“I won’t lie to you.”
And just like that it was over. I turned around and walked down the stairs, out of the building and all the way back to our makeshift house.
He did not come after me.
Arabella stepped out of the doorway and saw my face. “What happened?”
“He’s leaving.”
“What? He can’t leave! You fed him the pepper! You joked. You were happy!” She spun toward the fire station. “I’ll make him stay. I’ll bring him back here . . .”
I held up my hand. “No. I don’t want anyone to force him. It’s for the best.”
“Catalina!”
“It’s for the best,” I repeated, my voice wooden.
She hugged me and we walked into the house together.
Epilogue
He sat on the roof and watched her through the window. She was trying to cook with a hot plate and utensils she’d salvaged from her ruined kitchen. That was just like her. Instead of buying a new pan and knife set, she had dug in the rubble and fished them out. They meant something to her. She never left things she cared about behind. Or people, no matter what it cost her.
The look on her face when he said he was leaving nearly broke him. He thought of walking away from it right then and there. He’d almost kissed her, but if he had, he couldn’t have torn himself away. But he didn’t leave things unfinished and he’d sunk too much of his life into this hunt to abandon it now.
A soft chime sounded in his headset.
“Go ahead,” he murmured in Italian.
“I looked through the files you got from Diatheke,” a familiar feminine voice said. “You’re right. He was last seen in Montreal.”
“Then Montreal it is.”
“Did you get to see her?”
“I did.”
In the window she was chopping vegetables. He wondered if it was one of those hell peppers.
“And? Was she everything you expected?”
“She was nothing like I expected. You’d love her.”
“You could stay with her. I know you want to.”
“It’s not about what I want.”
She huffed into the headset. “You’ve done enough. Eventually, it has to be about what you want. Otherwise, what’s the point?”
Right now he didn’t need the extra doubt. “Did the wire clear?”
“Of course, it did. I can’t do this for too much longer. I can’t sleep at night. I have nightmares, I wake up thinking you died. You are my only brother. Walk away, Alessandro. Please.”
“I will after I kill him.”
He pushed the button on the headset and ended the call before she said anything else.
The ticket was already booked. He looked one last time at his angel and jumped off the roof.
About the Author
ILONA ANDREWS is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team. Ilona is a native-born Russian and Gordon is a former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army. Contrary to popular belief, Gordon was never an intelligence officer with a license to kill, and Ilona was never the mysterious Russian spy who seduced him. They met in college, in English Composition 101, where Ilona got a better grade. (Gordon is still sore about that.) They have co-authored two New York Times and USA Today bestselling series—the urban fantasy of Kate Daniels and the romantic urban fantasy of The Edge—and are working on the next volumes for both. They live in Texas with their two children and many dogs and cats.
ilona-andrews.com
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By Ilona Andrews
Burn for Me
White Hot
Wildfire
Diamond Fire (novella)
Sapphire Flames
Magic Triumphs
Magic Binds
Magic Gifts (novella)
Magic Breaks
Magic Rises
Magic Slays
Magic Bleeds
Magic Strikes
Magic Burns
Magic Bites
On the Edge
Bayou Moon
Fate’s Edge
Steel’s Edge