Alice sat on the yellow-painted wooden bench outside the cottage, headphones on. She read along with the audio course instructor: Ohayō gozaimasu. O-genki desu ka?

She'd decided to learn Japanese on a whim, more to keep herself busy than anything else. She was quite terrible at it, even with the proper pronunciation spelled out for her in familiar English letters. Hai, genki desu.

It seemed that the harder she tried to get rid of it, the stronger her Irish accent permeated her speech, although it was usually faint when she spoke English, at least to her own ears.

"Konnichiwa," she repeated for the twelfth time, frustration seeping into her voice. The Japanese instructor on the recorded cassette made it sound so easy. And yet it-

"Konnichiwa," someone replied in flawless Japanese, startling Alice. Burn it all! Who dared creep up on her? She looked to her right, glowering.

Of course. Him again. Alice groaned as she removed the headphones and paused the cassette player. "Elder. Long time no see."

Why, it had been at least…forty-eight hours or so since Malkoran's last attempt at getting past Alice to talk to the Mother. As usual, he was carrying a monstrous bouquet of scarlet roses.

This time, however, he was not alone.

"Sumimasen," Miyamoto Musashi said, bowing slightly. "We didn't mean to startle you." There was a faint smile on his lips, which did nothing to appease Alice. Was he making fun of her? How much had he heard? And what was that first word? She hadn't gotten to that part of the cassette yet. She was only on Chapter One: Greetings. Had he insulted her in his native language? She was tempted to offer a scathing Gaelic retort but she reined in her tempter. Musashi was no one – he was barely a child, compared to her – but it would be improper to disrespect a Wolf in the Elder's presence. Without the Mother's consent.

The rōnin wasn't worth her time. She ignored him and turned to Malkoran. "Elder, with all due respect…" To be honest, her patience was wearing thin. She had trouble moderating her tone. "Greyback is clearly not with you. So unless you've made some sort of breakthrough…" She shrugged. "She won't allow you in. You know she won't." Alice hoped that he hadn't brought Musashi along so that they could force their way in. He couldn't be that desperate.

"Did you give her my note ere yesterday?" Malkoran asked in that smooth voice of his.

Alice chuckled, both at the obsolete expression and the question. "Aye. She burned it without reading it."

"Did you repeat the message I gave you in case she burned the note?" he insisted.

Technically, Alice didn't have to do anything he told her to do, but… "I tried. She ordered me to shut up." Well, she'd phrased it more politely than that, but the result was the same.

The crestfallen look on his face was almost enough to make her pity him. She didn't know exactly what had happened between the Mother and him, but she knew that it was some sort of lovers' quarrel, improbable as it was. A Wolf and an Ancient. It was laughable, really, but the clues were all there: Malkoran's palpable guilt and puppy-eyed looks, the Mother's righteous scorn and…well, Evey had confirmed it, though not in so many words.

The point was that Malkoran was being a persistent pain in the arse, and Alice was taking the brunt of it. She wished that the Mother would hear him out, at least. Perhaps that would deter him to make further attempts.

"Elder, you must accept that it is a lost cause. You are only torturing yourself, coming here every other day without Greyback on a leash." And always hoping for a different result than the previous time. Men never learned. "She will not talk to you. She made that extremely clear." Malkoran opened his mouth, but Alice wasn't done. "You've had centuries to seek her out and plead your case. Obviously, you chose not to. Don't you think that this is 'too little, too late', as they say?" she added, pointing at the gorgeous bouquet. It must have cost him a small fortune. Then again, most immortals were quite wealthy.

Ted excepted. The former pirate was little more than a bum, sponging off people for as long as they would allow it. How she pitied the Middle-earthlings. They had no clue what they were dealing with.

It was true that he was pleasant company, most of the time, but he could also become very tiresome, very quickly.

