“I haven"t been to the beach in years,” he said.

A simple wish for a complex man. Running her knuckles along his strong jaw, she gazed at his beloved face. “We can do that. We couldn"t be with you during daylight, but . . .” He shook his head. “I always thought the beach was pretty at night.” Looking at her, he added softly, “Now it"ll be flat-out beautiful.”

Anwyn lifted a brow. “Having Daegan there won"t make it beautiful?” Gideon raised an eyebrow, glanced at the vampire. “Sometimes you have to take the ugly-assed weeds with the flowers.”

The tackle was expected, even though she shrieked and had to use her vampire speed to get out of the way.

“In the weapons room,” she commanded loudly, waving her arms at them. Gideon countered Daegan"s attack with a few lithe moves that quickly became quite an impressive display, seeing as he was wearing no clothes, and Daegan was wearing very little. Then he landed a sharp elbow in Daegan"s jugular that had her wincing. Gideon bolted for the weapons room, the vampire in close pursuit.

Taking another leisurely sip of her wine, she trailed after them. In the doorway, she folded her arms and watched them hit the mats, a light smile on her face, bright joy in her heart, contentment settled in every pore.

No woman in her right mind could underappreciate what she was watching now, the two men she was certain would become more irrevocably lodged in her soul every day, just as she would in theirs. She knew it not only because she was in their minds, but because she was in their hearts, every double beat met with a resounding one of her own.

She had Daegan, Gideon and the world of Atlantis. Tragedy had taken her down roads to wondrous places never imagined. Those places didn"t replace or make up for the tragedy, but they underscored that there was sweet mystery to life she"d never dismiss or underappreciate, whatever shadows or gremlins she met.

Gideon and Daegan would help her make sure of it.

Epilogue

THE ocean waters glittered in moonlight, the white curve of sand private and long, stretching into the night shadows. As he drew the smell of clean saltwater into his lungs, Gideon realized not only had he not smelled the ocean in a long time; he hadn"t really breathed deep and easy in a long time, either. It was amazing how emotional pain cramped one"s breathing, without even realizing it.

The night Anwyn had asked him about this, he"d also remembered why it was his favorite memory. Ironically, the last pain-free day of his life had been the day he"d lost his parents.

They"d been on a beach, he and Jacob, playing in the waves, making sand castles, running along the shoreline, wrestling.

Because Anwyn knew his heart so well, he didn"t know why it surprised him now to look up the beach and see three figures—two adults, one carrying a child—joining Anwyn and Daegan. He"d left them relaxed on a blanket, next to the picnic basket of food for him and good wine for them.

Though instinct had him briefly tensing, scenting for danger, a part of him already knew who it was. A man with his own stride and set to his shoulders separated from them and came down the beach.

He"d talked to Jacob a few times by phone these past couple of months. Some of it had been hard, covering ground that should have been covered years ago, but he"d done it. Jacob had wanted to come see him then, but Gideon had put him off. It had been too difficult to explain that he had to wait until he was allowed to wear clothes. There were some things he was not going to share with his brother, though he expected Jacob knew all too well what vampires were capable of doing to their servants in the name of that inexplicable ownership he now embraced like a bizarre but vital gift.

“Hey, Gid.” Jacob greeted him, as if it was nothing unusual for him to show up on a beach miles from his home.

“Hey.” Gideon studied him as his brother came to a halt. Slightly leaner than Gideon, with their mother"s reddish brown hair, they nevertheless shared those midnight blue eyes. And without rancor, he admitted Jacob had always been prettier. Anwyn and Daegan didn"t seem to mind the rugged cut of his face, though, the scars he carried. Jesus, he had changed, if he cared about something like that.

With a slight smile, as if reading his thoughts, Jacob moved in, took him easily in a hug. It was awkward at first; then Gideon let it go, banded his arms around his little brother, held him tight. It was okay; his face couldn"t be seen. He sensed the vampire in his brother, the strength restrained, and yet Jacob conveyed in his embrace the love he"d always bore for him, that Gideon had kept at bay for far too long.

When Jacob drew back, he had a wider grin on his face, though a suspicious brightness to his eye as well.

