Walter de Ville's Advocate

Epilogue 1/2

It has been four years since I was given back my life, and through all the trials I've faced alongside Evie – and at times by myself – there's been something crucial learned that I hope all might have a chance at understanding one day.

With our hasty departure that day from Manor de Ville – with plenty of my own wealth stashed in our bags, and a successful ruse pulled off – Evie and I chartered a private flight out of nearby Newcastle with the fake identities I'd already had on hand.

"I can't believe we made it," Evie whispered after the flight attendant gave us our privacy.

"I know this system well, I'm afraid. If you have the right look of wealth, and can easily back it up, there's not much standing in your way," I muttered. "I just hope we didn't leave a trail behind."

After we'd gathered any small items of value, most of which had been stashed by myself, and thus unknown to any of my followers, Evie and I got to work ransacking the place to look like some mix of a hitjob, or just teenagers messing about in an old mansion. None of the locals would want to fess up to what had actually been going on there, though the consistency of their stories would be their own problem to deal with, since I didn't want to show my face to any that would remember me.

We'd then left our own breadcrumbs that a fire had accidentally been started in the study, which eventually torched the whole manor in ash. I was well-aware of the wooden structure that framed my home, and knew that it would burn quickly and hot with just the right path.

Hobbies and personal interests do eventually payoff.

"The news said that they were still investigating," she whispered, "but there's not a single mention of you."

"Of course not," I smirked, "everyone kept me a secret, even spouses weren't told about who I really was until after their nuptials."

We then spent around a month in Evie's city, hiding out in a short-term rental where Evie received Grace Taylor on a near-daily basis. She hadn't been happy to meet me at first, and when we finally left, I could tell that I wasn't yet her favorite person. I did help her clear out Evie's apartment and pay the landlord the back-rent, which gave us a chance to bond.

I took full advantage of that.

She . . . wasn't too thrilled with my easy comradery.

"Are you sure about this, Evie?" I'd heard Grace ask my beloved one night. "I mean, you aren't even dating the guy, but even so – he was a motherfucking vampire! Like, your great-grandmotherfu—."

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Evie said sternly before pausing. She was probably trying to hear if I was stirring in the small bedroom we'd been sharing, where she thought I had turned in for the night. "With magic and vampires, immortality and all of that, the rules are changed, Grace. I don't care about any of it – well, not really," she hesitated, "but anyways, I can't stay here. It's not just so that I can be with Walter, nor the danger with the families, but also because I have zero explanation for how I am here now."

"I told you we could come up with—."

"Yes, you want me to lie about getting lost hiking in Scotland, but for almost three months? No one finding me in the wide-open highlands?"

Grace huffed, "You were staying nearer to the Lowlands."

"Whatever. They will give me a medical examination and see that I have no signs of starvation. If I claim that I was just on my own and ghosting my best friend, they will see through that and we might actually be charged with wasting police time and money – in both countries!"

Evie sighed, "I'm sorry that I have to go, but this is for the best. This is what I need."

"No, it's what that bastard vamp-charming needs. He still wants you; you know? I see it."