The Truths we Burn Epilogue

The Fire God

Rook

The bad guy isn’t supposed to win.
That is not how real life works. Heros will always come out on top because that’s how it’s supposed to be. Society does not approve of the moral grey, it prefers to paint a clear picture of who is right and who is wrong.
It’s easier that way because when you break from black and white, it is harder to make sense of the world. When you blur the lines of ethical motives, how will people know what truly is wrong? What is the right decision?
I will never tell my story from a hero’s perspective. Knowing what I’ve done, how cruel I’ve been and the bitter punishment I’ve delivered to others makes me more than aware of who I am. I accepted a long time ago that I’m the antagonist of my story.
The antihero does not get the happily ever after.
The devil does not get salvation.
I know all these things to be true.
But today, today is the exception to that rule.
Today, the villain gets the girl.
“Rook.” Her soft moan makes my gut tighten. The sound feels like honey against my skin. Sticky. Hot. Sweet. Her.
I’m kneeling at my favorite altar. Seeking a liberation that comes when she does. The girl who taught me how to hurt in all the best ways. The one who taught me how to forgive.
The world. My father. Myself.
“It’s bad luck to see me before the wedding,” she gasps, her mouth trying to deny me but I can feel her hips jerk towards my face, knowing she wants me just as badly as I need her.
“There is nothing unlucky about the position I’ve found myself in, TG.” I smile as I press my lips against the damp center of her panties, letting my lips linger there for a few moments just to remind myself how fucking lucky I actually am.
I could worship her forever. Just like this. If she asked me to, I’d never leave the apex of her thighs.
Another needy moan falls from my favorite set of lips and I snap my eyes up, rolling them up her body until I fall on her face.
Her hair is pinned up, braids laced together, and tied in the back neatly. The bridal makeup she wears is just how I like it. I’d requested one thing about this wedding, and it was her makeup. I wanted to see her freckles and I wanted her to wear red lipstick.
My cock stirs in my slacks, begging to be smothered in that dark shade of crimson that paints her plump mouth.
She was all ready to go for our big day, minus the dress. Sage would have killed me if I barged into her dressing room and saw the dress that took three months to find. I’d caught her right before it was time to slip into it.
As she sits on the round wooden table, I’d prompted her up on, I can’t help but admire how sexy she is. A goddess. A force. A phoenix.
Her silk white robe has slipped down from one of her shoulders, dangling on the side of her arm. Exposing the delicate skin and the band around her waist loosened enough that I can see her perky tits. All of this mixed with the blush of lust that coats her cheeks is pissing me the fuck off.
I don’t have enough time to do the things I want. To take my time. I want to dedicate several moments to each of those taunt pink nipples that are tempting me. My lips want to try and find new spots on her neck, even though there are no more.
“We don’t have time for you to be a fucking tease,” She whisper, looking down at me, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip.
I drag my mouth around the flimsy material keeping me from my meal, “Ask me nicely, Sage and I’ll make you come. Be a good whore for me and spread your legs while everyone waits for us.”
My lips kiss around the lace edges, her thighs trembling from my movements. She hangs on to her last thread of resolve until I feel her give in. Her hands sink into my hair and her thighs open wider for me.
“Please, Rook. I need you to make me come.”
There she is.
My beautiful, needy wife to be begging for me.
There is not a second of the day that passes that I’m thinking of her like this. Thinking about her smile or her laugh. Thinking about her in our house, in my life. I would give up my career as a patent attorney in a fucking heartbeat if I could get paid to spend every minute of my life with her.
Although seeing her beg is the most intoxicating aphrodisiac in the world, I decide since it’s our wedding day, I’ll have mercy on her.
The scent of her arousal wafts into my nose as I tug the lace down her thighs. I’m only away from her greedy core for a second before I bury my face into her core.
Her thighs squirm as I slide my hand down, my warm breath brushing against her flushed slit. My tongue rolls around her sensitive bud, hitting the places I know she likes the most. She gets overstimulated quickly and sometimes it’s too much, so much that she can’t focus on getting off. You have to know where and how she likes it.
