This Blood that Bonds Us (This Blood that Binds Us #4)

Epilogue

Kimberly

Two springs passed before we were ready to leave the gray clouds and cold behind. To feel the sun on our faces and let the warmth in. Something about the frigid air and the dark winters of Alaska gave us a place to hide. To mourn and heal in the shelter of the cold. It was a safe place that allowed us to stay covered and bundled together night after night sitting by the fireplace. Sometimes we sat in complete silence, sometimes with tears, but still together.

“It’s bad luck to see the bride in her dress,” I whispered in Aaron’s ear.

My bare feet warmed in the sun while I snuggled closer to him as he carried me up the mountain on his back.

His smile was radiant. “You know I don’t believe in that stuff.”

“Kim, I don’t think a dress with a big tulle train was really the move for this mountain wedding,” Presley said.

“Maybe you should have thought about that before you teared up at the fitting.”

I smiled back at Presley as he struggled to tame the train behind me and carry it. It took me a year to save for a dress, and another half year for Vera to teach me how to sew floral appliqués over it.

“You’re right, this was the best one.” Presley wiped some dirt from his face. “It’s perfect.”

Our procession consisted of the entire Calem family, including Vera, who was being carried on Luke’s back. Next to him, Zach was in charge of holding my flower crown and veil. He hadn’t complained once.

As we waded through fallen branches and toward the trail head, I laid my head on Aaron’s shoulder. The sun was high in the sky and warmed the entirety of my back and cheek.

After Ireland, I’d never believed I’d be whole again . . . that none of us would. We’d never be the same. That much was true. We couldn’t return to that time in Blackheart—that summer and fall when everything was whole and knit together. There was before Ireland and after.

Some things I’d never be able to unsee or feel, like the sight of everyone I loved dead on the floor. The feeling of no heartbeat in Aaron’s chest, and the queen’s blood coating my hands. Those things were part of me now.

I squeezed Aaron’s arm and played with the ends of his hair at the nape of his neck.

“Comfortable?” His voice vibrated his chest, and I savored it with my cheek still resting on him.

“Mm-hm. I’m very relaxed.”

“Good, because it’s your day.”

“It’s our day,” I whispered back to him.

A day I thought maybe we’d never see. It was true we couldn’t go back, but just because we couldn’t go back to the people we were, didn’t mean everything that came after had to be worse than before. We made new memories. Things could be better than they were before, and in a lot of ways, they were.

“Are we almost there?” Presley mumbled.

“No complaining on Kim’s day,” Luke said. The sunshine reflected in his hair that was back to the same mullet he had in Blackheart.

“ I like it long ,” He’d said shortly after returning home, and grew it back out along with his facial hair. Luke was the first person I convinced to get up and hike with me in the mornings. Hiking was healing for me, and I wondered if it could be for them too. After a month, Luke convinced Zach to join. Because of that, I could see the highlights in their hair from the sun.

Even in the warmth, I remembered the cold night we’d finally made it home to Vera’s cabin. She’d ran out into the snow and the twins fell into her arms in a collective sob.

“Sorry we took so long, Mom.”

We’d all cried together that night and we’d refused to part ways for even a minute. Instead, we’d made a pallet on her living room floor.

Just when I thought our eternal winter would be forevermore, there were glimmers of hope. My time with The Family was brief in comparison to Zach’s and Luke’s, but I still found myself looking over my shoulder, waiting for the other shoe to fall. When things were good, I feared a thief in the night would steal it away, and when things were bad, I wondered if we’d ever heal.

It took a long time to feel safe. Like maybe somehow someone would find us and rip us apart again. We were each other’s life source now. Breaking us apart would spell death. I’d never known such a bond, but I think we finally started to see the rhythm when Luke baked cakes for birthdays and we’d all finally convinced Zach to do somatic yoga with us. Or when Aaron stopped waiting by the door every night just in case.

And finally, when yet another year passed and nothing but silence followed us, we all collectively made the decision to finally put it behind us. We were still bound to that castle, but not forever.

Aaron dropped me to the ground at our destination. The once barren icy cliff was covered in a lush green and a plethora of wildflowers.

