Epilogue
Late October has given us back the long, dark nights. I never thought there would be a time when I’d look forward to the long winter nights. But times change.
Longer nights mean more time with Will, more time awake and more time for … well, just more time.
It had been a difficult learning curve for me, dying, being reborn, the various changes, my new nocturnal existence and especially the realisation of my deep love for Will.
Very difficult.
Will has been a constant source of strength, a kind of guiding light, in a way. Even I couldn’t call him a guardian angel, but he feels close to one, all the same.
I know now I would never have found a love such as his, even if I had lived for many human years. Some things really are worth dying for.
Khiara and what was left of her entourage returned to Italy, and I was ecstatic to see the back of them.
Honyauti went back to his desert home. I don’t think we’ll ever become email friends exactly, but I knew he wouldn’t pose a threat to me anymore.
Any lingering feelings of guilt I may have harboured about killing Aimee-Li and Katarina have been firmly dispelled by Will.
It seemed I’d won my vampiric spurs, so to speak, and earned the respect of the other vampires. The fact that I, a mere fledgling, killed a master vampire in Aimee-Li, thus saving Honyauti, another master vampire, had elevated my status beyond belief. The London vampires have completely accepted me as Will’s consort, and sometime soon I am to be officially presented to them as such. No pressure there, then.
To say I have impressed Will is an understatement, and I shall always be grateful to Luke for not telling him about my extremely squeamish moment in the cellar.
I still cannot feed directly from humans, and the idea of actually biting humans remains abhorrent to me. The thought of accidentally killing someone through feeding fills me with terror, too. Will knows all this, and it’s one of the reasons he keeps a watchful eye on me – well, that, and the fact he’s a three-hundred-year-old control freak.
Everything will become easier in time, and time is something I have a lot of.
I still miss the sun – lying on a beach and soaking up its warm rays. Most of all, I miss the daylight. Sadly, no one is able to do anything about any of these things, not even Will.
Being without a reflection is just plain annoying, but Will always says I look beautiful, and, for the moment, that’s good enough for me.