EPILOGUE
Karrde drove back into town about two hours before sunrise. He smiled when he saw the old-fashioned sign welcoming folks to the town.
"Riverton – A Home for Everyone"
Geier and the Primogen council stood inside the observation deck of the Arch.
"If anyone disagrees, now would be the time to speak," Geier said. No one said a word. "So be it."
Through the coated glass, the eight vampires watched the sun rise in the east. Even through the thick metal of the monument they heard the scream. Standing on the top of the Arch, outside the safety of the protective glass and wrapped in Obfuscate to keep the citizens of the town from seeing the flare, Cynthia Deevers watched her first unfiltered sunrise in over two centuries.
Two weeks later, when Alyx was willing to talk through things, he learned who Ed Stokes had been to his wife. He held her as she sobbed through the fear, ensuring her that Stokes would never contact her, never reach her, and certainly never touch her again. After a while, she had settled down. Curling up next to Mike on the couch, she went back the book she'd been reading.
"Hey, what's that bookmark?" he asked.
Alyx closed her 'Harry Potter' book on her finger.
"This? I don't know, something Verena sent me in a birthday card. Told me to keep it safe, maybe give it to Eric Bowen, her sire, if I ever see him. Eh, makes a good bookmark, though."
"May I?" Karrde took the paper and read it.
Making a Gangrel into a puppet actually seemed like a pretty simple ritual.
END