“‘Ah, moon girl,’ said Bellamy, a grin gracing his pain-stricken face. ‘You are misunderstood and therefore a depth of brilliance.’ He rolled on top of her until she was all he saw and kissed her raw. ‘If no one can see that, we shall leave them all behind, as they have rejected us, forced our hand. I will take you far away from here, the sun and the moon, leaving their nights empty and their days cold as they made ours. What’s worth fighting for if not love?’
“‘You’re a shameless Heathen, I could never ask you to abandon your coven,’ said Siri, her smile undeniable.
“‘You never did, and you would never have to. My wretched soul would choose yours in this life and each one hereafter––because, without you, I am certain a monster is what would become of me.’
“Sirius leaned over and reached into her dress pocket, pulled out a silver chain with a pendant attached. ‘Until forever,’ whispered she, slipping the necklace around his neck.
“Words were lost on Bellamy as he clutched the pendant in his fist, promising to treasure it and sealed her smile with a kiss. ‘Until forever,’ he repeated.
“A raven perched over a tree branch above, a disturbance in the wicked woods. Bellamy snapped his head to the sounds, listening to what cautions the trees had to tell. ‘They are coming,’ his naked form pounced to his feet, ‘all four of them!’ In the distance, torches lit a path in a synchronized march toward them. ‘Something isn’t right, you must hurry!’
“‘Who’s coming?’ asked Siri, pulling her dress over her shoulders.
“‘The Heathens of the Norse woods. My father!”
Chapter 25
Julian
Two days had passed.The morning fog thickened as I stood on my back porch, looking out into the forest in the middle of night. The fog rose to the branches. Once there, its mist broke apart, twisting into thin gray claws, summoning me toward the deep woods.
And the Norse woods was like a single, beating heart. A breathing organ that wanted me, and there was no name for what I was. A Hollow Heathen? A witch? A son of the woods? A murderer? I was all these things but never a hero.
Yet I had dived into the midnight waters from the sea cliff and yanked Fallon from the grip of the deep. I had pulled her to shore, rocked her wet limbs in my arms. I had done these things without a single hesitation. My chest buckled at the memory of her drifting amongst the waves, her white hair flowing all around her as she sunk to the ocean floor. Memories of her. Memories of Johnny. I slammed my eyes closed.
“I still can’t believe you did that,” Beck announced. He’d come through the back door of my cabin with two open beers in one hand. He passed me one. “That couldn’t be easy after what happened with Johnny. How are you holding up?”
Johnny. The sound of his name gripped my lungs.
I slammed my eyes closed, waiting for the horrible memory to pass.
“I don’t want to …”I don’t want to think about it, talk about it, hear about it …
I took a sip of the beer and focused on the way the liquid swirled around my tongue. Then forced it down. The leaves rustled when the wind came.
“Jonah said she’ll be back at work in a few days,” Beck changed the subject to Fallon. “Kane Pruitt is a hero.” A bullet of anger had risen in his words, but he fell silent as the sound of the night festered between us.
“As long as she’s okay.”
He slid his eyes to me. “Are you going to see her?”
The breeze of the night held its breath, waiting on my answer.
“Not yet,” I shifted my stance, envying the stability of the ground, “I don’t know. I shouldn’t. I can’t,” I concluded. “It would only make things worse for both of us anyway.”
Beck nodded at the corner of my eye as we stood side by side, peering into the woods. “Maybe you should be honest with her. About the reasons why you two can’t—”
“And what are the reasons, Beck? Because I’d made a blood-pact with you all? Because of the Order? Because of the curse? Because I have to be loyal to everyone in this fucking townexcepther? How am I supposed to be with her if I’m not allowed to? The deeper we go, the harder it will be, and where will that get us? It’s already fucking hard enough. And worse, what if I kill her? I barely made it out after Johnny died, but with her? No, I wouldn’t be able to come back from it.” My chest shook, and I dragged in a steadier breath. “Everything’s eventual—”
“And if it bleeds, it suffers,” Beck finished for me, reminding me we’re human.
“You know,” I continued, shaking my head, “she asked me once,‘What was the point?’And the point is, there is none. It just is, Beck. She’s a part of me already, moving inside me along with my shadow-blood, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.”But what if I didn’t kill her? What if I can break the curse and put her above everyone? What if I held on to the only light in my dark and miserable life?The only real thing that’s ever happened to me?I gripped the beer and closed my eyes and lifted my chin, listening to the whispers of the trees, the whispers of my heart. “I can’t take it. I think I have to see her.”
Beck chuckled. “You’re so back and forth.”
“Yeah, I have to see her,” I repeated, resolved, mind made up.
“Alright, man.”