And no one knows that better than me.
I’m submerged in nothing but her. Her scent, the taste, all of it. And I would happily drown. Right here. Right now.
I can feel her grip hold tighten on my hair as I slip a finger inside of her tight walls. She grips me tightly, nearly refusing to let me back out.
“Fuck-” She hisses as her back arches and thighs clamp around my ears.
I work her nice and slow. My mouth focuses on her clit, while my finger rubs that soft spot inside her. I move in a rhythm, staying steady, and it isn’t long before I feel her start to fall over the edge.
“Rook, Rook,” Rook, Rook, Rook.
She cries my name in a scream, repeatedly. Filling my chest with pride and so much fucking love. I let her use my face to ride out her orgasm, letting her hips buck against my tongue until she’s had her fill.
When her grip loosens and I feel her body go slack, I pull away, taking a breath that’s filled with nothing but her scent. Looking up, I see her parted mouth, her breathing ragged, and a small bead of sweat rolling down her forehead.
“Happy wedding day, baby.” I mutter with a smug look on my face, she peers down at me, propping herself up on her elbows as I wipe her arousal off my nose and mouth with the back of my hand.
Standing up from my kneeled position, I bend my body over top of hers, my hands cupping her cheeks as I kiss her. She moans as she tastes herself on my tongue, lapping up at the leftover juices.
“I can’t wait to marry you, Sage Donahue,” I mutter, my hands moving up her body till they are planted firmly on her growing belly. “I can’t wait to keep you pregnant and swollen.” I drag my lips down her chin, leaving a path of kisses to her neck, rubbing my nose along her throat.
“Well,” She giggles, pushing me back, “You’re going to have to wait a few more minutes because I need to finish getting ready.”
I groan into her skin, pulling away to stare her down, “Let’s just run to the courthouse and do it there. I hate waiting. I’ve waited too long.”
The smile that sweeps across her face makes me weak and if my ego was fragile, I’d call myself whipped. But I’m alright with how insanely obsessed I am with my girl.
Sage.
My forgiveness. My Salvation. My Phoenix.
What a woman she is. What a woman she has become.
And the fact I’ve been able to watch her burn, and grow into an untamable wildfire fills me with happiness. She was untouchable, a force to be reckoned with, and all mine.
She’d cleansed my soul of all the demons I’d been consumed by. Taking all the pain and turning it into something better. I never needed to hurt when she was by my side and if I did, we did it on her terms.
She was the only person allowed to hurt me now.
I’d stopped asking myself a long time ago what I’d done to deserve someone like her. I knew that I’d never be worthy of her, but I would spend eternity proving to her I could be everything she needed.
“You haven’t waited that long. You’re just an impatient man, Van Doren.”
I touch a piece of hair that’s fallen from one of her braids, twirling it around my finger.
“I’ve waited forever for you, Sage. Even when I didn’t know you were what I was waiting for. It’s always been you.”
Her eyes soften and I can physically feel the love she has for me. It’s as real as her touch. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else but right here with her. Wherever she is, that’s where I’m meant to be.
“I hope that wasn’t a part of your vows.” She whispers, running her hand through my hair.
Oh, fuck.
“Rook Van Doren, I know you did not forget to write your vows.”
I smile smugly, covering up the fact that I did forget about writing them down. Truth be told, I didn’t need to. I knew what I wanted to say to her. About her. About our love.
That’s not something you forget.
“I didn’t.” I say, dropping a kiss on her forehead, “I’ll see you at the end of the aisle, Theater Geek.”
Although now, I should say Theatre owner, it doesn’t have the same effect. She made me wait for marriage and for children until she could achieve her dreams. I was more than okay watching her build a career, just being able to watch her grow into the woman she is now, was enough for me.
Sage had worked her ass off after college. Scripts after scripts. Show after show. Until one day, all that hard work paid off, and she was finally the one calling the shots.