Our spot had waited for us to return, and in those two years, the sky seemed bluer and the sparkling water below did too.

“Okay, everyone assume your positions while I set up the tripod,” Presley said as he slung his backpack on the ground and pulled out his set up.

I tried to brush my hair from drifting into my eyes.

“Here. Let me,” Vera said. She smiled endlessly the entire day. She wore a light-blue dress, and her hair was pinned up out of her face. “Do you want me to pull it up?”

“Would you?”

She winked and gathered her stash of hair supplies from Presley’s backpack, then went to work pulling up half of my hair to get out of my eyes. We’d worked to cut the darker ends off, but some of it was still there as my reminder of what once was.

I took it in. The smell of fresh blooms and the sound of the bugs and birds.

Once she was done and retreated over to the twins to do her final check of their suits, I turned my attention back to my husband. He stood in his sky-blue suit and his hands shoved in his pockets, while his warm gaze brushed over me from head to toe.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked.

Aaron’s gaze was heavy on my face, and he moved in closer. His hands stayed glued to my hips. I didn’t mind it. His scent was all over me. It had been a whole week since we’d had a night alone together. Presley insisted it would be “fun” to make us spend our nights apart before our wedding night. And it was fun having sleepovers in Presley’s room with Sarah, the dog, snuggled next to me. But in a week I craved my husband, and every brush of his hands felt like a promise for the coming night.

“I’m just soaking it in. I get to marry you more than once. I’m literally the luckiest man alive.”

“Ew,” Presley called.

His smile was radiant. Aaron was beautiful and all mine.

“And what could you be thinking about?” I forfeited a breath when his fingers grazed my cheek. “Anything you want to share?”

I shook my head and leaned into him to bathe in the warmth and comfort. Nothing I wouldn’t show him later.

“No kissing!” Zach and Luke interjected.

Another one of their “fun” ideas. It had been the sweetest torture.

“Don’t you guys have better things to do than to watch me?” Aaron grunted.

“Not really. We literally hiked all the way up here to watch you guys kiss.”

Zach nudged Luke with a snicker. He’d grown his hair back out too. The sun complemented the glow in their cheeks. The winter had been the harshest on them, but something new had bloomed. I was excited to watch it form.

“When you get married one of these days, payback is going to be a bitch.” Aaron wrapped an arm around me while flipping off his brothers.

“You’ll be waiting a long time for that one, buddy,” Luke said.

Vera spun around. “We’ll see about that. You boys are full of surprises.”

“Okay, it’s set. Let’s say a few words so you guys can kiss, I’ll take a picture, then we can party.”

We moved in front of the cliffside, and Luke handed me my bouquet—a flurry of fluffy peonies and wildflowers—while Zach helped me put on my flower crown and veil. I couldn’t take my eyes off Aaron as he hugged his mom and whispered something that made her laugh just so she’d stop crying.

I’d never thought someone like him could exist. His hands found mine, and he pulled me close to him at the edge of our natural altar. The sounds of birds and the buzz of the insects was a dull roar in my ears as Presley came up from behind us and took his stance. The twins stood at the side of the aisle with their arms around their mother.

“We gather here today . . .”

“Keep it short, Pres,” Aaron said.

“Do I seem like the kinda guy that would drone on?”

There was a brief silence, and I tried to hide my laughter. I’d never felt so light and utterly empty of all negative emotion. It was like living on a cloud. Nothing could touch me.

“Damn. I had this whole bit about how you guys met and how it was love at first bite—”

Aaron shook his head with a wide smile. “Don’t do it.”

“Fine. Family, we gather today to celebrate the love of two star-crossed lovers whose love was doomed by the fates for tragedy and despite all odds have come together in the most glorious, amazing, spectacular, out-of-this-world love story.”

Aaron and I shared a look of amusement at Presley’s exaggeration. His golden hair glimmered in the sun’s rays, and his skin was nearly glowing.

“Aaron, do you promise to love Kimberly for the rest of eternity and vow to never let anything separate you?”

