The doorbell rang at that moment and my heart pounded excitedly. “That’ll be Mila,” I said with a grin.
“Ope!” Rowan said excitedly.
“Yes, baby, Hope’s here too,” I said, surprised he remembered their little girl.
Mila and Danny still lived in Sequoia but we visited each other as often as we could. Hope was the same age as Rowan and the two of them had taken to each other the last time they’d met a few weeks ago.
I carried Rowan to the door as Saint tried to talk Kyan into putting a shirt on, smiling to myself at the madness of this party already. I opened the door and Mila squealed as she ran in with Hope in her arms, the two of them wearing pale yellow summer dresses which matched.
“Hey girl!” We wrapped each other in a hug full of babies and kisses before I stepped back to let them in, hugging Danny too.
“It’s so warm here,” Danny said with a grin then whispered to me, “I’m trying to convince Mila we should move here too, but she won’t have it.”
“Keep trying,” I said with a grin and we all headed through the house and out to the beach.
We took seats on the deck chairs and Cooper and Christina soon arrived, fussing over the kids while I caught up with Mila and Danny.
At the earliest opportunity, Nash headed off to fetch Saint’s cake, tossing me a mischievous wink as he headed into the kitchen.
Saint sat in a deck chair beside me, smiling as he watched the kids play with Cooper and Blake. Beau was still sleeping serenely in the cot between us and Saint had his hand hanging down into it, his fingers brushing over our youngest’s hair absentmindedly.
When Mila and Danny went off to play with the kids, I reached under my chair to where I’d stashed one of Saint’s presents, holding it out to him in the glitzy silver wrapping paper. “I got you this.”
He arched a brow, taking it and picking gently at the cellotape instead of tearing into it. “Is this something I can open in front of the kids?” he murmured.
I laughed, nodding. “They’ll probably try and steal it from you though.”
“Well that doesn’t mean it is suitable for them. Do you remember last Christmas when MJ found that new dildo I bought you and used it like a chew toy?”
“Saint,” I hissed, glancing at the in laws as laughter burst from me.
He smirked like the devil then opened the present and took out the Action Man figure inside which was just like the one he’d told me he had as a kid. One that Troy had taken from him. It had a car and a gun and I’d written the name Clive on the box with a kiss.
His eyes widened and his lips parted. “You bought me Clive?” He looked to me in adoration as I smiled.
“Yep. Do you like him?”
He nodded, his throat working as he stared at it. “Yes, siren, it’s perfect. Thank you.”
A shriek came from Hope as MJ dumped a bucket of sand over her head and Rowan dove on him like a little beast. Before he could land the first punch, Blake whipped him into the air and gave him a stern look while Mila laughed, working to get the sand out of her baby’s hair.
MJ ran away from the scene of the crime, the sun glinting off of his golden hair. He ran to Saint who scooped him into his lap, not seeming to care at all about how sandy he was as he placed a kiss on his forehead.
“You’re such a softy,” I teased, reaching over to squeeze Michael Junior’s pudgy arm. He was so damn squishy.
“Happy birthday to you,” Nash started singing and we all joined in as Kyan came running out in a white shirt which was on backwards, clear Saint bait. He was such an asshole. Why did I love it so much?
Everyone joined in singing while Saint stiffened in his seat, despising this custom as everyone sang out of tune and stared at him. But the kids loved it so he accepted it for their sake.
Nash presented the squid cake to him as the song came to an end and Saint’s eyebrows descended.
“Oh for the love of Christ,” he muttered. “Must we do this rigamarole every year?”
“It’s tradition,” I said with a smirk.
“Skid, skid, skid!” MJ started chanting as he reached for the cake and Saint shook his head and cracked a smile.
“You’ll be in trouble later, all of you,” he warned, giving Nash a pointed look and I chuckled as Saint lifted MJ up to let him blow out the candle on top of the cake.
“Ohhhh, I wanted to blow out the candle,” Caesar complained as he crowded closer with the others.
“Well we can light it and do it again,” I suggested just as Rowan ducked between Nash’s legs and shoved his hands into the icing at the back of the cake. It toppled forward and I gasped, lunging desperately to try and catch it but it was too late as it smashed all over MJ and Saint’s lap.
Rowan burst out laughing as MJ squealed in delight and the rest of the kids dove on them to grab a piece of the exploded cake. Saint grinned at the carnage and I picked up a piece of cake, holding it to his lips.
“You look good in red,” I purred and he took a savage bite out of the cake as Nash snapped a photo.
“I want some!” Blake pushed to the front, grabbing a handful off of Saint’s crotch and he cursed.
I gazed around at my family as Blake pushed a piece of sweet strawberry cake between my lips and I was sure my life couldn’t possibly get any sweeter than this.
“You know what would balance out our family?” Kyan mused as he lifted me out of my seat, dropping down into it and placing me in his lap.
“What?” I asked, smearing some cake over his lips and he sucked my fingers, cleaning up the four rings which represented each of my husbands. Nash had bought me a silver ring with a sparkling blue sapphire and Blake had bought me beautiful platinum band engraved with the words our love, our life, our queen. I wore one on each of the fingers on my left hand and never took them off.
