“That would be fun and all, but we have a deal.” I hear a snap, and in that instant, the queen is no longer under my fingers, and I am no longer on top of her.
Fuck.
Standing up, I see we aren’t even in the castle anymore. We are at my house.
It feels like so long ago that I was last here, like a lifetime ago, and everything is changed. Now, when I look at the door that housed us all our life, I see where we had to run. When I look at Tatiana, who is standing in front of Valefar, I no longer see a girl who has changed just the woman she has always been.
Or maybe it’s me who has changed.
“Why did you do that? I had her,” I say to both of them. They both choose to ignore me. Tatiana walks to her room, and I lock eyes with Valefar.
“Send me back,” I tell him.
“What will you give me for that?” He raises an eyebrow.
“Anything. Send me back.”
“You’ll do no such thing, Valefar.” Tatiana walks out, holding a diary. I know that diary, but I haven’t seen it for so long. Her eyes lock on me, and I see the sadness in them as she looks away. “You can take this and leave. Do not send her back.”
“She killed Patrick!” I scream at Tatiana, my hands going to my hair and pulling at it.
“He did what he had to do… he protected you. His death will not be forgotten,” she says as Valefar takes the diary from her hands.
“Why are you giving him our mother’s diary?” I ask, walking over to take it back from him.
“It’s our deal, Wings. I saved you both for this.”
I reach for it, and surprisingly, I am able to take it from his grasp.
He looks at me with shock as I open it and read the first entry.
Her powers are growing stronger each day. I remind Tatiana that she will have to teach her, help her master them, but I cannot tell her everything. And it pains me so…
The diary is gone before I can read any more.
“Was that about…”
“You. Yes,” Tatiana answers.
I look to Valefar.
“Why do you want a diary about me?” I ask him as he slides the diary into his shirt.
“I like to learn.” Then he’s gone.
“Why have you never shown me that before?”
The front door bursts open and John walks straight over to Tatiana, grips her by the ass, and lifts her up, bringing her body to his.
“Tatiana.” I’m sick of people not listening to me. Sick of not getting answers. Which my sister seems to have or has always had. My sister and John are now separated, both staring at me with shock on their faces. “Why did you have her diary, and why didn’t you tell me about it?”
“She left it to me.”
The room starts to spin, and I fall to my knees as a sob racks my body.
“Little fighter.” A hand touches my face, and I look up to see Grim standing in front of me. I feel the warmth radiating from him, and when he rubs my cheek, I fall against his legs, but he catches and lifts me so effortlessly until I am standing and in front of him with his hands around my waist and my face smashed to his chest. Lifting my arms, I wrap them around his neck.
“Where have you been?” I sob into his chest, and his arms tighten around me. The tears don’t stop, the picture of Patrick’s life being taken from him sitting heavy on my mind.
How can I get rid of it?
It’s stuck, a forever reminder of what he sacrificed for me.
“I’ve been searching for you,” he whispers.
Lifting my head from his chest, I look at him. His black hair is tied back so it’s not in his face, he is wearing all black, as he usually does, and his face… well, that hasn’t changed at all.
Not sure why I thought it would.
Death is forever the same.
“Where have you been, little fighter?” He wipes a stray piece of hair back from my face, his fingers feathering over my skin. I can’t hold back, my instincts tell me what to do, and I know he won’t say no. Even if he doesn’t make the first move, I know he won’t say no.
Reaching up on my tippy toes until our mouths are aligned, I lean in and my lips brush softly against his.
“Where have you been?” he whispers along my lips.
“I’m here now,” I breathe back to him. The relief that he is here hits me like a floodgate opening, and I cannot wait for a second longer as I move forward and push my lips to his.
It feels like lost time and gained time all at once.
He feels like everything I should never have nor want.