“Don"t go all Irish on me,” Gideon warned. “We haven"t even started drinking.”

“You either.” Jacob reached out with a casual thumb and startled Gideon by taking a track of moisture off his own cheek.

“Yeah, well, hanging around a woman will do that to you. Makes you soft.”

“I wouldn"t know.” Jacob wryly glanced up the beach, toward Lyssa and their son. His slender, dark-haired mate had Kane on her hip, but even the maternal picture didn"t take the regal set from her shoulders or dim the aura of power that both intuitive brothers could sense.

Gideon chuckled.

“Well, women who don"t happen to be thousand-year-old vampire queens. It"s good to see her. You treating my nephew good?”

“He"s running us ragged. In a moment or two, she"ll put him down and you"ll get to see how much fun it is to keep track of a toddler who can already move at a gazelle"s speed. Kane thinks it funny when you"re trying to catch him. I"ve suggested hobbles on his ankles until he"s ten.”

“Good thing you became a vamp, then.”

“Yeah.” Jacob studied him. “So I met Daegan.”

“Yeah.” Gideon looked out at the ocean uncomfortably. “They"re kind of a package deal.

They do good together, but they seem to need me. I keep them a little bit more human.” Jacob"s mouth quirked. “So you"re the sensitive one?”

“Knew you"d pick up on that and laugh about it.” Gideon snorted. “Lesser miracles have been known to happen, you know.”

“Not many. They seem good for you, Gideon. Both of them.”

Gideon turned back to his brother"s shrewd blue eyes. “They are. It"s . . . not what I expected. Guess I wasn"t sure what you"d think. I mean, I know you"ve been part of this world, but some part of me is still who we were, you know. Before we knew about any of this. Couple of middle-class kids in a pretty traditional world.”

“Yeah. That part of me was shocked.” Jacob gave him an easy grin, though. “But I think the rest of me accepts it pretty well.” He sobered then, put his hand on his brother"s shoulder, fingers curling against Gideon"s neck in deep affection. “They"ve given you peace, Gideon.

It"s all over you. Whatever they did, I accept them, and what they are to you, into my heart without question. Be easy on that, in every way.”

“Okay.” Gideon cleared his throat. “Same goes. In case I haven"t said it the way I should. I get it now, Jacob. I really do. I"m sorry I didn"t for so long.” Jacob shrugged a shoulder. “Well, I"m not surprised. Your head has always been dense as a rock.”

“Yeah? You know, I hear vampires sink in water. You keep shooting off your mouth, you"re going to find out what it"s like to be a big paper-weight.”

Jacob laughed, but then Gideon was on him, grabbing him around the midsection and taking them both into the waves with a resounding splash that had him spluttering. Jacob recovered fast, though, flipping over to exact retribution. He didn"t use any more of the vampire powers than Gideon had third-mark strength, but then even the techniques of the two trained warriors melted away, the years melting with them. They were wrestling as they had as boys, holding each other under, twisting free, splashing and shouting, laughing.

When they stopped at last, flopping on the warm sand under the moonlight, they stared up into the sky. Those disappearing years had closed in on other memories, such that Gideon felt the ache in his chest. “We"re far away from the dreams we had as kids, aren"t we?” Regret for things lost passed through him, even as he accepted what he"d gained.

“I don"t think so.” Jacob watched a shooting star cross the sky, a smile playing on his mouth. “I think we start with a boy"s dreams, like pitching for the major leagues or being an astronaut, and then we get a man"s dreams. Those are about being worthy, being loved, being content and happy. When you"re a kid, if things are the way they should be, you already have that. When you grow up, no matter what else we think we"re seeking, that"s the heart of all of it. I think we found that, didn"t we?”

As usual his poetic brother had taken it, put it into the right words. They were both cognizant of the vampires nearby, loving them enough to give them this time together.

No, not vampires. Family.

As they looked back up the beach, toward Kane and Lyssa, Daegan and Anwyn, Gideon felt the force of a thousand poems, written by a thousand different poets, fill him. In that moment, he knew any words of his would honor the truth as much as those flowery sonnets.

“I think we did at that.”