Page 118 of Diamond Kisses

I couldn’t live with this pain.

I’dneverbeen able to live with this pain.

“I love you,” I whispered as I placed her hand in Peter’s.

“I’ll see you soon.” I kissed her one last time on her blue cold lips.

And then I turned to my brother hovering behind me.

I grabbed his hand still holding his gun.

I jerked it up and pressed the muzzle against my forehead.

“Kill me,” I hissed. “I can’t do this anymore.”

And then, I reached for the trigger.

And squeezed—

Chapter Twenty

………………………….

Henri

“FANCY SEEING YOU HERE.” ILY smiled and waved, beckoning me to join her where she lay on a silver picnic blanket. Her black hair glowed as if the very darkness had transformed into ebony light. A stunning white sari floated around her stunning form. Diamonds glittered in her hair, ears, and around her throat. Hundreds of thin silver bangles clinked on her wrists. But it was the luminous designs painted on her fingers, palms, and hands that enraptured me. Flowers and swirls, runes and scripture. They looked as magical as her wand tattoo.

I went to her in a dream.

She stood and reached for me. “We’re together now. Just like we were always meant to be.”

I smiled with such relief, such an overwhelming sense of home. “God, I’ve missed you.”

“And now you never need to miss me again.” She gathered me close and stood on her tiptoes.

I shuddered as she hugged me.

I groaned as she kissed me.

My arms threaded around her starbright form and crushed her to me.

A familiar arc of energy hummed from her skin to mine. A spark, a fuse, the chemical reaction of our forms, bonding with love and lust and a lifetime of pure, perfect happiness.

Happiness.

After so many years of loneliness.

After so many days and decades of feeling nothing but loss and pain, this was…heaven.

Wait.

I paused as I looked past her to the landscape around us.

Everything shimmered with light. The grass beamed white, the sky almost blinding. A giant weeping willow draped its sterling leaves in a babbling brook of quicksilver.

“Where are we?” I pressed my forehead to hers. “What is this place?”

“This is our wedding day,” she whispered, showing me her hands. “The henna on my skin represents our mortal story. That story has ended, but…this is our true beginning. We get to make a choice. Stay here for a time or…”

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