The Rosemary Theatre House was her crowning achievement. Prove that even when you hit rock bottom you can always rebuild something amazing there. She’d overcome so much adversary and now, look at her.
She became everything she never thought she would be.
A warrior. A director. A wife. A mother.
“And I’ll see you in soon,” I whisper as I lean down, placing a kiss on her stomach where our child is growing.
With another glance in my bride’s direction, I head back to my suite where I was supposed to stay until the wedding started. That were her strict instructions, ones that I obviously broke. It’s her own fault for setting rules when she knows I love breaking them.
I passed a few men carrying floral arrangements, the orchids I’d briefly seen Sage pick out. The destination wedding had been her idea as had the rest of this event.
While Italy hadn’t been my first choice, I knew it was important to her to have this day. She wanted pictures for our kids and just like most little girls, she wanted the cake, the flowers, the big day. And after all, she’d been through, I was more than happy to give her that.
I step inside of my room, walk towards the bar cart, and pour myself a shot of whiskey. Downing the drink in one solid go, before I finish getting ready. Grabbing my black suit jacket and tossed it over my shoulders.
When I step in front of the mirror, I almost don’t recognize the man standing there.
This was not who I expected to be after my mother died.
I sure as fuck didn’t expect to be a lawyer. Even though I did it on my own terms, becoming a patten attorney for chemistry labs. It still felt like giving into my father’s side of the family.
I didn’t think I’d ever be getting married or becoming a father. I didn’t really think I’d have a life after she died.
We all have to find purpose in life. Something that drives you to wake up and be better than the day before. A reason we continue, a reason to continue existing in this shitty world.
Mine is her.
I wouldn’t be this man without her.
“You could’ve just done this at any courthouse in the states, you know?”
I smirk in the mirror, straightening my tie for the eighth time, shoving my hands in my pocket as I turn around.
“Alistair,” I grunt, “Glad to see you’re still an asshole even on my wedding day.”
He walks further into my room, taking a hit from his cigarette and I can see how hard fatherhood is on his face. But it isn’t the type of exhaustion that you want to escape. Being a father has done something to Alistair that I never imagined could happen.
It softened him.
Capped his temper. Settled the storm that was always ready to explode beneath the surface. I’d known him for a very long time and even though he looked overworked, I’d never seen a man so fulfilled. Happy. At peace.
“Yeah, well, you’d be an asshole too if you have to lug twins through goddamn airports.”
In his arms he holds my God son Ezra, his hair swept in front of his eyes as he sleeps peacefully against his father’s chest. Not a hint of anything other than bliss on his tiny face.
We were born into chaos and havoc. Our origin story had already been written for us. But his children, my children would know nothing but harmony and happiness for as long as we were alive. It terrified me for the future, when the inevitable would happen. There would be something that he couldn’t protect them from.
“Speaking of twins, where is Atlas?” I ask, looking for Ezra’s counterpart.
“With Briar, he wanted to see the water.” Alistair carefully switches his son onto his other side, looking around the room, “Hey have you heard from-”
“I realize I’m late, but I come with a gift,” The voice pauses, “Your tie is crooked.”
We both turn our heads to see Thatcher walk inside the room, dressed much better than I am at my wedding. A black band wrapped around his ring finger, acknowledging his own commitment that was made a year before my own.
He walks toward me, grabs at the material around my neck, and undoes all of my hard work.
“Hello to you too, Thatch,” I grunt, looking down as his nimble fingers re-knot my tie.
“I’ll admit, your fiancé has good taste. Italian Villa, a classic for someone so involved in the arts. You did good, Rook.” He says and for one second I think he’s serious, “I’m surprised.”
Ah, there it is.
It wouldn’t be him without a snide remark or back-handed compliment.
Marriage and partnership did a lot for Thatch. The past several years had healed something inside his inner child, but there are some scars you can never stitch up. Some of his wounds bleed freely.
I think his wife preferred it that way. Blood soaked and leaking tragedy. Even though none of us would say it out loud, we were thankful for Lyra Abbott.
