Falling Light (Game of Shadows #2)(86)

Nearby, Astra’s frail body lay beside the body of the Deceiver’s last victim.

The nightmare is over, she realized. The Deceiver is gone. They were both gone.

Strong arms snatched at her and turned her over. Michael gathered her up and held her with bruising force. She wrapped an arm around his neck, holding him tight as he ran shaking lips along the curve of her cheek.

Michael said in a rusty voice, “Are you all right? She said you’re all right. She better not have been lying, or I’ll piece her back together just so I can kick her ass.”

Mary stroked his hair. “I’m okay,” she said. “You had a chance to talk to her too?”

“Yeah.” He kissed her temple and rocked her. “She said she loved me. She said I fought well.”

“You did. But I’m awfully glad you didn’t get a chance to kill me,” she told him.

His gaze darkened, and he held her tighter. “I am too.”

Nicholas walked up to them, his semiautomatic pointed toward the ground. His slim, rangy body moved with lithe animal grace. His strong, copper-toned features still held the younger man’s sensuality, but Mary’s mind kept trying to see the tall, mature man. “That took care of the last of them. The body count is pretty extreme.” He looked down at Astra and the Deceiver, and whispered, “Haokah.”

Mary looked down too at the young man and the old woman. By some trick of chance, they had fallen so that they curled around each other like lovers. The young man was dark and beautiful, the old woman pale and so very frail. They made a perfect contrast to each other.

She huddled against Michael’s chest. “This was never about us. We were always just secondary players.”

“Maybe we were more like foot soldiers,” he said, his expression shadowed. He smiled down at her, and the shadow faded. “Now it is our time.”

An unknown future stretched in front of them. It was right across the next hilltop, around the bend, down the road, too enormous, beautiful and frightening to think about.

She touched his mouth. “I just realized something. I don’t even know your last name.”

“My last name will be anything you want it to be.” He cradled the back of her head in one hand. “You choose.”

She put her head on his shoulder. “I’m wanted for multiple homicides. I have to go to the bathroom and you blew up the toilet. We still sound like lunatics.”

His chest moved as he chuckled. “Setting up new identities won’t be a problem. I have a backup electronics system at another safe house.” He looked up at Nicholas. “I can set up a new identity for you too, if you want.”

Nicholas rubbed the back of his neck, his head bowed. “Mary was right,” he said after a moment. “My father and Sara shouldn’t have to lose both Jamie and me.”

“I’ll set one up for you, anyway,” said Michael. “You should have a backup in case you need it.” He glanced down at Mary. “We need to figure out our next steps.”

Nicholas said, “The Dark One may be dead, but his drones aren’t. They’re scattered everywhere, and they will continue to follow his last orders until they die.”

Michael stood and held out a hand for Mary, who took it and stood. “The drones are a problem of a generation,” he said to Nicholas. “In less than a hundred years, they will all be dead and gone.”

Nicholas’s jaw tightened. “They can do a hell of a lot of damage in that time.”

Michael shook his head. “That may be your fight, Nicholas, but it’s not ours. We’ve been battling for six thousand years. I’m done.”

Nicholas looked at Mary. She took Michael’s hand and laced his fingers with hers. “Michael has been fighting for a lot longer than either you or I have. If he says he’s done, we’re both done.”

Nicholas sighed. “I’m disappointed, but I understand.”

“I will do this for you,” Michael said. “Now that Astra is gone, she doesn’t need the money in her bank accounts. I’ll transfer the total over to an account in your name. It’s a good sum. You’ll go a long way on it.”

“I’ll take it,” Nicholas said. “With thanks.”

Michael looked at her. He gave her a small, private smile. “Now we have a date on a beach, and a whole summer ahead of us. All we have to do is figure out how to get off the island.”

She stirred. “I know where Astra’s canoe is. She told me.”

“Not that little bark canoe.” He groaned. “It’ll barely hold my weight, let alone take the both of us.”

“Astra told me about it for a reason,” Mary told him. “I think it will be okay.”

He looked at Nicholas. “I presume you arrived after Astra blew up all the other boats.”

“Yes, I’m moored at the south end of the island,” Nicholas said. He blew out a breath as he looked around the clearing. “I was going to stay and clean up here.”

Mary looked around. The cabin fire still burned energetically and bodies littered the clearing. She slumped. “We’ll stay and help.”

Nicholas touched her shoulder. “It’s okay,” he said gently. “I want you to go. I could use some time to myself.”

“Are you sure?” Michael asked.