Page 8 of Evidence of a Folktale

“Isobel?” he started.

“I’ve had a lot of time to think,” she interrupted. “And I’ve decided that no, you don’t get to make me love you and then leave.”

“Isobel—”

“You had your chance to talk. This is mine,” she cut him off again as she stepped further into the foyer. “I love you, Eamon Stone. Do you hear me? I love you, and you swore to me you’d never leave. I intend to hold you to that promise. I understand your fear. I understand why you feel responsible, but you aren’t, Eamon. You fell in love. You took me on vacation, and those aren’t sins. They are signs you care, and I cannot fault you for that. I appreciate your willingness to put me first,tosacrifice so I don’t have to. It makes me love you more, but you don’t get to leave when things get difficult.”

“I’m not leaving you because things are difficult,” he interrupted.

“If you’d purposely thrown me in harm’s way, that would be a different story, but you couldn’t predict those tragedies would happen. You aren’t to blame. I’m a cop, and the unfortunate truth of my job is that every officer leaves the house in the morning not knowing if we’ll make it home. You didn’t feed me to the wolves. Those monsters took me, so I don’t blame you for what’s happened. I forgave you for scarring me. I forgive you for taking me on vacation and accidentally introducing me to a serial killer, but I will never forgive you if you walk out on me.”

“Isobel, it’s not that simple.”

“Yes, it is because we’re not that kind of couple. You don’t get to decide for me. You don’t get to leave because it’s what you think is right. We’re either in this together, or we aren’t who I thought we were.”

“You were dead!” Eamon shouted so loudly that Bel flinched, and she unconsciously stepped backward as the custom chandelier shook above their heads. “You died, Isobel!” He pounded a fist against the wall, causing the plaster to splinter below his skin, and then, with an agony she’d never witnessed from him, he sank to the floor as if his heart had given out.

“Do you think I want this?”Eamon shouted from his crumpled position on the foyer floor. “Do you think I want to leave you? You are the love of my life, Isobel. Look at this house. Do you see the furniture and décor? Haven’t you noticed that it’s all stuff you like? My entire home is a love letter to you. This isn’t my house. It’s ours. You belong here with me, and I want you every day for as long as you live. I hate the thought of leaving. I cannot stomach the idea of never seeing you again, but you were dead. You left me first. You died, and for those unending hours, I’d lost you.” He slammed his head back against the wall, the life bleeding from his eyes. “Obviously, it was a mistake, but you ceased to exist, and I can’t suffer that again. I cannot bury you. I won’t do it. If you die, I die.”

“Eamon…” Bel trailed off, a different brand of fear taking root in her gut at the shattered man before her.

“I won’t bury you,” he repeated. “Don’t make me do that. Please don’t make me…” his voice broke. “You were dead, and now that I got you back, I refuse to lose you again. I would rather live across the world than put you in the ground so young. You have so much life left to live, and I won’t be the reason it’s cut short. I won’t be the reason your family has to attend your funeral.”

“Eamon.” Tears flooded her eyes until his outline blurred. “I’m so sorry. I was so caught up by everything that I never stopped to consider what my faked death did to you.”

“And you shouldn’t have to. What you suffered was far worse.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that you lost me.” She crossed the foyer and sank to the ground, straddling his lap until she sat chest to chest with him. “For those first hours, you did lose me. I was dead for you, and I can’t imagine the pain you went through. If I ever lost you, I wouldn’t survive.”

“Don’t say that.”

“It’s true.” She caught his face and forced him to look at her. “I can’t lose you either. It’s why you can’t leave me. I need you… more than you realize. You won’t bury me, but I won’t live without you. Don’t make me.”

“But I’m not safe.” Eamon gripped her hips as if he feared she’d stand up and vanish into the ether. “Look at all I’ve done to you.”

“Eamon, you’re a powerful man, but you aren’t responsible for everything. You aren’t God.” She kissed his lips gently before continuing. “And have you ever stopped to look at things from another angle? You scarred me, yes, but that was because Alcina cursed you. She needed a sacrifice to complete her spell, and if she’d succeeded, her black magic would’ve owned you. Imagine the horrors you would’ve inflicted on this world if I hadn’t been the sacrifice. I was the one who made you resist. I was the reason you fought back. When you think about it, I saved you.”

“Isobel.” He pulled his face from her hands.

“It’s the truth.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, refusing to let him escape the conversation. “I saved you from becoming a monster. I gave you a reason to fight, and you’re a free man because of it. My scars are proof I survived. They’re proof you did the impossible when you defied Alcina, and I hate hearing that you think you disfigured me. You always make me feel beautiful. Don’t undo that.”

“I’m sorry for what I said at the hospital.” His grip tightened on her hips, but she didn’t move, letting him cling to her. “I didn’t mean that you were deformed. I just meant I hurt you.”

“I know.” Bel ran her fingers over his chiseled jaw. “You love me, scars and all. You love them because they remind you we’re worth fighting for.”

“We are.” Eamon’s head collapsed against her chest, all the resistance leaving his muscles, and Bel tightened her hold on his neck.

“And you blame yourself for Abel, but your only fault was getting my attention. Abel was unstable, and he fixated on me. If I hadn’t fallen for you, I would’ve dated someone else, and he still would’ve come after me. The only difference is that another boyfriend couldn’t have saved me. I escaped his basement ten minutes before you arrived. Ten minutes, Eamon. If I’d just waited, you would’ve broken down that locked door with your bare hands. You were why I never gave up hope when I was with him. I knew you were coming for me.”

“But I’m why you moved to Bajka,” he argued. “If I hadn’t attacked you in New York, you would’ve never met him.”

“And he would’ve kidnapped another girl,” Bel said. “He wasn’t stable. My presence made him snap, but I’m not special. Another woman would’ve eventually triggered him, and she might not have had the strength to escape. Am I glad he took me? Of course not. But you didn’t cause it. Abel was a broken man, and he was going to kill whether he met us or not. Then there’s the Darling Case,” she continued, the words a flood from her mouth now that she’d started. “Wendy hid the truth about her brothers until it was too late to un-involve me. We didn’t have all the information, and while we lost lives, we saved two children. Kids, Eamon. We saved kids. The FBI tried to help them, but they didn’t decipher the clues.” Bel jabbed a finger into her chest. “I did. I found those boys, and you helped rescue them. We did that, and you cannot blame yourself for a madman’s actions when we’re the reason that family is alive. They were at my dad’s for Thanksgiving, playing with my nieces and nephews and my dog because of us. I never want to step on an IED again, but I also refuse to watch a ten-year-old drown. And even if you didn’t introduce me to the Darlings, the police would’ve eventually gotten involved. Think about how that IED blast would have ended if you weren’t there.”

“Don’t say that.”

“It’s the truth. I would’ve been called in to investigate a kidnapping, but without you, I’d be in pieces.”

“Isobel.” He gripped her biceps as if it would silence her.

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