I smacked her in the face with my pillow. She returned the favor until I was gasping for breath and we were both laughing hysterically. The dogs lumbered off the bed with canine sighs. We laughed harder. I was flushed and exhausted by the time we collapsed, still giggling.

“I have another surprise for you,” Solange said, after glancing at the clock. “It’s in the back garden, where your mom grows all that mint.”

I sat up. “You left me a present out in the snow?”

“Yup. Go see.”

Bewildered, I stuffed my feet into moccasins and pulled a sweater over my flannel pajamas. I went out the back door instead of wriggling out of my window. I still hurt all over, covered in bruises, scratches, and aching muscles. And now my stomach was sore from all that laughing.

Standing in the snow, with his hands in his pockets, was Nicholas. His eyes were like starlight, his smile crooked and quiet. “You two kind of sounded like hyenas.”

I just launched myself at him. He wrapped his arms around me and let himself fall back into the snow, shielding me from the force of the landing.

“Hi,” I said, grinning.

“Hi,” he returned. “I missed you.”

And then words were just a useless exercise, a waste of two perfectly good mouths. His kiss was dangerous and slow, building heat through my body until the snow felt like it was melting around us. It was everything we’d been fighting for, necessary and silent.

Perfect.

Epilogue

Solange

December 21

Every year Lucy’s parents held a bonfire a few days before Christmas, on the winter solstice. It burned through the night, meant to encourage the sun to return after the longest night of the year. Once my mom started having babies who would one day turn into vampires, Lucy’s mom turned part of the celebration into a Longest Night party for us. She’d been trying to find the joy in the things we might find scary, to find the beauty in the night we’d eventually have to claim almost exclusively. Just as she was doing again tonight, with the biggest bonfire I’d ever seen. My entire family was here and so were Lucy’s friends from school. Bruno fell asleep on the couch after dinner and none of us had the heart to wake him.

We sat on the garden wall, swinging our feet over a pumpkin patch. Lucy handed me a bottle of something alarmingly frothy and pink. “What is that?” I asked dubiously.

“Some raspberry thing Aunt Hyacinth told my mom would be festive. Mom added healing herbs.” She wrinkled her nose. “Looks nasty.”

“You have no idea. Aunt Hyacinth’s been so domestic since the battle.”

“That never ends well,” Lucy sympathized. “Personally, I’m sticking to chocolate as my therapy.” She dipped her hand into the giant bag of macaroons in her lap. “That and the twice-weekly mandatory school counselor visits.” They were helping. Her heartbeat was back to normal, without that stress-induced rapidity.

“Do you still have to check in every two hours when you’re not home?” I asked her.

“Yes, not to mention I have to meditate with Mom every Sunday morning and show her some kind of artistic expression every week. But the counselor says if they’re still making me check in during the new term, she’ll recommend a psychologist for them too. So ha!” Lucy ate a few more macaroons. “The academy gave me a new tutor.”

“And?” I knew that look.

“I don’t like her.”

“Why not?”

“Mostly because she’s not Tyson,” she admitted, watching Isabeau and Logan throw sticks for the dogs to retrieve. “I miss him.”

“I miss London too,” I said. “Even though we didn’t even get along.” We looked out over the crowd of people around the fire, the light warm and cheerful on their faces. Warm apple cider and hot chocolate circulated in the new hand-thrown clay mugs I’d made for Lucy’s parents.

“Your mom’s right,” I said. “We needed this.”

Lucy tilted her head. “Are Jason and Sebastian flirting?”

I followed her gaze, my eyebrows easing into my hairline. “Even more shocking, is Sebastian actually being chatty?”

“I had no idea.” Lucy grinned. “Nathan’s going to be pissed, but they’re so cute.”

“We really are,” Quinn drawled, having only caught our last comment. Connor, standing next to him, rolled his eyes.

“How did you fit that big head of yours in the car on the drive over here?” Lucy teased.

“He had to stick it out the window like a dog,” Nicholas added with a smirk as he came up behind Lucy. He sat beside her as Quinn pretended to look insulted.

“It’s not my fault I’m so much prettier than the rest of you,” he said with mock sorrow. “It’s a burden. Now I’m going to be a hero and save my girlfriend.” Quinn winked at Lucy before drifting over to where Hunter and Chloe were politely listening to Lucy’s dad’s explanations of how an ancient stone monument in Ireland was built to align with the rising sun on the day of the winter solstice. Connor went to join Christabel under a blanket, letting her read some long rhyming poem to him. He didn’t seem to mind in the least.

“How’s Hunter?” I asked quietly as Lucy leaned against Nicholas.

“Better. Kieran drops by school every few days to hang out with her,” Lucy said. He’d be leaving soon for college in Scotland. I tried not to think about it. We had finally found each other again. Lucy frowned, fiddling with a macaroon but not eating it. “I still can’t believe you’re leaving,” she said, as if she’d read my mind.