Unbound (The Captive #7)(108)
She knew life was not always fair and could often be cruel, but there was still much happiness to be found within it.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Camille said to her.
“And I’m sorry for yours.”
“How did you know who I was?”
Aria wiped away her tears and smiled at her. “Merle told Atticus you put a little G into everything you create. I spotted a G in Tempest’s train yesterday.”
Camille laughed. “I’d forgotten I’d told Merle that.”
“Would you like to see the journals now?”
“Yes.”
“Come with me.”
Aria turned to find that Braith, Jack, and Gideon had joined Xavier on the pathway. They were all frowning at her as she made her way to them. Resting her hand on Braith’s cheek, she rose on her toes to kiss him.
“You are no longer the oldest vampire, once again,” she told him. His brow furrowed as he gazed between her and Camille. He may not be the oldest, again, but he was still clearly the most powerful. Even with her many years, Camille’s strength couldn’t compare to what Braith radiated. “I’d like for you to meet Camille.”
Realization dawned in his striking eyes, and his mouth parted as he gazed at her in wonder. Camille went to curtsy, but he took hold of her arm, stopping her before she could. “No,” he said in a hoarse voice. “You do not have to do that, not for me.”
Jack’s eyes swung between Braith and Camille. Xavier’s head tilted in that studious way of his. Aria could almost hear the wheels spinning in his mind. Gideon looked as if he’d been socked in the stomach as he gazed at Camille. Gideon hadn’t read the journals, he had no idea who Camille was, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away from her.
“Will you tell us about our father?” Jack inquired as he stepped forward.
Shock rippled through Aria as Jack called Atticus his father; most times he referred to him as Atticus, or that man, but it seemed as if most of his anger toward his father had worn away over time.
Camille’s smile grew. “I would love to.”
EPILOGUE
Aria
Five years later
Aria smiled while she watched the children dashing in and out of the flowers lining the garden walkway. The children’s laughter rang loudly through the air as they squealed with delight while trying to catch each other. Melinda and Ashby’s daughter, Corrine, ran by with her blonde hair blowing behind her and her green eyes dancing with merriment. Sitting beside Aria, Melinda’s hand fell to her rounded belly as her second child grew within her. Ashby smiled at her before resting his hand over hers.
Braith bent to lift Corrine as she ran toward him with her arms extended. He swept her up and out of the way of the pack of boys pursuing her. Corrine turned and stuck her tongue out at her cousins before throwing her arms around Braith and hugging him while the boys all jumped around him.
Braith laughed as he shooed them away, his gray eyes dancing with merriment when Jack and Hannah’s three-year-old son, David, stuck his tongue out at Corrine and darted away. Before Jack had named his child after her father, he’d asked William and Aria if they would mind, but neither of them had. Young David’s coffee-colored hair was the same hue as his mother’s, but his gray eyes were the color of Jack’s.
William and Tempest’s four-year-old son, James, ran over to them and jumped onto William’s lap. His auburn hair shone in the sun spilling over him and his brown eyes danced with mischief. The two of them had been blessed with a son who had William’s recklessness and temper, but then Aria’s own children had decided to take after her in that way too.
Her gaze slid back to Braith as he set Corrine on her feet and opened his arms to embrace their four-year-old twins. Ella slid her arms around his neck. Her black hair fell about her shoulders as her blue eyes danced merrily. In his other arm, Daniel tugged at Braith’s shirt before kissing his cheek. Daniel had her dark auburn hair and Braith’s gray eyes with the blue band around them.
Her brother had sacrificed himself for her, for everyone, yet his memory would live on forever with their child and the monument Braith erected in his memory a year after his passing. Braith had surprised her and William with the statue of an oak tree with Daniel’s face etched into its bark, and the names of all those who had perished in the battle against Sabine beneath it.
Aria knew the monument meant as much to Braith as it did to her. He believed that if Daniel hadn’t stepped between her and Sabine, he never would have gotten there in time to stop Sabine from killing her.
The year after Braith had surprised them with the statue for Daniel, he’d had another erected in honor of all of those who had battled against Atticus and lost their lives. This one was a silver horse standing proudly outside the palace walls, and it had the names of all the fallen carved around the base of it. Her father’s name was in the center of all the many others; the silver horse of the statue was strikingly similar to the brooch at her neck.
The peace her father and brother fought and died for had held strong for the last five years. There were still some fights, there always would be, but things flowed smoothly between the humans and vampires now. They all worked well together and had found a happy balance between the species. Under her and Braith’s rule, and with the guidance of The Council, she knew the peace would continue to thrive for many years to come.