Epilogue
Warren
We sat cross-legged on the floor of Levette’s apartment, a cardboard box sitting between us.
I had debated whether or not to show him, to let my final secret be revealed.
But the excited look on his face was enough to make it worth it, even if it made me cringe at myself.
If I was still human, I knew my cheeks would have flushed.
“What is it?” Levette asked, wiggling his eyebrows at me. “A gift?”
I rolled my eyes, swatting his hand away from opening it. “Paws off!”
Levette whined and batted his eyelashes at me, pouting those full lips that I wanted to kiss until they were raw. I finally relented, removing the top of the box and letting him look inside.
“Are these…?”
I nodded, taking the top one out and carefully unfolding it. “Your letters. Every note you ever wrote me.”
“You kept them?” Levette whispered, letting the tips of his fingers touch the top of the papers like he was scared they might turn to dust. “All of them? Pourquoi?”
“Because even when I was angry at you and telling myself I hated you, I knew I would never stop loving you.” I began to spread them out before us, hundreds of letters carefully packed away so they could never be ruined.
“I would read them when I missed you. Maybe it was a sort of punishment for myself, but I could never stop.”
Levette lifted one out, looking at the handwriting on the envelope. “This one is addressed to me.”
I chucked, tucking my hair behind my ears, sifting through the rest to find more with his name. “These are ones I wrote to you. Sometimes I would reply and just not mail them. Other times, I just wanted to get the thoughts in my brain out, and every time, it was like I was speaking to you.”
It was weird seeing Levette speechless as he opened the first letter and began to read.
I watched him, a mixture of emotions flitting across his face.
By the fourth letter, tears were trailing down his cheeks, and I hated that I had never sent them to him, had never let him know how terribly I missed him.
I tried not to regret things, knowing Levette and I had to heal apart to be better together, but times like this made it feel as though I had ruined so much of our lives with my self-hatred and indecisiveness. If there was a way to erase all our pain, I would do it.
“How did you get these? After you left with Lena that first time, I—”
Smiling, I remembered Lena’s frustrated berating as I insisted on visiting my apartment one last time before we fled the city. She’d argued that suicidal thoughts rescinded my right to make rational decisions, yet she still followed me there and kept watch to make sure I didn’t run into Levy.
“I went back to my apartment before I left. I was so angry at you, so fucking done with the world. But the idea of leaving without a piece of you was unbearable. I grabbed the box which I kept under my bed and left.”
Levette pressed his lips together and picked up letters that were less discolored from age. “She gave you these?”
I laughed, lifting a shoulder. “Kind of? Not at first, but we fought one day when I was ‘pining like a lovesick teenager’ according to Lena, so she threw them at me and told me to get my shit together.”
“You loved me even when you hated me,” he said, like he was finally understanding just how much I had been unable to let go of him.
I linked our fingers, rubbing my thumb over the back of his hand. “I always loved you more than I hated you.”
Levette huffed, turning his face away so I couldn’t see how smug he looked. “Could have fooled me.”
This damned vampire and petty grievances. He would never let me forget it, because then he couldn’t barter for more tenderness and sex-laced kisses.
Shoving him onto his back, I climbed onto his lap and straddled his waist, grinding against him slowly as I raised my eyebrows at him. “You need me to show you how much I love you?”
Levette groaned, his fangs descending as he licked his lips. “Show me, mon amour.”
Just as our lips were about to collide, the front door slammed, and we heard rushed footsteps. Both of us jumped to our feet, ready to fight the intruder.
I gasped as Lena ran into the room, looking disheveled for the first time since I had known her. She was covered in dried blood and dirt, her long, blonde hair matted and sticking out in every direction.
Running to her, I caught her just in time as she collapsed into my arms, whispering something almost incoherently. Bending down, I pressed my ear to her mouth, doing my best to understand what she was saying.
Levette guided us to the spare bedroom, helping me lay her gently on the bed. His brows furrowed as he stared at her, looking at me with concern etched across his face. “What did she say?”
“Vasile and Ion are dead. The Authority knows I killed them, and they’re coming for me. I need to find her. You have to help me save Ria, or this time they’ll kill us both.”