Page 56 of Obey

Her grin grew manic at the question. “We’re in Mexico,” she said simply.

EPILOGUE 1

KNIGHT

AN ISLAND OFF THE COAST OF PUERTO RICO

SIX MONTHS LATER

I STARED THROUGH THE window, taking in the view in front of me. It never got old, no matter how much time I spent staring at it. The ocean here was an unreal color of blue—though it could also be green, teal, and nearly navy, depending on what sort of weather we were having. On sunny days, it could also be so crystal that you thought it was completely clear.

It was perfect for snorkeling and diving. Which was lucky, since that was the most athletic thing I could do right now. It had been six months since the explosion that had ended Devil’s life, and though I was healing, it was slow going. I’d ended up losing my right eye due to infection, so things like driving and riding bikes was harder for me these days—impossible, if you asked Saraya, who always insisted on driving—and I was definitely never going to be playing football or basketball again with my leg. The bone had healed cleanly but my knee was still in the process of remembering how to work correctly, and I had to use a cane to get around. Much of my skin had healed, thanks to some very careful surgery, but there was still a patch on my arm that looked like I’d seen a very rough time.

I was thinking about getting a tattoo to cover it, though I also thought it might be a good idea to keep it the way it was. A reminder, so to speak, of what had happened to the past version of Knight.

A reminder of the life we’d managed to leave behind.

Not that I thought I needed a reminder. Every single day here was a whole new world, filled with warmth, sunshine, and air that I could actually breathe without worrying that it might be poisoned. It had been months—six months exactly—since I’d worried about anyone coming after me or trying to kill me.

Six months since I’d thought I might have lost Saraya forever, and known that I didn’t want to take that risk ever again.

Saraya. The one thing that made everything better. I was healing and I thought my body would be okay, eventually, but it would have killed me to be so damaged and scarred on my own. The fact that I wasn’t alone, not even close...

I heard a shout from the lower level of the house, and then laughter, and I grinned to myself. I knew what that shout meant. Mandy and Saraya were cooking something—no doubt some experiment that we would be made to test later—and one or the other of them had won a bet about who could do something better than the other. They were the best of friends, these days, and we all laughed to think that there had been a time when they’d actually fought each other. Even stranger to think that there had been a time when Mandy wanted to send Saraya back to Devil.

These days, she would have fought tooth and nail to keep her. We all would. The island was a paradise, and we were making it our own. Frank had done some very fancy figuring after we escaped to Mexico and managed to salvage all the money we had in our accounts, then triple it, and before we knew it, we had an entire island to our name, just off the coast of Puerto Rico. We’d stayed in Mexico long enough for me to heal more fully, and then we’d set sail for our new home.

We’d never looked back. Instead, we’d built a club of our own here on the island. Gemini and Mandy were here, as were Remy and Frank. Saraya and me. We spent our days relaxing and healing from our past wounds—Gemini and I sporting physical wounds as well—and took regular trips to Puerto Rico and Mexico for supplies and company. A Mexican doctor who’d owed Remy a favor had stayed with us for a while, making sure we had the medical care we needed, and Remy and Frank were talking about finding women to bring back with them. We had a running joke about having kids together.

We never went back to the U.S. We knew we were probably wanted there, and that we’d be arrested as soon as we were spotted. It might have bothered me at some point, the idea of giving up my homeland and the club. Giving up the biker lifestyle.

But the truth was, I had everything I needed right here. Everything I needed and more. Life was different, now. Slower and more peaceful. Better.

And today? Today was going to be the best of them all. Better than any day I’d ever lived, though I was expecting every day from here on out to top the things I’d done in the past. Today, my life was going to change again.

Because today, I was going to marry Saraya. And we were going to have our best friends there to watch.

Gem had done some fancy internet class that had concluded with him being ordained to conduct marriages, so it would be all legal and shit, and Mandy was going to serve as Saraya’s matron in waiting. Remy and Frank would stand next to me while I did it.

I didn’t know if I’d ever been so excited in my entire life. My entire body was singing at the thought that I was finally going to make Saraya mine, and I couldn’t wait to start a family with her. I didn’t know if we’d ever find our way back off this island or if we’d stay here for the rest of our lives, but the thing was, it didn’t matter

As long as we were together, whether we stayed in this house with Mandy and Gem, or ventured off to build our own place on the island, or moved to Puerto Rico with new names and identities, we’d be together. We’d have each other.

And that was all that mattered.

I turned to look at Saraya’s vanity, smiling at the thought, and saw the lace dress hanging from the mirror, ready for the ceremony this afternoon.

Yes, starting today, she’d be mine. And I’d be hers. And we’d never be alone again.

EPILOGUE 2

SARAYA

I WALKED TOWARD THE love of my life, taking in every part of him I could see. The chocolate curls falling over his eyes. The slight lilt to the right as he shielded the knee that still didn’t work quite right. The broad shoulders and strong hands, which had pulled me out of trouble more times than I could count.

The brilliant smile on his face, stretching his mouth so wide I was surprised he could stand it.

I grinned back, incapable of stopping myself, and walked a little faster. I wanted to get up there next to him and say our vows. Hear Gemini say that we were man and wife. Get started on the rest of our lives, where we would never have to be without one another again.