Page 146 of Enchanted

Rami

Ihadn’t realised it was possible to feel this happy, especially given the events of the day before. But here, walking hand in hand with my mate as we talked, I was happy. Truly, unconditionally happy.

“I can’t believe I was almost taken out by a bus,” Ethan said mournfully. “Always knew it’d be my clumsiness that finished me off.”

“The good news is it can’t now. But if you could refrain from making comments about getting hit by a bus in future, I’d appreciate it.”

Ethan gave me a sheepish smile. “Shit, I do make that joke a lot, don’t I.”

“Far more often than I’m comfortable with.”

“I promise to be more attentive when crossing roads,” he said, amusement in his voice. “If for no other reason than because I don’t want to traumatise anyone else.”

His voice faded away as guilt flooded the bond. I squeezed his hand. “What is it, Eth?”

“I just…I just realised…” His throat clicked as he swallowed. “All those people who died yesterday…it’s my fault. It’s because of me.”

“No, baby.” I cupped his face firmly. “It’s because of Damien, no one else. You were one of his victims too. None of this is on you.”

A tear slid free. “I want to believe you, but I can’t.”

“You will,” I said, stroking his cheek. “I know it’s hard, but I’ll keep reminding you. That’s something you learn about being immortal the hard way—you see people die more often than you should. Sometimes, because of your actions. There’s no way to make it okay, but you find little ways to move on.”

“How?”

“By surrounding yourself with those you love. Reminding yourself that for every awful person in the world, there are ten good ones. Life is a cycle. We might have stepped outside of it, but we can’t interrupt it.”

He gave me a crooked smile. “Well, you can.”

“True, but I shouldn’t. Not as often as I do, anyway.”

When his guilt had eased to a quiet thrum, we started walking again. In an effort to redirect Ethan’s thoughts, I asked a question that had been burning in my mind for weeks now. “The day we met, you said you wanted more friends, but then immediately changed your mind.”

Ethan smiled sadly. “Yeah. Really, I did want a friend. I think you know how true that was.”

“I do. What I don’t understand is why you changed your mind. Was it something I said? Or did?”

“No.” He looked up at the sky. “I didn’t want to become friends with you only to die on you.”

I glared at him. “I think I’ve made it pretty clear since then that people who care about you want to be there for you, in good times and bad.”

“I know,” he said wryly. “Don’t worry, that message has been well and truly hammered home.”

“Good.”

Ethan thought for a minute. “So, you compelled me to forget you, promised not to pursue me, and then reached out to Sam to set up the photo shoots?”

I groaned. “When you lay it out like that, it doesn’t sound great.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m flattered—and thrilled, given how everything ended up. I’m just curious as to how you reached that decision.”

“I tried to stay away from you,” I confessed. “But…let’s just say I didn’t handle it very well.”

Ethan hummed. “Funny you should say that. The couple of weeks after we met, I could barely get out of bed. I felt so…lost. Like I was forgetting something important. Maybe it was my soul trying to remind me about you.”

“I hate that you suffered. I’m sorry, Ethan.”

“Like I said, it all worked out okay in the end.” He glanced down at our joined hands and gave a startled laugh. “Oh god, you healed my scar, didn’t you?”