigh. He turned his head to face south, but remembered too late that his favorite star wasn’t there right now. It would be back in the winter. At that time, Sirius would once more shine brighter than any star seen from Planet Earth.
He leaned forward, twisted the throttle a few times, and kicked up the stand of his bike. Then he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket to retrieve his skullcap. But when he did, his fingers closed over a folded piece of paper instead.
He pulled it out and studied it a moment before opening it and reading.
Wow, three brand new enemies in as many days. I’m impressed.
But then, no one is better than you at antagonism, Cain.
Hell, you’re pretty much the god of it, right?
But one of these days, it’s going to come back to bite you in the ass.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
– Forever, “A”