Page 24 of Live Like Legends

He missed his family.

“I understand why you did it. We will get them back to you, but we will do it the right way. I know it hurts but you are going to have to trust us.” I removed one of my hands from his face and brought it over to his closed fist that was still holding my key. “You don’t want this to be the story of how you saw your family again. Believe me when I tell you that you are already a hero in their eyes, so don’t tarnish that.”

The tears that had settled on his bottom lid started to fall. I peeked over at Natalia, who gave me a small smile before nodding over to Zane and the others. Garrett’s body seemed to relax when the magic was removed, and his head tilted up towards the High Priestess. “I am so sorry, Your Majesty.” His voice was cracked and small. “I just…I miss them…I…”

She grabbed his chin and patted his cheek with her other hand. “Never be sorry for loving someone that fiercely, alright.”

I felt the chain of the portal key in my hand as he released it. I snuck a glance over to his palm and noticed the indention his hold had left. I looked down at the key to see that little spots of blood were on it. I placed my eyes back on his open palm to see that the indentions were deeper as if he had held on so tight, he had started to break skin.

He hadn’t been prepared to let that key go without a fight.

“I didn’t want to hurt anyone…” I looked over at him when I realized he was speaking to me. “I miss them.” He felt the need to keep repeating this notion, as if he thought that if he stopped saying it, it would make it untrue.

I placed my key in my pocket and returned both my hands to the sides of his face. “We got you.” I had to quickly regain my balance when he practically collapsed against me in a mess of tears. I remembered being in the same position with Dani holding me in Purgatory, where all I could do was cry and feel all the things I was harboring. I wasn’t afraid to admit that I could one day be in that position yet again, crying into the arms of the girl I loved, but knowing I could hold it together for someone who needed me to be in a stronger position than them made me feel good.

It made me feel like myself again.

I didn’t push him off to someone else; I wrapped my arms around his shoulders best I could and rubbed his back. “How about we go outside, sit down and you can tell me all about them.”

It had been a little over an hour before Garrett started coming to the end of all his stories about his family. The way his eyes flickered with life when he was laughing over the past and even all the things they planned to do in the future made me smile. His voice was more put together and the only tears that left his eyes were happy ones from a fond memory or from his overbearing laughter.

Reese and I remained outside with him while the others cleared the mess inside. Zane kept a close eye on us from one of the windows, per Natalia’s orders. Garrett spoke of how Elise was probably right, and Axel was guarding his family just fine. I would bet celestial coins on that, especially knowing that hellhound was immovable when it came to the people he cared about.

Garrett and I sat on one of the wooden benches that was placed near the tree lines, while Reese leaned up against a tree with his head tilted to the sky. The Enchanter cleared his throat when the silence of his finished stories wrapped around us. “Thank you for this. I thought talking about them would hurt, which it does, but in a way it doesn’t. It feels good to speak about them even when the future is still so unknown.”

My best friend let out a cough that wasn’t a regular everyday cough. That was a cough that was directed at me and at Garrett’s words. I gave him a knowing look and twisted my body so I could swing one of my legs over to the other side of the bench. “Um…you mentioned a day or so ago about my powers?—”

“You want to learn to use them?”

“Oh, uh…no, well I don’t think so. I just want to understand it.”

Garrett scratched his chin. “I’m no history buff, Nicholas, but I can tell you that power was always very rare and kept tight within the world of Enchanters. Going off and marrying anyother being that could somehow diminish that power line was unheard of. The fact that you even have it is astounding.”

“Transference.”

Garrett looked at me with raised eyebrows.

“That’s how I got it. Natalia’s mother took it from…my mother, who apparently got it from another Enchanter and gave it to me. I don’t remember any of it.”

Garrett slowly nodded and leaned over, placing his hand on my knee. “I was there when your father told us as much as he could muster about your mother. I can understand wanting to keep it together for the sake of your children but trust me when I say it’s hard trying to be the strongest one.” He jostled my knee so I would look at him. “Your mother keeping this power alive by holding it within herself and then giving it to you means a great deal to those of us who thought we were the only ones left. I would like to point out how it did come in handy when you needed it.”

I ran a hand through my hair, blowing out a breath as a soft breeze blew in. “Yeah, I guess it did. I guess I just don’t know what it means for me now.”

Reese chimed in, “Nick, it doesn’t have to mean anything. Or it can just mean that you have this thing that makes you slightly more interesting than we originally thought. If you never use it again, cool. If you do, great. The fact that you know you have it is a big step in itself.”

“Did you just say something just a tiny bit profound?”

Reese placed a hand on his chest in faux shock. “I tend to do that every now and again, so fuck you.”

Garrett chuckled. “The only thing you need to know is that the bigger and more powerful the entity, the more it will take from you. Necromancers have died giving too much. Consider this before attempting to be heroic, alright?”

I felt Reese push me over so I could make more room on the bench for him. I pointed my finger at him. “Weren’t you saying something before?”

Reese narrowed his eyes at us. “Ah, now you guys give a flying fuck about what I have to say?”

I made a motion with my hand that told him to get over it and continue.

My best friend tucked a piece of his blonde locks behind his ear. “Ariel is likely sending someone to watch us.”

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