Three to Fall (Saint View Slayers vs. Sinners #3)

Epilogue

GRAYSON

H elium balloons on strings bounced around in the warm summer breeze. Families sat shoulder to shoulder on white chairs, some spilling over and forced to stand on the grass at the sides. Cheers filled the air as each graduate walked across the stage, proudly wearing their caps and gowns.

“Here she comes!” I whisper-shouted to Hayden beside me.

He put two fingers into his mouth and wolf whistled loudly. “Yeah, Hayley Jade!”

She glanced up at his shout, waved her little hand excitedly, then practically ran across the stage to the school principal, who was handing out their kindergarten graduation certificates.

“This is so over-the-top but so fucking cute,” Hawk muttered from the other side of Kara. He pushed up onto his feet when Hayley Jade shook hands with the principal. “That’s our girl! Yeah!”

Everyone turned to stare at him, but we all quickly joined in, hooting and hollering and making fools of ourselves.

Hayley Jade’s laughter was infectious as she waved her certificate at us and yelled, “I got my award. Can we go to McDonald’s now?”

The crowd all chuckled to themselves, but the four of us grinned like lunatics. The sound of her voice never got old, even when she was chattering a million miles a minute and nobody else could get a word in. She’d spent months more than making up for all the time she hadn’t uttered a sound.

We all sat down, and Hayden reached across me to squeeze Kara’s leg. “Are we going to have to bribe you with McDonald’s when it’s your turn to get up on that stage?”

She shook her head. “Not me. I can’t wait. Might have to bribe Hawk though.”

He screwed his face up. “I’m not wearing a fucking gown and having everyone stare and clap at me. Plus, I have to actually pass the GED before I can even think about enrolling in anything more than that.”

I glanced at him while other people’s kids continued crossing the stage. “You’re not still worried about that? You’re going to pass. You studied so much. You both did.”

Hayden leaned back on his chair and crossed his arms. “Pretty sure you both studied so much even I could pass it now, just through secondhand osmosis.” He paused. “I think I learned that word in one of your study sessions, actually.”

Hawk didn’t seem convinced. “I’ve failed it before.”

I glanced at my watch. “Only an hour until they release the results and put you out of your misery.”

He nodded, but we could all see it was worrying him. An hour at McDonald’s watching Hayley Jade run around on a sugar high would probably do him good. At least it would distract him.

Half of Hayley Jade’s classmates’ families seemed to have had the same idea as us, multiple families all pulling into the restaurant at the same time. I ordered for the five of us while Hayley Jade ran off to the playground with her friends, and Kara chatted with one of the school mom’s she’d gotten to know. It was noisy and chaotic, but there was a celebratory vibe in the air I just knew we’d be continuing when we got home and Kara and Hawk’s results came out.

It took forever to get Hayley Jade to leave, and when we finally got back to the clubhouse, Hawk paused the van at the gates. Fang ducked his head, so he and Hawk were even heights, and passed over some mail for us to drive down. But his gaze was pretty firmly on Hawk.

“You get your results yet?”

Hawk’s huff of nervous impatience was all he got in reply.

Kara answered as she took the mail from Hawk’s fingers. “Don’t mind him. They’ve just released so we’re driving down now to get our laptops. He’s nervous.”

Fang hit the button on the gates that set them to open. “You’ve got it this time, Hawk. Quit stressing yourself into an early grave. And if you don’t—”

Hawk shot him a look that could have killed.

Fang chuckled. “Right. Never mind. Good luck, Kara.”

She smiled at him, taking this whole thing a whole lot better than Hawk was. “Thank you.”

I sat back on my phone, scrolling through it while Hawk steered the car down the driveway, past the blackened trees and shrubs that were still trying to regenerate after everything that had happened with Ice.

He parked the van, Hayley Jade skipping off inside to show her graduation certificate to all the guys. But Hawk didn’t move to follow her, like he normally would have. He paced the parking lot, his hands on the back of his head.

“I can’t do it. I’ve failed. I just know it. I’m too fucking dumb for this shit. What made me think I could do this?” He glared at me. “You! You made me think I could. Fucking hell, Gray. You seriously suck. You know that, right?”

I laughed at him, which only made him madder. “I didn’t make you do anything. I just encouraged you to have another go at something that’s important to you. And you can do it.”

Hawk wasn’t done spiraling. “You don’t know that!”

“Actually, I do.” I flashed my phone screen at him. “You passed. I looked your results up because I knew you’d be dramatic about it.”

He gaped at me. “Seriously? Let me see that.” He grabbed my phone, studying the screen and then staring back up at us with huge eyes. “That’s my name! I fucking passed!”

