Page 86 of Dangerous Command
He squeezed his grip around me. “No,” he said. “We make a great family.”
EPILOGUE
one year later
Derek
After establishing ourselves in Brackston, we used Muro’s explosives to blow up his old warehouses—to clear out the old and start fresh. Brackston welcomed us, relieved that the city’s monster was finally put to rest. And on the anniversary of Muro’s death day, we had a trip planned to go back to the Last Isle as a family. Theentirefamily. We had never taken a trip like this before.
“Forty percent chance of rain tomorrow,” Maddie said, shaking her head. She removed a windbreaker from the closet, then threw it on the bed. Mack folded the jacket into a messy square, then plopped it down into the giant suitcase, helping us pack. He looked small in the middle of the master bedroom, but one day, when I retired,if he wanted, it would be his room to use as he saw fit.
For now, he was a seven-year-old who could excel in school and play soccer to his heart’s content.
“Like actual rain, or like, the rain we get here, in Sage City?” Mack asked.
“Fair point,” I said.
“You saw how it was raining the last time we were there,” Maddie argued. “You weren’t there, Mack. We could barely see. It was unbelievable—the rain was so thick.”
“Like cats and dogs?” Mack cackled. “That’s such a weird phrase. Lucy used to say that a lot.” He glanced down at the comic book in his hand, a new one that I had gotten him earlier that week. “I miss her.”
“I do too, sweetheart,” Maddie said, putting her arms around him.
“Dinner’s ready,” Clara said, poking her head into the bedroom.
“Grandma!” Mack said, running into her arms. Lucy and my mother were from different worlds, but Mack had taken quite a liking to my mother. And with him in the house, Clara felt complete once again. She scooped Mack into a hug.
“Did you pack all of your comic books? Or just Booger Armageddon?” she asked.
“Well,” Mack said, turning toward me. “Dad got me this new series.”
Maddie crossed her arms at me. “Anotherone?”
One day, when Mack was ready, I would show him the family business. But for now, I wanted to encourage his own interests. To give him that choice.
“What?” I shrugged. “The kid likes to read.”
“I need your help,” Clara said, putting a serious hand on Mack’s shoulder. “Help me carry out the food.”
“I’m on it,” Mack said.
In the kitchen, all of us helped carry the dishes to a long, wooden table in the backyard, a new patio set I had purchased for family events like this. Even Ethan and Teagen were with us that night. They preferred to keep moving; they had grown accustomed to life on the road. But with Muro gone, they were able to visit us whenever they wanted to come back to Sage City. I made sure that the large guest bedroom was ready for them at all times.
“This is one big fucking family, huh?” Wil said, grabbing an ear of grilled corn from the platter. Wil turned to Ethan. “Did you realize you were getting yourself into this crazy shit?”
“I knew it’d be something,” Ethan said. Then he turned to Axe. “You’re coming on the trip too, right?”
Axe nodded. Demi piped in, “He has to work during the trip though. Establishing new territories. All of that stuff.”
“But you can enjoy a little time with us,” Wil said, slapping the table next to Axe.
“Yeah, Axe,” Maddie said. “You should atleastcome with us to the aquarium.”
Axe lifted his shoulders, which we all knew meant:If Demi wants to.
A lot had changed in the last year, and yet so much of our lives were still the same. Maddie was a permanent fixture in the Adler House now, and so was Mack. Our arms deals had expanded, which, as I expected, had turned out to be a highly lucrative operation. We had finally settled into our new lives, with me as the official boss of the Adler mafia.
And as the boss, I knew that it was time to take a break. Our family deserved it.