Not only was she the only female on the earth that could put up with Thatcher, but she also loved him. So much it scared the shit out of me.
But never once had she tried to change my friend. She had always taken him just as he was, and I knew without a doubt he was safe with her. Which in the end is all I ever wanted for any of my friends.
Happiness. Safety. Peace.
“Thank you, dickhead.”
“Could you imagine if you didn’t have me around? Baby daddy was gonna make you walk out there looking a mess.” He jokes, “Is that little monster or the smart one?”
He looks down at the child in Alistair’s hands, and I can see the steam roll of his shoulders.
“They are both smart. Stop calling my children monsters, it’s a lot like the pot calling the kettle black.” He places his hand on the back of Ezra’s head, “Ezra has lighter hair. I’ve told you this.”
“As if I pay that close of attention to your tiny ovary goblins. It’s the same color.”
“No fighting.” I clip, “I’m so fucking serious right now guys, no fighting. I want this to go smoothly for Sage. If you screw it up, I will set you all on fire, clear?”
It’s all with love, but it doesn’t mean we aren’t capable of dredging up history during our arguments. I really don’t feel like cleaning up Thatcher’s face, after Alistair decks him at my reception.
Not to mention, Thatch is so full of shit. He adores those kids, even if he hates it. It’s just another way he tries to keep us all at a distance and we’ve come to terms that you can only go so close to him without being cut.
“As long as he keeps his mouth shut, I’ll be fine.”
“I hate to break it to you, Ali, but that’s impossible.”
“Thatcher I swear to god-”
“Silas?” I say, my eyebrows dive together, as I see my best friend walk into my room wearing the tux Sage had selected for us.
He clears his throat, a ghost of a smile on his lips, well it’s not actually a smile. Silas doesn’t do that. It’s more of the way his eyes crinkle up at the edges.
“You think I would miss this? I’m your best man.”
Time has been good to all of us, but it’s been a savior for Silas. The pain and sorrow that was sunken into his soul had lifted. He wasn’t walking around like the weight of the entire world sat on his shoulders.
He looked the best he’s ever been.
Lighter, if that makes any sense.
Losing Rosie no longer anchored him to the ocean floor, it helped him float. He’d finally learned that yes, Rosemary died and we all still miss her, but we are alive.
We have a chance at something good, and it would devastate Rose if she knew we were wasting it mourning her. He finally let it go, let her go. The love he has for her is still there. It’ll always be there, but he finally knows that he deserves to be happy again.
Even if it’s without her.
“I’m glad you could make it, man.” I say.
“I wouldn’t miss this. I told you I’d be here, and I’m here.” He says, throwing his arm around my shoulders, “Rook Van Doren getting married, never thought I’d see the day.”
We take several minutes to catch up, even though we see each other regularly. We joke about the way our lives turned out and all the shit we got ourselves into. Enjoying each others company without having to constantly look over our shoulders for trouble.
Our lives together thus far had been anything but a fairy tale. It has been chaos and full of loss. From near-death experiences to jail time. We have been through every bump in the road imaginable.
Navigated the dark. Secrets. Lies. Pain. Love.
We went through things we shouldn’t have survived, and yet here we are. Making it on the other side.
And I wouldn’t trade it. Not for anything.
Every murderous battle, every life lost, every agonizing moment, every frightened tear. All of it has been worth it. Because it strengthened us. We all still craved the dark and everything that lurked there. It was in us, like the air we breathe.
We just learned how to balance it.
All we had done, we did together.
It made us, this family we’ve created, un-fucking-breakable.
You don’t get to choose what family you are born into. Some can be born from ungrateful parents, that punishes you for being alive others from ones that will never understand the struggles you go through no matter how hard they try.
But you have a choice in the family you go through life with. The ones you go through hell with and would repeatedly. The ones you’d risk everything for.
Those are the people who matter. Not the ones who tried to destroy you.
As I look around this room, just before I walk down the aisle to the love of my existence, I smile.
Because my mom was right. She had always been right.
Being different will mean you will feel alone. But when you find the people who accept those differences, they will be with you for a lifetime.
