First Drop of Crimson

"Denise, now!" he tried to scream, but saltwater and sand filled his mouth. His entire head was under water. She couldn't hear him, or perhaps she was too far gone mentally to even understand.

The creature's claws bit into the arm Spade had fastened around its neck, tearing. Pulling. Pain and pressure built through Spade's body, but he didn't let go. It would have to tear him to pieces before he'd release that monstrosity back on Denise -

A shriek split through Spade's ears, unbearable even through the cocoon of water and sand. Then that heaving, thrashing creature in his grip began to shudder, its claws no longer ripping into Spade, but sliding off instead. The sea felt like it boiled around him, foam clouding what little vision he'd had, until he saw nothing but frothing white. And then the twenty-stone creature on top of him began to shrink...until it was pushed away and fresh claws dug into his skin.

Spade let the other creature pull him up, not batting away the monsterish hands that gripped him. He blinked, trying to get the sand out of his gaze, but could still make out the rapidly decomposing body at his feet. Its eye sockets were blackened holes with that bone knife still sticking out of one of them. Then Spade turned back to the hulking form of the large, ravenous zombie bending its head toward him.

"Get back, you don't know if that's her!" Nathanial shouted.

"Yes I do," Spade replied, gently grasping the warped arms and ignoring the needles of pain from the claws still stuck in him. "It's all right, darling. You can stop now. Look at him. You did it. He's gone."

And she had, as amazing as that was. Lovely, brave, gentle Denise. Demon slayer.

Those claws pulled out of his arms and that beastly head dropped, looking down as if ashamed. Spade didn't hesitate. He pulled her into his embrace, noting with irony that in the form she'd chosen, ripped straight from that awful New Year's Eve, they were now the same height.

"It's all right, darling," he repeated, stroking her. "It's finished. You can come back to me now, Denise, come back..."

During the several minutes it took Nathanial to crawl over, smelling strongly of blood, Raum's body had turned to bones in the surf and Denise had transformed back into herself. Spade kept one foot planted on the remains of the demon as he drew off his shirt and covered her with it. Most of her clothes had been torn beyond decency in her fight with Raum, or torn from her body expanding into a much larger size.

"Spade," she whispered at last, tears sparkling in her gaze. "You knew me. Even like that, you knew it was me."

"Of course I did," he responded, holding her tightly. Overwhelming relief coursed through him, mixing with joy as the panic from the past few hours released its hold. Denise was safe. She was whole. He'd ask for nothing more out of life.

"I couldn't do it," she said, voice soft. "I'm so sorry for worrying you, and for hitting Oliver, but I couldn't give Nathanial to him. It would have destroyed something in me that I refuse to lose, and I couldn't risk Raum getting revenge on you for those salt bombs, either."

"I don't want to talk about that now." Yes, he was still upset over how she'd risked herself so recklessly, but he didn't want to berate her at the moment. He was too damn glad that she was alive.

She took in a deep, ragged breath. "Spade...the brands are permanent now. Only Raum could remove them, and he's dead. I can't die as I am, unless you stab my eyes out with that demon knife, but I'll stay like this. If you can't deal with me being a - a shape-shifter, I'll understand - "

"Foolish girl," he cut her off, pulling back to look into her hazel eyes. "According to what you just said, you're safer now than you ever would be, even as a vampire. So I don't give a rot about you occasionally changing shape. You could transform into a zombie, a werewolf, or a cat again. Whatever you fancy. I'll still be there, and I'll still be madly in love with you."

She hugged him fiercely. "I love you so much," she choked.

Spade returned her embrace with equal passion, that feeling of joy and relief growing even deeper. He meant what he'd said. If Denise were a vampire, well, silver was easy to come by, but demon knives? The only one he knew of was still in the bony eye socket of Raum's corpse, and Spade would grind the demon's remains to dust so that no other weapons could be forged from him.

Even as she still clutched him to her, Denise started to laugh. "Nathanial can show me how to better control the changes, but even so, you never have to worry about me turning into a cat again. Didn't you know? I'm allergic to cats."

Epilogue

Denise placed the bouquet of flowers on the grave. They were mixed with pinecones. She knew he would've appreciated those more than the lilacs, tulips, and roses.

She cast a look around the cemetery. Spring was definitely in full swing, covering the bare branches of the trees back in their leafy coats. The ground underneath her felt soft. Warmed from the sun. Not hard and cold, as it had been the day she'd buried him.

"Hey," Denise said low, wiping away a tear as she touched the headstone engraved Randolph MacGregor. Beloved son and husband.

"I wanted to tell you that I'm with someone. You met him before. His name is Spade. Yeah, I know, a vampire, right? We haven't been together that long, but sometimes...you just know. I knew with you. I told you I'd love you forever, and I will."

Denise paused to wipe away another tear. "I love him, too, and I know this is right. It might be soon, but it's right. And I know you would have hated what I did to myself since you died, so I wanted to tell you I've let go of the guilt and the fear. When I remember you, Randy, I'm going to smile, not cry. You're a part of me. One of the best parts. I just wanted to tell you that."

She stood up, brushing the headstone once more. "And if you meet someone named Giselda," she whispered, "tell her she's still part of Spade, too. A beautiful part. Please thank her for that."

Denise touched her fingers to her mouth, kissing them, and then placed them against his name.

"Goodbye."

Her eyes dried by the time she walked back to where Spade waited by the car, but they hadn't been tears of grief. They were of warm remembrance, and when Denise walked into Spade's arms, she was smiling.

"Ready to go, darling?" he asked, kissing the top of her head.

She didn't need to look back. "Yeah, I'm ready."

Nathanial rolled down the window of the backseat. "Now I get to meet my family?"

He asked the question with such hope that Denise's smile widened. After this, they were going to her parents' house, where Denise would introduce Nathanial to the remainder of his family, far removed though they might be.

And she'd be reintroducing Spade to her parents as their new son-in-law. They'd been married twice in the past two weeks. Once by a justice of the peace, and once vampire-style by slicing their palms and declaring themselves before Cat, Bones, Alten, Ian, Mencheres, and a ghost that Denise still couldn't see. That marriage might not be recognized by vampire society, as Denise could never change into one, but to Spade, it counted, which was all she cared about.

"Now you get to meet our family."