Not If I Save You First

epilogue

Two years later

An incessant knock in a particular pattern is the only reason why I'm not murdering the person on the other end.

I clicked the multiple locks on the door before swinging it open. "Finally," I shouted, motioning for the visitors to come in. "I can't believe you vultures missed your plane."

"Thunderstorms," Grayson sighed. "I can't change the course of the weather to get to your flat fast enough."

Grayson, Thea, and their one-year-old daughter, Cora, got to experience the eight hour flight from hell that nearly everyone experiences when they come to London.

Gray skies. Puffy gray clouds, blending with the sounds of thunder and lightning. Pellets of raindrops that feel like you're about to drown. I went to the window to see if Grayson got life any easier for him, and saw that the pellets were aggressively pounding against the windows.

After almost three years of living in the same flat, I finally decided to make the place seem more like a home. Instead of leaving everything white and bare, I painted some of the walls and hung some things on the walls.

When Archer and I first moved in here, he decided to use his deductive reasoning skills to look for secret rooms and compartments all over the place. He promised me that he'd make me a new investigation room, and he was able to keep his promise. In our bedroom, the pictures of my parents on their wedding day that I found in Archer's old apartment hangs on the wall. It leads to the secret passageway for my investigation room.

0303

The electronic combination for the new investigation room. A date that's famous, because that's the day Archer and I truly met for the first time on the subway platform.

It's the perfect room. Only Archer and I have access to it.

Our flat is different from the apartment buildings in New York City. We don't have any neighbors in the building, but if you go outside, the other flats are somewhat connected. It made it easier to build secret rooms and compartments into the walls. We didn't need to think about neighbors getting in our way.

"It's officially time for the introductions!" Thea exclaimed, taking Cora out of her baby carrier. "Ariella, this is your niece, Cora. Cora, this is your Aunt Ariella."

Thea held her child out toward me. She's one-years-old and she's the perfect combination of her parents.

"Elementary, my dear Cora," I whispered, carefully taking her from Thea's arms.

I've never met my niece in person.

Thea and Grayson got busy right after their wedding. They took their honeymoon in Canada, and by the time Christmas came around, Grayson and Thea were calling me to tell me they're pregnant.

I wasn't able to visit them in New York when I first found out Thea was pregnant.

Archer and I were giving explicit instructions from the C.I.A director to stay lowkey and not leave our location. Plus, Archer had a literal security team keeping him safe, until I convinced them all to get lost or else they'd lose more than their jobs.

I needed to make sure Archer stayed safe while we were in London. We both agreed that he wouldn't become a spy, but he needed to be trained the same way I did.

Every day when we have free time, we go to different places and work on the same espionage exercises that my mom and dad did for Grayson and me. Plus, we've been doing self defense and combat training over the last two years.