“Embracing your chaos means finding peace in your heart and living with all parts of who you are. Even the ones you hide from.”
He turned from the butterfly to find tears glistening on her cheeks.
The warmth of the fire had hidden the pallor of her skin and deep shadows beneath her tired eyes. Her cheeks were gaunt and the white light from the moon deepened the bruises he was beginning to see around her neck.
Chaos roared to life inside him, ice flooding their veins as he growled.We will rip the soul from the daemon who laid hands on her. I may have been suppressed in the asylum, but we are no longer held by the chains of illusion.We are the Father of Chaos, and with our awakening will come a tide of vengeance this world has yet to see. We will glutton ourselves as we watch them burn for her.
Chaos’ anger boiled with his own, the man and the monster uniting as one in their rage.
“Your eyes are glowing.”
Xia’s voice filtered through his thoughts of rage and ruin as she covered the blemishes with a curtain of hair.
“Don’t,” he said. “Don’t ever hide from me, Xia.”
“Brooks, I don’t–”
“I want to see it all,” he interrupted. “The pain you’ve felt. The trauma you hold. I want it all. Do you understand?” His voice was guttural. “Your burdens are no longer yours to carry alone.”
Xia flinched as she answered with a small, shrinking nod, the raging fire in his heart banked. How often had she taken the brunt of another man’s anger? How many times was she forced to be submissive for the sake of pride and dominance?
“I’m sorry,” he said in earnest, Chaos' voice melting away. “I lashed out. It wasn’t your fault, and it wasn’t meant for you.”
“I know.”
The silence stretched like a yawning chasm between them. Their arms touched, but Brooks felt miles away from her. Xia’s lips pursed as she stared out over the water, butterflies still fluttering around them.
“I learned a lot on that beach, Brooks,” Xia whispered. “About myself, and about this anger inside of me. She feels the way you described Chaos, just this ever present being stirring within. I’ve starved her, shoved her down into the deepest pits of my soul, all because I was afraid she would make me a monster. But…” she drifted, eyes falling to a butterfly that landed on her knee. “I think that was a mistake. She needs me to nurture her, and I need her to find the girl I could have been all along. You were right about embracing the chaos inside, and I’m ready to build that with her.”
Xia placed a palm on her chest and rubbed slowly, pressing protectively against her heart. Brooks knew that feeling all too well. That was where he felt Chaos.
“I appreciate your willingness to protect and avenge the wrongs committed against me. But I don’t need you to do that for me. Okay?”
Tears glistened in her pleading eyes as she asked him to understand. The problem was, he didn’t. She was so fragile, her pieces so broken that there was no possible way to put them together alone.
But she is not alone. Her Siren is with her.
“I can try, Xia.”
She nodded and swallowed. “I think trying is a good start. I don’t want to be some burden you carry along. I want to walk by your side.”
“I can be anything you need.”
She scoffed, but a small laugh followed. “That’s pretty open ended you know.”
“Well, I meant it.”
“You’re lucky I kind of like you, or I’d have a mind to exploit your lack of details in this contract.”
“Oh, it’s a contract now, is it?” Brooks laughed and some of the tension melted from his body just her shoulders relaxed. The easy flowing banter between them was a safe spot, and he was relieved they found their way back to it. “How about this? If I ever act like an asshole again, you have the right to judge the severity of my crime and punish me accordingly.”
“Well, in that case, I think I’ve earned the right to punish you right now. How about a swim?” A mischievous gleam crept into her eyes.
His head whipped toward hers, mouth agape. “What?”
“A swim. You know, that thing you do when you submerge yourself into a body of water and flail around to keep your head above water?”
“I know what swimming is, Xia. In case you haven’t realized it yet, though, it’s freezing out here.”
