Houston struggled some more, grunting and seething, but Titus’s iron grip around the bend in his knees didn’t leave him much room to wiggle.
“But then how did Dex get in?” Wanda asked as, ever the mom, she dabbed at George’s scratches with some spit and a tissue.
“He teleported,” Dex said with a tired voice. “I guess I sort of bypassed it.”
Suddenly, Nina leaned down and grabbed Houston by the hair, yanking his head upward, making him struggle. “So you’re the fuck that hurt my Wings? I oughta eat your innards, but I’m here to tell you, you spineless freak, come for her? Look for me. Got that, you piece of shit? I’ll kill you and I’ll like it.” Then she flashed her fangs at him, and this time, no one stopped her.
Houston recoiled, only making Titus tighten his grip. “Okay, Gorgeous George, I’d love to stay and chat about what a brave little lady you are, but I hafta split because, well, dirty demon needs disposing. Catch you all later?” he asked, swatting at Houston, who’d begun to try and twist his way out of Titus’s grip.
George stood on tiptoe to press a kiss to Titus’s cheek. “Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“You bet, newb. See you later.” He winked before he was gone.
“Where the fuck did you go, Dex? We couldn’t find you, and then we couldn’t get past this force field or whatever the fuck it was. I think I dislocated my damn shoulder trying to bust my way in,” Nina groused. “What the hell were you thinking, coming down here alone?”
His smile was grim but relieved. “I was thinking George sounded scared and the sooner I got in here, the less scared she might be? I’m sorry I didn’t warn you, but it was sort of an emergency.”
Nina flicked her fingers in his face. “Shut the fuck up, Angel. And you,” she said, pointing to George. “What the hell were you thinking by leaving us all that fucking money? Didn’t I tell you I don’t need your GD money?”
She wrapped her arms around the vampire’s waist and hugged her. “You couldn’t use a zillion dollars, Tower of Terror? Who couldn’t use a zillion dollars?”
Nina tugged her hair. “That’s not what I want to know. I want to know why you’d even think you needed to leave it anywhere?”
“You scared us, George,” Wanda said, hugging her from behind.
“Yeah. You scared us,” Marty echoed, hugging Wanda’s back so they were one big paranormal sandwich.
Darnell mushed himself up against Marty, wrapping his long arms around them all. “I was scared, too. Glad you’re okay.”
George smiled, closing her eyes and allowing their warmth to seep into her bones. “How did you find out about the money?”
“Your phone. You dropped it at Effie’s. We saw the texts,” Dex said softly.
“I didn’t do it because I knew my nutso father was going to kidnap me. I did it because I’d been planning on doing it for a little while. I knew you’d put it to good use. I was planning ahead on the off chance I’m not so immortal after all. Effie gave me a lot to think about. I was just getting my ducks in a row.”
“Well, don’t do that shit again, Wings. You got that?” Nina smiled down at her, despite her harsh order, and tweaked her cheek.
She grinned at her new friend. “I won’t do that shit again. Swear it, Vampire Lady.”
“Good. Now all of you, get the fuck off me. Enough of this huggy bullshit.”
She laughed as everyone dispersed, blowing a kiss to her favorite vampire of all time before they each began filing upstairs, leaving Dex and George.
Dex grabbed her hand. “So what do you say we get the hell out of here, too?”
“I say, yes, please.”
“Then let’s do it.” He pulled her toward the stairs, his warm hand wrapped around hers.
But she tugged his hand, reminding Dex of something very important. “Hey, you offered up your life to save me. Are you insane?”
“You did the same thing. Are you insane?”
George laughed. “Point for you.”
He leaned down and kissed her lips. “Let’s get out of here.”
“And go where, now that you don’t have to babysit me anymore?”
He shrugged with a carefree smile. “I dunno, but I say we talk about it and see where it goes.”
His words made her toes curl in her shoes. Rather than give him an answer, she kissed him again before pulling him up the stairs and into the possibilities that awaited them.
They were sitting on a cloud. A cloud. “Where are we?” she breathed, leaning against Dex’s strong body, secure in the knowledge that he’d promised she wouldn’t fall off.
He smiled at her, her favorite thing about him. “Look down,” he instructed.
As the fluffy whipped clouds parted, she did exactly that, seeing a gorgeous beach with white sand and turquoise water lapping at the shoreline.
“Ohhh, it’s beautiful! Is that a part of upstairs?” She still hadn’t been upstairs, but she couldn’t wait to go.
Dex chuckled, dropping a kiss on her lips that left her breathless. “No. If you can believe it, it’s even more beautiful up there. But forget that for now and look.”
He pointed at a colorful lounge chair in blue and white at the edge of the water, where the setting sun cast shadows on the ocean.
As she peered downward, she noted someone was sitting in the chair, their toes in the sand. It was clearly a woman indicated by the huge sunhat she wore, but George couldn’t see her face. “I don’t understand.”
Squeezing her hand, Dex shifted position and said softly, “Just wait.”
From the far end of the long stretch of sandy beach, a man and an older woman dressed in shorts with bare feet, walked arm and arm, smiling and laughing. They stopped where