You will fight for them. Lie, cheat, steal, for them.
Die with them.
It’s a loyalty that will never be broken.
And God help anyone who tries to break it.

THE PHEONIX

Sage

The darkest hour of the darkest night comes just before dawn.
That’s what they say.
At the rolling of movie credits or inside books, when the characters are struggling to get through life.
I thought about that quite a lot after leaving Hollow Heights. It had been years since my last day at the sunken university. A place that had become a part of me. Its ghost stories and tragic secrets were woven into my soul. We had become another gargoyle on the building. Another book inside the dusty library.
Hollow Heights was us. We were it.
In certain moments throughout my college experience, I remember thinking, there is no fucking way things could get any darker than this. We’d hit rock bottom with no way out. The bottom of the ocean floor where no light could possibly travel. And it was there I waited because dawn would come soon, right?
Wrong.
In Ponderosa Springs there was always something worse waiting around the corner. A vile evil lurks just beyond the trees. There was no waiting for dawn there. Dawn could not possibly pierce through the fog. Through the secrets. The misery.
In my years there, I’d come face to face with pure terror. I’d seen blood spill from places it should never escape from. There were times I was so scared for the lives of my friends, feeling so trapped in the situations we’d found ourselves in that I genuinely believed there was no way out.
I couldn’t wait for a dawn that would never come.
So how did I light the torch that guided me through hell? How did I stare death directly in the eyes multiple times in my young life and make it out? How was I able to move through obsidian-colored night unafraid of tripping or losing my footing?
I rose from chalky ashes and learned to burn.
“I really hope one of the guys is ready to catch Rook,” Briar whispers in front of me, as she waits for her turn to walk down my petal-covered aisle, “He’s going to faint when he sees you in this.”
I can’t help but grin as I glance down at my wedding dress. I’d spent months looking for it. The perfect one, the mermaid-style gown wrapped around my body like a glove. Exposing my growing baby bump to everyone.
I’d went with a cream color instead of ivory or pearl. They all felt too clean on my skin, and we’d been through too much for any of us to be clean. I wanted my dress to match our story.
A little off, but still beautiful.
“Princess,” Atlas mutters, waving his hand at me over his mother's shoulder and I grin. In a few short months Rook and I will have a little one just like this running around.
I reach forward grabbing his hand and giving it a little shake. Wondering what our baby will look like when they arrive. Will they have my hair color and Rook's eyes? A birthmark? Will their laugh sound like his? What will they become?
So many questions and not enough answers.
The song we selected begins to hit its crescendo and I start shewing Briar forward, “Thank you B,” I whisper, “For everything. Now go.”
I have less than a minute behind this corner that hides me from the rest of the bridal party. But it drags on forever and it’s in this moment of stillness I think about Rosemary.
She would have loved to be here, and I hate that she isn’t. The abrupt pain of her loss has dulled, but on big days like this or little moments of celebration, I want her to be here. I want to tell her about all the things that have happened, to laugh with her beneath the covers like when we were kids.
Glancing down at the bouquet of flowers in my grasp, I toy with the necklace wrapped around the stems. Her necklace I’d saved a long time ago, maybe I’d subconsciously been saving it for a moment just like this one. So even when I knew she couldn’t be here, I’d still feel like she was a part of this.
Still a part of me.
I try not to think about it. How every day without her I lose more and more of her. I become more of a singular person instead of a twin.
But I know what Rosie would have wanted for me. For us. And it wasn’t for us to spend our days in sorrow, but to continue living, for her.
After what we went through for the sake of her vengeance, we owned it to her to live. To flourish.
When I hear my cue, I start to move my feet. Rounding the corner of the building to see our decorated ceremony. I’d heard that all brides get nervous, they freak out and for one fleeting second, they doubt if this is the right man.
But I wasn’t nervous.
I was trying to slow my walk down because all I wanted was to sprint down this aisle. I’d waited far too long to marry this man and even though we were only a few minutes from I do, I was still impatient.
