Page 80 of Forgotten Monsters
His blue gaze digs deep into me, but I don’t cower away. Growing up, I thought he’d always be by my side, but time has proven how…wrong we can be together. How volatile.
“Burying Jules…it killed me. And you weren’t there,” I croak.
“I’m sorry I abandoned you when you needed me the most.”
After the funeral, Flynn disappeared inside a bottle. He numbed himself to the point of being unrecognizable, and I stopped believing in love altogether. He did reach out to me after a while, but by then I wanted nothing to do with him.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t find a way to snap you out of it,” I admit. “We have a tremendous task ahead of us. The hollows, the Unseelie—I don’t want you to come with us if you won’t take it seriously.”
“If we have a shot at ending the war, I’m there. No booze. I promise. I want to help, whether or not this works out.” He motions to the space between us.
I press my forehead to his. “Alright, Verinos. I’m in.”
I cup his face and peck his lips, sealing my resolve to give us another chance. Jules is alive, and I’m ready to heal these wounds between us, one day at a time.
Jules lurks in the doorway, my shirt falling at her mid-thigh. “Everything okay?” She grins from ear to ear as though she heard everything.
As soon as she’s within reach, I capture her in my arms and roll her between Flynn and me. She snuggles up to my side as Flynn buries his face in her neck, and I realize the weight dragging me down these past few years has simply…lifted. I’m not alone anymore. I don’t have to protect my heart and my people without help.
I kiss the side of her head, drunk from her scent and love.
My partner in crime. My queen. My wife.
My Jules.
* * *
The end…fornow.
