Chapter 46 Goodbyes
forty-six
Goodbyes
*MARCELLUS*
My heart breaks for my mate as I watch him hover over his younger brother. Durant’s body shook briefly, but now he has gone completely still.
“I am so sorry,” Durant whispers.
“You stupid idiot,” Silas cries, leaning his forehead against his little brother’s chest. “Why did you do that?”
“It’s okay,” Durant says quietly. “At least I go as a hero. I do go as a hero, don’t I? I was on the right side this time?”
Silas gently brushes over his hair. “You were on the right side. You are a hero. You saved me.”
“I didn’t know… I should have… but I…” His voice trails off.
“I know,” Silas reassures him. “You just wanted Aloysius to love you. But he couldn’t love anyone. He is not someone who is able to love.”
“Do you?” Durant asks shakily. “Love me?”
“I do. I love you, my little brother.” He keeps gently brushing over Durant’s hair, until his body goes completely still.
Only then do I finally dare to step closer and disrupt the moment.
I hug Silas from behind, not sure what to say to soothe his grief.
He has lost two brothers today. His gaze wanders over to Aloysius’ lifeless form, his hands tightening around my arms.
Silas’ grief is more silent. He is not the type to cry or to show his emotions, but I can feel it through our bond. “There was a time when Aloysius and I were inseparable,” he says all of a sudden. “Maybe I should have tried harder to stop him from spiraling into this madness.”
“You tried,” I say. “You tried more than once to stop him, to make peace with him. There is only so much you could do, and you did try. Also, with Durant. You trusted him.”
Silas sighs. “I know you are right. I just wish things could have ended differently.”
The door opens, and Alex comes inside. He spots Silas and me, realization instantly dawning on him. “Oh no,” he breathes.
“Durant killed Aloysius, and the spell ended his life, with it,” Silas says quietly. “He wasn’t truly aware of how evil Aloysius was, and what he did. Or rather, he turned a blind eye to it.”
Alex steps closer and sits down next to Aloysius’ body, brushing his hair out of his face. “I haven’t seen him in so long,” he mutters. “To imagine it ends like this.” In a sudden burst of emotion, he hits the floor with his fist. “Fuck!” he curses.
I have only ever seen Alexander in his controlled and slightly arrogant manner. It almost comes as a bit of a shock to see his raw emotions.
Silas suddenly looks up, pulling me out of my thoughts by grabbing my arm. “Benji and Maddie!” he blurts out.
“Maddie is safe,” I assure him.
“The kid really saved her. I can’t believe he jumped out of the window like that. A crazy move, but very brave,” Alex says, a hint of respect in his voice.
“Is he okay?” Silas wants to know.
“Well, as okay as one can be,” I admit. “He is alive.”
“That doesn’t sound reassuring,” Silas mutters.
“His wolf will heal him. His presence is a very strong one. It’ll just take a while. He took quite a fall,” I say, not able to hide the pride I feel for my surrogate little brother and gamma.
Silas gets up, brushing down his pants. “I wasted too much time here! What else happened?”
If it helps him to be distracted by some information, I can provide him with it. “Cass, Eugene, Julianus and Nova are dealing with the remaining vampires. Atticus seems to have switched sides. Not sure what to feel or think about that.”
“You are certainly not alone,” Alex mutters, clearly displeased. “I wanted to kill him for years.”
“A promise is a promise,” Silas says. “We owe it to Juniper. Not that I like it.”
“I can’t believe he is the one she chose,” Alex groans. “She can do so much better.”
“I agree,” Juniper’s voice can be heard from the door, making us all turn to look at her.
“I still don’t know what to do with Atticus, but he is my baby’s father.
” She sighs. “Such a mess on all accounts. He has been truly loyal to Aloysius for so long, that most of the remaining vampires hate him. Well, no one will be able to prevent him from facing the consequences of his actions.”
“Well, at least he showed that you are his priority,” I point out.
Silas smiles. “My werewolf, and his never-ending optimism. But you aren’t wrong.”
Juniper gazes into the room. “So, it’s over,” she says quietly. “Finally.”
“Yes, let’s wrap things up,” Silas says.
“I can stay here for a while and clean up,” Alex offers. “Keep an eye on Atticus and help Juniper. We need to figure out what to do with the coven anyway. It’s yours to decide, Silas. You are the oldest of us now, and you led this coven for many years. It’s your legacy.”
“I have a coven,” Silas says. “In Sunset Hills. My responsibility lies there.”
Alex nods. “I had a feeling you would say that. Well, I guess that’s a problem to solve later.” He gets up. “Come on, Juniper, show me around so I can see what I have to deal with. I’d also like to see the main base of the coven.”
“Of course. It would be an honor, Lord Alexander.”
“I think we are all past the stage of using titles,” Alex says.
“I agree,” Silas says. “You are a true friend, Juni.”
Juniper blushes. “Thank you.”
Alex throws one last glance at his two fallen brothers.
