“I was born a Circ, raised to know my path. I was destined to find you all, to ensure a new future for our kind. Someday another woman will take my place, one who'll live for a very long time and do wondrous things for humanity.”
Tersch frowned. “So how old are you?”
“Gunnar,” Ava chided.
Alicia held up her hand. “A legitimate question. Not terribly polite, but since it's Gunnar asking, I'll tell you. I'm Ava's great-great-grandmother. I'm well over a hundred years old.”
Everyone sat in astonishment.
“No shit.” Jules whistled.
Morgan grinned. “The family has good genes. You're lucky to have me, kitsu,” he said to Hayashi.
“The Circs are meant to better mankind. Though you've been created by science, science had help.” Alicia smiled at them all. “Years ago I met an extraordinary young man. Elliot Pearl was his name, and he had a head for science.
We discussed gene splicing, recombinant DNA, and a variety of other things. But I hadn't realized how much our talk had meant until I ran into him years later.”
“You're telling us you gave Elliot Pearl the idea for the Circe serum? The drug that made the first Circ?” Sheridan asked, agog.
“Well, not the first Circ, dear. The first manmade Circ, yes.” London added, “As well as a sample of her blood. Pearl was a genius, but even he wouldn't have discovered how to manage things without Alicia's blood as an example. Might have taken decades longer to come up with the Circe serum.” Tersch couldn't believe it. “You made us?”
“In a fashion. You see, Ava has a destiny she's just coming into. You and she will give birth to my successor. I needed a strong replacement. One with your strength of character and Ava's talents. She'll need the right guidance, and I fully trust in all of you to give birth to the next generation of Circs. Sheridan's baby will be a real treasure, as will Olivia's child. And Kisho and Morgan don't know it yet, but they'll raise my great-great-great-granddaughter with Gunnar and Ava as if the child were their own. You're all very important to the future at large, you know.”
Tersch tried to understand. “You're telling me you set us up so I'd make a baby with Ava?” The woman didn't make any sense.
“Of course not. I'm not a glorified matchmaker.” Her sly grin took Tersch's breath away. Damn, she had set him up. “But I will admit I picked the right woman for Jesse. I knew Kisho and Morgan would suit. And Sheridan had my help when it came to getting her a job here, to be closer to Julian. I hesitate to take credit for it all, as that sounds conceited even to my ears. You can't force love.”
“But you can give it a helping hand,” Ava added. She winked at Tersch and gripped his hand tighter.
“But the experiments, Pearson Labs, the mutants…” Jules scowled.
“Now, now. I only put in play what was meant to be, Jules,” Alicia said softly.
“I don't countenance forcing choices, only making them. No one coerced any of you into the Circ project. You volunteered because you wanted to make a difference. And you have.”
She paused. “I see some things very clearly, yet others remain clouded from my mind's eye. I do the best I can, guided by my ancestors and the spirit world as I see it. Much of your travail to become who you are now was closed to me. But even if I could go back and change it, I don't know if I would. Your troubles and successes have made you who you are today.”
Tersch thought about what his life had been and what it was now. He had friends. He had family. He looked at the petite brown hand clasped in his.
He had Ava.
Tersch cleared his throat. “Now that Mrs. Matchmaker has had her say, I have something to add.”
“Here we go,” Morgan muttered.
“Gunnar.” Ava flushed. “Do you have to make fun?”
“Shush, Ava. Let him.” Alicia's eyes sparkled. The blasted woman knew he was about to make a fool of himself, and of course, she encouraged it.
Jules smiled. “Man, you are so purple.” Meaning Tersch's aura was violet, the color of love.
“Shut up.” He stood. He wiped his hands on his jeans, wishing he'd thought to do this in private. But he wanted everyone to know how much Ava meant to him.
He turned to his mate and took the small box from his pocket, pleased when her eyes narrowed on the box, then widened. “I've loved Ava from the moment I first saw her. Those big hazel eyes, that beautiful face, that rockin' body.”
“Amen,” Fallon murmured and had Olivia socking him in the gut with her elbow.
“Shh.”
Tersch watched his mate's eyes soften and tear up. Her great big green eyes.
The woman was a sucker for romance. Something he'd keep in mind. Encouraged, he opened the box and held it to her. “You've made my life complete, Ava. I love you more than life itself.” He glanced at Kisho, who mouthed his next line. Thank God they had a poet in residence. “Without you, I'm less than nothing. But with you, I'm right. Will you marry me?”
Ava wiped her eyes. “You were supposed to say, 'But with you, I'm right where I need to be.' Then the 'will you marry me' part.” The woman must have seen his crib sheet. Shit.
“Well? Yes or no, woman?” he growled.
She smiled, her expression so brilliant, it was like looking into the sun. “I love you right back, you big Viking berserker. And I'm pregnant, so you have to marry me. Now tell me again you love me and put this ring on.” Everyone cheered. Champagne corks suddenly burst, and laughter abounded.
Tersch had eyes only for his mate. “Baby?” he croaked.
“Yeah. I think she's going to be a handful.” Ava put his hand on her stomach.
“God, I love you. And before you say a thing, I won our little game.”
“Oh?” She stretched out her finger for the full-carat marquise diamond he put on her finger. A perfect fit.
“Yeah. Knocked up and engaged, and I didn't even have to beg.” She gave him a mock frown, which she ruined when she smiled. “We aren't married yet.” She tugged him closer and whispered, “And until I see a little man-on-man action, I'm not using the cuffs.”
He blushed; he could feel it. Especially when Morgan smiled at him from across the table with a sly look. He whispered back, “Ava. Come on, baby. Not him.”
“Four on one. That includes him. And then maybe I'll consider some girl-on-girl.”
“Really?” Hope filled him. Hope for the future, for his new family, and for the happiness he could feel filling him, his beast, and his crazy berserker.
“Girl-on-girl porn, that is.” She snickered and fell into his arms.
And Frederik Gunnar Tersch conceded. Ava had won her little game. And by God, he'd play with her for the rest of their blessed lives.
