93: All Hail The King

**Six Month Later**

The shop is lively with new and old customers. Gretchen’s reading clients are now fully in my hands as she’s doing what she’s always wanted to do, heal. Her specialty has made us mainstream and business is expanding. Monty is still here by a thin little string. We’re waiting for the day it breaks and she leaves us.

Caleb has taken a break from me, from being friends, from being us. He’s fully stepped into second in command to the Midnight Harrows. Marcus guides his every move and the only time any of us hear from him anymore is when the alpha wants updates.

The day goes by as any other. I see my clients, help customers and leave with goodbyes and promises of tomorrow. As I step out onto the sidewalk, a shadow steps out from the alleyway.

“Busy again, I see.” There’s a wide toothy smile on his face as he extends his arm for me to take, which I do.

I wrap my arm around his and let him guide us further downtown. We don’t go to my apartment that has gone empty months ago, we walk the streets admiring the people that still have free will and lives to enjoy before going back to the manor.

We arrive at the manor to three vampires waiting for him in the entryway. “Again.” I mutter. It’s the third time this week. He leaves almost as soon as we arrive.

“I have a meeting at Rapid Pulse with some vampires from two states over.” Gabriel reluctantly admits as he nuzzles his face in the crook of my neck ignoring the leering eyes from the lingering vampires. “I promise I won’t be gone long. Business to tie up that Phillip had conducted.”

“Do you need your witch present?” I ask even though I don’t want to go, but my presence has had past meetings go a little better than expected. The two of us resemble the future of equal, mixed cooperation between the demizen communities. Not a falsified, forced upon relationship like before, but a real one.

It’s taken some work fixing the terror and power hungry ambitions that Phillip had spread. It hasn’t been fun nor easy. A few scrimmages broke out between a couple of vampire groups. Those people didn’t make it out alive, but Gabriel didn’t come back without a few scrapes and gashes.

“Not this time.” His hand grazes my cheek, “I’ll see you when I get back.” his lips meet mine. “Promise,” he says on an exhaled breath.

These past several months have been tough and only have gotten tolerable when I accepted that I needed Gabriel. He says that he admitted everything he did, everything that happened and why he did what he did. And I believe him. Each occasion and even that he described, I felt it, but not the illusion of what it would feel like, but the ache of something that has already happened.

He went after Phillip for me and those that I care about. War was coming and The Void was following soon after. If anyone survived Phillip’s wraith, they would surely parish when the darkness would engulf everything.

It took several days after that long ago Sunday for Gabriel to come back to me. Loose ends to tie up and loyal Phillip vampires to banish. He had to start remaking the structure of his ruling. Once it was over he wanted nothing more than my forgiveness. He was ready to face rejection and settle for a professional relationship, a mutual understanding and business partnership between vampires and witches, but I ended up giving him much more.

He’s rarely left my side since. Except tonight. He leaves with his select few vampire confidants, but one of them turns back to face me. “He’ll be fine,” He says.

“I’ll hold you to that.” I retort. And I’ll hold it against you if he doesn’t, I say to myself. But he knows, they all know that if Gabriel doesn’t come back, there will be hell to pay.

They all hail the new King of Vampires and they know to respect the queen.

***HELLO FOOL ME ONCE READERS! WE HAVE REACHED THE END OF HAZEL'S AND GABRIEL'S STORY. THANK YOU TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU THAT STAYED TO THE END. I KNOW I TORTURED YOU ALL WITH SLOW UPDATES, BUT I HOPE THE STORYLINE KEPT YOU ENTERTAINED. THERE MAY BE BONUS CHAPTERS IN THE FURTURE, BUT AS OF RIGHT NOW THIS IS IT. STAY IN TOUCH AND ALWAYS KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR NEW STORIES THAT ARE BOUND TO COME. FIND ME ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM (KLNovitzkeAuthor).***