“You being here with me every day. Is that because it’s your job?”
He stood up and knelt next to me. “Out of everything I tell you tonight, please believe this. I thank God every day that it’s my job to keep you safe. But, Nina, being able to talk to you, for you to see me, to hear my name come from those lips…” His gaze paused on my lips. “I have to remind myself that it’s real.”
I tucked my hair behind my ear then leaned toward him with my eyes closed.
“Nina,” he breathed, “there’s more I need to tell you.”
“Oh, you will,” I breathed.
I rested my fingers on each side of his neck. My thumbs grazed his jawline, and I pulled him closer and pressed my lips against his. He cautiously returned my kiss, but as I worked my mouth against his, he relaxed. His arms wrapped around me, and although I could tell he was being careful, he pulled me closer. A quiet hum of satisfaction escaped my lips, and his mouth grew more urgent. He sat up taller on his knees to tighten his grip, and his hand clutched the back of my neck. My breath became ragged as his mouth parted, and his outstandingly warm tongue found its way to mine.
He groaned in frustration, and then his grip tightened, and he held me away a few inches.
“What?” I asked.
“We still have a lot to discuss.”
“I’m done talking,” I said. I pulled on him, but he didn’t budge.
Jared pulled the chair to him and sat, and I pouted at the distance. He was more than amused at my fortitude.
“I’m a little jealous,” I said. “I was hoping with all the training you did you hadn’t found time for girls. But when you kiss like that…”
He breathed out a laugh. “I beg to differ. I’m not an idiot. It’s not a difficult concept.”
“I have kissed boys—some of those boys more than once—who never kissed like that.”
He leaned in, cupping my cheek and running his thumb along my bottom lip. “That’s because you kissed boys, sweetheart.”
“So, not even one?” I asked, feeling intoxicated by him.
“By the time I was interested in girls, I was already in love with you, Nina.” He said it flippantly, like it was so mundane to him, and then he looked like he’d nearly swallowed his tongue.
“You’re in love with me?”
The pain looked on his face made me worry about what he’d say next.
“I’ve loved you for a very long time.”
I exhaled.
He scrambled to explain. “I know. I know it’s a lot to take in, but you have to remember you’ve only known me for a couple of months, and I’ve always known you. Your father didn’t want you to be afraid, so your protection had to stay secret. He felt it was best.”
“So why did you sit next to me on the bench?”
Jared looked down, searching for the right words to say. “I couldn’t stay away from you any longer.”
“And Jack has just allowed you to continue coming around?”
Jared swallowed. “He’s allowed it.”
“Why?”
He cleared his throat. “Nina, what I’m about to tell you is going to sound impossible. You might even think I’m crazy, but I need you to trust me.”
I watched him, seeing the pain, the worry, the love in his eyes. I could have him wheel me back to my room and refuse to see him, have my father assign someone else, but I didn’t want to. I’d fallen in love with Jared Ryel in that hospital room down the hall, and whatever he told me, I was going to listen, believe, and find a way to keep going. We couldn’t change the way we’d been thrown together, but we had control over what happened next.
I reached for him, and he slid his fingers between mine. “Sweet potato fries?” I said with a smile.
His shoulders relaxed, and he grinned. “Sweet potato fries.”
Epilogue
Eden
Immortality was a trip. Mortality was worse. Watching my mother wave at my aunt who was once my mother … well. There was no way to explain that.
I straightened my graduation cap and pushed the tassel away from my face, feeling Aunt Nina squeeze my shoulders. We were standing on the field, our high heels sinking into the freshly cut grass. Nina had never had children of her own, so she and Uncle Jared treated me like I was their daughter, too. They would never know that in another life, I was.
“Ryan,” Aunt Nina said, handing her phone to my dad. “Get one of us girls,” she said. “Claire!” she called, pulling Mom in and calling for Aunt Allison, who waddled over and wedged her large, pregnant belly into the frame. “Grandmas, too, let’s go,” Nina said.
“I love you, and I’m so proud of you,” Mom said through her teeth as she smiled. “But I hate pictures.”
“I know,” I said with a smile. “Almost over.”
Dad snapped pictures, next to Grandpa Jack and Papa Gabe, who were taking millions of their own. Once they finally stopped, Mom kissed my cheek and nonchalantly tried to get back behind the lens.
“Proud of you, kiddo,” Uncle Jared said, squeezing me quick.
“Love you,” I said, hugging him back.
“And Brown, now? Your aunt couldn’t be more excited. She lived in Andrews Hall for a bit, you know.”
“I know,” I said.
“That’s where she met Beth and Kim and your dad.”
“I’ve heard that one, too,” I teased.