Ugh, she missed him. It was easy to get used to his overwhelming presence, his constant need for frivolous conversation, his irritating, genuine cheerfulness. She held no romantic feelings for him, of course, but he'd been a good friend to her, in a time when she desperately needed one, though she would never have admitted it.

The world was too quiet and bland without him. Especially in this bloody backcountry cottage, with a bunch of treacherous snakes for sole company.

The Mother didn't really count as company. She was-

"Miss Kyteler?" Malkoran repeated, not for the first time, apparently.

Alice focused her attention on him. "Beg pardon?"

"Will you at least give her the flowers?"

Well, sure she would. And they would likely end up, like their predecessors, in the rubbish bin. What a tragic waste. Maybe Alice should keep the roses for herself. No one would ever know.

"Tell her I would have picked one for every day I've been apart from her, but I would have had to hire several lorries to carry them. Instead, I have one for every year we spent together in bliss."

Gods. So cheesy.

Alice frowned suddenly, studying the bouquet. There were at least twenty roses, maybe as many as thirty. Had they truly been together for that long? Well, by immortal standards, it was merely a drop in the ocean, but still. To the best of Alice's knowledge, only Imhotep and Gorgo had been a couple for longer than that, and not by much. It was probably a matter of time before they got bored of each other.

Even as a mortal, Alice had never stayed long with the same man. She'd been married four times. In her defence, they had all…tragically died. Monogamy just seemed silly, especially when you had all of eternity ahead for you. Settling down with an immortal was pure madness.

In any case, male Ancients were in short supply, and one of them literally shared her blood. That left Vlad. She made an effort not to giggle at the idea and, once again, attempted to focus on the matter at hand. "I will show them to her before she orders me to throw them away," Alice promised. She took the bouquet when Malkoran offered it. The scent was absolutely divine. It had been decades since anyone had bought her flowers, Alice realised sadly. She missed the gaudy romantic gestures of the early 20th century. There had been a young man, back in the twenties, who-

"Alice," Malkoran barked, his tone harsher than usual. His golden eyes glittered with intensity. Was he trying to cow her into submission, as though she was one of his Wolves? What a dolt. Vampires – and especially Ancients – were not sensitive to their silly attempts at asserting dominance. The Elder must have noticed the wry scorn in her expression, because he opted for a different approach. "Please. Will you consider telling her that I'm here? Maybe she's changed her mind. Or just…let me in. I'll tell her that I overpowered you, and-"

Apparently, Musashi was equally unimpressed by his Alpha's show of dominance, because he didn't hesitate to interrupt him. "We could practise Japanese together while Malkoran gives wooing yet another failed effort," he told Alice. Again, there was a ghostly smile on his lips. This time, Alice almost laughed, mainly at the look on Malkoran's face.

"State your meaning plainly, cub. Do you also believe that this is a lost cause?" Musashi shrugged noncommittally. "Evangeline assured me that if I…" He trailed off. "Was she making fun of me? Was she trying to prank me, to make me ridicule myself in front of Ellessin? I can never tell when she's being serious or not. She did seem cross with me, though. Or disappointed, perhaps."

"What did Evey tell you?" Alice demanded. Was this all Evey's fault? What had the blasted girl said?

"She said I ought to offer Ellessin an apology for my…indiscretion. That there was a slim chance that it might salvage our relationship."

Alice stared at him blankly for a few seconds, then turned to Musashi, whose face reflected his utter bewilderment. "Elder…" the younger Wolf said, "do you mean to say that…"

"You never apologised?" Alice finally exclaimed. "By Lilith! What is wrong with you?" Alpha Wolf or not, she didn't care. Whatever he'd done, if Evey felt that it called for an apology, it probably did.

"Oh," he said in a low voice. "I see that you are in agreement with Evangeline, then."

Alice threw her hands in the air. "Did you really need three different people to confirm that for you?"

Musashi had regained his composure. "He does need to apologise," he told Alice seriously. "The Lady Ellessin deserves an apology, don't you think? Give him a few minutes, then we shall leave you in peace. I believe that would be best for everyone."

