'Mary. She named me after the Virgin Mary.'
Rhage's breath caught. And then he laughed softly.
'What's so funny?'
His eyes were a bright, shining teal blue. 'Just that V… well, Vishous is never wrong. Oh, Mary, my beautiful virgin, will you let me love you for as long as I live? And when I go unto the Fade, will you come with me?'
'Yes.' She stroked his cheek. 'But does it bother you that I can't have your children?'
'Not in the slightest. I have you, that's all that matters.'
'You know,' she murmured, 'there's always adoption. Do vampires ever adopt?'
'Just ask Tohrment and Wellsie. I can already tell they think of John as their own.' Rhage smiled. 'You want a baby, I'll get you one. And you know, I might be okay as a dad.'
'I think you'll be more than okay.'
When she bent down to kiss him, he stopped her. 'Ah, there's just one other thing.'
'What?'
'Well, we're stuck with the beast. I kind of bargained with the Scribe Virgin—'
Mary pulled back. 'You bargained?'
'I had to do something to save you.'
She stared at him, stunned, and then closed her eyes. He had set the wheels in motion; he had saved her.
'Mary, I had to trade something—'
She kissed him hard. 'Oh, God, I love you,' she breathed.
'Even if it means you're going to have to live with the beast? Because the curse is perpetual now. Set in stone. Forever.'
'I told you, that's fine with me.' She smiled. 'I mean, come on. He's kind of cute, in a Godzilla sort of way. And I'll look at it as a two-for-one kind of deal.'
Rhage's eyes flashed white as he rolled her over and put his mouth on the side of her neck.
'I'm glad you like him,' he murmured, his hands tugging up her shirt. 'Because the two of us are yours. For as long as you'll have us.'
'That would be eternally,' she said as she let herself go.
And reveled in all the love.
