I liked the new name better. It signified the changing direction in my life. The Red Reaper was, for all intents and purposes, no more. At least for a good, long while. Vampire and ghoul society believed Bones and I had disappeared because I was overwrought with grief, and he was royally pissed at his co-ruler. Only a handful of people knew that neither scenario was correct.
Most of those people were gathered on the rocky Nova Scotia shoreline about a quarter mile from where our boat was anchored. We hadn’t had a chance to say a proper goodbye before, especially with some of them being halfway around the world while events were going down in Detroit and Chicago. It worked out that it had been a couple weeks since then. Now, Spade no longer tried to beat Mencheres and Bones on sight.
He did still glare at them, though, and his arm looked to be permanently welded to Denise’s side. He didn’t even let her go when she hugged me after Bones and I climbed out of our dinghy.
“For the thousandth time, I’m fine,” Denise chided him, squeezing his hand. Then she gave me a lopsided smile. “Though I never want to do that again. It wasn’t really painful, but do you know I could still see for a few seconds before I passed out? If I’d have had a stomach attached, I would’ve puked for sure.”
I’d always be grateful—and amazed—by what she’d done. That she could joke about it now showed how deep her bravery ran.
As for Katie, we were teaching her normal speech instead of her militia-styled jargon, among the many other ways we tried to decondition Madigan’s training. It would take a while, and I was fine with that. She laughed for the first time yesterday when my mother had swatted Tate, then Bones with a freshly caught grouper after the two men had been squabbling over the best way to prepare it. The five of us in the same vessel had made my mom mutter “We’re going to need a bigger boat” more than once, but she was as happy as I’d ever seen her.
If I’d never thought to be a mother, she’d really never thought to be a grandmother, and she seemed to make it her mission to make up for the parenting mistakes she’d made with me by lavishing love on Katie.
“She’s my second chance,” she’d said, looking at me with remorse in her blue eyes.
I understood the silent apology, and I accepted it. Everyone deserved a second chance sometimes.
That’s why a ghost now hovered over the Respite, staying on the ship with Katie, Tate, and Justina while Bones and I said our goodbyes. Don had no one he needed to say goodbye to. As a ghost, he could flit from place to place with ease, especially since Marie’s essence acted as a sort of GPS in my veins. Plus, he wasn’t staying on the boat while we traveled. Bones hadn’t forgiven him and perhaps never would, but at my insistence, Don was allowed to visit Katie for a couple hours every few days. Once we picked a more permanent place to call home, he could hang his ectoplasm nearby if he wanted to. Family was family, and if some members didn’t get along? Well, we wanted to give Katie as normal an upbringing as possible. It didn’t get more normal than that.
“I’m going to miss you,” I told Denise, releasing her from my hug.
She smiled, blinking away the shine in her hazel eyes.
“I’ll miss you, too, but we’ll see each other after you get settled in somewhere.”
“Not too soon after,” Spade muttered under his breath.
Denise gave him a mock punch. “I heard that.”
The look he bestowed on her was so loving, I didn’t care that Spade kinda hated us right now. He was wonderful to my best friend, which was the important thing. Besides, I couldn’t blame him for being angry despite Denise acting of her own free will. When you loved someone, the thought of almost losing them made you crazy. Who was I to judge him for that?
“Until again, mate,” Bones said, holding out his hand.
Spade looked at it. Then he grasped it, using it to pull Bones in for a quick, firm hug.
“Until again, Crispin,” he said in a steady voice.
I hid my smile. I knew he’d forgive Bones eventually. Their history was too long and too multi-layered for him not to.
Then Bones turned to the voluptuous strawberry blonde vampire who stood to the left of Spade. We were on a rocky beach with salt spray pelting us as if it was angry, and Annette had still dressed to the nines. She even wore heels. Her makeup looked a little worse for wear, but that was from tears spilling out of her champagne-colored eyes.
“Oh, Crispin, I’ll miss you terribly,” she said when he enveloped her in a hug.
Once, the sight of Bones clasping his former lover would have filled me with jealousy. Now, I only felt bad for Annette. She’d loved him since the two of them were human, and while Bones had great affection for her, he’d never felt the same way. I hoped one day, she’d find someone to love who’d love her back. Despite her flaws—and one very memorable incident the day we met—Annette had proved to be fiercely loyal. That’s why Bones trusted her with this, his greatest secret.
“You’ll make a wonderful father,” I heard her whisper when she let him go.
“He already has,” I said, smiling at Bones.