Retribution
A week later
The hardest part of living is making peace with your past. Most of all, it's making peace with yourself. Ash's words hung in Jess's mind as a sober reminder of how hard the journey had been to get to this one perfect moment.
He'd never thought to have that peace, but as he watched Abigail napping on his couch after an entire day of exploring each other, he knew the past no longer mattered to him at all.
Only tomorrow did.
Smiling, he got up to find a blanket for her.
Abigail knew the moment Jess had left the room even though she was sound asleep. She wasn't sure where that power came from. But it was there.
And it let her know that something else was here with her.
Her eyes flew open as she jumped to her feet to find an unknown man in front of her. She started to attack until she saw the double bow and arrow mark of a Dark-Hunter on his cheek. He was one of them and yet ...
The demon in her recognized the demon in him. He was much more than what he appeared and what he appeared to be was a vicious predator. He wore his dark hair swept back from a handsome face that could only be described as pitiless. There was no compassion or even kindness evident in any part of him.
"Nick? What are you doing here?"
She turned to see Jess rejoining them.
That dark, scary gaze left hers to meet Jess's. "I was told you wanted your soul back."
"I thought Ash would be the one to bring it."
Nick curled his lip at the mention of Ash's name, but he didn't say anything about him. He merely reached into his long black coat to pull out a small wooden box. Delicate scroll work decorated the top of it.
Without preamble, he handed it to Abigail. "Make sure you truly love him before you even attempt to restore it. If you fail, you will kill him and there are no second chances."
Before either of them could speak, Nick vanished.
Abigail shivered at the sudden coldness Nick had left in the air. "Is it just me or was that creepy and weird?"
"Yeah, Nick isn't exactly ... right. He's the youngest of our kind and I guess he hasn't settled in yet."
She started to mention the demon inside Nick that she'd sensed, but then thought better of it. If Nick didn't want anyone else knowing about it, he might go to war with her over it. The last thing they needed was another enemy coming for them.
Curious about the contents, she opened the box. There on a nest of black velvet was the glowing red medallion that housed Jess's soul. It was so beautiful that she instinctively wanted to touch it. But Jess had already warned her that it would sear her skin and leave a scar on her hand like the one Talon had.
Jess moved to stand in front of her. "What are you thinking?"
She smiled at the fact that he didn't pry into her thoughts. "How much I love you."
"I love you, too." He peered over the lid to see the medallion. "You'll have to kill me to restore my soul into my body."
He arched a brow at her hesitation. "But what?"
"I'm not so sure about this. We still have Coyote out there, gunning for both of us. If I put this in you, you'll be mortal again and you'll be able to die."
"I can die now."
She shook her head. "Not as easily and you know that."
"I'll still have my powers though."
True, but she wasn't sure it would be enough. There was no telling what tricks Coyote might come up with next. "It's not the same. Do we have to do this?"
"No. I have my soul back. Technically, I'm out of Artemis's service. As far as I know, there's nothing that says I have to restore my soul once I have it again. But we won't be able to start a family without it."
"We already have a family. You, me ... and one irritated Squire."
He laughed at that. "Yeah, I guess Andy is our ill-mannered adopted son."
Abigail closed the box. She had a bad feeling deep inside that wouldn't ease. Something more was out there and it would be coming for them. "I don't want to take a chance on losing you, Jess. Not again. Let's wait on this."
He took the box from her hand. "All right. We'll wait."
That was one of the things she loved most about him. He never pushed his will onto hers. The decisions they made, they made as a team. Together.
She looked down at the simple wedding band that rested on her left hand. Even though Dark-Hunters couldn't marry, they'd eloped six nights ago. It was Vegas, after all. And Sin had a small chapel inside his casino that had provided a perfect setting. Zarek had been the best man and Hannah her maid of honor. Kat, Sin, Sasha, Choo Co La Tah, Ren and Andy had also been there as witnesses.
Yes, they'd jumped the gun, but given everything that had happened to them, it'd seemed most appropriate. And neither of them had wanted to take a chance on anything else going wrong.
Carpe Noctem. Seize the night. That was exactly what they'd done.
"You sure you don't want a diamond to go with that?" Jess had been nagging her about that since she'd declined an engagement ring. But that wasn't her style.
"I have everything I need and he's standing right in front of me."
Jess savored those words that had been her wedding vow. Even with her in front of him, he couldn't believe she was here and that they were finally together. That it was her face he now carried in the watch she'd returned to him. "I will spend the rest of my life, however long it is, making damn sure you always feel that way."
In the deepest part of himself, he sensed that Coyote would be coming for them again. He didn't know what tomorrow would hold, but today he knew what he would be holding.
Her.
And that was all he needed.