Chapter 75- The Peace We Bled For

Chapter 75- The Peace We Bled For
Chapter 75 – The Peace We Bled For

Aerius giggled wildly as Jet swooped down and snatched a ribbon from Terra’s hand. The boy let out a loud squeal and chased after the bat with his tiny arms flailing through the garden path. The sun poured golden light across the Manor grounds, stretching the shadows of the trees where wild roses had started blooming again.

“Jet!” Terra called. “Give it back!”

The bat circled once, taunting him playfully, then fluttered toward Emilia’s shoulder where he perched smugly, ribbon still clutched between his teeth.

“You’re supposed to be my familiar,” Emilia teased, plucking the ribbon from Jet’s mouth with a laugh. “Not theirs.”

Jet flapped his wings in protest and chittered before launching back toward the children, who shrieked with joy and ran after him again.

On a woven mat under the old bloodwood tree, Calista sat between Seraphine’s legs, reading a book as her older sister parted and sectioned her thick dark hair. Seraphine’s touch was gentle, deliberate, and for once her expression was free of tension. The sharpness had melted away, replaced by the calm of someone who had finally laid her sword down.

“You missed a knot,” Calista said with mock seriousness.

“I will throw you into the river,” Seraphine threatened in her usual dry tone, but her eyes softened when Calista leaned her head back against her thigh with a satisfied sigh.

“I’ll miss this,” Calista murmured.

“This is your home now,” Seraphine replied without hesitation. “You’re not leaving.”

Calista didn’t argue. She simply reached up and squeezed her sister’s hand.

A few meters away, Emilia sat on a stone bench, swaying gently with Aerius balanced on her hip. The toddler had fallen asleep briefly but was now rubbing his eyes and peering toward the trees with curiosity. The soft clinks of a leather harness and muffled footfalls grew louder. Emilia turned her head just in time to see Luca and Cyrus emerge from the woods, each with a deer slung over their shoulders.

The smell of blood hit the air immediately, earthy and warm, but no one flinched. The forest provided. The forest had always been their ally.

Cyrus’s shirt was half unbuttoned and stained, his hair tousled and lips curled in a satisfied grin. Luca’s face was damp with sweat, but his eyes scanned the garden until they landed on Emilia. He smiled, slow and soft, the kind of smile that only she knew.

“There’s my boy,” Luca said, stepping closer.

Aerius squealed with delight, suddenly awake and wriggled in his mother’s arms. Emilia let him down gently and he waddled toward Luca with his chubby arms reaching forward. Luca dropped the deer onto the grass and scooped his son up easily, hoisting him high in the air before settling him against his chest.

Then, without warning, Aerius leaned forward and stuck out his little tongue, dragging it across the drying blood streaked down Luca’s shoulder from the deer carcass.

Emilia blinked. “Aerius!”

“What?” Luca asked, holding the giggling boy back. “He takes after his mother.”

Cyrus burst into laughter, almost dropping his own kill. “I told you he was born wild.”

Terra ran up next and launched himself at Cyrus’s leg. “Did you get the heart?”

“I got both,” he said, crouching down and whispering in her ear like it was a secret. “You can help me roast them later, little witch.”

Calista, still seated with her hair halfway braided, looked up and arched a brow. “So you’re bribing him now?”

“Of course,” Cyrus said, lifting Terra into his arms without breaking a sweat. “He’s the only one around here who listens to me.”

Luca bent low to kiss Calista on the cheek, and then, just as she turned slightly, he caught her mouth in a slow, lingering kiss. She smiled against his lips and swatted his chest.

“Blood and deer,” she muttered. “You taste like both.”

“Perfect blend,” Luca murmured, then shifted to tickle Terra with his free hand. The young vampire laughed so hard he almost fell off Cyrus’s shoulder.

The garden glowed in the late afternoon light, every corner alive with peace.

Vivienne walked past with a basket of dried herbs and paused beside Emilia. “You did it,” she said gently. “You truly did it.”

Emilia’s fingers tightened around the edge of the bench. “We did it.”

Vivienne’s gaze moved toward the bat still spinning lazy loops above the children. “Jet was restless last night.”

“He always is giddy with excitement when something ominous ends,” Emilia replied. “And something has ended.”

Vivienne nodded once, then walked away, her basket swinging at her side.

Cyrus joined Luca on the grass with their wives after dropping the deers inside. They leaned back on their elbows, watching the children tumble through the grass. Aerius threw himself onto Terra and both of them laughed as Jet flapped above them like a restless shadow.

“Remember when I thought you would never survive the first year here?” Cyrus said to Emilia.

“I remember,” Emilia said, her voice quiet but full of pride. “I had just woken up from being half-dead. I was fighting for my life whole in sjckness and even when I had become conscious but you were always there. In truth and in blood. To guide and to protect me”

She grabbed his hand and entwined her fingers around his.

Emilia looked around. Her gaze passed over Seraphine sitting at a distance, her body bent over Calista’s half-braided hair. She looked at Luca, the Aloha of the Valois and Cyrus, her first teacher, he looked like he had finally stopped running from his own demons. She looked at their children. At Jet, her little black sentinel still loyal to the end.

“Now we all we have to do is breathe,” Emilia said simply. “And let them grow up wild and free.”

Jet landed beside her and nuzzled her leg. She reached down and stroked his head gently.

“We will give them a world we never had,” Luca added.

“And we will guard it- with our lives and with every pint of our blood” Emilia finished.

Above them, the sun dipped behind the trees.

There was no storm coming and there was no danger lurking beyond the horizon.

Only peace.

Emilia stood and walked over to Luca. He reached for her, slipping an arm around her waist and pulling her close. Aerius yawned loudly on his shoulder and nuzzled his head into Luca’s neck.

Emilia kissed her son’s temple. “We’re safe, my love ” she whispered.

Seraphine and Calista crossed the garden slowly, joining them without a word. They stood together enjoying each other's presence.

As family.

THE END