"No, no, no," Malkoran protested. "Apologising is merely the first step. I must-"

Alice shook her head. "Nuh-uh. The cub is correct." Musashi chuckled quietly at the word. "I will allow you inside, Elder, and you will offer the Mother the most sincere apology ever made since the dawn of time, but then you will leave and accept that this is all you're getting: the opportunity to do what you should have done centuries past. The Mother will decide what to do with it." She shot him a twisted smile. "Be aware that she may attack you, and I will do nothing to stop her."

"'Tis her right," Musashi whispered. "You are lucky that she merely disfigured you, last time, Alpha."

Malkoran didn't look offended, but he was clearly determined to see this through. "I will take that chance."

Alice nodded curtly and handed him the bouquet back. She indicated the door. "Then go on ahead. Pass through the barn, cross the garden, and you will likely find her in the conservatory."

There was the infamous cage.

Malkoran tilted his head to get a better view, and what a strange view it was.

The cage was made out of a material unfamiliar to Mal. It was about ten feet high and six feet long, large enough to accommodate a transformed Wolf, though it would be a cramped space. It currently held no werewolf, however, but rather three young ladies – young in appearance, at least.

One of them hissed at the sight of him, but one of her companions shushed her and smiled enticingly at Malkoran. Her bright red hair seemed to burn in the sunlight that filtered through the half-crumbled roof. "Hey, handsome. Get us out of here, and you will be rewarded beyond your wildest-"

"You fool!" the third woman snapped. "Don't you know who that is? It's him. The elusive Alpha." Her distinctive nose crinkled in disgust. "Your powers won't work on him, darling." This had to be Cleopatra, former queen of Egypt.

"¡Mierda!" her friend swore. "That's just my luck." According to Hannibal's reports, this one was Catalina de los Ríos y Lisperguer. There was a surprising number of serial killers among the Ancients, he'd noticed.

The hissing woman frowned at him in suspicion. Was she the infamous Elizabeth Báthory? "How did you get in, demon spawn?" That was rich. What did she think she was? "Where's Al? I swear, if you hurt her-"

Mm. He'd assumed that the three conniving Ancients despised the others, but not as much as they loathed his kind, apparently. "Alice is well. I would never raise a hand against her. Against any of you."

"That's very gentlemanly of you, but we don't care. Let us out," Cleopatra, who seemed to be in charge, commanded.

Mal decided to humour her. "Why on earth would I do that?"

"We can help you find Greyback," La Quintrala offered readily.

"I don't need help finding him. What I need is another cage, since you so inconveniently decided to take up residence in this one."

Báthory hissed again. Good gracious, was she a vampire, or a cat? "Now, if you'll excuse me, ladies, I must confer with your…Mother." It still felt odd to him that she'd decided to take on that title, if that was what it was. Ellessin had told him multiple times that she refused to have children, even before she was rendered barren by Lilith's curse. What had changed her mind? The loneliness? The desire to have a legacy, if she ever passed? Revenge? Had she intended for her first-born to replace Malkoran?

He discarded the thought. First, apologise. Then talk about starting a family together.

Evangeline would be proud of him.

"Malkoran," Cleopatra called after him. "You know how to resolve this absurd situation. You do not need another cage, nor this one. Free us. Kill the hybrid. Put an end to it, Elder. It is that simple. The Mother will not admit it in front of them, but she will be grateful to you, if you take care of it in her stead. You haven't gone soft as she has, have you? You were a ruthless warrior once, a leader of men. You always knew what had to be done, for the greater good. What is the life of one, against the fate of many? Greyback has gone rogue. He will see us all dead. He is a menace to Wolves and Ancients alike. Do what must be done, Alpha."

She was persuasive, he had to admit. And she was making a lot of sense. If he didn't know Evangeline personally, the Ptolemaic queen might have convinced him.

