Chapter Twenty-Two
A Soul Rewoven
Miles
Bellamy collapses against me, her body trembling uncontrollably, as her soul shatters.
I hold her as tight as I can, my arms locked around her like if I let her go even for a second, she will fall into a million broken shards.
Her sobs slice through me—ragged, raw, and sharp.
I press my face into her hair, whispering her name over and over, my own tears soaking into her skin.
“I’ve got you, Bellamy. I’ve got you, I promise,” I choke, rocking her back and forth.
The words are all I have for her, even if they feel hollow and useless.
There’s nothing I can say that will make her feel better.
I can feel the storm tearing through her chest, but the words are all I have.
My heart feels like it’s being ripped in two, one half with her pain, the other in the helplessness swallowing me whole.
The ground is still humming with the echoes of her power, the air has the ethereal energy lingering from The Weaver, but I can’t bring myself to care.
The whole damn town could burn to the ground, the humans could show up with pitchforks, and I’d still be here, clutching the woman who fate keeps crushing with unbearable destinies.
If there was a way, any possible way, for me to follow The Weaver into his side of the veil, I would rip him apart with my bare hands for what he’s done to her.
To steal from someone who has lived a life devoid of love, it goes beyond a mere familiar to her and steps into the world she’s grown accustomed to. It’s not fair.
And that’s when I feel it. A spark. A pulse. Something bright is brushing against the edges of our shared grief.
“Guys,” Elora says with a shaky voice.
At first I think it’s just Bellamy’s magic coming back with a vengeance, but when I lift my head, something is there. A glow, bright as midday sun, widening as it moves closer to us. My breath catches in my throat as the shape takes form—white paws, black nose, and a sleek body.
“Nyx?” Bellamy whispers, her voice trembling.
The familiar drifts closer, his fur no longer shadow-black.
No, instead it shines bright like a thousand gems, his eyes a bright shimmering silver.
He’s not the same as he was before. Something has changed, as if he was reborn.
The constellations still twinkle along his fur, but now it feels more like a hopeful dream.
It’s in that instant, that one breath, that the world tilts back into its rightful place as Bellamy scrambles out of my arms, crawling across the dirt,not caring about the dirt or the leaves.
No, the only thing she cares about is Nyx as she wraps her arms around him, pulling him tight against her chest.
Nyx’s silver eyes flick toward me, and for the first time in the entire time I’ve known him, there isn’t a glare coming my way. It’s softer, almost kindred, as if he has finally accepted me as part of this story. Not as an annoying side character, but maybe as the main guy.
If a fox could smirk, I swear he would be right now. That mischievous glint in his eyes, right as he wraps his paw around her back. Ever so slowly moving it up and down. Taunting me with his ability to be there for her right now.
“I see how it is,” I tsk, swiping a sleeve across my face. “You scared the hell out of her. Out of all of us.”
Bellamy still has her face buried in his fur, whispering his name over and over, but Nyx chooses that moment to flick his tail in my direction. I scoff. “Yeah, I get it. You’re back. Congratulations, fur ball.”
When her eyes finally meet mine, swollen and red from crying, I know right then that everything is about to change for us.
Not because fate said so, but because life for us will no longer have this curse looming over our heads.
Maybe, just maybe, Bellamy will let me in, let me love her like she deserves.
She gives me a soft smile, her lip still quivering from the emotions flowing through her. Reaching up I cup her cheek, swiping my thumb gently back and forth. She leans into it, allowing herself to enjoy the moment.
“I’ve known since the second I laid eyes on you that you were my forever, my person, my mate.
All these years of feeling like I needed to be somewhere else, finally made sense.
It was as if everything in my universe had finally clicked into place.
But then you opened your mouth, and I knew exactly why my Moon Goddess chose you for me. ”
Nyx snorts as he shakes his head. But Bellamy? She cuts her eyes at me as she sits up fully.
“What ya trying to say, Dog Boy? My snarky attitude and all-around grumpiness is a perfect choice for you?”
I lean in closer, our mouths only a few inches apart, as I whisper the words that have been sitting in my soul.
“You are more than perfect for me; you are the light on my darkest day. You are the reason there is air in my lungs. Without you, I would be but a hollow version of myself. I love you, Bellamy Grimsbane. Not because fate demands it, but because everything about you is perfect to me.”
“Awe,” Elora sighs as she holds her hands together with hearts in her eyes.
“I’m going to be sick.” Nyx pretends to gag.
I look back into her eyes, hoping, praying to the Goddess, that she’s going to keep her walls down and not shut me back out. But when I look into her eyes, I don’t see the same cold indifference. Instead, I see warmth for the first time, even if it’s tinged with fear.
“Miles…” Bellamy starts, but shakes her head as her eyes look around frantically.
“Shhh, it’s okay. You don’t have to confess anything, or even feel the same way that I do. Just know that I’ll be right here waiting for you.”
She scoots closer to me, Nyx jumping out of her lap to sit next to Elora. When she’s as close as she can get, she puts both her hands on my face, holding me as she stares deep into my eyes.
“I may not have liked fate, or the whole predetermined steps part of it, but I can never imagine my life without you in it again. Do you know what my vision was?”
I cringe a bit before I nod slightly. “Not exactly what it was, but I figured out the gist of it.”
A tear wells up in her eye, dangling on the edge of her lashes before it falls.
“I watched you die. In a horrific and terrible way. It shouldn’t have taken that to show me how I really felt, but I knew in that moment that I loved you.
I was so mad at myself for never telling you.
For watching your last moments, where you only thought about me and how much you loved me.
I can’t keep pushing you away when you deserve so much more. ”
She pushes forward, capturing my lips with hers.
Her tears wet both of our cheeks, and for a second I’m stuck.
I’ve dreamed of this moment, the moment we kissed and confessed our feelings.
It almost seemed like it would never happen.
Softening under her fingers, wrapping my arms around her lower back, I pull her closer to me.
Her lips move against mine, and another piece of me falls into place. It’s perfect.
When we break apart, we both are panting slightly, and Milo is eager to move this to somewhere more private. Not that I disagree, per se, but I don’t want to scare her off and back into her guarded fortress.
Nyx gags again. “Alright, that’s my cue to find anywhere else to be,” he says, before he pops out of existence.
Elora, who has been watching this entire thing go down, clears her throat. “As much as I adore watching you two finally fall in love as it should have always been. I want to nudge you into realizing you shattered the barrier, and we need to fix that soon.”