The King of Sin {Complete}

{40}

Epilogue

Link's pov

Six years later

Sadly my gut feeling is always right. Something terrible did happen to Lauren when she went home to her parents. Though it was not the time she went to her family to announce that she was pregnant, it was five years after that. The twins she carried only got to enjoy their fathers for five years before they were snatched away from us all.

Cedric would not give me any details besides the ones mentioned in the papers for months after it happened. Seemingly, an arson case Lauren was working on involved a dangerous serial arsonist whom somehow made it to her house while she and the twins weren't there thankfully, but the arsonist was caught by Dara and Donovan for the intrusion, which led to a confrontation between them and the house ended up in flames.

Miraculously the arsonist escaped, wounded, but escaped none the less. Even though Dara and Donovan were rushed to the hospital, they sadly lost their lives after several operations.

It broke Lauren's already fragile heart and she has resigned from being a lawyer and is putting more time in at being at home and helping out in the District. The kids are still very subdued but helpful with things around the house. Lauren and the kids were on their way back from visiting her family when she got the call about the fire and when she reached the house, she locked the kids in the car, rushing into the burning house, screaming their names on top of her lungs. A firefighter managed to find her when part of the roof collapsed, burning her leg badly, he had great difficulty to get her to leave the house. She didn't want to leave without her boys.

She was treated for excessive smoke inhalation, and the second degree burns on her leg. The ambulance personnel requested her to visit the hospital to have it checked out more thoroughly. She declined, they insisted and she ended up in the hospital anyway as the autopsy was carried out on the burned remains of Dara and Donovan. She never really got over that.

None of us did, I still see them when I close my eyes and sometimes think I can smell a whiff of burned flesh, hair and fat. It is nauseating.

Even though she doesn't say it, I know she still has nightmares about it. She refused to counsel about the ordeal, although she made her kids go.

"Link? You ready?" Bear's voice has me blinking back to reality after reminiscing and I found myself staring blankly out the kitchen window, think over everything that happened the last six years. The good, the bad and the ugly.

My lips pull in a small, sad smile as I turn back to Bear and fix his black tie for him. Somehow he always ends up with it crooked or backwards.

"Thanks" Bear grins and laces our fingers together as I let go of the silk. He gives them a squeeze, looking me sadly in the eye. "Let's go. Cedric is waiting."

Moving away from the window, I follow Bear out to the car, where Cedric is indeed waiting for us. His eyes are hooded and I notice with mounting concern that there are dark smudges under his eyes, something that hasn't happened since Dara and Donovan were snatched away from us.

"I will drive." Bear takes the keys gently but confidently from Cedric's hand, making his way over to the drivers' side. After we are all buckled in, Bear starts the car and pulls away from the house. "Why don't you close your eyes for a bit Cedric?" Bear glances in the rearview mirror and smiles slightly as Cedric's eyes had closed as soon as he was buckled in. The drive to the graveyard was silent, packed with worry for Lauren and her two adorable kids.

Cedric wakes a few minutes before we arrive for the anniversary service for Dara and Donovan. Lauren is already there, waiting on the church steps, leaning on her walking stick, surrounded by her kids and Dara's and Donovan's family.