Epilogue
They drove in silence for a few hours, finally stopping at a hotel a few cities away. The roads held little traffic at this time of night, and if anyone outside Raven’s Peak knew what had happened, they didn’t let on. It seemed too quiet.
Haatim felt exhausted in ways he’d never even imagined but also euphoric and vindicated beyond his wildest dreams. They had won; or at least, had survived. Though the town lay destroyed, and countless dangerous demons got released into the world, Abigail lived, and Arthur had come back.
Abigail lay asleep on his shoulder, but when they parked to go up to their hotel rooms, he tapped her to wake her. She yawned, looking up at him blearily, and he smiled.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey.”
He helped her out of the car, and then walked her up to her room, helping her inside. She kicked off her shoes and collapsed onto the bed, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
When he made his way back to the vehicle, he found only Frieda there. She smiled at him, and then shook her head. “Passed out?”
“As soon as she laid down.”
“I can’t believe …” Frieda shook her head. “I can’t believe it’s over.”
“Not quite,” Haatim said. “What about Mitchell?”
She sobered, frowning. “We’ll have to deal with it.”
“If we can find him. No doubt, he’ll have gone into hiding.”
“We will find him,” Frieda said. “You can count on that.”
“Where did Dominick go?”
“I sent him to get clothes. For Arthur and Abigail.”
Haatim laughed. “We didn’t exactly pack thinking we’d win.”
Frieda smiled. “No. We didn’t.”
Dominick returned about an hour later with a ridiculous amount of clothing. Frieda took it and put it in Abigail’s and Arthur’s rooms for when they awoke, and then the three of them went to the hotel dining hall and sat down to eat. Haatim wanted to shower and get cleaned up, but right now, he felt starved. He ordered two of their largest meals, including sides, and then ate all of it.
Frieda and Dominick watched him with something akin to surprise.
“What?” he asked.
“Hungry?” Dominick said.
Haatim looked down at the empty plates with a bit of embarrassment. “Yeah, maybe a little.”
By the time they’d done eating, Abigail and Arthur had woken, changed their clothes, and showered, and now came down to join them. Abigail took a seat next to Haatim, smiling. She had brushed her hair and cleaned up, and he couldn’t help but stare.
“What?” she asked. “Do I have something on my face?”
When she brushed at her cheek, he shook his head quickly. “No,” he said. “You just … you look beautiful.”
Abigail blushed and looked at the menu, smiling ever so slightly.
Arthur leaned down before taking his seat and kissed Frieda full on the lips. That drew surprised looks from Dominick and Abigail, followed by a round of laughter. When they parted, Frieda sat there, breathless.
“I’ve wanted to do that for years,” he said. “To hell with the Council.”
Dominick cleared his throat. “About that.”
Arthur frowned. “What?”
Dominick opened his mouth, and then shrugged instead. “It can wait.”
They ordered their food, and everyone sat in silence, just savoring the moment and glad to be alive. Once Abigail and Arthur had finished, they headed outside and into the night air to talk away from the crowds.
They explained to Arthur what had happened since he’d gone, and about the loss of the Council and Church. Some of it shocked him, but certain parts didn’t seem to surprise him as much.
Dominick asked him about his time spent in Surgat’s hell, but he brushed the topic aside. Clearly, he didn’t feel ready to talk about that, so they dropped the issue. Whatever had happened there, Haatim knew, it had been horrible.
“What happens now?” Haatim asked, finally. “What do we do next?”
They all glanced at each other. Arthur remained extremely quiet, lost in his thoughts and barely seemed to pay attention.
“I don’t know,” Frieda said. “You should leave, though.”
“What?”
“The Church won’t stop hunting us. All of us, but not you. Father Paladina assured me that you would stay safe as long as you cut all contact with us, but they won’t stop coming after the rest of us until we all die.”
“Because of me,” Abigail said.
“Because of all of this,” Frieda said. “Not just you.”
“But, if I did die,” Abigail said. “Then the Church wouldn’t have any further reason to come after you.”
“We don’t know that,” Frieda said. “What we do know is that if Haatim leaves, he can stay safe and escape from all this violence.”
Haatim stood in silence for a few seconds, all eyes on him. He let the information sink in. This gave him what he’d wanted: a chance to get out of this life and away from the people who’d lied and hurt him. Ever since he’d met Abigail, his life had gone on a wild roller-coaster ride of violence and loss.
