59. Free
The scent of freedom engulfsmy senses as my mouth opens wide to yawn in the early morning air.
It’s earthy, carrying gusts of pollen and the aroma of pine trees. I don’t care to open my eyes as I enjoy the cool winds that the sunrise brings into the treehouse. Despite the life-changing events, the death, the new memories—I’m awake with a smile on my face. I’m no longer stuck in the cage of the Chandelier City. No longer plucked, lathered, and starved.
But most importantly, I’m withhim. The man I fought to keep alive. To get close to at all costs. To set free.
Kane slept on the cot at the opposite side of the treehouse, and I wondered as we closed our eyes where this place came from? Is this all part of the plan he couldn’t share with me?
“Are you going to cook pancakes or waffles for us this morning?” I tease, rolling over to my elbow. Empty. It’s as if his cot hadn’t been slept in last night.
I sit up, noticing the bowl of fruit, a canteen of water, and a note on the floor next to me. It reads,if I’m not back by the time you wake, eat up, the forest was out of eggs Benedict.
I smirk, tossing the note to the side as I gobble down the fresh berries, apple slices, and figs. Afterward, I chug the cool water, tasting of rain and soil, but I don’t care. My mouth had dried throughout the night, and I was parched.
As I clean my bowl, I tense at the sound of rumbling earth, a mechanical growl. I poke my head out of the opening, first seeing DaiSzek on guard at the base of the tree, then Kane on his motorcycle, pulling up to the curtain of vines, turning off his transportation, and covering it with the camouflage of the ivy.
“I didn’t leave you any eggs Benedict!” I shout from the top of the tree.
He grins up at me, laughing as he scratches the top of DaiSzek’s head and begins climbing up.
“I’d settle for coffee,” he says, reaching the opening.
“Where have you been?” As he stands to his full, towering height, my attention is snagged on the dark circles around his eyes, the devouring exhaustion. “You’ve been up all night again, haven’t you?”
And despite the dark clouds and the weight of no sleep, I see the constellation.
“Yes. I had to run one more errand—so that you could sleep soundly every night.” There’s a relief in his tone, tenderness, absolution.What did he do?
He hooks a loose strand of hair behind my ear, caresses my cheekbone with one knuckle. “I went back to the asylum to break Chekiss and Niles out. They’re in a safe location now, with everything they’ll need until it’s safe for us to meet with them again.”
“You—youwhat?” A sound like that of a small animal peels out of me, whimpering, choking on a gasp.
“They’refreenow, Skylenna.”
I’m stumbling back now, gaping at him in wonder and awe. How could he have done that alone? He freed my friends. My family.
Quicker than a blink, I’m on my knees crying from joy and the greatest pulse of relief I have ever known.They’re free. They’re free.
Kane joins me on the wood panels, holding me up as I crumble in bits of gratitude and peace. “You saved them,” I murmur into the wholeness of his chest. “You’ve set them free.”
I can see it now—Chekiss’s face as Kane opens his door, guides him to the fresh air, breaking him free of his chains. And Niles, the promise of never suffering from a treatment again.
And it’s her rare smile now beaming in my mind’s eye—that face that was nearly always in a permanent scowl—tears of joy filling her green eyes.
We did it, Scarlett.
We sit on the edge of the treehouse, watching the sun hit its peak, watching the trees dance to the symphony of the wind, and together, we breathe in the air we’ve earned. The air away from the city, away from the treatments of the asylum.
And as Kane caresses my hair, placing a kiss on the top of my head. I turn to him, with a smile I only reserve for his presence, for his company, for the familiarity of those cosmic dark eyes.
“We’re free,” I say, finally.
But as he processes my words, his eyes zone out. My words that I thought would trigger an expression mirroring my own. His face slackens, and it’s as if he’s fallen asleep with his eyes open. His vessel is empty. No one is home.
“Kane?”
He blinks. The only visible sign that his body is still working. I’m not even sure he’s breathing.
