Nightfall (Devil's Night, #4)

by Penelope Douglas

Sitting up, I climbed over Rory’s body and gently stepped out of bed, looking down at the two beautiful guys and their sleeping forms. A serial killer on one side, and the son of a terrorist on the other. Man, my parents would be proud.

I wasn’t scared to fall with him, because he made me feel safe no matter how high we climbed.

She fit with us. She was made for us.

“I’d rather not walk in on my sisters in some weirdo, bacchanalian sex fest ever again,” he stated. “Understand?”

I shook with silent sobs, looking at his beautiful face as tears streamed down my own. Damon had done all this without me. He was doing so well—without me. I should’ve been here when the kid was born. I should know Madden.

Ivar, Mads, and the baby Winter was carrying now would never know that I was absent.

I smiled. Sitting up, she scooted over to me, and I stood in front of her, looking down at my Little Trouble who hadn’t changed a bit from how badly she pissed me off and got me hard in high school.

For five minutes, I needed something to hold on to. I tightened my hold, smelling her hair and damn near tasting her. If she hadn’t shown up at Blackchurch, would I really have sought my revenge? Would I have chased her down in California and made her pay? And how would I have done it?

Michael Crist, Kai Mori, Damon Torrance, and Will Grayson were going to have their secluded, seaside resort, because we lasted, and we were going to build something that would, as well. Heat rushed under my skin, and I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I was home.

“Hell yeah, you love me,” he said, sucking my lips into his mouth. “You’re crazy about me, and you may not be blond or eighteen or named Heidi, but you’re fucking mine, Little Trouble.” He pushed up my shirt, yanked down my bra, and covered my nipple with his mouth, sucking hard. “And you can still walk my dogs someday if you want, but I’ll for damn sure be peeling down your panties on my desk and letting you pretend like you don’t love every second of it right before I write you that little check.” He gripped my neck, his other hand trying to rip down my pants as he kissed me. “You’re never getting free of me.” I pushed at him. “Will . . .” “Never.”

“I don’t need the Cove,” he said over the rain. “I need more memories with you.” I breathed hard, but I couldn’t move as tears filled my eyes. “Memories that aren’t tainted with all the years apart right afterward,” he explained.

“I build with you now,” he whispered to me, the heat of his mouth on my lips. “We make Thunder Bay together, Em. I love you.” I love you.

This wasn’t where we ended. Nothing was over. “Will you marry me?” I asked, breathing hard and my heart hammering. Slowly, I climbed to my feet and turned to face him, seeing him stopped. He stood there, frozen, not turning around, but that was okay. I wasn’t sure I could do this if he looked at me. God, my mouth was so dry I couldn’t swallow. “I love you,” I said, and I could see people filming us with their phones out of the corner of my eye, but I didn’t care. “I’m wild crazy for you, and I’m sure I’ll kill you at some point, but . . . God, I love you so much, and I want you to marry me.” More tears streamed down my face as I choked out the words. “Marry me, Will Grayson.” I rushed up and hugged his back, wrapping my arms around him. “Can you marry me? Can I marry you?”

“It’s very old,” Will said, slipping it onto my finger, his hand shaking. “It’s your family’s?” “It’s yours now.” He met my eyes. “It’s been yours for nearly ten years.”

There was so much more than the fights and the pain. “I’m marrying you,” I whispered. He nodded. “’Bout time you caught up.”

“I’m sorry about everything,” I said. “Me, too, baby.” He kissed me. “I should’ve stayed. I’m sorry I walked away. I’m sorry I left you that day in the hallway at school.”

“You and me against the world,” he whispered,

“He’s my life,” she said, “and I couldn’t be happier about that. Nothing is worth anything without him.”

“We’re two of a kind, you know?” I told her. “Both too stubborn for our own good. He came after you, but your heart had steeled, and there was nothing to do except keep putting one foot in front of the other and never look back, right?”

How does someone so soft and gentle fall in love with Damon Torrance, for crying out loud.

I could do so much more with myself. I was tired of who I used to be.

“I don’t need to be carted to the altar,” he announced. “I want to arrive in style with my friends. This is how it started, and this is how it continues.”

“I’m marrying little Rika Fane, motherfuckers!” Michael yelled, and we all followed, belting our battle cry into the night. “Whoo!” we all joined in. Michael slapped my back. “Let’s go get my girl.”

“Damon suffocated her with chloroform, threw her over his shoulder like a sack of flour, and took her to sea!” “We were bonding,” Damon retorted. “You’re just jealous.”

“I’m starting to feel like we need to grab this girl and Emory and run,” Micah mumbled to Rory.

“We’d die for her and each other. Erika Fane is a lucky woman.”

I knew she was the one for me.

I wanted her to like my friends. They were family, and they were important to me.

Once upon a time, she was a kid who blew our minds and ran with us all night. She hadn’t changed.

“Are you up for this?” she asked again. I nodded. “Yeah, for like, ever now.”

“And my wolfpack, it grew,” he said, choking on fake tears, “it grew by two.”

She was like us. I would say the exact same thing, and even though I hated to risk losing her, she wasn’t a flower. And now I understood why Michael let Rika be at his side in everything they did. She wanted to feel this, too.

“I can’t lose you,” she said in my ear. “I need you.” And I buried my face in her neck, feeling everything start. My life. Our life.

“You can still run,” he taunted. “Maybe after this.” I did a little dance in my stained jeans and dirty face. “When you’re legally required to come after me, that is.” Martin

I had brothers who cared about me now. Aydin, Rory, and the beautiful Micah, his gentleness and presence that put me at ease at Blackchurch almost immediately. I had a career, an education, and the Carfax Room. I also had Will behind me . . . and in front of me, willing to take a bullet if I were ever in danger. I trusted myself now. I wasn’t leaving, and I wasn’t hiding.

“Michael and Erika . . . I now pronounce you husband and wife,” she told them. They kissed, and the judge proceeded around the group. “Damon and Winter? I pronounce you husband and wife.” I bit my lip, inching into Will and ready. “Kai and Nikova?” she continued. “I pronounce you husband and wife.” Kai growled before kissing Banks hard. “And William and Emory, I now pronounce you . . . husband and wife.” I dived in and kissed him deep, whimpering as he wrapped his arms around me, the ring on my finger solidifying what we should’ve known could never be stopped.

“Live for your love,” the judge said, “love your life, and raise hell.”

The first Horsemen will be a tough act to follow for future generations.” Lord help our kids, filling in those shoes, right?

Bored, he’d said. No, Will Grayson. That was one problem you and I would never have.

lit homework.

He grabbed me and kissed me, laughing against my lips. “I am never not ready for anything with you.”

This was always our story. We want what we want.

“Omega

I

I

I

I