Page 905 of Coal Hearts

Catching Ily’s stare again, I said softly. “You frighten me to my very core, mon cœur. You are dangerous to my heart, soul, and sanity but only because you are the greatest treasure I could ever hope to find. You make me feel safe. You make me feel seen. You freed me from all my fears of who I truly am, and showed me that even a dragon can be loved. Even a man who isn’t worthy can be blessed with a lifetime of happiness.”

Taking her left hand, I slipped the ring onto her finger. An act I’d craved but never believed would happen. She gasped, studying the heavy gold circlet that looked exactly like the woollen bow I’d tied around her finger so many months ago. The jeweler had even added the brushed filaments, making the gold a little rough, a little homespun. He’d captured the fragility of a string and made it permanent. Just like the threads of fate that’d bound us into one.

We both ignored the celebrant as Ily trembled and sniffed back a tear.

The darkness swirled inside me, ready to lick her happiness but she gave me a warning look and smiled. Holding out her hand to Peter, she waited until our friend shifted our daughter onto his hip and reached into his pocket.

Passing her a ring, he grinned in my direction. “You’re such a sap.”

I chuckled.

Ily rolled her eyes and grabbed my left hand. “We share the same birthday. We share the same soul and fate. And now...somehow...we share the same ring.”

I glanced at the gold encircling my finger and burst out laughing.

Almost identical.

A thick, glinting string.

Grabbing her cheeks, I kissed her.

I kissed her deeply, truly.

I kissed her vows right off her tongue.

I kissed her until the crowd cheered, the celebrant gave up trying to make us say I do, and Peter burst into laughter beside us.

As the orchestra slipped into a new song and people drifted off to find their places at dinner, Ily and I stayed on that altar and kissed.

We kissed for every day of this lifetime and beyond.

We kissed until nothing and no one could ever tear us apart.

Not death.

Not darkness.

Not even eternity.

Epilogue Three

...............................

Q

A year and a half later...

––––––––

I’D BEEN THE MASTER OF MY own darkness for many years, yet it wasn’t until my brother came along that I realised I didn’t have to always live in that darkness.

Tess had given me a heart.

Lino had given me a home.

But Henri taught me how to trust that I deserved them.

Despite what we did during the day and the blood that coated our hands, we came home to our wives and shut out the despicable world.