He shakes his head with a sigh. “After what I did to you, I don’t blame you for leaving me to rot.”
“That’s not what I was doing…” I protest loudly, but he interrupts me.
“Whatever. I know you thought you had to protect your…daughter,” he chokes on the word, “from me. I deserve to be thought of as such a monster.”
“Constantine,” I say, but have nothing else to add. What do I say? Sorry I banged Vito? Sorry I lied to you about whose baby it was?
“You are happy?” he croaks.
“I have been, yes. Not with Vito,” I say quickly. “Frederick.”
He nods grimly. “And your daughter?”
“Savannah,” I say, not being able to help the proud smile. “She is in the Dark Fae Kingdoms with her father and grandfather.”
“Sent them away? You really must have feared me,” he says with a sad laugh.
“I didn’t know…you were so angry…” Has he really mellowed or is this a ruse to trap me and finish what he started eighteen years ago?
“Aefre,” he says my name with a sigh, and I melt. I forgot how much I missed hearing him pronounce it slightly differently. “I was angry and hurt and the power…I was making the World safe for you and our children and I found out you lied to me. Understand what that did to me.”
“I do,” I say, nodding my head. “I do.” I go to him now and take his hand. He squeezes it tightly. “I’m so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen.” I choke back a sob as he pulls me closer to him. He holds me while I weep for the eighteen years we have lost.
“I forgive you now,” he says eventually. “You were right to wait. It took me a long time to realize that losing you by my own hand, was only cutting my nose off to spite my face. I can’t live without you, Aefre. You are my light. I will forgive you anything…given enough time in stasis,” he says with a slight chuckle which eases my tension. “Do you forgive my appalling actions?”
“Yes,” I say. “I do, because I understand. And because you have asked for it.”
He laughs quietly. “Stubborn as a mule. I see things haven’t changed that much. I do love you, Aefre.”
I smile at him through my tears. “I love you, CK, but it will take me some time to build up my trust for you again,” I say cautiously.
He nods slowly. “I get that. Because the same goes for me. You promised me; you knew how important it was to me that you stayed away from him…”
“I know,” I say, taking his face in his hands. “I know. It was never supposed to happen.”
And then I kiss him. I place my lips against his, pressing my body even closer to him, needing to feel him, needing his body against mine. Our tongues meet, but then we pull apart as Arathia storms back in, full of impatience.
She halts when she sees us holding each other and smiling. Then she smiles brightly at us. “You made your way back to each other,” she says. “I knew you would. Your love is epic. The stuff of legends.”
I stifle a snort. “Who told you that?” I ask, exchanging a sly glance with CK.
“Sebastian,” she says, and it makes my heart thud.
“I see,” I say sternly, reminding her I am still not best pleased she used that power, as CK gives me a shocked look.
Ah yes, I have a lot to catch you up on…
Epilogue
Ponte, Italy, December 2033 - Aefre
I put the final touches onto the enormous Christmas tree and step back to admire my handiwork. Frederick folds his arms around me, and I turn into him immediately, placing my ear over his heart.
“Merry Christmas, my love,” I say, pulling back slightly.
He snorts with mirth. “I have no idea why this holiday means so much to you, but Merry Christmas to you as well, my love.”
“This is why,” I say, indicating everyone gathered in the library in various degrees of decorating and merriment, the fire roaring in the fireplace. “Now go and get me a brandy.”