The Other Side of Truth (The Marked Ones Trilogy Book 3) (43 page)

To the Stars

Epilogue

Saturday March 2nd

PATRICK

“H
ey, do you have the
keys?” Travis asked me as he leaned between me and Nualla. His Medal of Valor swinging forward like a pendulum.

“If you mean your car keys, then yes, I have those, and no, you can’t have them. Because I’m pretty sure you’re drunk,” I replied before I took a sip of my
kekkoshi sadara
cider.

“I am
not
drunk,” Travis stated as he dropped down into the chair next to me, nearly missing it entirely. The cider in his glass almost sloshing out. He gripped the end of the table with his free hand, and looked at us with a guilty grin. “Okay, maybe just a little,” he admitted, holding two fingers an inch or so apart.

I arched an eyebrow at him. “Why do I get the feeling me and Shawn are going to have to carry your ass out of here?”

“Hey! This is
so
not my fault,” Travis said as he situated himself more firmly in the chair. “Parker’s pregnant, so I have to drink that whole damn jug of
kekkoshi sadara
myself.”

“I do not envy you the massive hangover you’re going to have tomorrow,” Nualla said with a playful snort.

“Well, you don’t
have
to drink it all,” I suggested.

“Yes I
do
. I do
not
want that kind of bad luck. I’ve had enough bad luck in my life,” Travis countered as he pointed a finger at me.

“Hey,” I said with a shrug. “I think your life’s turned out pretty okay.” I looked across a group of chatting wedding guests to where Parker was standing with Skye, Loraly, and Isha, and practically glowing with happiness.

Travis followed my gaze, and then broke into a huge grin. “Isn’t she
gorgeous
? You can’t even tell she’s pregnant in that dress,” he said as he gestured to her. And you really couldn’t. The draping fabric of the Grecian-style wedding dress perfectly obscured Parker’s belly.

“
You’re welcome
,” Nualla said smugly as she shined her nails on her chest.

Travis grinned at her before he turned back to me. “So, about the keys…”

“There is no way in
hell
I am giving you these car keys, Travis,” I replied before I took a sip of my cider.

“No, not my
car
keys. I meant the ones for my new place,” Travis countered with a huff.

“Oh,
those
keys,” I said as I set my glass down, and pulled a set of shiny new house keys from the pocket of my
haori
.

“Yes, ‘
those
keys,’” Travis repeated as he took the keys from me.

“
What
new place?” Nualla asked before she took a sip of her cider. Then she nearly spit it back out. “Wait, you’re actually moving
out
of Embassy housing?”

“Well yeah, I needed a place with at least three bedrooms,” Travis answered, holding up four fingers instead of three.

“Why three?” Nualla asked in confusion and then her eyes grew large. “Wait, is Parker having
twins
?”

Travis’ face broke into a huge, proud grin. “Yep, two girls,” he answered as he spun the keyring on his finger. “But the third bedroom isn’t for the girls, it’s for Chan-rin,” he said as he slipped the keys into the pocket of his
haori
.

Nualla’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”

“Travis and Parker are kinda adopting Chan-rin,” I said, turning to her.

“Alex approved the paperwork yesterday,” Travis added as he swirled the cider around in his glass.

“Are you sure you’re going to be able to handle a house full of girls?” Nualla asked dubiously.

“How hard could it be,” he answered with a shrug before downing the rest of his glass of cider.

Nualla gave him the most oh-you-are-so-fucked look that I had ever seen her give him, and I burst out laughing. “Can I record you saying that to play back when you’re knee-deep in frilly dresses and ponies?” I asked, still laughing.

Travis rolled his eyes at me, and launched himself onto his feet. He returned a minute or so later with the wedding jug of
kekkoshi sadara
.

As he poured himself another full glass, Nualla asked, “So where are you moving, anyways?”

“Well there
was
this place on Pacific Avenue that was for sale,” Travis answered before leaning back in his chair, and putting the glass to his lips.

Nualla furrowed her brow in confusion. “The only place on Pacific Avenue that was for sale was the one next door to—”

He grinned mischievously at her over the rim of his glass.

“You bought the place next
door
?!” Nualla asked incredulously.

“Yep. Looks like me and Parker are your new neighbors.”

Nualla just gaped at him in disbelief. “You are unbelievable,” she said, shaking her head.

Travis’ lips quirked up to the side. “I promise we’ll try to keep it down when we’re—” he cut off abruptly, and sat up very straight.

I looked over my shoulder where Kiskei had apparently just come up to stand right behind us.

“While I appreciate your desire to single-handedly replenish the ranks, I think it would be best to wait a bit, don’t you?” he asked Travis as he folded his arms across his chest. Clearly highly amused at how nervous he made his new son-in-law.

Travis coughed, his face flushing unbelievably red. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

I burst out laughing, and Kiskei’s grin quirked up even farther to one side.

Travis ran his hand back through his hair, and avoided looking at any of us. “Uh…so…did you need anything?”

“No, but Mrs. Centrina would like to dance with you,” Kiskei answered.

Travis’ eyes darted back to Kiskei, his brow furrowing. “Mrs. Cen—?
Oh
!” He looked out at the dance floor where Parker was standing, her hands clasped behind her back waiting for him.

“You better go dance with your wife before you’re too drunk to stand,” Nualla suggested as she reached across the table and took his glass from him.

“Right,” he agreed as he stood, and walked quickly to join Parker out on the dance floor. When he reached her, he put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her, his fingers sliding down her sides as he did.

Nualla leaned her head against me, the beads of her crown brushing against my
haori
. “He looks happy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look this happy.”

“Yeah,” I agreed with a smile.

Travis pulled away from Parker just enough that he could lean down, and slid his hands to either side of her belly. He said something to it as Parker looked down at him with an adoring smile, and then both their heads jerked back suddenly. The two of them looked at each other for a moment before their lips both spread into huge grins.

“Yep, one of those girls is
definitely
going to grow up to be an Amurai,” I commented with a snort.

“My money’s on both,” Nualla agreed, and we both started to laugh.

Just as the music was starting to switch to a slow song, Kiskei raised his glass and called out loudly, “A toast to the new Mr. and Mrs. Centrina.”

I looked out over the banquet hall of raised glasses. At Loraly and Alex. At Skye and Nikk and Kira and Nikki and Shawn.
This
was my family.
This
was where I truly belonged. The fight wasn’t over—not by a long shot—but for tonight, I was happy just to be alive.

I raised my glass of
kekkoshi sadara
to toast along with the others. “From the stars we are born, and to the stars we must, one day, return.”

The End…for now.

The daemons will return in The Warriors of Kalo.

Nothing Is Ever What It Seems

Patrick, Travis, and Nualla’s story might may be done for now, but the adventure is far from over! More secrets, super-tech, and danger are in store for the daemons of Karalia in the exciting new serialized series
The Warriors of Kalo
coming in 2016.

Be Awesome!

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The Other Side of Truth
, please
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