CHAPTER 69

Schuyler

During the ride to JFK, Schuyler kept to herself.

She was still exhausted from yesterday's events, but there was no time to rest. The documents Oliver had found, which he had been so excited about, were a small package of notebooks that he had discovered in files kept by Christopher Anderson, Lawrence's Conduit.

Fifty-five notebooks detailing everything her grandfather had found concerning the Van Alen Legacy, and every possible lead. The keepers of the third gate, the Gate of Promise, were most likely still in the city of Florence, which was where they were headed now.

Last night, when she finally came home, Oliver was waiting for her in her apartment. When she walked in, it took him a while to accept the fact that she was truly alive and standing in front of him. He had been convinced he had lost her forever. They hugged each other close, but Schuyler was still too distraught and confused about everything that had happened with Jack, to give Oliver much of her attention.

She listened as he filled her in on what had happened to everyone else during the attack and the aftermath; most of the Blue Bloods had gone to hide in the Force Tower, as they had been instructed by the Conclave. They had all come out safe.

But for how long?

The cab pulled up to the terminal, and Oliver unloaded their bags. He had been quiet too, during the trip. And he looked at Schuyler so intensely now, as if he were trying to memorize her face.

"What?" Schuyler asked. "Do I have something in my teeth or something? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm not going to Florence," Oliver said as the cab pulled away. "What do you mean you're not going to Florence..." Schuyler said, just as Jack Force walked up to the terminal.

Yesterday, Mimi had finally come back to the church, and had taken her brother away. Jack had been too weak to speak when Schuyler saw the two of them off in a cab. From the possessive way Mimi had held on to Jack, Schuyler knew they wouldn't get a chance to say the things they wanted to say to each other anyway.

There were no traces of the lost, broken girl that Mimi had been when she'd returned. And Schuyler understood that the struggle for Jack's heart was far from over. Maybe she and Jack just weren't meant to be, and the two of them would just have to accept it. It was enough to know they had risked everything for each other. Maybe the memory of their love was all that they were allowed. She didn't know. She only knew that she had so much to do. And if she had to leave Jack as part of it, then there was nothing she could do about it anymore. She had to fulfill her legacy.

But when she saw him, and they looked at each other, she knew she would never be able to leave his side. He had recovered well; he looked tired, but then so did she. They had been through a lot in the last twenty four hours.

"You're here," she sent. "My love."

"I wouldn't be anywhere else."

"I came as soon as I got your message," Jack said to Oliver.

Oliver handed him his own backpack. "Your flight is leaving soon. I suggest you guys get in there, security's a pain these days. Especially for international."

"You called him? Oliver, what's going on?" Schuyler asked.

"I asked Jack to meet us here. I told him you were going to Florence. I asked him to go with you."

"Oliver?"

"Sky... stop," Oliver said. "And don't interrupt me, because I have to say this. I know you would never leave me. I know that. I know you would never be able to make a decision, so I decided for you. You have to go with him."

Schuyler found her eyes filling with tears. "Ollie..."

"You cannot choose between us. So I chose for you. Jack can protect you in ways I cannot. Yesterday, when Leviathan took you, I'd never felt so helpless in my life... and I knew... I knew I couldn't be there for you, not in the way that he can." Oliver gulped. "I would rather have you safe, whole, and alive... than with me."

"Oliver..."

"Now go. Before I change my mind. But you know I'm right. I'm always right, Schuyler."

He never called her Schuyler, only when he was serious. Or angry. Or maybe a little of both. This couldn't be easy for him. It wasn't easy for her to listen to.

"But what about you?" she asked. "I marked you...."

The Sacred Kiss would mean he would pine for her forever. She couldn't let him live the rest of his life that way.

"I'll be all right. You'll see. I don't believe in fatalism. And you'll call me, won't you? Once in a while? I can still help you... from over here. I think I can, anyway. But I know this is what was meant to happen. I can feel it... the rightness of it... and, like I said, I'm never wrong." Oliver shoved the tickets into Jack's hands.

Schuyler pulled Oliver close and hugged him tightly. "Thank you," she whispered. Thank you for loving me enough to let me go.

"You're welcome," Oliver said.

He smiled, and she knew he had heard what she'd left unsaid. The connection between them, vampire and Conduit, sparking at last.

"Good-bye, Ollie," Schuyler whispered.

"Take care of her," Oliver said, shaking Jack's hand. "For me."

Jack nodded and shook Oliver's hand vigorously. "Always."

Oliver saluted them both, then he walked quickly away, jumping into the nearest cab he could find. Schuyler watched him go, finding that her heart ached in the deepest way... but it did not break. They would be friends. They would always remain friends. She loved him still.

Next to her, Jack put out his hand.

Schuyler grasped it tightly. She would never let go. Not in this lifetime. She knew what this meant. They were going to risk it. They were going to go against the bond, the Code, everything that stood in their way, so that they could be together. They would risk everything for their love. Just like her mother. Just like Allegra.

No one would choose your life, she had told her mother.

She had been wrong.

Together, hand in hand, the two of them walked into the terminal.

EPILOGUE

Saint-Tropez

Isabelle of Orleans, at home, looked just as intimidating as she had at the party. The countess received them at her villa in Saint-Tropez, on the sun splashed terrace that looked over the bright blue Mediterranean. It was their first stop on the way to Florence, and it had been Jack's idea to try to achieve what Schuyler had failed to secure months before.

"So, you are refugees from Michael's tribe," Isabelle said, her voice low and gravelly. "What makes you think I shall give you what you ask? Why should the European Coven even care about two wayward children?"

"Your Grace, we understand your skepticism... but we are desperate. Without the protection of the vampires, we will not be able to carry out Lawrence Van Alen's great work," Jack said.

The countess raised her eyebrows. "So you are here in Europe to try to fulfill his legacy?"

"Yes, Your Grace." Schuyler nodded.

"Then why did you not mention it sooner?" the countess demanded, causing her two lap dogs to yelp.

Jack and Schuyler exchanged a glance. "Our apologies," Jack said.

"I shall grant you access to the European Coven, and give you my blessing. While you are within our borders, the New York Coven will be unable to touch you."

"Thank you, Countess. You don't know how much this means to us," Schuyler said, relief and gratitude evident in her voice.

The countess ruminated. "This war has taken the life of my most trusted friend."

Schuyler nodded. She had heard the body of the real Baron de Coubertin had been found floating in the Seine, a few weeks after the attack.

"We are so sorry to hear that," she said. She knew what it meant to lose a Conduit.

The countess shrugged sadly. "You know, I was always a friend to Lawrence and Cordelia. It was Charles I could never stand," the countess sighed.

"I know he had to punish my brother, but I thought the punishment was unnecessarily draconian. Surely there must have been a way to live in peace together without resorting to such stringent measures. Well. There's not much we can do about that now, is there?"

"Your brother, Your Grace?" Jack asked.

"Why, Valerius, have you forgotten me so soon?" The countess smiled, looking suddenly coy and flirtatious.

"Oh, how much we three sisters fought over you when you came of age! Handsome Valerius! But of course Agrippina won you, as always. Well, perhaps not anymore." She winked and looked at Schuyler. "You're a lucky girl, my dear."

"I'm sorry?" Jack asked.

"Back in Rome, you knew me as Drusilla," the countess told them as she got up from her chair. "Come, children. I believe lunch is being served. And my chef makes an excellent tomato salad. You will join me, won't you?"