But Evangeline was the reason why he was here today. She was the key to his long-awaited reunion with Ellessin. It had been foretold. If Malkoran killed the girl, it might never happen, and he could not risk that. To hell with the consequences of allowing Greyback to live on for an undetermined period of time.

Ignoring the women's pleas, he exited the barn and made his way across the blooming garden.

Ellessin was seated in her favourite chair and sipping a glass of blood harvested by Alice earlier that morning. The donor was unknown, but it was pleasant enough. As usual, she was gazing out the glass panels of the little conservatory, where she had a wonderful view of the garden. Spring had come early this year; many plants were already in full bloom. The lilac was particularly-

Her mouth fell open when the barn door opened and revealed the last person she wanted to see. Her glass shattered into a thousand minuscule pieces when her fist tightened reflexively around it. How dare he waltz in as he pleased, without her permission? What had he done to Alice?

She rose in a huff, without sparing a glance at her ruined dress. She'd been wearing white – again; why did she keep wearing Malkoran's favourite colour? – and the blood would certainly leave a mark if she didn't wash it off quickly, but at the moment she couldn't care less about her clothing.

The nerve of the man! She very nearly jumped through the glass in her ire, but right then Malkoran caught sight of her. He stopped in his tracks. Ellessin did her best to smooth her features and calm down. She would not give him the satisfaction to see that he had upset her by his mere presence. She inhaled some useless air and exhaled slowly.

There. Much better. Now she might be able to wait an entire minute before ripping him apart.

Malkoran simply stood there, in the middle of the garden, studying her. By Lilith's blood, he knew her too well. He must have seen the murder in her eyes. Would he retreat? Elle smirked. No, not likely. She noticed that he'd brought yet another ridiculous bouquet. Crimson roses, the same colour as the blood she'd been enjoying a moment ago. How cliché.

They eyed each other like this for several minutes, neither willing to take the first step. Elle would be damned – more damned – if she was going to walk up to him.

Then again, she didn't want him here, invading her personal space, did she?

Bloody hell.

She stomped outside. "What are you doing here?" she demanded. "Where's Alice?"

Malkoran very carefully avoided looking at the blood marring her dress. "Good morning to you, too, my love," he said softly.

It was all she could do not to tackle him and tear out his throat. Inhale, exhale. In, and out. "Where…is…Alice?" she repeated, enunciating each word with care.

"Why does everyone keep asking that? Do you really believe that I would harm any of them?" He sounded deeply insulted by the insinuation. "Your child is guarding the entrance, as always. Miyamoto is keeping her company."

Was that supposed to placate her? "You brought one of your Wolves to this place? To my home?" Well, she didn't live here all year round, but still. "Without asking me first?" Why would he do that? Had he threatened Alice to force his way in if she didn't let him pass?

"I was hoping to keep Alice distracted for a while," he admitted without a shred of guilt. "I think that the cub is infatuated with her. But he has betrayed me," he added with a slight twist of his mouth. "They both insisted that I talk to you, if you must know."

Elle scoffed. "Yeah, that's a likely story." Ugh. Evangeline's sarcasm was contagious, apparently.

"Why would I lie? You may feel free to ask them, my heart. I shall await here."

What reason could they – Alice, really – possibly have to insist on this? It had to be an emergency. A matter of life and death. "Very well. State your business, and be quick about it," she said imperiously.

To her surprise, Malkoran took two steps in her direction and fell to his knees, right there in the mud. He dropped the roses at her feet and bowed his head as he spoke, like a wolf submitting to his Alpha. "I wronged you, Elle. I did a terrible thing, and I am deeply sorry. I have no excuse. I am a selfish bastard and I do not deserve you, but I do wish to offer a proper apology. It is long overdue, but please accept it." He fell silent and remained there at her feet, unmoving.

Ellessin stared at him in shock. She replayed the words in her head several times to make sure that she would remember this moment for eternity.

Malkoran had apologised.

What a day.

