LIFE WAS GOOD.
Cyril had a cozy apartment that he loved.His family and friends were safe and healthy.His boyfriend was handsome and was healing from being shot.It had taken several weeks, but Vale was more or less back to normal.He still had some pain that he never mentioned to Cyril, but Cyril knew him, and he could see when Vale’s arm ached.He wasn’t too worried because he knew that Vale would be okay.
He wasn’t quite sure about himself, though.
He still wasn’t sure how he’d managed to do what he’d done in the cemetery.He needed to find a necromancer with more experience to ask about it, but he wasn’t sure how to do that.He’d tried googling a few times just to see what the browser came up with, but the only people who popped up were charlatans, and they wouldn’t be of any help.
That wasn’t the only thing that worried Cyril.Apparently, when the authorities had arrived at the cemetery, they’d only found one body, and it hadn’t been Helena.She was gone, and no one understood how she could’ve survived the swarm of dead bodies Cyril had sent her way.
It didn’t matter how she’d done it.She was alive, which meant she would probably pop back into Cyril and Vale’s lives eventually.That meant that Cyril needed to be prepared when she did.He’d need to protect Vale.
He glanced at Oscar, who was sunning himself by the living room window.He was behaving normally again.His aggression was a thing of the past, maybe because things were good between Cyril and Vale again.They’d talked—and talked, and talked—and had come to an agreement.They would talk things out when either of them had a problem, and there would be no more secrets between them.When one of them headed out, he had to tell the other.This mess might have happened even if they’d talked to each other, but at least Cyril would’ve been more prepared.
Not that he thought that anything could prepare him for life with Vale, but still.
At least the Organization wasn’t a problem again.No matter what had happened to Helena, it didn’t look like she’d returned to them.From what Rachel had been able to find, the other people working for them weren’t as efficient, and they were struggling to kill the people who’d worked for them in the past.A lot of them were as skilled as Vale at defending themselves and escaping the Organization.Cyril wasn’t sure it would change anything, but he didn’t care about the Organization.In fact, he wanted it to die.
“I made you some tea,” Vale said as he walked into the living room.
They’d decorated for the holidays.Vale had grumbled the entire time, but Cyril had caught him staring at the tree in the corner of the living room several times.Vale didn’t really have good memories of the holidays.He’d told Cyril that he never celebrated because what would be the point?He was alone.
Not anymore.He now had Cyril, and Cyril would show him that holidays could be enjoyable.He always spent them with his mother, and this year, it wouldn’t be just the two of them like always.Vale would be there, of course, but he wouldn’t be the only one.Robbie had declared he’d be there, too, and Russell had quickly agreed to come when Cyril had mentioned it.John hadn’t been far behind, and even Rachel had smiled and nodded, even though she’d warned them that she needed to go back to take care of a few things before she could return.
Cyril would spend the holidays with his family, something he never could’ve imagined before.
Vale sat next to him, and Cyril curled against him, smiling when his boyfriend wrapped an arm around his shoulders.This was what made fighting worth it.This was what he never wanted to lose.
He’d fight so he wouldn’t.He didn’t care what he had to do.He’d keep Vale and everyone else safe.He might not have been able to do so before, but with his ability growing, he was sure he could now.He’d always been friendly with death, but it was more than that now.He was getting intimately acquainted with it and stepping into a dance he wasn’t leading.
It didn’t matter.He’d find a way to use his ability to protect the people he loved, be it the last thing he did.