He grabbed Kara, kissing her hard, and then planted one on Hayden as well.

I grinned at him. “Gonna kiss me too?”

“Not a chance.”

I sniggered. “Manly handshake?”

He shrugged. “How about a hug as a thank you for all your help? I know I only passed because of you.”

To my surprise, his tone was sincere, and when he pulled me in for a hug, it was genuine.

“Thanks, Gray. I mean it. For everything. Not just this.”

I swallowed hard, surprisingly emotional. But I was actually really fucking proud of him. None of his success had anything to do with me. He’d earned every mark himself and he was going to be a kick-ass paramedic one day.

Just like Kara was going to be an amazing nurse. I grinned at her over his shoulder. “You passed too, by the way. You’ll be able to enroll in your nursing program as soon as you’re ready.”

Hayden whooped and picked her up, spinning her around, while she groaned about him squishing the baby.

He put her down pretty quick, giving her bump a loving rub. “Sorry, little man. But your mom is pretty awesome.”

“So are his dads.” She smiled at all of us. “What should we do to celebrate? Anything but McDonald’s. I’m so full.”

Hayden leaned down to kiss her neck. “I have some ideas. Most of them involve multiple orgasms as a way of rewarding you for all your hard work.”

You couldn’t wipe the smile off Hawk’s face. He ran his hands down Kara’s back ’til he got to her ass, then kissed Hayden over her shoulder. “I had some similar thoughts of my own.”

Kara looked at me hopefully. “Might be one of our last chances before this baby comes along.”

I leaned in and kissed her sweet mouth. “Sperm is supposed to be good for softening the cervix and bringing on labor.”

Hawk’s eyes lit up, as they always did when we talked medicine. “I read about that! It contains a high level of prostaglandin.”

Kara nodded. “Nipple stimulation is supposed to help too.”

Chaos screwed up his face. “It was sexy until it wasn’t. You guys are seriously ruining this for me.”

Kara led him toward the clubhouse. “Let’s go inside and I’ll tell you all about how when the cervix dilates you can—”

A phone ringing cut her off. It took everyone staring in my direction to realize it was my other phone, the one only my murderous little band of psychopaths used.

But instead of the usual blocked number, it was a video call.

I frowned at it, my heart rate picking up at the change in routine.

“Everything okay?” Kara asked softly.

I forced a smile at her, not wanting to worry her when she was this close to giving birth. “I’m sure it’s fine. Just one of the guys probably thinking about going on a murder spree and needing to be talked off the ledge.”

Nobody laughed. Not even me. “Yeah. Okay. Not funny. I’m going to take this.”

They all nodded, understanding now this was a responsibility I took seriously, both as a doctor and as a friend and brother. These men needed me to keep them on the straight and narrow. Or as much of one as there could be when I was endorsing them killing people. Keeping it to those who truly deserved it was the only way I could sleep at night.

I waited until my family had gone inside and the heavy front door of the club had swung closed behind them. Then I answered the call.

“Grayson!” Scythe’s face filled the screen.

I blinked in confusion. “Scythe? How do you have this number? What’s going on? Are you okay?”

“Aw! It’s so nice of you to ask. Men don’t do that enough these days, do they? We really should ask each other that more.”

A crashing thumping noise came from somewhere behind him, and then X’s howl of pain.

I widened my eyes. “Was that X?” My stomach sank. “Scythe, are you hurting him? I know he’s insanely annoying—”

“Am not!” X shouted from somewhere off-screen.

I blinked, shaking my head and heading toward my car, grateful I’d left the keys in it and didn’t need to waste time going inside to get them. “And childish, but if he’s pissed you off enough for you to hurt him, then let’s just talk about—”

Scythe winced at another crash in the background.

X howled again. “She’s trying to kill me, Gray! Help!”

I stopped mid-stride. “She?”

Scythe flipped the phone around.

I peered at the screen and then gaped at the woman throwing kitchen utensils in X’s direction while he shielded himself with a fat, hardcover cook book.

Scythe turned the phone back on himself and grinned sheepishly at me. “Some mistakes might have been made tonight.”

I sighed, shaking my head as I got into my car. “Send me your location. I’m on my way.”

“Will do.”

“Scythe?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you try to keep the woman alive long enough for me to get there?”

“Why are you throwing eggs at me?” X yelled in the background. “We could make omelets with those!”

Scythe sniggered, sitting back in a chair like he was eating popcorn at a movie. “I’m not sure it’s her you need to worry about.”

THE END.