Something was off, however. A selfish bastard? He certainly was, but where did that come from? "Have you been speaking to Evangeline?" she asked, her voice laced with suspicion.

"I…yes. Is that a bad thing? I will never speak to her again, if it upsets you," he said hastily. "Not that it should. There is no reason to be upset. I feel nothing for her. Nothing at all. I have no desire to be with her in…that way."

Some things never changed: he could not stop babbling, when he was nervous. Elle smiled fondly, then remembered that she was mad at him.

Was she really, though?

One shall come to bring you together again, the Wolf and the Undead One. She will unite you. A young girl, from a land that has yet to be named, in an age yet to come.

Could it truly be? She'd had her suspicions, of course, but… Evangeline? She was just a girl. Not an ordinary one, to be sure, but… She was so silly sometimes. Hardly the sort of person you'd expect to repair a broken relationship or give any sound advice, but…

No more buts. This was it. The moment Elle had been waiting for, ever since Malkoran had crushed her heart. Her chance to forgive him, and…

And what? Even if she did find the strength to forgive him, then what? Go on as though nothing had happened? Pick up where they left off, millennia ago, when the world was a completely different place, when Elle was a completely different person?

And Mal… How much had he changed? Were the changes for good, or worse? Did she want to find out? Did she still love him? After all these years…

These lonely, lonely years.

Hesitantly, she placed a hand on his hair – it had grown since he'd returned from the monastery, but it wasn't the shaggy mane she remembered. "I accept your…belated apology," she murmured. "And I forgive you."

He looked up at that, his eyes bright and full of hope. He shifted his stance until he stood on one knee before her, then he extracted something from his jeans pocket.

Elle took a step back, her hands falling at her sides. Oh, no, no, no.

It was a velvety jewellery box. Mal opened it. Of course, the delicate gold ring was decorated with an obscenely large ruby. "I hope I'm doing this the right way," he muttered, almost to himself. He cleared his throat. "Elle, you are the other half of my soul, the light of my life. Though I am not worthy, would you do me the honour of-"

"Why do you always have to…" Ruin everything! Tactfully, she didn't say it aloud. "Was this Evey's idea?" she demanded instead. Foolish girl. Had she told him to make some grand romantic gesture? Elle had barely processed the unexpected apology bit, and now this idiot was proposing?

"Um…" He seemed perturbed that she'd interrupted him. "Well, no. Evangeline came up with the idea to apologise." Bless her for that. Although Malkoran should have figured it out thousands of years ago on his own, really. What an oaf. "And then she said I should leave you alone. But Elle, we've already lost so much time – and it's all my fault, I see that now – and I can't bear the thought of being away from you for one more-"

She shook her head. "You should have listened to the girl, Mal. This is too much, too fast. I need time to think. To…" Gauge the risks. She couldn't afford to make a hasty decision. She couldn't afford to be hurt again, to suffer another heartbreak. The idiom time heals all wounds was a bad joke. Malkoran's cheek was proof of that, and so was Elle's heart.

There were so many facts to consider – among which Malkoran's betrayal, certainly, but there was more. Their relationship had had a rocky start, to say the least.

When she was a young girl, younger than Evangeline, Ellessin lived with her kin and a small number of people in a minuscule settlement. They led a simple, peaceful life; they were farmers, gatherers. They lived off the land. Occasionally they traded with passing merchants, but that was the only outer social interactions Elle had ever known.

She was to be paired with a young man – likely a cousin, though these things did not matter, in those days – with whom she would start a family of her own, if the gods were kind enough to let them live long enough to see it through.

The morning before the raid, they had exchanged their token stones. That night, the boy had died, right in front of Elle's eyes. Namtar had run him through with his sword. The three attackers had killed all of the men, then they'd gathered the women and children to use as slaves.

Malkoran had molested Elle's mother first, then her sister. Then it had been her turn.

