400 Horsepower of the Apocalypse
Epilogue
There were no hills in Crayhill, but we found the closest thing that we could. We parked at the top of a small rise outside my tiny hometown. Leo and I leaned against the side of the Packmaster together and the motorcycle purred beneath us like a happy tiger. The bike still didn’t like me very much, but it seemed content with Leo’s mastery.
Call me biased, but I was pretty sure Leo was a better boss than Death. At least, the Packmaster hadn’t burned through the new clutch plates yet.
I pointed to a green-brown rectangle in the distance.
“Over there is my parents’ place,” I said. “The lawn, at least. You can’t see the house very well from this angle. Or the back porch… Dad grows roses out there for my mom.”
Uriel sifted through my mind for the memory of roses and I smelled their sweet scent. I smiled and resolved to stop at the next roadside stand to let them experience the real thing.
“That’s my middle name, you know,” I said. “Rose.”
“Jasmine Rose…?” Leo asked. “That’s a beautiful name. Your parents really like flowers.”
“Flowers and motorcycles. That was pretty much their whole courtship.”
“Sounds nice,” Leo said. “Maybe we should try it.”
“I think we did just fine.”
Leo wrapped his arms around me and looked over my shoulder. He kissed the side of my neck and I reached up to run my fingers through his hair. There were a few strands of white in the mahogany waves that hadn’t been there when Leo first drove into Crayhill.
“Diane sent me the confirmation numbers last night,” I said, patting my pocket and the new cell phone tucked away inside. “My mom and dad have all the money they’ll ever need. They could even leave Crayhill, if they wanted to.”
“Think they will?” Leo asked.
“I doubt it,” I answered. “But that’s okay. Crayhill isn’t such a bad little town.”
It was strange to say. It was stranger to feel. I had spent my entire life trying to escape Crayhill… But Crayhill was never the problem. I was.
A wind that smelled like sun-warmed grass blew through my hair. You can never go home again, though. That’s the saying and I know it’s meant to be metaphorical, but this was as close to Crayhill as I ever planned to be. Leo and I were finally free to see the whole world and I was eager to get started.
“Diane texted me last night, too,” Leo said.
“Really? Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.
“You were taking a shower. And when you came out, then we were… busy.”
I laughed. He had a point. Even now, Leo remained reluctant to sleep at night. He still had dreams, nightmares where Death seized control and called the other horsemen to the battle that would destroy everything. But Leo didn’t need military-grade stimulants or drugs anymore. He had something more powerful — something to hold on to. Leo was the one in charge and nothing in the universe could make him hurt me.
I still heard Uriel’s voice, too, but not often. The angel gave me a few words of encouragement when the road became rough or uncertain. But mostly, Uriel just watched and learned about the world they had helped to create.
“Did Diane close your police records like she promised to?” I asked.
Leo nodded. “As far as the federal government is concerned, Leopold Valdis is dead. As long as we steer clear of Chicago for a while, no one should be looking for me.”
“I want to visit Chicago, but I guess we can wait a few years,” I said. “Maybe we’ll hit Johannesburg or Mumbai first. Do you think this guy can get us across the ocean?”
I reached back to pat the gleaming red and black curve of the Packmaster’s gas tank. The engine revved eagerly. Flying was fine, but riding double was even better. And nothing could move faster than a horseman on his steed.
“I’m not sure, but we’ll find out,” Leo said.
“What about your friends?” I asked. “The rest of the Chicago Knights of Hell?”
“Texas Highway Patrol picked up their bodies, but Diane had SPOT claim them and give my friends each a proper burial. I gave her the contact information for their families, too. They’ll all be taken care of.”
“That’s it, then,” I said.
“That’s it,” Leo agreed. “It’s time to go.”
Our lives were our own now, and all of the world’s roads. Leo kissed me under the warm Kansas sun, then swung a leg over the waiting Packmaster. I climbed on behind Leo and wrapped my arms around him. He kicked the motorcycle into gear and we drove away.
Next stop — anywhere.