Our gaze stayed fixed. I wanted to etch it all into my brain so I could replay it forever. The way his hair laid across his forehead, the affectionate smirk on his lips, and the love and adoration in his eyes.

“I do.”

“And do you Kimberly, promise to love my brother for the rest of eternity and vow to never let anything separate you?”

“I do.” My cheeks hurt from smiling.

“Do we have rings?”

“We do!” Zach and Luke each handed us our rings. Simple little things we’d been able to afford.

“Please exchange rings as a symbol of your everlasting love and commitment.”

Aaron took his time to open my hand and place the ring on my finger. I’d stared at his hands many hours of the night and had memorized the lines in his palms and the veins in his forearms. I placed the ring on his finger with thankfulness brimming in my eyes. All of our dreams had come true. Will would have loved to see it. Skylar too.

“By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your wife again.”

Aaron pulled me to his lips, wrapped his hands in my hair, and dipped me.

It already felt official. I hadn’t needed a wedding, but the sight of our family overlooking the cliffside felt like it might be the highest, most perfect moment of my life.

“God, I missed that.” Aaron pressed his forehead to mine.

“Wait! Stay there.” Presley bolted to the camera, then back to the edge of the altar, which was just a patch of dirt.

The flash caught in my eye, and I turned around to admire the ones I held dear. I had a family for photos. We’d already taken so many in a short amount of time, but it would grow and grow. Somehow, I knew there would be scrapbook after scrapbook of our memories. Quilts would be made and videos taken.

Our world had ended, yet we’d survived.

Vera handed me a fistful of primrose as we waited by the waterfall’s edge.

We’d killed it the spring before, but this year we had a beautiful spoil of yellow flowers sprouting in the garden beds in front of the cabin.

I eyed the yellow petals while we waited at the water’s edge.

“What a beautiful bride indeed. They did warn me.” Thane stepped into the clearing of trees, overdressed in a three-piece suit. Dom walked in beside him with a simple nod of affirmation.

“I’m so glad you both came.” I greeted them with a hug. Vera and Luke had worn off on me. I was officially a hugger.

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

Thane looked well, and mostly the same. His long hair was half up, and Dom’s was slightly shorter.

I handed my fist full of flowers to Thane. “We were just about to start.”

With a heavy sigh, he grabbed the flowers, and his jaw feathered. Tears formed in his eyes, but he blinked them away. “Let’s do it.”

I handed some to Dom too. “You’ve been well?”

He nodded. “Very.”

Another familiar face fluttered into view. Connell waved to me with vigor. His blond hair was grown out like Thane’s, and his eyes were bright blue in the light of the sun.

“Hi, thanks for inviting me. I can’t believe it’s been two years already.”

We hadn’t seen them since Ireland. Before we went our separate ways, Thane gave Luke a good number to reach him. Luke had checked in a few months later, but Thane let us know he’d only call or visit when he knew it was safest. He kept his promises—to The Legion, we were dead.

“How is work?” I asked.

“The Legion keeps me busy.” He winked.

Aaron and his brothers came through the trees, their laughter and happiness fell from them in waves. He found me instantly, with a bundle of primrose already in his hand. The sun warmed the trees though it was late in the day. In Alaska when the winters turned into spring with long sunny days, the sun didn’t set till after 10:00 p.m.

Aaron nodded to me in silent affirmation, then spoke, “Thank you guys for coming. One reason Kim and I wanted to have a wedding was to take time to remember the people who we’re leaving behind. We wouldn’t be here today without their sacrifices, and more than that, we want to celebrate them every year and tell their stories by the fire so they’ll never be forgotten. Will and his sister, Skylar, Sarah, Halina, Felix, Kilian, and so many more. Today we honor them, and we say thank you. May we live every day in remembrance of the life they gave up.”

We gathered by the water with a soft chatter back and forth. Talk of Will and how he’d hate we were doing something like this brought up some laughter from the boys. I feathered the yellow petals in my hand. On my finger sat a small blue butterfly ring, given to me by Vera for my something blue. I’d heard more stories of Sarah since Zach and Luke returned. Tales of her laughter and keen baking skills, but mostly her vigor and her dimpled smile. She felt like an old friend. And as I kneeled in my wedding dress at the water’s edge, I imagined in another life she’d have been here too. My new family was hers first and always would be.

