by Tricia Barr
“I’ve had a lot of time to think about things,” he began. “I wanted to apologize for keeping my distance. You’ve been grieving, as we all have, and I wasn’t there to support you as I should have. For that, I’m sorry. I know you and Delphine were close.”
Her heart was doing cartwheels of joy in her chest at his acknowledgement of this, but she didn’t let it show. “It’s okay. You’ve been grieving, too. And I’m so sorry about your dad. If I could have...” She stopped. Even if she had been successful in bringing Delphine back, Kol’s dad was beyond recovery. The kraken had eaten him. There wasn’t a magic on earth that could reverse such a thing.
Kol nodded, looking distantly off for a moment.
“The real reason I wanted to talk,” he said after what looked like an internal debate. “Look, I’m not okay with you...being a vampire. Hybrid—whatever. I have been raised from birth to hate vampires, and you becoming one feels like the cruelest joke the universe could ever play on me.”
“I really am sorry, Kol,” she pleaded. “It wasn’t like I was some Twilight fanatic who desperately wanted to be a vampire. I never wanted that. But I had to make that choice, or Draven would have killed me. Killed all of us.”
“I know,” Kol said, with a tone of acceptance that surprised her. “I said I’m not okay with it, but I’m trying to be. I’ve recently come to see that maybe it doesn’t matter what you are. Human, shifter, selkie...vampire... What matters is who you are, and what you do with what you are. And you, Myreen.” He took her hand into both of his. “You’re the sweetest, most driven and willful girl I’ve ever met. You wear your heart on your sleeve and fight with your entire soul for the things and people you care about. You amaze me, over and over again. I love you, the you underneath that pale, flawless vampire skin, more than I ever thought I could love someone. And if you’ll still have me, I’ll spend everyday for the rest of my life giving you the happily ever after you deserve.”
Tears dripped off Myreen’s chin, and for the first time in a week, they were tears of joy. She laugh-cried as she threw her arms around Kol’s neck and pressed salty, wet lips on his. He stiffened at first, then closed his arms around her and kissed her back.
“Just be gentle with me,” he said when their lips parted. “You’re a lot stronger than me now.”
She giggled. “And don’t you ever forget it. And if you ever go cold on me again, Malkolm Dracul, I’ll make sure you don’t.”
He chuckled. “I promise to only be warm to you from this day forward.” He pulled her close, his warm breath caressing her face, and whispered, “And sometimes, even a little hot.” His lips grazed hers teasingly, and her whole body heated from the top of her scalp to the tips of her toes, which curled inside her shoes.
“Sounds good to me,” she said breathily against his lips before getting lost in them.
***
“Okay, this is it. The final round of zombie killing that will decide who wins the crown,” Brett said, dramatically setting the stage as he plopped down on the couch, controller in hand.
“My bet’s on the sexy mao,” Kenzie said from beside Myreen, digging into the bucket of popcorn she had made for this event.
“You better believe it,” Wes said, perched on the edge of a cushion on the other side of Nik.
“Don’t hold your breath,” Brett said. “You may be good with a gun in real life, but in the world of video games, I reign supreme.”
“Oh? Is that why Kol’s record of kills is longer than yours?” Nik retorted with a smirk.
“And you play a lot more than he does,” Juliet added.
“Hey, no one asked the peanut gallery,” Bretty complained. “Prince Dracul, would you hurry up and turn the game on so we can end this debate?”
Kol arched an eyebrow at Brett as he started the system and took his seat next to him.
“Or would it be King Dracul now?” Brett wondered out loud. “Now that your dad is out of the way. Just saying.”
“Shut up and play,” Kol dismissed, and instantly the thumbs of all the boys were speedily tapping away at their controllers, threatening to crush them into useless plastic.
“Well, it’s not exactly the same as going to the movies, but it is fun to watch our guys go head-to-head against each other in something so pointless,” Kenzie said, popping a handful of fluffy snack into her mouth.
“And it’s really funny to watch them argue over said pointless thing,” Myreen said, curling up against Kenzie and indulging in the popcorn as well.
“In my opinion, this is way better than a movie,” Juliet said. “Because you can’t change the outcome of a movie. But I know that if I, say,” she scooped a handful of popcorn out of the bucket, “throw a popcorn at Brett,” and threw it so it rained down all over Brett, “he’s gonna lose.”
“Hey!” Brett snapped, shaking off the popcorn, and in so doing, blowing himself up with his own grenade. Then he groaned angrily. “No fair! Nik, your girlfriend cheated!”
“Not my problem,” Nik laughed without looking away from the screen. “She does what she wants. It just so happens to work in my favor right now.” He stuck his tongue out.
“You know what we need to do?” Kenzie asked. “We need to find Brett a girlfriend. Maybe then he won’t play as much.”
“Not likely,” Brett said as his first-person shooter respawned. “No girl could ever come between me and my video games.”
“What about Leya?” Myreen teased. “I’ve seen the way you look at her.”
Brett paused, blushing furiously.
“Careful, Myreen, I think you hit a nerve.” Kol flashed her wink in between staring at the screen.
“You know what, Brett,” Nik said, a giddy look coming over his face. “I dare you to ask her out.”
Kol and Nik laughed wholeheartedly, and Brett frowned, muttering to himself.
Myreen leaned back on the couch and smiled from ear to ear as she watched the boys—their boys—taunt each other. Life hadn’t just gone back to normal after the memorial, somehow it had gotten even better. Everything was as it should be, finally. And she could wait to see what else life had in store, for all of them.