Epilogue

Far from Roswell, a woman peered out of a window, not even noticing the gorgeous view of the ocean before her. Thoughts turned inward, she apparently didn't hear the sound of someone opening the door to the room and watching her. Taking advantage of the rare opportunity, he stood in the doorway as he looked her over carefully. Even dressed as casually as she was, in jeans and a black t-shirt, the red-haired woman was beautiful enough to turn most men's heads. The observer was cynically amused to think about how many others who had been taken in by her appearance, never suspecting the danger until it was much too late.

Absently toying with the black stone around her neck, the woman spoke without turning. "It's about time you got here."

He laughed, reclining against the door. He should have known that even he couldn't sneak up on her that easily. "It took some time to make certain of everything. You did want me to be sure, right?"

Frowning, she turned to face the figure standing in the shadows. She could barely make out his form, but the faint red glow from his necklace was obvious even in the dim light. "Of course." She sat down on the edge of the desk, attention focused on her visitor.

"It's him."

"Tymrath." She closed her eyes briefly in relief. Finally. "And he remembers?"

The man laughed. "Oh, he remembers. You should have seen the way he jumped when he saw the necklace."

She looked at him with skepticism. "Tym jumped? I find that hard to believe."

He shrugged. "Okay, so it's not like he actually leapt into the air and shrieked. I doubt that those idiots around him even noticed anything. But it was obvious enough to me."

She nodded. His observations could be trusted.

He wasn't finished yet. "There's something else you might be interested in."

"What?" Her curiosity was piqued by the sound of amusement in his voice.

"He's taken a teela-mei." While her expression didn't change, he could see the shock in her eyes. She hadn't expected that.

"Tym? He bonded with a teela-mei? Are you sure?" Instantly, she knew that was the wrong thing to say. She could see him tense up at the implied insult. "Never mind. I know you're sure. It's just surprising. I thought Tym was smarter than that." She shook her head, not sure if she was feeling more amusement or disgust. "So he and Vilandra finally did it, huh? I never thought he'd go through with it."

"It gets better." He sounded relaxed again. "It's not Vilandra." This was fun. I wasn't often that she was caught off-guard.

She held up her hands. "Hold on. He bonded with someone other than Vilandra?" Then who? She was certain that Tym wouldn't bond with the Aveen-clone, so that left............. She gasped. "He connected with a human?"

His smile shone through the shadows. "Her name's Maria DeLuca. You should see the way he looks at her."

She practically fell off the edge of the desk, she was laughing so hard. "Oh, that's too much. Tymrath, bonded to a human." Recovering herself, she went on. "Well, it doesn't really change anything. It might make things more complicated, but our goal remains the same."

"Agreed," he replied smoothly. "So what should I do now?"

She considered for a minute. "Go back to Roswell. Keep an eye on Tym and this girl." She shook her head, still having a hard time accepting the idea of Tym bonded for life to anyone, much less a human. "I have some arrangements to take care of here, then I'll join you."

"As you wish." With a mocking bow that left her rolling her eyes in exasperation, he turned and left. She returned to the window, mind turning over the possibilities. They'd been waiting for so long, but now they could move. She ran her fingers over the warm, smooth stone she wore around her neck.

"Now we can begin."

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