During the days, we cleaned out empty rooms, searched through old boxes filled with memories, cried and laughed and told stories about Ivy and Mom. There were times when the three of us were in the same room, and there was one less body. We only had two people left to turn to, and we all felt it, the incompleteness, and it just kept hurting.
My nights were spent alone on the balcony, gazing out into the dark horizon toward Bone Island, where the lighthouse stood even though I couldn’t see it like I used to. The beam no longer cast its light on Weeping Hollow. Whatever magic that had possessed the island and the lighthouse had vanished with the Shadows. Along with my rage. Along with the cold. Along with the long bouts of darkness ... Along with Ivy.
Only the moon and the stars lit up the sky. And each night, I whispered a prayer to the moon for a world where a Heathen and a Siren could walk hand in hand.
Stone and the Heathens had attended Ivy and Mom’s funeral. During the ceremony, Stone, my husband, wasn’t able to stand by my side, as the Heathens were cast atop the cliff, forced to watch from afar. But Stone was still there during a time I’d desperately needed him, and I’d felt him as though he were beside me. This was the last time I saw him.
He'd left with Norse Woods, and I’d left with Sacred Sea.
Neither of us had a choice.
We’d always known this was how it was going to end for us. We would spend the rest of our lives living on barely caught glances, but I was so grateful for these glances. Just seeing him would be enough until we could be together.
Villains we’ve become, after all. Villains of our own hearts.
After eating dinner with Fable and Dad, I squeezed them tight while Cyrus carried my bags to his car.
I’d been gone from the Cantini Manor for two weeks, and it was time to return to Cyrus and the rest of the Cantini family. When my eyes opened in the morning, it would be the start of a fake married life with Cyrus. Two best friends, who hopefully would never grow to resent each other.
He slid into the driver’s seat. “Ready?”
I clutched Mom’s book close to my chest the entire way to the manor and spun Stone’s ring around my ring finger, where it would stay. Once we arrived, Camora, Viola, and the boys greeted me in the foyer. Cyrus lugged the bags straight to his room, and I moved like a ghost, following him mindlessly.
I thought of Circe in that moment. It could be worse. I was to have a life with my best friend, and Circe spent hers alongside a monster. I suppose this made me lucky.
As soon as I stepped into Cyrus’s room, I opened the curtains, then the balcony door, needing to breathe in the air, needing to see the ocean.
Cyrus stepped up beside me. “I’m happy you’re back. It wasn’t the same.”
I didn’t say anything. In fact, I haven’t spoken a word since he picked me up.
I wondered if he had noticed.
Cyrus pulled an envelope from his back pocket.
From the corner of my eye, he held this envelope in both hands, staring at the flap enclosure. “This was delivered yesterday.” By this time, he had my full attention. “To be honest, I’ve debated whether to give it to you.” He shrugged. “But I don’t want to start out like this. I don’t want to keep things from you, Adora.”
He handed me the letter, and it felt so heavy in my hands.
My heart was racing in my chest. I could hear it in my ears.
Even my breath turned shallow. As if I already knew.
Then, a bright light slid across my chest.
I glanced up, taking a step forward.
The lighthouse beam shone brighter than ever, cutting through the melting sun on the horizon. My fingers trembled as I stared down at the letter again. Then I eagerly broke open the flap.
To my darling siren,
It was a crisp, wintry dawn when you first held me in your arms.
You stripped out of your clothes to keep me warm, with a fire melting away all of our cold, hard pieces.
How fitting to have held you before ever opening my eyes. To have felt your heart beating before ever hearing your voice. I could have let you know then that I was awake, but it seems, since day one, I’ve always been afraid of you letting me go.
You read me the book you could never read alone, which happened to be my hundredth, and I watched you dance to a song about having no regrets, over and over. Two strangers frolicking as lovers, whispering secrets, telling stories, coalescing in the night, rooting to each other in all ways to escape the cruel realities surrounding us. You gave me my smile and laugh, and I gave you all I had left. And the way you touched me was equally passionate and gentle, writing a story on my skin where a scarred monster like me could be adored by a woman like you.
