He thought of the deals he’d made, all the promises to the universe that he’d take her any way he could have her.
“Negotiating never works. Tried it.” She coughed as the virus repaired her vocal cords.
“I love you,” he said, fulfilling his end of the bargain in case these were the only moments given them.
“Bite me.” She laughed and tightened her grip on his shoulders.
And he did.
Epilogue
One week later, Daphne Gevaudan had one blue eye and one green.
She saw the world through completely different eyes—literally. Not only did she now live in a world that had no logical boundaries and didn’t adhere to any laws of nature, she could now see every bit of it around her. When she looked at Konstantin, she saw both skins. The beast was always there, watching her, wanting her.
But that wasn’t her darkest fear. It was looking in the mirror and seeing the same beast inside herself.
Only, it wasn’t so horrible.
Life was actually kind of perfect.
Especially on nights like this one.
The moon hung like a Chinese lantern, round and soft in the clear sky, casting a bit of magic on the tide where the merfolk played and danced beyond human sight. Daphne lay in her mate’s arms, the water washing over their toes—bodies well-sated.
“I heard from Luka,” he said.
She rolled over to prop herself on her elbows. “What news?”
“It obviously wasn’t Bardot’s plane waiting for them in Charlotte. The senator was assassinated in Paris days before. Luka and Marijka are safe, but there are still unknown hands at work. Plots within plots in the Aeternali. I don’t know if we’ve seen the last of the virus.”
“We’ll keep manufacturing the cure. Our pack and our people grow with every person we save. One day, we’ll have an army too big for the Aeternali to fight.”
“I love how you think.”
“Really?” She flashed a grin. “Do you know what I’m thinking now?”
“Eukaryotic DNA replication, a protein link to stabilize the newest vaccine and if we’ll smell like wet dog if we shift in the water while I mount you on that sandbar.”
“You so cheated.”
“You think loud.” He scooped her up in his arms and carried her out into the water.
Daphne couldn’t help but think this was happily ever after.
* * * * *
About The Author
Saranna DeWylde has always been fascinated by things better left in the dark. She wrote her first story after watching The Exorcist at a slumber party. Since then, she’s published horror, romance and narrative nonfiction. Like all writers, Saranna has held a variety of jobs, from operations supervisor for an airline, to an assistant for a call girl, to a corrections officer. But like Hemingway said, “Once writing has become your major vice and greatest pleasure, only death can stop it.” So she traded in her cuffs for a full-time keyboard. She loves to hear from her readers.
ISBN-13: 9781460325254
CLAIMED BY THE BEAST
Copyright © 2014 by Saranna DeWylde
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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