Her mother had advised her to take it stoically; it would all be over the sooner. But even then, Elle was stubborn. She'd defied Malkoran, she'd struggled and bitten and clawed. Against all odds, Malkoran found her fierceness endearing, impressive even. No one had ever resisted him before, not for long. No one had ever dared.

She'd fallen for him, eventually, but it wasn't love at first sight, not quite. She despised him, hated him. He had taken everything from her. Her quiet life. Her husband, her father. He'd defiled her mother and sister, and herself – she had not willingly given herself to him, not in the beginning, but he'd always overpowered her.

For months she'd prayed for an opportunity to reach that dagger at the side of his pallet, prayed for him to lower his guard. But when the chance had finally arisen… He'd awakened before she could deliver the fatal, liberating blow. He'd looked up at her with these deep brown eyes of his. "Do it," he'd said with all the seriousness and fervor she'd come to expect of him. "No one will do it for you."

When she'd hesitated, he'd continued. "Or don't. You could be one of us, Elle. You could be mine." He'd caressed her cheek. "No one would ever hurt you again." Well, that had been a blatant lie, but she'd believed it, naïve girl that she was. He was so beautiful, so earnest. That thrice-cursed voice of his, so silky and comforting. "With you at my side, no one could ever stop us. We could take over the world. We could live forever."

Enticing words. She wasn't in love with him then, not yet, but she'd seized her chance. "Release my people, and I will follow you to the end of the world."

The words were etched in her memory. She had forgotten her mother's face, but never these few sentences that had sealed her doom.

But despite everything, he'd been mostly truthful: for years they'd roamed the earth, taking what they wanted, killing all who were foolish enough to stand in their way. Ellessin had taken a liking to this new, exciting life. She'd taken a liking to Malkoran, the glorious leader of their little band, her protector. Love had struck her right in the heart like a blunt spear. She'd been terrified of her own feelings, at first, but Malkoran's steady voice had made all of her fears go away. She'd lost herself in her passion. She'd lost control.

Then they'd visited the Seer and done the unthinkable. The years that followed were the most blissful of Elle's entire existence. For a few decades, it seemed that the world belonged to the two of them. Nothing could possibly spoil their happiness.

She had never imagined that Malkoran himself would be the one to bring about their downfall.

If she thought she hated Malkoran before, she'd been deluding herself. She never knew that a person could feel so much rage, grief and loathing and not explode with the sheer intensity of it. And that wasn't even the worst part. After she'd wounded him, she'd felt guilty. Like she was the one at fault. And she'd hated him all the more for making her feel that way.

In hindsight, with the wisdom and maturity acquired over long millennia, she realised that she may have overreacted a tad, though she was too proud to admit it, even to herself. Until now.

The point was, she needed time to reflect on her own, away from everyone, especially Malkoran. He was messing with her brain by just being near her. "Prophecy aside, I need to figure things out for myself," she said in a low voice.

"Prophecy?" Mal repeated. "How do you know about…"

They looked at each other, stunned. "Did you sought out the Seer again?" she asked.

"You visited the Seer afterwards?" Mal spoke at the same time.

Elle let out a small laugh, surprising herself. "Great minds think alike," she whispered. She extended a hand. "On your feet, Alpha. You were never meant to kneel to anyone."

He took her hand and rose gracefully, his honey-coloured eyes boring into hers. "Anyone but you, who owns my heart." He smiled and, for the first time in forever, Elle felt butterflies in the pit of her stomach. He was so beautiful, and his hand was so warm around hers.

Don't be so shallow, she chided herself. He was danger made flesh, and Elle would be a fool to ignore it again.

"I can't do this, Mal," she said. "What if-"

"What if I hurt you again?" he finished for her. "Never. Not if we were to live another ten thousand years. I would sooner die." He moved closer to her and pressed his forehead against hers, taking both of her hands in his. He was still holding the jewellery box. "We have all the time in the world, my heart. Take all the time you need. I will wait for you." He chuckled softly. "In fact, I know the perfect place to abide for soul-searching and contemplation."