I plucked the flowers from their stems and sat them in the rolling, ever-moving water. The sound was vivid and gushing and the force of it sent a mist in the air. Aaron crouched beside me and placed his in too. As the flowers disappeared into the water, I thought of each of our fallen. We couldn’t move forward without looking back. And for the first time in two years, looking back didn’t have quite the sting.

Aaron’s fingers intertwined with mine reminded me that the best days were still ahead.

The boys started the party when we reached the campsite at the foot of the mountain. The long sunny day continued, but I didn’t mind the feeling of it on my skin. I settled in Aaron’s lap with my arms around his neck while we watched his brothers usher the others into conversation.

I was trying to pay attention to them more than Aaron tracing light featherlike circles on my arm.

Thane and Connell told a few stories of their new adventures in The Legion. They kept most of the details to themselves. It was mostly quiet, but they mentioned some activity in another country and made us promise to consult with them before we started traveling. Connell said he was happy it was warm there. Dom mostly stayed quiet but had agreed to a beer.

“You guys seem good.” Thane smiled and lifted his beer to the sky. “Enjoying being dead?”

“It has its moments,” Aaron said, his soft laughter shook me.

“I like that no one asks me to do anything.” Zach stood up to go get a beer from the cooler.

Presley shot to his feet. “Wait, I’m coming with you!”

“Jeez. Fine.”

They disappeared into the brush.

“Codependent much?” Thane snickered and motioned to Luke. “Still working on that in therapy?”

“Yeah . . . we’re making progress. Slow progress,” Luke said.

Therapy was a nonnegotiable for all of us. Vera prompted us to try at first, but I think we all learned to enjoy it for our own reasons. The twins still went twice a week, and the rest of us were down to every two weeks. Codependency was a hard habit to break. But we’d all almost lost each other, and we’d hadn’t had much time apart since what happened in Ireland. I think we all liked it that way.

Presley and Zach reappeared through the trees all smiles.

“I want to give a speech.” Luke stood up.

“We said no speeches,” Aaron said. Presley had begged.

“I know. But this one is important.”

“It’s okay.” I squeezed Aaron’s arm. “Go ahead.”

Luke walked in next to the fire and waited for Zach and Presley to take their seats.

“I kinda prepared this a couple months ago, and I wasn’t going to say it, but I can’t think of a more perfect moment . . . There are a lot of things I could say about the bride and the groom. Aaron, my little brother, it’s an honor to know you know as a man. You have always been such a vital connector of our family, and that’s never been clearer to me. Despite everything, you’ve grown into someone I admire. And every day, I think about how I want to be more like you. I know you’ll take great care of Kimberly. And Kimberly, I can honestly say when I met you, I didn’t know the extent of how important you would become to our family. You were the missing piece I didn’t know we needed.”

I already felt the tears well in my eyes.

“You both are the reason we’re all here tonight. Your bravery and your love that you share for each other is the reason I’m standing here now. You loved even knowing that you might lose everything, and that’s the bravest thing anyone could ever do. That’s something I was afraid to do . . . So this is to you, my brave little brother, and to Kim, my kickass sister, I can’t believe we’re all stuck together till the end of the world. But I wouldn’t want it any other way. I love you both.”

He raised his glass, and Aaron was there to wipe the tears from my cheek. Love was brimming inside me and spilling from my eyes.

“All because Aaron just had to talk to the human girl.” Presley smiled.

“I guess it’s a good thing you’re the soft one, huh.” Zach raised his beer to us, and I swear I saw him wipe his eyes.

Vera raised her drink. “To the beautiful couple.”

After that the night dragged on slowly, and the sun started to fade behind the trees leaving us in darkness and quiet stillness while the fire cracked and spoke incoherent sounds. Vera, Connell, Thane, and Dom retreated to their campsite cabins for the night, then it was just the five of us staring into the light of the fire.

“So where are we going first?” Zach said, pulling his hands through his hair.

