EPILOGUE
Chaz:
a€?Promise me, Uncle Chaz. Promise me that when Ia€?m gone youa€?ll burn it. All of it. Promise me that youa€?ll get rid of me, and that the Nine-Timers will never be able to bring me back.a€?
Her voice echoed across the years and I kept my vow.
We raised Isabelle as our daughter, Angelique and I, in that hidden South American villa Russ had stashed away. My niece lived a long, beautiful life, got married and had children of her own. After the Nine-Timer scenario began, there were no more rules about how many children you could have, so Isabelle had five. Two boys, three girls. I loved all of them like they were my own.
But the Nine-Timers didna€?t stop, just because their plan to live forever had failed.
Their DNA had broken down. So they went on a scavenger hunt for more. Hunting through the graves and medical storehouses, they began resurrecting One-Timers, people who had died hundreds of years ago, people who had died yesterday. They treated them like lab rats, using them to create fresh clones, desperate for a way to make resurrection work beyond Number Nine.
And they succeeded.
So now Angelique and I travel around the world, performing Freedom Ceremonies, secretly teaching others our methods.
When Isabelle passed away, we gathered every trace of her DNA, every sample of blood and tissue, every scrap of hair, and we burned it. In a way, her Freedom Ceremony resembled a pagan funeral, her body on a pyre, all the DNA samples in earthen jars beside her. Her oldest son lighting the fire with a torch. The flames scorching the heavens.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
The world is fading, just like I knew it would, color bleeding away as each person I love dies. I will blink my eyes and Isabellea€?s children will pass away, I will turn around and then her grandchildren will be gone.
But the amazing thing is, with each generation, this family of mine grows.
We live in the mountains, hidden from the world. Omega and his mate, Alpha, are with us. He brings her back every time she falls, with a kiss. The wolf prefers to roam through the jungles, but Omega always comes back to be with Angelique.
From time to time, Neville pulls me back to the edge of eternity. Every time he dies. We are linked, a€?til Judgment Day. Our hands clasped as we stand on the edge of heaven and hell, we fight, we struggle to be set free from each other, from this horrid destiny.
I have tried to turn my head around, to see that which is behind me. Streets of gold, chariots of fire, angels with skin like brass. My father, my mother, and now, Isabelle.
I saw Russ once, on the other side. His face had melted into something almost unrecognizable, but Ia€?m certain it was him. He still carries the stench of gen-spike addiction. He looked at me, anguish in his gaze, and I wished I could do something. I wish I coulda€?ve done something back when it really mattered.
a€?Isabellea€?s safe,a€? I told him. It was all I could think to say.
a€?I know,a€? he answered. a€?I can see her behind you.a€? He tried to smile, but I guess joy isna€?t possible on his side of the Great Divide. He turned and walked away. I never saw him again.
Civilizations turn to dust around me, buildings seem to crumble the same day they are built. Time no longer has meaning, and yet, it continues to reign over the lives of those around me. It wona€?t stand still but it has become transparent, almost like a mist without beginning or end.
Angelique is my wife, my Eve, my mate for eternity.
She died, a few days ago. Once she struggled with cancer, once she died from pneumonia. This time it was a heart attack. I found her several hours later.
Her body was cold, her face pale. I held her to my chest, whispered that I love her, that I will always love her. Kissed her lips. Felt the warmth return, slowly. Listened for that first gasp, that precious shallow breath, watched her wince from the pain. Felt the pain like it was my own.
Then she opened her eyes and stared up at the sky, like always, catching slivers of turquoise and sapphire. Another breath, more steady this time.
a€?How many times is it now?a€? she asked, still looking up. I always wonder what she sees, but we dona€?t talk about it.
a€?I lost count,a€? I answered. a€?Seventeen? Twenty?a€?
She smiled, soft, the grin that makes my heart skip a beat. Then she looked at me and I saw the love that I need to keep going one more day. And something else. A gift that Ia€?ve come to need almost as much.
For a few sweet moments I can see what I have never been allowed to see.
In her eyes, I see the reflection of heaven.
And it reminds me that one day I might see it for myself.