i found elyssa talking to stacey and ryland. meghan had already patched him up, used the vaccine made from my blood to counter the hellhound bites all over his body. stacey held him like she would never leave his side. i couldn't blame her.

elyssa looked from stacey to me. "justin, my father spoke to me. he told me you two made peace."

an uneasy peace, to be sure. i didn't want to get my hopes up, but for now decided to be thankful for the small victories. "yeah. i don't think he's exactly happy about it."

she threw herself into my arms and kissed me like tomorrow would never come. i staggered back a few steps before catching my balance and kissed her right back. "i love you," she said. "i love you, i love you, i love you."

"someone's getting kind of gooey," i said with a grin. "don't think i'm letting you get away with your becky-poo stunt, though."

"i couldn't resist." she threw back her head and laughed. nightliss really must have removed the burden of loss from her.

"and you remember everything?"

"i think so. i'll have to watch my video again to make sure i'm not missing anything."

and then it was time to test the waters. gently. "i'm so sorry about your brother."

her eyes softened and a tear trickled down her cheek. "i can't believe he's gone. i remember now how he helped dad. how both of them forced me to take the white."

"why didn't they just use a templar sorcerer to wipe out your memories?"

her gaze lifted from the far-off place it had wandered and met mine. "you're the perfect example why. sorcerers can blur memories, but not wipe them out. and sometimes they come back." she took her arms from around my neck, lacing her fingers through mine. "daelissa's method is almost perfect. and she's mind-wiped every templar for each trial they've taken. now i know why nobody ever remembers what happens."

"what does your father plan to do since he knows daelissa is the divinity?"

she shrugged. "he didn't say. i mean, how do you deal with finding out your entire organization is powered by a fallen angel with bad intentions?"

"i don't understand why she'd form an organization like the templars only to destroy it. why keep up the farce?"

"before daelissa wiped my mind, she told me the templars started as her own personal guard. i suspect she also used them for a steady food source."

"food?" shock filled my voice.

"she drained some kind of white energy from me. but a smoky shadowy substance came with it and it really freaked her out."

nightliss hadn't mentioned her kind were leeches and my earlier sympathy for her turned a notch back towards distrust. how could we trust any entity so powerful? "it looks like there won't be any more human templars for a while, unless for some reason, daelissa continues to indoctrinate them."

"why would she?"

i shrugged. "the woman seems unstable. maybe she wants to go back to basics and recreate her personal guard."

"she is bat-poo crazy," elyssa said. "feeding seems to fix her insanity for a while, but she's really unstable. you have no idea." elyssa shuddered.

"the last thing we need is an insane angel running amok on this planet."

"we'll be here to help," ryland said in a gruff voice.

"after i've nursed you to health, wolfykins." stacey pecked him on the nose.

ryland looked mortified. "uh, yeah."

shelton pulled up in a van and honked the horn. "all aboard."

"you came prepared," i said.

he sighed. "with you around, i have to be."

stacey helped ryland inside. meghan and adam piled in the third row seat. i looked for my father and kassallandra, but saw no sign of them. bella, curtis, and alejandro got in after i motioned them over. fausta and beck had apparently gone with the other templars. i looked around and saw nobody else i was responsible for in the now-empty parking lot. and so i hopped in the second-row seat next to elyssa.

bella climbed took shotgun. she looked back at stacey and gave her a smile. "your heart has healed, old friend?"

a tear brimmed in stacey's eye as she met the dhampyr's gaze. "full and whole. it's good to see you again."

"wait, when do i get to hear how you guys know each other?" i asked, curiosity driving away some of my exhaustion. i couldn't imagine how the british felycan and presumably colombian arcane could possibly have a history.

stacey grinned. "i think he's a bit young."

bella grinned back. "far too young to hear that story."

"wait, i'm eighteen! i can legally buy porn if i want." i looked back and forth.

"don't worry, dear. i'll tell you soon. for now, i'm much too tired to go into it." bella turned back toward the front.

i decided to be patient, but it was damned hard. stacey and bella seemed like oil and water. or maybe bella used to be really bad, and corrupted stacey. the possibilities were endless.

curtis, situated on elyssa's left, leaned wearily against the window. "i can't wait to go home," he said in a quiet voice. "i need to tell pokito's family. tell them how brave he was."

"he will be missed," bella said.

shelton pulled out of the parking lot and turned right.

"where to?" i asked.

he glanced back at me. "hotel shelton. a different one since maximus's vamps overran the last."

"and then?"

he grinned. "the future."

elyssa squeezed my hand. i squeezed back three times.

"what does that mean?" she said.

i leaned into her ear and whispered, "i love you."

"we're resorting to secret code now?"

"in a crowded van, yes."

she smiled and returned the three squeezes, punctuating each one with a kiss on my cheek.

the road behind had been rough. treacherous. deadly. i still had a long list of things to do, but i'd taken a huge step forward. today elyssa, tomorrow ivy. together, we would save the world or die trying.