“Fritz,” she sighs, “I have been fortunate enough to find two loves of my life. Two men who I love so fiercely that it’s changed me. And if after today, I only get to keep one, I will still live with the gratitude that for a short time, I was loved by both of you.”
I nod, silently vowing to make her eternity the happiest anyone will ever know, with or without Caspian.
“But that’s not happening,” she reiterates.
“How can you be so sure?” I urge.
A wicked smile lights up her face, “Because Alastor is predictable. He needs his bait, or everything falls apart.”
“You have a plan,” I finally understand.
“Of course, I do. But you’re not going to like it.”
“Oh, Jesus Christ.” The click of the door unlocking alerts me to Isla’s return, the shock of not feeling her presence still as jarring as it was the first time.
Bel giggles, ruffling my hair and standing, “But first, food.”
When we emerge from where we slept, guilt punches me in the gut. Isla opened her home to us and has had to sleep on the couch as a thanks. She also shot a family member, risked a DUI, got shot at while driving, and managed to get us here completely unscathed. There’s no doubt in my mind we wouldn’t have made it out alive without her.
“Good morning,” she chirps, wrapping Bel in a hug. “There’s coffee, too.”
Bel clears her throat, keeping her tears at bay with nothing but sheer determination, “Thanks.” With a coffee in one hand and a bagel of some kind balanced in the other, Bel makes her way to a table. She gets comfortable, the scheming she’s doing written across her face.
Isla follows suit, already asking what the plan is and what it requires of her. As I listen to these two tiny humans bounce mad schemes back and forth, hearing the plan snowball into the clusterfuck of all clusterfucks, I know now for certain that Ido notlike the plan.
Only one thing is for sure: they’re going to be the death of me.
“Alright, are we ready?” Bel asks, practically bouncing on her toes. In trepidation. In excitement. In terror, though, she’ll never admit it.
“I’m never going to be ready,” I tell her for probably the hundredth time. “But I’ll do this. For you.”
She bounds over and wraps her arms around my neck, placing a kiss against my unprepared lips. I try to chase it, but she only pulls away quicker, taunting me with a teasinglaterwhispered at me.
I grumble at the lack of affection, but we both know I don’t mean it. I’m just trying to lighten the mood for both of us.
“So how does this work, exactly?” Isla asks from her spot on the couch. She seems entirely undisturbed by the fact that I’m going to basically kill her friend and bring her back to life.
“Truthfully, I’m not sure.” Her raised brows make it clear that wasnotthe right answer. “Well it’s not like I’ve done it before.”
She pushes again, “But you know it’ll work? Because she’s like your soulmate or whatever?”
Bel’s answering blush fills me with… something. Joy? Pride? Some combination of the two, I’m sure. These overtly positive feelings are something I’m unaccustomed to.
“Yes, she is.”
“And if she’s not?” Isla asks.
“She is. There’s no possibility that she’s not,” I have to fight to unclench my teeth. Iknowthat she is. I’ve known since the moment we met, I just didn’t understand what it all meant.
She shrugs, my assurance seemingly enough, “Alright, what do you need me to do?”
“Well, I was kind of hoping for some privacy for this,” I explain. “It’s… intimate.”
“You said you’ve never done it before,” she argues, “So how would you know?”
“Call it instinct?” I explain, “I know that it’s a bonding of souls, deeper than anything else in existence, a claiming on a molecular, spiritual level. Just talking about it feels intimate.”
She groans in annoyance and stands, “Alright, fine. I’ll… run to the store to get what I need for today. I’ll be back in thirty.”
