major in genetics with a focus on Variant studies. I’d spent so much time not knowing what I was, then struggling to understand what it meant. I wanted to contribute to the wider understanding of what the Light was and how it functioned.
With the Lighthunters rejoining society and all the other Vivids coming forward, several new areas of study would exist by the time I finished my degree.
Lighthunters were working closely with Bradford Hills Institute and other prestige organizations all over the world to help identify which claims of Vivids were legitimate. There were, so far, forty-eight confirmed Vivids. Forty-eight of us in the whole world. About two dozen were coming to Bradford Hills next week to get to know one another and do some experiments.
Lucian, Victor, and Tyler had retaken control of Melior Group within days of Davis’s death, but I still refused to continue our research sessions there. No one dared to make me stick to the contract.
Karen had died in the hospital a few days after the battle with Davis, and most of her research team had been disbanded while they investigated who knew of her treachery. Tyler’s ability helped enormously, especially now that Davis’s shield was dead and no longer protecting his people from being discovered. But it was a large organization, and things took time. Melior Group was doing a massive restructuring, and they let a lot of people go. Some were arrested and prosecuted, their transgressions going further than just disobeying orders.
Even so, I needed to not be surrounded by black-clad agents. I’d had enough of that. Further research and testing was happening in the well-equipped labs at Bradford Hills Institute with professors I knew and liked. They would be in charge of welcoming the Vivids and working with us all.
They were the ones I allowed to observe and gather as much information as possible the last time I glowed.
Zara was released from the hospital maybe a month after the altercation. Her injuries were extensive, and she’d have scars to rival Alec’s, but she survived. Considering all that was revealed about Davis and how deeply his manipulations went, coupled with the fact that she’d cooperated and provided information early on, no charges were pressed against her. She was free to leave the hospital.
I appreciated beyond measure how selflessly she’d acted to help us bring Davis down, but I wasn’t ready to forgive the way she’d betrayed me. I just had too much emotional baggage to wade through, and I wasn’t sure we could ever get back to how we were at the beginning. But to make it safe for others around her, to give Dana a break from having to stick by her side twenty-four seven, and as a gesture of gratitude, I took her ability.
We did it under the watchful eyes of Bradford’s professors, my guys all standing by to take the excess Light as soon as it was done.
We sat facing each other on the ground in the small research lab, legs crossed, and I took her hand. She smiled at me with a multitude of emotions in her face, but the one that seemed strongest was relief.
I pulled the Light out of her much more slowly than I had with Davis, careful not to take too much and kill her. She passed out anyway, collapsing onto her side as I dragged the last tendrils out of her. It weighed me down, the sheer force of that much Light making me grit my teeth as I glowed brightly.
But my guys were right there, ready to step in and take it all from me safely.
That was one thing I was sure of without a shadow of a doubt—they would always be there for me. They would always stand at my back, ready to support, defend, and love me in every way I needed, just as I would for them. We would lay down our lives for one another. After all the shit we’d been through, I knew there was nothing life could throw at us that we couldn’t survive.
My Bond was complete and unbreakable. In them, I had the family, the connection, I’d craved my entire life.
We turned the corner, driving slowly through the manicured grounds of the memorial park. The rest of my family had already arrived and were waiting for us on the grassy area near the parking lot.
Olivia and Henry were standing in the shade of a tree, talking with their children.