The Blood of the Soul

Epilogue

A/N: Sorry that this one took a while, guys. I think I avoided writing it for a while because I wasn't quite ready for this to be over (tbh, I'm still not), but I did my best to tie up all the loose ends... which means this is long. Like, 13k if you include the smutty scene long. So please pace yourselves, and without further ado, enjoy!

12 Years After the Battle of NYC

Theo

"My name is Liam Dunbar, and this is the story of how I died. But don't worry, this is actually a fun story, and the truth is, it isn't even mine. This is the story of a vampire named Theo—" Theo plopped into the seat beside him. "Liam, baby, I can't read this at your funeral."

"Why not?"

"A multitude of reasons comes to mind, the first of which is that this makes you the swashbuckling hero and me the damsel in distress."

"And?"

Theo pinched the bridge of his nose. "And, as much as I love you, I'm not sure that the comparison holds."

Liam bit his slice of pizza. "Of course it does. You were the lonely vampire who'd never even dared to leave the big city. Full of hatred and dripping with sarcasm, and I swooped in to save you from your evil step-father Doug the Dreadful."

Theo sighed, hating that there were more similarities than he'd originally thought, but he'd never, ever be caught more dead than he already was saying that aloud.

"Okay fine, but it still doesn't work because who would Maximus be?"

"Me, obviously," Mia said as she swooped in and stole a slice of pizza directly from Liam's plate despite the multitude of open boxes on the counter. "But Theo has a point, it needs some workshopping."

"Whose side are you on?" Liam grumbled.

"Yours, of course, brother dearest." Mia stooped to plant a kiss to his cheek while she aimed a discreet wink in Theo direction. "When is this happening tomorrow?"

"We'll head up to the cabin around ten," Liam said. After a lot of discussion, they'd opted not to renovate the now outdated cabin his father had left behind and instead preserve it as a slice of Liam's past.

"Actually, the summer camp wants us there by ten," Theo interjected, "so we should leave here around eight."

Liam sighed. "Then we'll leave around eight. Do you want to hitch a ride with us?"

"As much as I adore the idea of being in a car with tiny children for two hours, I have class until noon, so I'll just ride up with Spike," Mia said. "Speaking of, where is my favorite ancient vamp?"

"Probably prepping his apartment." Theo must not have hidden the stiffness in his tone very well because Mia's gaze lingered on him for an extra beat.

Theo quickly smiled, schooling his features, but Mia had already draped an arm over his shoulders from behind him, resting her head against his.

"They'll be fine, Theo," Mia said. "Willow and Giles and Spike and I will make sure of that."

Theo reached up and squeezed her arm, keeping her close. Even though she still had her own room at their house and popped by almost every day, Mia often opted to sleep in the little studio apartment over the Magic Box that she and Willow had opened last year. As soon as Mia graduated, she'd take over for Willow in teaching young gifted children not to be afraid of their magic. Not to be afraid of being different.