This offered his chance just to walk away like he’d planned earlier when entering Raven’s Peak. He had accomplished what he’d set out to do, and Abigail had come back safe. Yes, he could leave now, never look back, and pick up his life where it left off in Arizona.
Except, he realized, that wasn’t his life. Had never been his life. He had just gone through the motions, wandering in a daze. Abigail hadn’t disrupted his life when she rescued him from the cult but woken him. No, he had nothing to go back to.
His life waited right here.
“No,” he said. “I won’t go anywhere.”
“Haatim, you should seriously—”
“After everything we’ve gone through, after everything that happened to us, I’m staying. I can make decisions about things, and I choose this. Whatever the hell just happened back there in Raven’s Peak, we let a lot of evil into the world.”
“The demons,” Frieda said, smiling.
“Thousands,” Dominick said. “Most just left and remain out there somewhere.”
Haatim said, “And it will fall to us to stop them and send those creatures back to wherever they came from. The way I see it, we’re still Hunters.”
They all stared at him.
Then Dominick burst out laughing. “Couldn’t have said it better myself,” he said. “Count me in.”
“Me too,” Arthur said. “We made the decisions that led to this, and the responsibility lies with us to help set things right.”
“So, what, then? The Council has gone,” Frieda said. “Our allies disavowed us. We have no more obligation or necessity to live that life.”
“Then, we make a new one,” Haatim said. “We start over. Maybe, we can convince the Church to stop hunting for us, maybe not. Either way, we have a job to do, and we can’t sit around patting ourselves on the back. Our job starts now.”
Everyone turned to look at Frieda, who hesitated, and then raised her hands. “All right, then. I’ll make some calls.”
They spent the rest of the night talking and reminiscing. One by one, they all headed up to their hotel rooms to sleep until only Haatim and Abigail remained. They sat at the picnic table in silence, enjoying the night air and each other’s company.
She looked distant, thoughtful. Haatim watched her, wishing he knew what went through her head. Generally, she seemed a quiet person, keeping to herself. Haatim had thought he’d broken through her barriers, but each time he took one down, another went up in its place.
“I love you,” he said.
She blinked, coming back to reality, and looked over at him. Then she opened her mouth, but he held up his hand to stop her.
“You don’t need to say anything,” he said. “You don’t need to tell me it back or say a single word, and it will never change no matter how you feel about me.”
A moment passed. “Then, why tell me?”
“Because you’re leaving,” he said.
Surprise flashed across her face, quickly replaced by sadness. Finally, she nodded. “How did you know?”
“Because I know you just as much as I love you. I can’t stop you, and nor would I want to. I won’t ask you to stay because it wouldn’t be fair to you.”
“I feel … different,” Abigail said. “In the town, I …”
“You stopped me from falling in midair,” Haatim said. “How?”
“I don’t know.” Abigail shook her head. “No one else saw it happen, but you all saw when I …”
“… made the demons explode?” Haatim smiled.
“Yeah, but I can’t explain it. I forced Surgat down and beat him, but something feels different.”
“You took control. You won.”
“Maybe,” she said. “But it changed me.”
“How so?”
“I don’t know. That’s what I need to find out. I need to find out for myself, or things will never go back to normal.”
Haatim nodded. “I understand.”
Abigail breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.” She rose from her seat. “I should leave now before the others wake. You’ll tell them for me?”
“Of course,” he said. “You will come back?”
She nodded. “I will. This isn’t goodbye forever. Only goodbye for now.”
Haatim thought about that. “You promise?”
“With all my heart. I will return to you.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” he said. “Don’t make me wait too long, or I’ll come looking for you.”
Abigail smiled. “I know you will.”
Then she stepped in close and kissed him on the corner of his mouth.
His heart skipped a beat, and he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He focused on the way she felt, the smell of her skin, and the taste of her lips.
When they pulled apart, her eyes glowed that same golden color he’d seen in the car.
A flash, and then they returned to normal.
“Goodbye, Haatim.”
Then, she turned and walked away from him.
“Goodbye,” Haatim said.
Every fiber in his being wanted to go after her, to keep her here. But he didn’t. At that moment, he knew that he loved her in a way he would never love another human being no matter how long he lived. And because he loved her, he would let her go.
He just prayed that she would come back.
