Epilogue - Part One

*  *  *

EPILOGUE

*  *  *

It was the perfect day for a funeral in Harbor Village, but then again, so was every other day. A cold wind picked up the leaves, whipping them about the grave beds and head stones. September had finally arrived, and a deep chill along with it, reminding Addy that death always seemed to come with the cold. Her grandfather had died on a cold day, and so had her aunt.

“This happened right beneath our noses,” Adelle said, standing beside Ethan as they looked down together at the freshly buried grave. There had been a service here not long ago, but the other funeral-goers had since come and gone, deterred from staying longer by grief and the rain.

“We just weren’t ready. We weren’t focused enough.” Ethan said, stooping to finally lay his flowers at the grave. “And she died because of it.”

“I just wish we could have done something, been there for her….” Addy looked away, fighting back tears. “She was a bitch, but I actually really liked her. It was part of her charm…”

“Hey, if anyone’s gonna takes the blame for this, it’s me.” I said, finally stepping forward. “I should have given the sacrifices more attention, but I was too worried about my own problems. And now she’s dead. But things will change after today. We’re gonna make this right.”

Claire Briton, thirty-one, and mother of two, had been found slaughtered in her home by her own kids, tortured to death and missing her heart. It was a grisly, devastating, but not completely shocking event for the town, and it had certainly come with other costs. Leadership members had held several emergency meetings since, and dozens of parlays with the Garou. I was up to my ears in Red Bull and concealer to hide the stress and lack of sleep.

Claire had been murdered just one day before the family had officially planned to leave for Hasting – the moving truck had even been in the driveway. But somehow, The Order’s wrath had officially spilled onto Harbor soil, and just that couldn’t be ignored by anyone any longer.

“I’ve made sure that Claire’s kids are taken care of,” I assured, touching the white, marble stone that I had selected for Claire’s burial. “They won’t even have to worry about college… They’re already on their way to Hasting to be with their grandmother. She’ll take care of them.”