“It’s alright,” Silas tells him. “I will handle this. We will send them off properly.”
Alex looks relieved. “Thank you.”
I hate to admit it, but Julianus proves to be a great help with the whole aftermath. He takes over the preparations of the send-off without even batting an eye. Aloysius abused him, too, and he probably has his fair share of trauma from living with him, but he doesn’t complain once.
“Lord Silas,” he says while approaching us all of a sudden.
Silas looks up. “Yes?”
“I realized I have apologized to you but never thanked you.”
“For what?” Silas asks, surprised.
“You could have killed me, but you didn’t. You could have told the lycans that I am not worth supporting, but you didn’t. You could have prevented Lord Alexander from working with me, but you didn’t.”
“That’s because I know that deep inside you were only misguided by fear,” Silas says. “You never were a bad person.”
“It’s true I was terrified of Aloysius, and thought if I stopped you from leaving, then everything would remain the same. I didn’t consider that ‘the same’ was a terrible situation for everyone involved.”
“If you want to thank me,” Silas says. “Become happy. Support Nova and your pack.”
“I will,” he promises.
“Hey, Juli,” Nova arrives in the room. “I found some white linen. Is that good enough?”
“It’s perfect,” he says.
The send-off, as Silas called it, is simple.
Werewolf funerals are simple, too, but usually the whole pack gathers around the deceased to send them off.
For the vampires, it’s a much more private moment.
Both Durant and Aloysius are clad in white linen now, resting on an intricately designed blanket on the ground.
Julianus has placed candles around them.
The room itself is devoid of any interior aside from some statues.
It almost looks like a room used for rituals.
Well, it probably is exactly this type of room.
“What about your other siblings?” I ask Silas. “Shouldn’t we inform them?”
“No,” Silas says. “We don’t celebrate death like other species do. They will say their personal goodbyes wherever they are and mourn them in their own way. It’s not a lack of respect that they aren’t here.”
“But how will they know?” Nova asks.
Silas steps forward, a torch in his hand. He lights the linen with it. To my surprise, the cloth catches fire immediately, but it’s not a warm, heated fire, it’s much cooler and looks blue.
Julianus puts his arm around Nova. “Look,” he whispers, pointing at the blue flames. Within seconds, they have swallowed the two brothers, their bodies disappearing and leaving not even ash behind, then the flame moves to the window. Silas opens it, allowing it to leave the room.
“The flame will travel to my siblings,” Silas says. “So, they can say their goodbyes.”
“Wow!” Nova expresses.
It’s silent for a moment while Alex and Silas look after the blue dust. No one says anything for a long while, until Silas takes a deep breath and turns to look at me. “Let’s go home.”
“I will be staying here as promised,” Alex says. “See you in a couple of days, Silas.”
“And I will check on Maddie,” Silas says. “And reach out to our nephew and his mom, so they know they can stop hiding.”
As we leave Aloysius’ hideout, we bump into Eugene and Cassian. I wasn’t even aware that they were still around, but it seems like they helped Atticus with cleaning up. “I have to hurry back to my pack,” Cassian says. “But Nova and Julianus have it covered here.”
“You have an awesome beta,” I say.
He smiles. “I know. I have heard some from Juniper, and I am amazed how she outsmarted the vampires. I always believed she would become luna to an alpha one day, but now it’s obvious that being a beta is much more her calling. I guess, there is an upside to her being mated to that vampire.”
“There is probably more than one upside,” Silas chuckles. “He isn’t a bad guy, Cass. He helped us a lot.”
“Yeah, I know,” he sighs. “I will behave. Don’t want to upset my sister and beta… or my luna. Flo has completely taken Nova’s side.”
I laugh. “Seems like you will be pretty busy from now on.”
Cassian gives us the thumbs up. “Wouldn’t want it any other way. Well, reach out to me if you need anything. If not, we’ll see each other at your birthday, Silas.”
We nod, waving him off. Eugene helps us gather some more of our things and accompanies us back to Sunset Hills. “Well then,” he says tiredly. “Time to get back to my pack.”
“Are you kidding?” I ask. “You are not going to drive now!”
“But-“
“We have a guest room. Stay overnight.”
Eugene’s eyes widen. “Is that really okay?” he asks hopefully.
I look at Silas. Your call, Silas says. I am fine either way. But, just so we are clear. If he stays, he gets the ugly guestroom.
I can barely hide my grin. “Yes,” I say, patting Eugene’s shoulder. “And I know for a fact that our kitchen staff has prepared a huge amount of spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce.”
“My favorite!” Eugene says.
“I will show you to your room in a minute,” I say. “I want to check on Benjamin first.”
“You go and check on Benji,” Silas says. “I will show your brother to his room.”
“Really?” Eugene asks skeptically. “You are not going to kill me on the way, are you?”
Silas frowns, while I can’t help a grin. Eugene is going to be alright, but it’s good that he is a bit afraid of my mate.