Page 3 of Meet Me in the Stars

“I love you, Freddie,” she said, and I glanced back to the bed where the body that once housed her lay curled up.

“I love you too, Lotus. Never forget that. Even if the Other World takes all your other memories don’t forget that.”

“I’ll never forget you Frederique Moonscale,” she teased even now.

She rose up on her tiptoes and we shared another goodbye kiss. I could’ve kissed her forever. I would’ve if it kept her here with me and the egg brats.

“Carry me to one more door?” she smirked.

“Anything for you, my little flower,” I grinned, managing to keep it together as I lifted her up in my arms.

For a second, I thought my feet might freeze to the balcony, but the traitors moved back inside gracefully as ever. I kissed Lotus all over her face as I carried her to the final door that would separate us, at least for a while. She laughed and squirmed and everything inside me wanted to explode. This wasn’t my time. It was hers. I’d explode after she was safely back with her ancestors.

Lotus slid down onto her own feet and glanced at the still closed door.

“Don’t be sad forever,” she said, wiping away a tear from my cheek. “Open another club or screw your way around the globe. Do whatever it takes. Don’t let the end of me be the end of you. I expect you to be alive and well when I show back up.”

“I’d never let you down,” I said and leaned in for one more kiss.

“I love you, Freddie.”

“I love you too, Lotus,” I said, holding her face in my hands one more time.

I kissed her forehead and she grinned. For a long second, neither of us moved, but eventually she turned to the door. I always opened the doors for Lotus when we were together. This one was no different. I kissed her on the top of her blonde head and twisted the golden knob for her. I pushed the door open and Lotus’s eyes lit up. Her grandma on her mom’s side was there and Lotus squealed. She rose to her tiptoes and kissed me on the cheek before sprinting into her grandma’s arms.

“Take care of her for me, will you?” I asked, managing a smile for the old woman who embraced my little flower.

“Always. You take care too,” she said as they along with the door faded away.

“I love you, Freddie! I’ll always love you!” Lotus’s voice bounced around the room even after the door was gone.

The Moonscale Flight link erupted with the surprise cut off from one of our own. The kids sat up, spines like ramrods, the curtains swinging open. I walked back to the balcony and grabbed the pack of cigarettes I hid behind one of the big flowerpots just for this occasion. Lotus hated that I smoked, only she wasn’t here to do anything about it anymore. The damn thing tasted like an ash tray, but that was fair. My life had just burnt down after all.

Chapter Two

Duke Knight-Darnell-Moonscale

Teddy hugged me too tight. My half brother was a few years younger than me, but you’d never know it by the way he squeezed my glass skeleton as soon as we came through the Other World gateway. I squeezed him back, wondering if someone had sandpapered his bones too when his carrier died. He let out a sob against my shoulder and our siblings, Sequin and Daliah shot me that look that said he was at it again – being over emotional. I fought off the urge to flip them off behind Teddy’s back, because they’d just lost their mother too.

It wasn’t possible to be over emotional about losing a parent. It didn’t matter how long he knew or didn’t know his mama was sick. Lotus’s death killed something inside me and left questions vibrating through my hollow places. I couldn’t imagine what it had done to them. Everyone grieved differently and later I’d tell them to shut the fuck up and let Teddy grieve however he needed to. Their grief only bought them so many free passes to be assholes.

“Dad wanted to meet you guys here, but he just can’t. He’s still on the balcony smoking cigarettes. The attorney came to talk to him. Mom’s doctor came too. I think Clarence and Medwin stopped by. Mom’s parents too, of course,” Teddy rambled on between sobs.

“I’ll get some food in him,” I promised. “We brought some stuff from the bakery and some stuff the folks around the village baked. We got it taken care of. Have you eaten?”

“No,” he shook his head. “Not since before.”

“You gotta eat. You gotta be there at all the stuff for her,” I whispered, avoiding the word funeral on purpose.

Blithe walked back between Sequin and Daliah and I walked back with Teddy. Our mates, Cord and Syre would meet up with us later. I already missed Syre and our baby, but didn’t want to add the emotional challenge of dealing with a kid to a house already thick and sticky with grief.

“She wanted to tell you,” Teddy sniffled, pulling himself together a bit now that we were in motion. “She was afraid everyone else would find out. Mom loved you. You’re one of us.”

I let him ramble. Later, I’d work through what she did or didn’t want to tell me. I’d work through why I didn’t notice anything was wrong with her when she came to picnic with us shortly after Syre got pregnant. I’d work out a lot of stuff later, but this wasn’t the time for processing. Death never made sense. It would never make sense. So, I was just there going through all the motions that might aid us all in processing later on.

“They’re not at the house,” Teddy said, but I had lost the trail of his ramblings.

“Who?” I asked.

---