“Oh, we have dinner with Beth and Chad tonight, don’t forget,” Aunt Nina said. “And Kim thinks she can make it, too.”
“Really?” Dad said. “I haven’t seen her in forever. The band’s getting back together.”
Nina hugged me tight. “My baby girl’s all grown up. It happened too fast,” she said, tears in her eyes. “Far too fast, Eden. You know if you need anything… I know a thing or two about Brown. You call or text me, and I’ll be here.”
“You promise?” I asked.
She cupped my cheeks. “I love you more than I could ever promise.”
“You have a party to go to?” Mom asked.
I nodded.
“Text me,” Dad said.
“I think if I get into trouble, you’ll be the first to know.”
“The goal is for the police chief’s daughter not to find herself in any trouble,” Dad said, kissing my forehead. “Be safe. We love you.”
My parents chatted with my aunts and uncles and grandmothers, and then we said our goodbyes, my mom the last one to wave and blow me a kiss before ducking into her McLaren.
“Well, we did it. Now what?” Morgan McKinstry said from behind me.
I turned to face him and hugged him tight. “Now we celebrate.”
“We’re not really going to one of those stupid parties, are we?”
I let him go, turning to face the football field exit where families were leaving in mass exodus. “Of course not.”
“What are you doing?” Morgan asked.
“Waiting,” I said.
A motorcycle growled in the distance and only got louder as it entered the parking lot of the high school. After a few gratuitous revs of the engine, it cut off. The driver put down the kickstand and immediately began walking toward us.
“Who’s that?” Morgan asked.
I smiled. “A friend I met on the Internet.”
“Wait. Is it the guy you’ve been looking for? You found him?” Morgan asked.
“Morgan!” his mother called. “Morgan! Come say hi to Grandpa Ellis!”
I smiled, watching Levi walk toward me. He looked almost the same as he did the last time I saw him, just a little older—seven years. He still walked with that confident swagger.
I took off my graduation cap and let it fall to the ground next to me.
He stopped just inches from me, looking down into my eyes. He combed back a few lose platinum strands of my hair that had fallen into my face when I removed my cap, unable to take his gaze from mine. He held his palm to my cheek and leaned
into it, closing my eyes. The universe was right again.
“I’d almost lost hope,” he said.
I shook my head. “Claire’s not like Nina. She wasn’t about to get pregnant too soon, even after she finally agreed to marry Ryan.”
“This is so surreal,” he said. “I’ve dreamed about this exact moment so many times.”
“I promised you, didn’t I?”
“You did it,” he said, shaking his head. “Jack and Cynthia. Gabe and Lillian. Jared and Nina, Ryan and Claire, even Bex and Allison. You kept them all together. And you found me. I don’t know how you did it, but you gave them all their happy endings, and they don’t even know it.”
“You know it,” I said. “I was afraid you wouldn’t.”
He cupped my jaw and leaned down, planting his lips on mine.
It didn’t matter that we hadn’t yet met in that lifetime. I melted into him, letting his mouth move against mine for as long as he wanted. He’d had to wait for me another quarter of a century, but he did—patiently.
“I’ve always known you were the one, Eden,” he whispered against my lips. “You’re my beginning and the end.”
I pulled away from him, shaking my head. “Our story will never end.”
Leviathan, Prince of Hell, Son of Satan, Son of Petra, enveloped me in his loving, gentle arms.
And in his arms, I stayed.
A Note from the Author
Thank you doesn’t seem enough, but I must thank you for sharing this with me, my first book and the completion of my first series. I hope you enjoyed getting to know and spending time with Jared, Nina, the Ryels and the rest of the characters as much as I did. Nina and Jared have a special place in my heart; they feel very much like family and I’m sad to see it end. I hope the final installment was everything you’ve been so patiently waiting for, and I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you’ve seen them through to the end.
Thank you,
Jamie
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My first thank you goes to Jessica Landers, my assistant, my paralegal, my agent, my sounding board, and my friend. I couldn’t and wouldn’t do life without you. You save me and my sanity on a daily basis, something I’ll never forget.
A huge thanks to Beth Petrie for encouraging me to write Providence, my first novel, and essentially my career,
To Dr. Lisa Vandermeer Kahle for being a consistent cheerleader from my first days to now,
To Dr. Ross Vanhooser for believing in me, and to Sharon Ronk who supported me when very few people did.
Thanks to Misty Horn for your friendship and endless support and positivity,
Always to the MacPack for your love, patience, kindness, and support,
And, last but never, ever least, thank you to Jason Beguin, my best friend and the love of my life. Thank you for taking the kids somewhere fun so I could work, your support, patience, guidance, and love. I have finally found my own real life love story and happy ending, and I’ll never take it for granted.
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