Probably not as impatient as Rook was, but still.
When I make my way down the marble steps with no problem, I finally lift my eyes to what waits in front of me.
My heart starts to hum, and I swear my nose picks up on the strong smell of Marlboro reds. Even from this distance, even through all the floral notes. The potent nicotine smoke is engraved inside of my soul. I’m addicted to it and how it smells on his skin in the early mornings.
When he pulls me into his chest, his cup of coffee lingering on his breath as he wakes me up. And just like in the mornings when I’m barely awake, I know.
He is here. Even if I couldn’t see him with my own eyes, I’d know he was here. I’d know him anywhere.
The fire in my blood. The life force in my veins. The smoke in my lungs.
The man who never takes anything from me. Instead, he gave me all the power I’d lost back ten-fold. He taught me all that I needed was a little push, all I needed was a match and with it, I could burn the entire world down if I saw fit.
Him.
Always him.
I knew everyone saw the devil. The malicious man would do anything to destroy those who hurt the people he loved. A man who’d done things others would never imagine.
I couldn’t change the world's perception of him.
But I could never bring myself to be fearful of Rook. Not the way others were.
Not when he looks so fucking disastrously beautiful.
All I could see was an angel.
My Lucifer.
A prince of sin. A fallen one.
The walk to him is painfully slow, but when I finally reach my place next to him, I feel at home. This is where I was always meant to be. At his side.
Dressed in all black. Wearing the dress shirt I bought for him a few months ago, the suit fits him perfectly. All those fittings paid off nicely. The way the material stretches across his large shoulders and the pants strain to keep his muscular thighs inside.
I’m not sure if I’m supposed to, but I can’t help myself from reaching forward and pushing his hair back with my hand. His shaggy brown locks brush the top of his shoulders.
He raises his knuckles, knocking my bottom lip playfully,
“Hi, TG, long time no see.” He teases. My tongue touches my upper lip when I look at my name scrawled across the front of his knuckles. A birthday present he’d given to me.
A blush coats my cheeks as I think about our earlier encounter.
“Hey, Fire God.”
The minister starts speaking, just like in rehearsal, but I’m not listening. I’m too busy trying to grasp reality. Trying to understand how this could possibly be my life.
Surrounded by the only people I’d ever call family again. We had no guests, just the bridal party and that was enough.
A long time ago, before any of the bad things in my life occurred. I remember dreaming about what my prince charming would be like. I remember talking to Rosemary about it as a little girl.
I can’t recall all the detail, but I’m positive the man I had dreamed up was nothing like Rook. And that I have realized is a good thing. He was everything I didn’t know I wanted, but everything I needed.
I make eye contact with my favorite shade of hazel.
A blazing shade.
I could recognize Rook by his presence alone. While I’m on stage in front of hundreds of people, all their faces blurry from the lights, I know when he’s there. I can feel it in my bones. He’s watched me from the backs of auditorium seats for too long for me not to know what it feels like for his eyes to be on me.
“Now the bride and groom will recite their vows they have prepared,” The minister says, pulling me from my trance, “Sage?” He motions for me to go first.
Briar hands a piece of paper over my shoulder, and I turn to smile at her. I smile at all four of the girls that stand behind me. I knew that in the good and the bad they would always have my back.
When I turn back around, I peep over Rook's shoulder to glance at the guys. Each of them is holding a special place inside my heart.
No longer were they just the infamous Hollow Boys. A group who cast terror amongst all with rageful tendencies.
They were protectors of the family we’d built. Our happy endings.
Alistair, no longer as vengeful, but passionate about the ones who knew his heart.
Thatcher, still very much a psycho, but in touch with humanity thanks to a girl who showed him that emotions are not the bane of his existence.
Silas, who became more of a brother than a friend. A fighter, and a fierce lover of his woman.
I glance down at the paper, refreshing my memory of the words I’d written weeks ago, before returning my gaze to my future husband.
“Rook,” I whisper, clearing my throat of the emotions that threaten to overwhelm me, “I hate you for making me cry in front of people,” I mumble as I reach up to try and contain my tears.
