for Anderson’s betrayal, we wouldn’t have had to fight that big battle on our own. And I doubt they would downplay their own part in things so much.
I saw what they didn’t, and they were blindsided. And they’re rewarding me for that without openly admitting that they were caught with their pants down.
Makes me feel a little… well, Ryland’s eyes flash, and I see him glance at me out of the corner of his eyes. He can sense my pride in myself.
Huh. I can’t even remember the last time I was proud of myself. But here we are. And it feels pretty good, actually.
The angels all look at each other, seeming a little baffled. “If you’re sure?”
I nod. “Yes. Thank you. But I’m sure. I’d like to stay fallen, if that’s all right.”
“That is perfectly all right.” The angel who reminds me of a grandmother smiles at me. “So it shall be.”
She bangs her gavel.
And so it is.
Epilogue
Trinity
It’s taken us a few weeks to find a house that suits us all as a group.
As a family.
Nix’s fortress isn’t right for all of us, and neither is Beck’s penthouse apartment. Nobody even wants to think about whatever crazy place Ford was living in, Ryland’s apartment is, and I quote, “soulless.” Remi’s words, not mine. And Remi, by his own admission, has an apartment that’s too small for all of us.
So we get a house instead.
Everyone sets to work making it their own. I’m still adjusting a bit to living in New York City. It’s crazy. But I have my men with me to help me navigate it, the seven of them united the way they used to be. It’s so good to see them actually working together. Of course, there are moments when they clash—they wouldn’t be the men I fell in love with if they weren’t opinionated and stubborn—but it always works itself out.
I can feel the love between all of them again, where before it was so disjointed. It fills me with warmth.
Slowly but surely, the men get back to the things that were interrupted by my sudden appearance in their lives, and I’m making a life in New York for the first time. Before all of this started, I just worked at whatever job I could get; I didn’t really care about it. The only kind of life I had was through books and my favorite TV shows. I didn’t even have anyone to talk to about the stories and pop culture that I loved so much.
Now, I have people in my life. I have Nix to talk to about TV and books. I have Sawyer, who likes to take me out on proper dates, spoiling me rotten with romantic gestures… before tearing my clothes off. I have Remi, who wants me to try new dishes that he’s experimenting with. And I don’t have to be any particular kind of person, or work at any particular kind of job. I can figure out who I want to be, and that suits me just fine.
Beck, Remi, and Ryland are all going back to their jobs, of course. They like working. It feeds their particular sin and they get a sense of accomplishment from it. And they certainly make enough money between the three of them to take care of the rest of us. Nix has no intention of working. Ford still fights in the underground ring because he’d get bored otherwise. I think Sawyer and Knight are still figuring out what they want to do, just like I am. But it’ll only be a matter of time.
“Where’d you go?” Nix asks when I enter the house one afternoon with Knight trailing behind me.
“You’d have been so bored,” I tell him. “We checked out another museum.”
I’m having fun exploring the city. Knight usually accompanies me, absorbing it all with me. Sometimes Sawyer or Ford will come as well, depending on what it is I’m doing.
Nix groans and flops back onto the couch, fluffing a pillow under his head. “Ugh. You’re right about that. But I missed you.”
“I was only gone for a day.” I chuckle. “Ryland’s been gone longer than I have.”
He and Beckett work the longest hours, and I think we all miss them sometimes. But we make up for it when they get back home.
Nix grumbles something into his pillow and I grin, ruffling his hair as I walk by him. Remington’s already in the kitchen, cooking up something for dinner. I wave hello but don’t get too