Page 150 of The Shadow Bride

Dimitri’s and Odessa’s lives have been intwined since birth. Before it, even. Everything they have done, they have done together, but now... they cannot be together anymore. Their lives must separate; they must part, and everything is about to change.

He shakes his head ruefully. “Damn, Des. You’re quite a bit stronger than I remember.”

She releases his wrist to pat his cheek. “And I will happily break your arm if you ever touch my hair again.”

Behind them, Filippa snickers.

Dimitri pretends not to hear it, instead pulling his sister into a hug and resting his chin on her head. The gesture is intimate, even childlike, and I can almost picture the two as such—much younger, much smaller, with long and bright futures ahead of them. “You were born for this, Des,” he murmurs, squeezing her tighter. “If anyone can wrangle this island into order, it’s you, and I could not be prouder to call you my sister.”

“No.” She shakes her head abruptly, pushing him away with much greater care than usual. With gentleness. “No, do not say another word. This is starting to sound suspiciously like farewell, but thatcannotbe the case when there will always be a ship in Cesarine to bring you back. And if there is not, I will send one; I will send a hundred boats if that is what you require.” Sniffing, she steps backward and turns away, but I still recall her at the grotto, clinging to Michal and screaming her brother’s name. His absence will pain her more than she’ll ever admit.

I catch her hand as she brushes past us to speak to a nearby sentry. I squeeze it, and she returns the pressure without a word. “Take care of him, Célie,” she murmurs. “For me. Please.”

“You know I will.”

She smiles at that—small and perhaps mournful—before giving her undivided attention to the sentry. I loop my arm through Dimitri’s next. “What about Margot? Will she be joining us in Cesarine?”

He heaves a dramatic sigh. “She wants to stay in Requiem.” At my confused look, he adds reluctantly, “I snuck out to the flower shop earlier, hoping to surprise her, but she—she didn’t know what to say. It isn’t that shedoesn’t love me”—he scoffs at the trite excuse—“but that her life ishere, and my life... cannot be here anymore. She never admitted it, but I think she hoped I’d someday change her into a vampire.”

“I’m sorry, Dima.”

He slides his free hand into his pocket. “Don’t be. I probably would’ve killed her, and I—IthinkI’m excited about Cesarine.” Tilting his head in frank consideration, he says, “You know, perhaps it won’t smell so foul now that I’m human.”

“It still will,” Lou says.

She passes us now too, slinging a satchel of food over her shoulder. Though she moves to chomp into an apple on her way to the gangplank, Dimitri snatches it from her at the last second. He tosses it between his hands experimentally before taking an enormous bite. “Oh mygod,” he says with his mouth full, staring down at the apple in blissful wonder. “I think I’m most excited about thefood.”

“A boreanda brute.” Hitching the basket of kittens higheron her hip, Filippa rolls her eyes as she follows after Lou. “How shocking.”

His eyes spark, and he abandons the rest of us to follow hot on her heels. “Abore? Tell me, are you aware of what that word means? Out of the two of us, I can assure you, I am not the bore. You even walk like you have a stick up your—”

Madame Tremblay snaps her gaze to him.

“—corset,” he finishes humbly, catching her hand to help her onto the gangplank without missing a beat. Madame Tremblay nods in approval as Filippa tries to crush his fingers. “Excellent posture. Really, truly excellent.”

Filippa hisses something in return, too low for me to hear, and Dimitri laughs, releasing her hand and assisting Madame Tremblay next. “You mustn’t judge the state of the town house when we arrive. I did not know I’d be receiving guests—”

“Do not inconvenience yourself for our sake,” Dimitri says. “Michal and I are indebted to you, madame, and we promise to trespass upon your hospitality only until we procure our own lodgings.”

“AndIam hardly a guest, Maman,” Filippa says over her shoulder. “I assume the nursery is right where I left it.”

Madame Tremblay hesitates on the gangplank, looking suddenly nervous. “I think... well, to be quite frank, I think the time has come to retire the nursery.” Then—as if realizing every eye in our party has turned to her—she clears her throat, hastening to look down her nose at us. “Perhaps, Filippa, you would rather claim your father’s room instead?”

Filippa blinks at her in perplexity. “What do you mean? I will not be sleeping with Pére—”

“Oh, of course you won’t.” Our mother waves a hand, interrupting in an unusually loud voice. A shrill one. “Because I—I have kicked the wastrel out. He is not welcome in our home any longer, though, of course, I will respect your decision to see him again if you so wish.” An uncertain pause. “I do apologize for not telling you sooner,” she adds, softer now, “but we had rather more important things with which to deal.”

Filippa’s eyes catch mine, and we stare at each other in shock. Inawe. Before I can congratulate our mother, however, Filippa says, “Good riddance.”

And I couldn’t have put it better myself.

Beaming at them both—at Dimitri too—I bounce a little on my toes, unable to contain my excitement. It courses through me like a salve, healing the horrors of the last several hours, the last severalweeks.Years. I wrap my arms around Michal, pulling him toward the gangplank. “This really will be a new start for all of us. A newadventure.”

“Ah, yes.” Dimitri shakes his head and leads my sister and mother onto the ship. “Three single women alone in the city. What mischief could possibly await?”

“Or not so single.” Michal pulls me aside before we step onto the gangplank, black eyes glittering with anticipation. He brushes my hair back, cradling my cheek in his palm, while his other hand slides around my waist. “All the pieces are falling into place,” he murmurs, “but is this whatyouwant? To return to Cesarine? To walk under that orange tree and sit at that nursery window?”

I breathe a soft laugh. A rueful one.

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