Page 119 of Knuckles & Knives

“Whatever comes,” I whisper as we lie tangled together in post-intimacy contentment, “we face it together.”

“Always together,” comes the unanimous response.

“Good,” I murmur, settling deeper into our collective embrace while my mind drifts toward the challenges and opportunities that await. “Because this is just the beginning.”

Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city spreads out below us like a promise—proof that transformation is possible, that love creates more lasting change than violence, that alternative approaches to power can succeed beyond anyone’s wildest expectations.

But beyond our transformed territory, other cities wait. Other communities need what we’ve learned to provide. Other power structures require the kind of evolution we’ve demonstrated is not just possible but superior.

Federal interest isn’t persecution. It’s validation. What we’ve built is too effective to ignore, too revolutionary to dismiss.

The war for Vincent Blackwood’s empire ended the day we chose love over vengeance. The construction of somethinginfinitely better spreads beyond our borders with every passing month.

And this—this transformed city, this unconventional family, this demonstration that power can heal instead of harm—this is only the beginning.

The shadows of the past no longer define us. The crowns we wear were earned through creation rather than conquest. And the empire we’re building will span not just territories, but generations.

Together. Always together. Until the whole world understands that love is the most revolutionary force of all.

Vincent built a world of thorns. I built something that blooms.