Page 466 of Black Reign

“Wait. Did you put diamonds on the computer too?”

“No.”

He looks relieved.

“Okay.”

Sabine says, “Some of the chips cost more.”

Drew stares at me.

“You two are fucking weird.”

“Yes,” Isa says.

Then she kisses his cheek.

“But so are we.”

From downstairs, Jade shouts that dessert is starting.

Someone begins playing Christmas music too loudly.

Kane yells at Drew to stop blocking the hallway.

The ocean crashes somewhere below Leo's ridiculous cliffside fortress.

Sabine slides beneath my arm.

Her hand settles over the little diamond bridge.

Then she looks up at me.

Cornflower eyes bright.

No disguise.

No alias required.

My wife.

My Vesper.

For two weeks, I had her entirely to myself.

I thought returning to this chaos would feel like losing something.

It doesn't.

Because she isn't disappearing back into the machine when the night ends.

She's coming home with me.

That may be the best Christmas present I've ever received.

Even if I apparently have to share her with Drew's group chat now.

EPILOGUE