AN: I posted two chapters today! (The last two, in fact!) Don't forget to go back and read chapter 22 if you haven't already.

Thank you for reading this to the end!

Thank you for your comments!

Much Love,

Me

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Epilogue

I didn't tell anyone that I was going back to Atlanta. I just left one morning and returned to my old life, at least for the time being. Apparently, there had been a mix-up at central office and I was not the one who was supposed to be fired. I got my old job back. My apartment was just as I had left it, save for a wilted dozen roses sitting on my island counter. They were signed "With Love, Greg". I promptly threw them in the trash can.

I miss Clarice, Holly, Tommy, and even Phil, but I needed to get away. I still talk to Clarice and Holly regularly. Clarice set my house up with the full assortment of protections, and Holly and Tommy are going to move in as soon as all the repairs are finished, rent-free. The house is fully paid off, anyway, so the only thing that really needs to be taken care of is the utilities. She's taking the opportunity to go back to school. I was surprised to learn that she was only a semester or two away from a nursing degree. She had temporarily quit school to deal with her divorce and provide for herself and Tommy. Now that everything was over, and she no longer had to pay rent, she was able to go back to school. She's going through her internship right now and should graduate in the spring. I know that she's going to be a great nurse.

Clarice put me in contact with a Christian Practitioner up here in Atlanta. I didn't know that such a thing was possible, but it gives me hope. He's going to teach me how to handle my new-found powers, hopefully. He's never worked with a demonologist before, but he thinks that the way we use our powers are close enough that he can give me some control. I lost it in that clearing in the woods, and it scared me more than I can put words to. I still have nightmares about that night. The worst aren't the ones about Bael, but about the other two demons. I did things to them that were worse than just killing them. That I was capable of that kind of violence terrifies me.

Phil…

With our souls completely bound, I've noticed a few… side effects. For example, I feel like my skin is on fire every time I get near him, and he's water. I know how I feel, but I doubt how natural it is. In addition, Phil is back to full strength, if not stronger. The running theory is that because of me, he's in touch with a bit of the angelic. Another is that he's gotten a bit of that that redemption he was talking about. Either way, he's fine without me. He's using the name "Phil Brennan", and he got himself an apartment somewhere. Since I can't get Gamori's words out of my head, it's best that I left. Phil is very angry with me. I can't say that I blame him. I left him behind without a warning and made everyone promise not to tell him where I was.

Phil could find me at any time if he wanted to. So I asked for help from Gamori. Probably not my best move. I owe her a favor in the future, though. She bought a bar over in the nearby town of Phenix City. Apparently she knows the town pretty well. She spent some time there in the forties when it was known as Sin City, USA. It used to remind her of home, she said. Now it's just a bit too tame for her tastes, but she likes the view of the Chattahoochee River. She's going by the name of Mori Hemingway these days. For Whom the Bell Tolls is apparently one of her favorite books, second only to Dante's Inferno and the Kama Sutra. She named her bar "Harry's". I have no idea why, and after our conversation of book tastes, I was a bit scared to ask.

Jasper seems to like my apartment, but I think he misses Phil. He's gotten used to city life, but I had to bribe him with tuna and sandalwood sticks for about a week.

A month after I came back to Atlanta, I got a letter in the mail from Alector. He's coming up to Atlanta soon to check up on me and make sure that I'm being a good little Nephilim. I'm sure there is more to it, but I can wait. Life goes on, and that's all I can ask for.

END

So this is it. The actual end-end. There is no more to write, at least on THIS story, but every ending is just another story's beginning. This is the first novel-sized story that I've ever finished, and it both is exciting and terrifying to me. I question myself often on whether or not plot elements were too overdone, or not done enough. Editing is something that seems neverending, because I always find something else that I want to change, fix, correct, clarify.

But I'm calling it done. And thanks for being here with me. :)