Page 69 of Eternal Mate

Like I said, Ashe and Auren visited a lot. Now that the Resistance was no longer needed and the Council practically ran itself anymore, the two had decided to travel the world. Ashe had given us the excuse that he couldn’t create portals to places he’d never been before, so the obvious solution was to go everywhere so that he could.

Auren had shrugged noncommittally at the suggestion when I looked at him.

Our other friends also visited, but much less frequently. They had their own lives to build or get back to, after all.

Speaking of building a life…

I looked over to where Sariel was painting in the distance. The girls were talking and playing in the yard as I watched them from my porch, but he was more near the treeline as he painted away.

With Ashe’s enthusiastic encouragement, Sariel was building up a collection of paintings so that he could open an art gallery one day. I was happy that painting was no longer a source of stress, and that his prophetic art no longer plagued him enough to suck the joy out of the action.

As for me, I’d taken to writing and activism again. First, I would write a memoir of everything that had happened to me, and then, I’d probably move on to more lighthearted works. Online trolls would always exist, of course, but I would also devote my time to educating those still holding on to old beliefs.

Looking at Sariel’s back as he busily worked away at his current piece, then to my happy and self-sufficient nieces, I felt a sense of pride and peace, of satisfaction with how our lives would surely go for the rest of my days.

We had finally gotten our happy ending.