Fang came up behind her and offered her a cup of tea. "Are you all right?"
How could she really answer that?
She looked around at the damage that they had yet to repair. In one night, their lives had all been forever altered. One night that would leave a lasting scar on all of them.
But out of the pain was hope. And like the mythical phoenix, Sanctuary would rise out of the ashes and be every bit as strong as it had been before.
They might never again regain their limani license, but that was all right. That would allow them to pick and choose who they helped and it would give Remi and Dev the freedom to break ass over anyone who crossed the line.
"Yeah, I think I am." She smiled at Fang before he went to help Dev and Xedrix move some of the lumber around.
The bar should be opened again in a couple of weeks. Everything would be back to normal except for two things.
There would be no more Mama and Papa Bear Peltier. That pain burned inside her.
But her brothers had come together and named her and Fang as the new owners of the bar. They would be the two faces that would carry on the legacy her parents had started, especially now that Fang was no longer wanted for what the demons had done. Stu had made sure of that.
For better or worse, Sanctuary would be here. And everyone would be welcomed here equally, so long as they maintained the one law.
Come in peace or leave in pieces.
"Hey?"
She turned at the sound of the unfamiliar voice coming in from the outside door. "Yes?"
A tall blond man stood in the bright sunlight as he skimmed the construction. "When are you opening back up?"
Quinn came down from the ladder. "On the fourth of next month."
"Cool. See you then."
It wasn't until he'd left that they all realized something.
That man had been a Daimon.
And he'd just walked out into daylight.
"Oh, shit," Dev breathed. "You guys think the Dark-Hunters know?"
Fang shook his head. "No, and I think the Dark-Hunters are about to get seriously owned."
Two weeks later
Fang lay in bed, completely naked, with Aimee snuggled up beside him. Gods, she felt so good there. . . .
He loved the way she looked when her skin was glowing in the morning light, her hair mussed and her lips swollen from his kisses. There was nothing better.
"Are you ever going to claim me?" she whispered as she traced circles over the muscles of his abdomen.
"I think that's entirely up to you, my lady." In their world, mating was a decision solely up to the woman. A man couldn't force a woman to accept him no matter what.
And if she failed to accept him within three weeks, he was left impotent . . .
So long as she lived.
Aimee lifted herself up to stare down at him. "You haven't mentioned it, so I was beginning to worry."
She was worried? He was the one facing the next few centuries as a poster child for Viagra failure. "I didn't want to rush you. You've been through a lot." And she'd been so sad since her parents' deaths that he hadn't wanted to be a prick by reminding her.