I can hear our friends laugh and it settles the nerves in my stomach. It’s not easy for me to be this vulnerable in front of people other than Rook.
But I see him grinning, cheeky as ever and it calms something deep inside of me. Even without words, he knows exactly how to make me feel like everything is going to be okay.
“But that is also what I love about you,” I say softly, looking up into his eyes so he can see how much I mean every word of these vows. That I truly mean, till death do us part.
I never want one moment where he doubts just how much I love him. How without him, I’m not sure I’d be standing.
“You make me feel things, everything,” I wave my hands, “When I thought I would never do that again. Every wall that I could possibly build to protect myself, you burnt down. There is no hiding from you, there never has been. You pulled me from under the surface when I was drowning while everyone else had no clue. You see me for exactly who I am and I’m not sure how you still love me after seeing that,” My laugh is wet as hot tears stream down my face, “So today, this is what I promise to you.”
I pause, closing my eyes briefly, trying to regain my composure as I grip his hands tightly in my own.
“Breath, baby, you’re fine. It’s just me. It’s just us.” He reminds me, with a whisper, stepping closer to me so that our bodies are nearly touching.
It’s just us. It’s always been just us. I tell myself.
I open my eyes as I continue, “I vow from this day forward to never let you hurt alone. To take all the truths you give me and keep them close to my heart. I vow to stop stealing your zippo lighters and then losing them,” Rook's laugh is loud and infectious in my ears, “I promise you, Rook Van Doren that every single day I am alive, we will be the star-crossed lovers that beat the cycle. That no matter how dark or scary things may be, we will always be the eternal flame and we will never burn out. In sickness, in health. For rich or for poorer. For what we have joined together, nothing can separate. Not heaven. Not hell. Not even death.”
When I finish my lengthy speech, I want nothing more than to kiss him. The watery film over his eyes tells me he is seconds away from crying even though he swore he wouldn’t.
“Good luck following that up.” Silas grunts, and I snicker.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, asshole.” He mutters, before pulling his attention back to me.
“Sage,” He starts, burning me with his eyes, “I don’t remember what it was like to not want you. My life before you seem like a blur because all I can think about is after you.” All our memories from the past, the good and bad flash forward in my mind.
Every fight. Every touch. Every kiss. Every moment.
We were fucking magic, weren’t we?
“I’m not sure my words have the power to explain just how important you are to me. What you have given me, I’ll never be able to repay. You gave me forgiveness when I was in a world of pain. You gave me hope when I had none. You’ve given me a home. A purpose. A child who is going to have the best mother. You’ve made me the man I never thought I could be.”
“I promise you, that you will never be alone again. I will remind you of your strength when you feel weak,” He lifts his hand to my Phoenix necklace, rubbing the golden pendant, “I will protect you. Cherish. And relish,” He adds a wink for good measure, “You every day for the rest of our lives. Every day forward, I’ll be at your side. Through whatever life throws in our direction. I will be there. Through pain, through pleasure, and all the moments in between. Forever.”
I think it was Dante who said, the path to paradise begins in hell.
Our journey to this place of peace was nothing short of torturous trial after trial. Walking through fire and brimstone to stand bloody and burnt on the other side.
But we made it. Together.
All of us.
Sure, we were scarred and broken, but we were alive. Which is more than some could say.
I know we are supposed to wait until the minister announces we are man and wife, but I don't wanna wait any longer. I'd been through Dante's hell, through purgatory and I was ready for paradise.
“You and me, Fire God?” I ask, so full of love, of joy, that I can’t imagine not wanting this for the rest of my days.
“Us, TG. Always us.”
“If you don’t kiss him, I will. We’ve waited long enough for this shit.” I hear Alistair cough out.
They laugh as I look at our minister for the go-ahead, when he nods, I place my hand on the back of his neck, pulling him into my body.
And I kiss him.
I kiss him like it was the last time our lips would ever touch. I kiss him like the first time all over again.
I kissed him and I never looked back.