Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 66839 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66839 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
It was all over. Harry and Matt were safe, and the Pegasus… Pegasi were caught. My lungs filled with their first honest full breath in what must have been hours.
EPILOGUE
Matthew Quill-Hale
I walked barefoot across the deck, the smooth wood holding some of the summer heat after today’s particularly grueling weather. Jason and I thought it’d be nice to head to the shore but couldn’t hype ourselves enough to face the sweltering temperatures. We stayed inside all day, spending time with the new addition to the family.
“Here ya go,” I said, handing Jason a flute of champagne. He was sitting with his legs up on the sofa, wearing only a pair of lounge shorts, one arm around his knee. He looked up at me with bright eyes and said thank you as he grabbed his glass.
He was so fucking handsome, so kind, so attractive. Even after five years of being together, of seeing his face every morning and every night, I never grew tired of it. I still couldn’t comprehend how life brought us together, split us apart, and then mashed us right back together again—permanently this time.
I twirled the wedding ring on my finger, a subconscious habit that had started from the moment Jason slipped that engagement band on. A beachside proposal I had no idea was coming and one I instantly said yes to.
And tomorrow was our four-year wedding anniversary, the one symbolized by fruits and flowers…
…
So it had to be extra gay.
We had a dinner planned along with a day at the botanical gardens, and there were a couple of other surprises I had up my sleeve. But tonight would be just us, Jason and me, recharging and relaxing.
“Zane’s coming tomorrow, isn’t he?” I asked as I sat down next to my husband, putting a hand on his leg and sipping on the bubbly drink.
“He is. He’s going around to all the branches and checking in with them, seeing how their communities are doing and if they feel like they need more support or anything. There’s that new Stonewall opening up in Austin, too. He’s a busy guy.”
“Austin and LA, right?”
“And another in London.” Jason cuddled into me, hitching a leg over mine and resting his head on my shoulder. “Want to get transferred?”
“I wouldn’t mind. I’ve been there a few times and loved it. Maybe when you-know-who is a little older, though. It’ll be easier that way.”
Jason chuckled and nodded. “When do you think we’ll be able to say his name without waking him up?”
“Hopefully soon,” I said, laughing. A couple of feet away, a shaggy little puppy slept with his head on his paws, eyes shut and back leg slightly twitching. I kissed Jason’s head, taking in the sweet scent of his coconut-and-vanilla shampoo. I could see us moving overseas, taking on a new adventure together. I was confident in our ability to handle anything that came our way.
Just like how we handled the Pegasus case, locking both Byron and Derrick up for life. That day was forever seared into my memory and fueled recurring nightmares that I couldn’t shake. It had been an incredibly close call, where all three of us could have lost our lives. If it hadn’t been for Emma… poor Emma. She had saved us, but at a steep cost to her own mental well-being. It must have shattered her soul to have to see her two sons dragged away in handcuffs, knowing the inescapable truth of it all.
They were both serial killers. The sons she knew, the ones she raised, those boys were gone. In their place were two heartless monsters. It didn’t matter how loud Byron’s cries were or how shrill his apologies rang. The fact was that they had taken lives and they needed to face the consequences of that.
Emma, though, was an innocent bystander, her life ruined by the shrapnel of our case. She stepped down as mayor and became a recluse, locking herself up in her house with the curtains drawn at all hours of the day. Slowly, more and more people started seeing her around town, and then she started to speak to people again. The blank mask of trauma and excruciating pain began to chip away.
Emma had since gotten the help she needed, and her smiles had been feeling much more genuine. I had to commend her for the strength it took to even get out of bed every day.
Jason sat up, legs still on the couch. I looked out at our backyard, the fresh-mowed lines still apparent even in the whitewashed light of the star-blanketed sky. A stack of wooden planks rested against the single tree that had made it onto our property, smack in the center of our yard.
The perfect place for a tree house.
“We’ve got to start creating the floor tomorrow,” I said, taking another sip of the champagne. “That tree house is going to end up being a tree mansion.”