“A little baby girl.” Kyan patted my belly and my eyes narrowed.
“Ooh, I’m down,” Blake agreed.
“Hell no, if you want another one, one of you can give birth to it,” I growled, going full devil woman and they shrank away fast, clearly reminded of my four labours. I was not a princess when I gave birth and they knew it all too well. Nash still had crescent shaped scars on his arm since MJ.
“I’m just saying, it would even out the testosterone levels a bit,” Kyan went on.
“Do you wanna die today or something, bro?” Nash mocked, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of his lap.
He drew me back against his chest, wrapping his arms around my waist and I leaned on him with a sigh as I watched the others all wrestle over cake and Saint laughed like there were no demons living inside him anymore. At least not ones that couldn’t be tamed.
Everyone looked so damn happy and there was really nothing more I could ask for in the world than that. My tribe had grown and was so full of love that it could fill the entire ocean. I was the luckiest girl on earth, surrounded by a family of warriors who squeezed every drop out of life.
We’d built our own Temple where we worshipped all forms of chaos, and I was going to thrive in it for the rest of forever with my monsters at my side.
G etting the kids to bed was always a mixture of routine and carnage, but at least the party had thoroughly worn them out. Mila, Danny, Blake’s dad and Christina had left us to it while we were battling tiny people into pyjamas and the five of us had all gathered out on the deck to see out the last of my birthday.
There was something special about the silence that followed a day full of children’s screams and as much as I loved the chaos the boys created, I always savoured this moment of peace once they’d settled for the night.
"I have one request," I asked, stroking my fingers through Tatum's hair as she leaned back against me where we sat on the steps of the wooden deck, her toes in the sand, looking out over the beach as we all watched the sunset.
"Just the one?" she teased.
"Yeah, yeah, we get it, man," Nash said, knocking his shoulder against mine in an affectio
nately mocking kind of way. "You wanna boss us all around in your sex dungeon tonight."
I rolled my eyes, objecting to the word dungeon but it hardly seemed worth mentioning if he hadn’t stopped calling it that after all these years.
"I'll agree so long as you do that thing with all the ropes again," Kyan said, grinning at me as he slung his arm around my shoulders.
"Oh, you mean that Japanese thing?" Blake asked from his position laying in the sand before us, his hand sliding up Tatum's leg as he grinned at the memories of the last time we'd played with that.
"It's called shibari," I muttered, wondering why I bothered - I was fairly certain that they chose not to learn the proper name just to infuriate me.
"Is that a yes then, birthday boy?" Tatum teased and I smiled as I drew her blonde hair over her shoulder, giving me access to kiss her neck where her Night Bound tattoo sat on her skin.
"If you're certain you want to be bound at the mercy of monsters?" I replied and she moaned softly as I kept kissing her.
"It's a little late to go back on that decision now," she replied, wiggling the fingers on her left hand so that the rings she wore caught the light of the setting sun and Kyan chuckled darkly.
"So can we go now, or-" he began.
"The sun's still going down, asshole," Blake protested, thumping him in the thigh. "Tatum wants to watch it."
"Oh yeah, Tatum's the one who dragged us all out here like a puppy who wanted to go play with a new ball," Nash mocked and Blake shrugged as he continued to caress Tatum's leg and she shifted as she leaned back against me.
"What was your request, Saint?" Tatum asked, as she gave Kyan a playful smack to his arm, making it clear we were staying for the sunset.
"It's a simple one," I said. "Or at least I hope it is. And after all of these years, I think it's time I got it."
"Intriguing," Nash said and I huffed out a breath because I still expected to get nothing out of asking this question, but it was like an itch in my damn brain that had been haunting me for far too long. I needed the answer. The internet wouldn't provide it, no one I had asked had been willing or able to give it to me straight, but there were people sitting here with me now who knew. And it was past time they told me.
"I just want to know," I said, stealing myself for their bullshit but pressing on all the same. "What does the squid mean?"
A beat of silence passed before all of them fell about laughing and a flash of irritation drove its way right through the fabric of my being.
"Forget it," I growled, moving to push myself out of my seat, but Tatum caught my wrist and held on tight, refusing to let me go.
"Don't run off," she pouted.
"Yeah, there's no need to go getting your squid in a twist," Kyan added, smirking in that way that made me want to punch his damn face in.
"You wouldn't want to get your tentacles tangled," Blake added and I narrowed my eyes on him. There had been a time when he'd been as in the dark about all of this as me so either one of them had spilled or he'd figured it out years ago and I'd been left alone in my quest for this knowledge.
"Jesus, Saint, you look like you might bust a nut if you grind your teeth any harder," Nash joked, nudging me playfully and I huffed out a breath.
"Is that really your birthday wish?" Tatum asked, turning so that she could look at me and I narrowed my eyes as I looked back
"You have no idea how infuriating it is for me not to grasp something the rest of you share," I replied evenly. “Even the kids seem to understand it. And I just…it’s not…I don’t fucking get it!”
She glanced between the others and my phone buzzed in my pocket. One look at Kyan as he shoved his own phone back into his pants’ pocket should have been enough to tell me what it said, but of course, I couldn't resist the urge to look.
