17. P O W E R : And Control

EPILOGUE

TWO MONTHS LATER

P.O.V. – Autumn

Daphne Dafadiellia (eyelash viper Serpian) glanced up, her reading glasses sliding down her nose, as someone knocked on the door of her apartment. "What the..." she muttered, lowering her book and picking up her phone. She squinted at the clock on the phone's screen, which read "11:47 P.M." "Who the heck is knocking on my door at this time?" she grumbled, reaching under her coffee table and tapping its underside.

A secret compartment opened, depositing a fully-loaded Glock into Daphne's hand. She closed the compartment and stood up, walking to the door and peering through the peephole. "Who's there?" she barked.

Much to her surprise, the sheepish face of her ex-boyfriend Autumn Sky grinned back at her. "Uh... hi, Daph," he said, waving awkwardly with his free hand (since the other held a rather extravagant bouquet). "Sorry to come by so late, but I wanted to—"

Daphne let out a long sigh, unlocked the door, and opened it roughly, cutting off Autumn's words.

The Cervidian blinked rapidly. "I—I wanted to say I'm sorry," he continued as Daphne put a hand on her hip. "I haven't been fair to you with—"

"Don't," Daphne interrupted. "I don't wanna hear it. I know you've been seeing that Russian chick, so if you came here for a side-piece, you can try next door. Samantha's down bad."

"No!" Autumn blurted. "I—um—" He paused and cleared his throat, rubbing his arm. "Anikova and I... we're not together," he mumbled. "The long distance thing, plus our Protector duties... it just wouldn't work."

"So you came crawling back to me," Daphne said with a thin smile.

"No, it—it's not like that!" Autumn protested. "I really wanted to apologize! I just... I didn't know how to do it." He sagged, lowering the bouquet and running a hand through his hair. "We—the Protector Force are working out a... a schedule thing," he struggled to explain. "We're gonna have certain people on call at certain times, others on patrol, that kind of stuff. I want to work out something where I can spend more time with my family... and with you." He met Daphne's eyes, his gaze hopeful.

Daphne was unmoved, however, and let out a scoff. "If you expect me to just throw myself back into your arms, think again," she snapped. "You want me back, you gotta earn me."

"Right! Of course! I'll do whatever it takes!" Autumn declared, thrusting the bouquet toward her. "These are for you, by the way," he added.

"I figured." Daphne took the bouquet with her free hand and promptly tossed it over her shoulder, perfectly placing it in her kitchen's trashcan.

Autumn's face fell. "Wha—that was forty bucks!" he cried in protest.

"Don't care." Daphne jerked her head toward the couch. "Come on. We're going to sit down and talk this out."

Autumn sighed as he entered the apartment, heading toward the couch. "Forty bucks," he said again, staring sadly at the trashed bouquet.

-

P.O.V. – Anikova

Endar Pavlensky, Double Avatar of the Roc and Great Bear, opened one eye as the door to her personal quarters creaked open. He had his arms outstretched as his servants adorned him with a flamboyant coat, fur hat, and several articles of priceless jewelry—his regular morning dressing routine. "Ani? Is that you, comrade?" he asked, smiling.

Anikova smiled back and shut the door behind her. "Yes, Endar. It's me."

"Ah, of course it is," Endar said as his smile became a smirk, and he closed his eye again. "You are the only one who ever enters my room without knocking."