Blood Forever (24 page)

It’s a busy job, running a coven, and there are plenty of times, I admit, when Magnus and I collapse, exhausted at the end of the night, with no energy to do anything but sleep. But we always make an effort to take time for romance…to enjoy life with one another one-on-one. And our relationship is all the better because of it.

As for my sister, it doesn’t take long for her to persuade Jareth to turn her into a vampire. Though not an official slayer, she continues to serve as an ambassador between the vampires and Slayer Inc., along with her friend Spider. Spider becomes the one who takes care of the werewolf cheerleaders and the evil vampires wanting to take over the world, while Rayne helps Mom and Dad defuse the threat of Apple Blossom and his fairy cohorts before our grandmother is slain. Because of this, Mom doesn’t have to become fairy queen and can remain on earth and Dad can stay alive with Heather, Stormy, and Crystal. Rayne makes sure Mom still meets David, though, and, sure enough, the two of them fall in love all over again. In fact, they’re planning a June wedding and have promised that Rayne and I can be bridesmaids!

In addition to her ambassador work, Rayne has also started a vampire boarding school. After her own experiences, she’s realized that vampire trainees need more than a three-month course to really understand what they’re getting into when they choose immortal life. So now those who want to become vampires must attend a four-year university before they’re allowed to be presented with blood mates. Our half-sister, Stormy, is so excited about the new school, she’s been begging her mom to let her become one of its first students.

Oh and best of all? Hades showed up to Magnus’s swearing-in after party, along with Race Jameson, who ended up becoming his court musician after we left him behind. Turns out, Hades was so pleased by all the new vampire souls the zombies had provided him when taking out Pyrus’s guards that he decided to
trigger the bonus clause in Rayne’s back-in-time contract: merging Jareth’s and Magnus’s current memories with those from the first time around. Now, just like Rayne and me, the boys remember both this reality and the one we effectively erased. When Jareth realized all Rayne had to go through to make his stubborn past self fall in love with her all over again, he asked her to marry him, right then and there.

So yeah, it’s hard to believe, but in the end, everything has turned out for the best. Better than we could have ever imagined. And each morning, as the sun rises over the cemetery and I curl up with Magnus in our special room deep down underground in the Blood Coven crypt, I thank my lucky stars that there was a time when I dared leave normal, everyday life behind…to take a chance with a boy that bites.