It took two years to heal but also two years to save up enough money for us to start traveling. A daunting task but something we were finally ready for. We had a forever list filled out front and back, and it was time to start crossing things off. There was a lot left to work through within us, but after two years in Alaska, we realized we could only heal it by living.

Presley pointed to me. “We let Kimberly decide because she’s the bride.”

“I don’t want to pick. I have literally everything I could ever want right now. I’ll go anywhere you guys want to.”

I didn’t care where in the slightest. I could stay in Alaska and be happy as long as we were all together. Home was wherever they were.

“Then I pick! And we’re going to Italy,” Presley said.

Aaron stood up and grabbed my hand to guide me toward the trees. “How about all three of you each pick a place, and we’ll start there. Kimberly and I are just along for the ride, I think.”

He was right. I didn’t want to plan another thing. No more detailed lists or things to do. I wanted to lay my bare feet on the earth and watch the flowers bloom every spring and catch every sunset and sunrise wherever that might be. The slow monotony was calling my name and lulling me into safety.

“As long as it’s not cold,” Zach said, and we’d all agreed.

Luke was the only one quiet enough to spot us leaving as we neared the tree line. He leaned back in his chair. “And where are you two going?”

“Just taking a moment over here. Don’t worry.” Aaron guided me through to the edge of the campsite and out of sight into the trees.

“Ah. I finally have you all to myself.”

Our faces would never age, but I swear there was something different in the eyes of the boy I met in the forest. He’d grown up before my very eyes.

“Will you dance with me, Mrs. Calem?”

“Right now?”

“Humor me.” He kissed my cheek and ushered me into the opening in the trees. I was still barefoot and the cool dirt beneath my feet was soft and clean of debris.

“We’re dancing again,” I said as Aaron grabbed me by the waist and pulled me to him.

“Mm-hm.” His voice hummed next to my ear, and we swayed in a natural cadence.

The crickets were back to occupy our dance, only this time Aaron was more sure footed than before. The night was quiet except for the bugs and the laughter of the people we loved most in the world a few feet away. It was almost midnight, and the stars peppered the sky in an endless sparkling blanket. And the light from the fire danced and illuminated our shadows on the trees. A few strands of fairy lights lit up our dance floor.

“I won’t step on your feet this time.” He smiled and twirled me under the twinkling of lights. His hands were strong as he gripped the small of my back and squeezed my hand.

The stars shimmered above, and when I laid my head on his shoulder, I was sure I heard singing. Thane’s laughter echoed in the trees, and I thought of The Legion and the work we’d once done and would never have to do again. I pondered the postmortem meeting of our battle and of how the Calem name was stricken from the story. We were dead to the world but so very alive. To them we’d lost, but in our deaths we’d gained everything.

Our freedom.

And that never would have happened without Aaron Calem. If he’d left me in the forest to die, we’d have never broken that curse over his brothers. They’d be with Her, and I’d be dead or alone.

Aaron changed it.

“I just realized . . . you did it. You rearranged the stars.”

“I know,” he said confidently.

“When you saved me in the forest, it changed everything. You saved us before you even realized what you were doing.”

There was one good ending to their story, and he found it like he’d found me. Because he was kind and pure of heart, he’d saved me, a complete stranger. And even after that night when he’d stood in front of me in the courtyard of our college campus and offered to turn himself in, he’d rearranged the stars and changed the story.

“I know.” He moved his lips to my ear. “You underestimated me. I’m a secret mastermind. Once I found you, there was no way I was letting you go.”

He dipped me under the glow of the lights and kissed his way up my neck. With each dizzying second, I gave a little more of myself to him. He had all of me safely tucked away in his own heart.

“And I’m not done showing you the world and all the amazing things it has to offer, not by a long shot.”

Aaron’s thumb traced my bottom lip, and I moved my head to his chest to listen to his vibrant, pulsing heartbeat. There was no sound more perfect.

People always said good things must come to an end, but I think that’s because death is the inevitable end. But we were blessed with the true gift of the stars. We would never die, and all our dreaming and hope would continue to grow with each passing year. There would be no goodbyes. Our good things would go on forever.