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Just as we’d done before, and just as we’d undoubtedly do again
He caught my face in his hands, pressed his an House, kissed me madly, deeply "I do love you, Sentinel"
"I love you, too, Sullivan"
We walked into Cadogan House And this time, I hoped I wouldn’t need my sword, if only for a little while
EPILOGUE
THE REMAINS OF THE CAKE
Twenty-one Months Later, Give or Take
Chicago, Illinois
Hands on irl who bounced on chubby thighs, her tiny fingers gripping the edge of the coffee table Her golden curlsup and down around her cherubic face, punctuated by eirl was stuffing Cheerios into herup and down on plued with tiny white flowers "Ree!"
It was her favorite sound, the word that meant "Yes," "Cheerios," "Here," and every other phrase she couldn’t quite e to articulate
I nodded "Like those, do you?"
Brow furrowed as she worked, she scooped a handful of Cheerios from the coffee table and offered them to me "Ree"
I walked to the coffee table, went to ly sticky hand She squealed happily, jogged in place on unsteady feet, and grabbed ed to corral to ed her andfor a toddler than for a thirty-year-old vampire
"Are you ready?" her father called out from the next room
"Almost," I said, and pulled a barrette from my pocket, used it to clip back one side of Elisa’s hair It would keep her curls out of her face--and her sticky hands froled in the thick blond locks
"Dress!"
"I knoeetheart," I said, s out the skirt of her blue cotton dress She was a rough-and-tuirl, and she’d destroy the dress by the end of the evening, but she looked lovely in it now I tucked her into white Mary Jane shoes "Do you like your dress?"
"Pretty," she seriously said
"Yes, it is Are you ready to go see Aunt Mallory and Baby Lulu?"
She nodded seriously "Baby"
Ethan stepped into the doorway, eyes glowing green with pleasure "How’s irl?"
Elisa squealed, raised her chubby arms
With the pride of a lion, Ethan walked forward, lifted her up She wrapped her little arms around his neck, then kissed his cheek "Ree! Ree! Ree!"