“You!” I gasp, my words barely distinguishable from screams. I have missed him. I have craved him. I have needed him in ways so central to my being, I can barely stand the thought of being separated from him in any way. He is the center of my world, the essence of my being. I have given myself and my life to him.
Orgasm comes violently and incredibly, throwing me into aching spasms and paroxysms of pure pleasure. I tremble and writhe in his arms, barely staying anchored to reality or the bed. If not for his cock deep inside me and his powerful hips pinning me in place, I feel as though I would physically float away.
I close my eyes and I let myself sink deep into his arms. This is my happily ever after. This is the fairytale ending every sad little orphan with a demon masquerading as her brother craves. This is… the end?
No…
Something won’t let me rest. Some dark force is not yet done with me.
My eyes fly open. I sit bolt upright.
“How is this still going?”
"What do you mean?” He brushes a stray wisp of hair away from my face.
“I mean, the happily ever after, isn’t it happening now? Shouldn’t this be over?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about at least half the time,” he laughs.
But I know something is wrong. I should be sinking into a happy, deep, forever oblivion. Instead, I am still caught in the threads of some infernal narrative.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Bryn
Nina has been paranoid ever since the wedding. I put it down to her being so unused to happiness. It is not easy for someone who has always suffered to accept happiness. They look for all the ways it will be taken away or go wrong. They cannot simply rest in it. Poor thing. She will learn as time goes on and the world remains peaceful that she is safe with me. Direview is not a place where she ever needs to worry. Not again. Well, at least, not until the mists roll in.
I have not had time to be paranoid. With the reconvening of the Brotherhood, there is much to be done. We have a chance to fix what was broken a long time ago. Things are beginning again anew. They will be better this time. Corruption has been rooted out. That happened a long time ago. But the healing didn’t.
It was Ivy who broke us, some say. That red-headed enchantress who made every single one of the Brotherhood pine for her. She didn’t mean to. She couldn't help it. She was an exquisite mixture of angelic and earthly beauty and we were all absolutely enamored. She took the blame for the horrid decline and the explosive destruction of everything we stood for — but in truth it was the sexual carnivorousness of Craig that tore us apart. He took her. He took her and her willingness was not a matter of certainty. He made her his. He trapped her into marriage. He knew how precious she was and he broke her for that reason.
Nina is innocent of these things. I don’t want her to know the true misery her mother endured. I don’t want her to feel it vicariously, and I do not want her to draw the inevitable parallels. She might feel guilt, horror, shame, and anticipation of similar pains. It’s possible an angel will come to her while I am sleeping. That is what happened to Ivy. She was visited by a creature of pure light who blessed her with a baby, while she was already pregnant with an earthly sprog. What would I do if such a thing were to happen to Nina?
A bridge to be crossed if and when it is come to, I imagine. Nina is not her mother. And for that, I am grateful. Unlike Ivy, Nina knows she loves me. And unlike her mother, she is constant and generous in that love. What I feel for her makes my previous fascinations and infatuations pale. But I know history has a tendency to repeat, and I know that one day Nina will likely want the very family that will pull us from the Brotherhood forever. That is why I must use every minute I have now to put this place back together in the hopes it will stand strong for another thousand years. I will not always be here to hold this place together. The Brotherhood must be strong. It must survive.
“Mrs Crocombe!”
Crichton is saying the woman's name in horrified tones. They continue to bicker, and I will not have it. I am trying to usher in a new era of unity. Recalcitrant demons snarking in the halls does not bode well.
“The two of you! Here! Now!”
Crocombe and Crichton follow my order.
“What is it?”