Page 26 of The Shadows of the Dawn

This... this peace and love and laughter. It could be Asher’s future. It would be Asher’s future.

He needed only to accept it.

EPILOGUE

Asher

Eight months later

Which would win out—human fear or human greed? Fear of the undead or greed for their immortality? Turns out... fear. Humans, amidst their widespread panic, sought out vampires only to destroy them.

There were rumors of Moon Children and maybe a few Blood Followers who had either willingly turned themselves in or were forced by family members to be “rehabilitated.” But those souls hadn’t been heard from since.

Still, conspiracies ran amuck regarding the highest members of the ruling class tapping into this unchecked store of power and youth. There were murmurs about the potential of humans unlocking health, strength, and longevity of the vampire, for quality of life, for war.

Could that happen? Could humans calm down long enough to create their idea of an acceptable vampire in a lab, or somehow identify and isolate this hypothesized “gene” or “virus”?

Only time would tell. But Asher doubted it. Whenever any of them discussed humanity’s next move, he couldn’t picture the Goddess or the God blessing anyone who somehow managed to trap a vampire and force them to perform the Changing ritual.

But who really knew. It all felt so far away, anyway, being tucked away with his coven and Katsuki’s at Katrina’s wilderness cabin.

Asher sat on a wooden porch swing of the three-floor vacation spot, surrounded by crisp pine, and overlooking a pond glittering with stars and moonbeams. The distant hills and mountaintops rose on the horizon, as if shielding them from the horrors of the world. Notes of soil and tree roots perfumed the scenery, the heavy calls of owls and crickets rising from the foliage.

There came a thwomp around the corner, the sound of Francis chopping firewood. He could hear Veronica’s gentle humming from the opened kitchen window as she swept. He wasn’t sure where Katrina was—maybe up in her attic bedroom remixing her electronic music score again. Last he knew of the twins, they were at the nearby touristy ski resort, feeding on sleeping lodgers.

Asher had an inkling Nikola would want to revisit Grander the moment Katsuki announced when they were officially leaving Morrigan’s manor, ensuring that she kept her word. Last Asher was told, Moss and the others didn’t plan on leaving Grander altogether.

But that was their lives. Asher and Nikola had their own here, where he spent his days journaling with Nikola and painting with Veronica. Shit, he’d even started sparring with Francis for funsies, only because the Moon Child knew Malkolm’s fighting styles better than anyone else here.

For the first time in his entire life, Asher felt safe. Felt free.

Despite the genocide of vampires the world over, though it seemed to be dying down as late, if the slowing news reports were to be believed. Nikola was skeptical, citing the timelines of the last couple of Purgings—decades-long waning and waxing waves of mass hunts. Like some sort of global pandemic. Humans would get comfy, something or someone would trigger another panic, and boom, the cities would be flooded with curfews and law enforcement.

Francis often wondered aloud when there would be a special task force created specifically for vampires.

But none of that touched them here. And for the most part, it wasn’t touching Grander, either. Those mad cats had been keeping things pretty tidy; ground zero of vampirism was no longer on America’s radar. As of a couple weeks ago, a lot of focus had shifted to the West Coast.

Katsuki speculated they’d be returning within the next year. But that begged the question for when they did: Would the two covens stay here to converge into one or go their separate ways? Asher was more than comfortable here, but immortality was a long time. The world was a big place. There was a lot he wanted to see with his own heterochromatic eyes. Like Nikola’s unbelievable claim that these mountains paled in comparison to Norway’s natural beauty.

But only once it was safe.

Someday.

Asher closed his eyes, breathing in fresh air that teased the coming of autumn. He could see why Nikola had been so nostalgic for his forest-dwelling youth.

He heard Nikola emerging from the house, but he didn’t open his eyes until he felt the press of lips against the crown of his head. “What is my love thinking about on this perfect evening?” Nikola murmured into Asher’s hair.

Asher gazed up into his favorite pair of Blood red and Moon silver. “Eternity,” he breathed.

THE END