Kyan:
*squid emoji*
Saint:
It's not funny. It hasn't been funny for sixteen years. It never was funny.
Blake:
It's like when you *onion emoji* in your pants, but you get a little teared up so you *otter emoji*
Nash:
Kinda like *flamingo emoji* but with more *crab emoji* and a little *salt emoji*
Saint:
I hate all of you.
Kyan:
There you go, being all *squid emoji* again. It's tiring, dude. Why don't you just *squid emoji*?
Saint:
I AM SICK OF THIS SHIT!
Tatum:
Okay. I'll tell you x
Tatum:
*squid emoji*
I looked up from my phone as Tatum tossed hers down on the steps and turned to climb into my lap, straddling me and pushing her fingers into my hair while the others all chuckled.
"Truly?" I asked and she nodded, smirking at me like this joke had never once gotten old for her.
The bright orange rays of the setting sun gilded her hair with a halo of light and I wound my fingers around her waist, the soft material of her white dress slipping against my skin as I looked at her. I loved this colour on her, fucking adored it and I swear she knew. That was why she’d worn it today, the light to my darkness.
The others were still laughing, their arms brushing against us as they pressed close, the five of us always gravitating together like that, especially when Tatum was at the heart of us like now. Where she belonged.
Despite everything we'd been through, the good and the bad, the fucked up and the feral, we really were happy. Our little family against the world. And I wouldn’t change a damn moment of what we had or what we had to come for anything.
Tatum leaned in and placed her lips against my ear as she spoke to me in a breathy voice and my heart actually raced as I realised she really was going to tell me what it meant. The mystery would be over, the plague of not knowing would finally be lifted from me.
"The squid means…"
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H ead over to the Queen of Quarantine Discussion Group to discuss the end of the series.
__Author Note__
Well slap my ass and call me Tallulah, we just went and finished a motherfucking series! Did we pass the test? Do you hate us? Love us? Fall into the confusingly terrifying middle ground of understanding that we’re bad for you and yet you still keep on finding yourself coming back for more?
I feel…well shit, I feel all kinds of things, happy, sad, a little confused over the squid (I’m glad we could clear that up for you), relieved and yet kinda empty too as these characters have finally finished telling us their story. I’m gonna miss them, but I’d like to think we did good by them and set them up with a life that they can really live to the fullest.
How did we do without a cliffhanger? I have to say it was hard not to leave you all hanging by your fingertips and cursing our names there, but don’t worry, there is plenty more of that planned for this year. Did you hate us when Troy escaped? I kinda loved that he did that, sorry, not sorry. It just made that revenge taste so much sweeter in the end for us…
On a slightly more serious note, you probably picked up on the fact that some of the themes of this series were loosely based off of events going on in the world right now with the-virus-that-shall-not-be-named. This year has been…well, let’s go with interesting. The kind of interesting like when you step on a Lego with a bare foot, fall down the stairs and land in dog shit, only to wonder why the hell there’s dog shit in your house when you don’t have a dog and then realise that you can’t visit your friends or family for a year, so you just lay there in agony, covered in the shit screaming at the windows WHY DID YOU EAT A FUCKING BAT???
Ahem.
I know that lockdown has looked different to all of us and there have been plenty of lows to dwell on, but I’d like to think there have been some highs too. We all got to spend more time with the people we love and focus on the things that are most important to us while also getting the opportunity to think on the things we miss the most and can look forward to reclaiming as this cr
isis finally comes to an end. Plus books. Books, books and more books. Were any of us really in lockdown when we could escape into another world with the flick of a page? How damn lucky are we to have that?? I mean, it’s not quite the same as being able to go out and leave the damn house but it is pretty freaking awesome in my opinion.
Shout out to all of the badass hospital and essential workers who showed up every damn day throughout this as well. Without you guys on the front line, this whole thing could have been a lot worse and we have so much love and respect for you guys. If you’re reading this and our books brought you even the slightest bit of joy and respite between shifts, then we’re so glad to have been able to offer you that.
So, Tatum and her Night Keepers have made it to the finish line, me and Caroline feel like total zombies – these books were thiccc. Blood, sweat, tears, a little crazy and a lot of badass went into these books and just maybe, they will keep a place in your heart long after The End like they will in ours. And maybe they’ll live on in the world of say…Sinners’ Playground. Where they may or may not show up in Sunset Cove with Rogue and her harem of dark and dirty gang members. Haven’t started that series yet? Well you can dive in right now if you’re ready to face the gritty underworld of the Harlequin Crew.
Stay safe, wear a mask and take joy in only having to put makeup on the top half of your face. Keep your toilet paper game forever strong - may you never go without a wipe again. And for the love of fuck, please don’t eat any bats!!!
Love,
Susanne & Caroline xxx
P.S.
If you do find yourself obsessing over this series and wanna come stalk us, send us abusive messages for all the heartache or even some love (love you too, boo) then why not join the best group of people we know in our Facebook reader group? I promise that the answer to Saint’s question will be in there *squid emoji* …maybe. And if you’re a fan of Niall O’Brien read on for a very special sneak peek at his own story in The Death Club xx
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