For a while, we pretended. For a while, I was the kind of man you could have chosen in the end, and you weren’t the angry, forbidden girl. We clung to merciful lies to hide from harsh truths. We unleashed our dark sides, screamed our pain, and skinned ourselves raw to let the other in. Then it was frightening because we were falling even though we said we weren’t, and we hurt anyone standing in our way, even each other. We resisted all belief, seduced fate, and sinned in the name of love. Our hearts were never on the table, my darling, because we’d thrown them at each other—you, angrily, and me, desperately.
All this time, we kept rewriting our tragic story, desperate to change our bitter end. And what has saved us? Our hearts were so tangled it was hard to know who was holding who too tight.
We have a love that outlasts love.
Fate was never on our side, but we didn’t need it.
Time stood in our way, so we created our own.
Nothing could ever dissever my soul from your soul, as Poe would say.
You are my love, my life, my wife.
But now it’s been weeks since I’ve seen you, and there’s something you should know. At the age of ten, a man approached me on the street in Maryland. He gave me an envelope but told me that I couldn’t open it until I’d read my hundredth book. This man and his challenge, I believe, saved me through the hardest years.
After it had gone missing, this envelope found its way back to me.
My darling Adora, the story of Alec & Circe was my hundredth book, and I opened the envelope. Inside was the deed to Bone Island, and since you are the next living descendent of Circe, the lighthouse, Bone Island, and everything on it are yours. It seems Alec gave his all to Hedera in death.
By the time you receive this letter, I’ll already be waiting at the lighthouse for you. The beam will be on until we’re together again. For an eternity if that’s what it takes.
If you choose to stay there for the time being, I want you to do something for me. I want you to hold on to the memory of Bone Island. And every night when you see the light, think of me.
But also know that I need you to come home.
I need you in my arms again, as you are my reason to breathe.
So, please don’t take too long.
Not having you is killing me.
Eternally yours,
Stone
My eyes wereblurry when I looked at Cyrus.
He stood there, gazing out at the lighthouse beam, watching it rotate.
“I love you, Adora,” Cyrus finally said for the first time, glancing down at his feet as he shifted in place. He glanced back up at the beam. “I’ve always loved you, I will always love you, and that’s why I have to give you the choice.”
A tear slipped from my cheek. “I-I—”
“Did you not hear me? I’m giving you a choice,” he said, his eyes denim glistening as he turned to me. “I’ll always be here for you whenever you need me because that’s what soulmates are for, right? We look out for each other. So, I will figure out the rest because I know he is what makes you happy,” he said, emotions on the verge of breaking. “And you deserve to be happy, Adora. So, please go.”
“Cyrus,” I cried.
His chin tipped upward. “Go.”
I didn’t waste another second.
I sprinted through the room, down the stairs, and out the front door, not stopping. My heart was pounding so loud that I could hardly tell if I was breathing. And then my feet touched the sand. It felt like moving through molasses as I sprinted toward the docks, my purse with the boat keys and the book of Alec & Circe inside.
The sun was slowly descending, its colors smearing across the sky.
By the time I reached the boat, my legs felt wobbly.
I jumped inside the Finneuma.
