Chapter 43
Chapter
Forty-Three
DEVIL’S HEART
Poe
“You are the sin I’ll never repent for.” — A
I should’ve known tonight wasn’t going to be just another ordinary evening.
It started when Azariel got strangely serious, asking me to wear a blue dress—the exact shade of my hair. Not just any dress, either. A skintight, sleeveless one that hugged my body in all the right places, showing off every curve. He also insisted I wear my hair down in loose curls. I hadn’t styled it that way in years, but I did it—because, in some strange way, it made him happy.
There was something in his eyes that looked like seriousness, yes, but also excitement. It was endearing, and so I gave in, asking no questions. I’d learned quickly that questions didn’t get me far with the grump.
The night was cold, so I threw on a jean jacket. Around my neck, I wore the necklace he’d given me, the one with his letter hanging close to my skin. I looked like I belonged to him.
And maybe I did.
Something about the night felt hauntingly familiar. Like I had lived it before. I couldn’t quite explain it, but it clung to me like a half-remembered dream.
The cold bit at my skin the moment I stepped outside. The scent of damp earth and roses hung in the misty air, softening the edges of the world. It was like walking into a memory too vivid to forget.
I walked slowly, the hem of my dress brushing the gravel path. That’s when I noticed that something was different about the garden. Black Valentine’s Day decorations were everywhere, just like the ones Aunt Kadra used years ago for that gathering where Azariel had torn my tiny heart to pieces.
A violin played in the distance—a melody I knew too well. My favorite song.
Then, the carousel lights flickered on, followed by fairy lights strung through the trees.
And I saw him.
Azariel.
He stood beneath the blue roses, leaning against the stone wall, his black hair swept back. He looked so much like the boy I remembered in his mother’s garden all those years ago. But this time, something in him had changed. There was no storm in his eyes. No anger. Only love. Only devotion.
He wore a dark suit, sharp and elegant—but his eyes were soft when they found mine.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
My breath caught. It felt like falling backward through time—the same scene, the same cold, the same stillness. But this time, my chest didn’t ache from doubt.
This time, I knew he wasn’t going to break me. This time, I knew he loved me. I knew I was his everything just like he was mine.
“Why are you here?” he asked—just like he had on Valentine’s night so many years ago.
But now his voice was warm, not cold or distant. It was gentle, like he was inviting me into a world he’d built just for me. A world that was blue, odd and us.
I blinked, startled, as a rustle sounded behind me. I turned.
My heart skipped many beats when I saw them all there. My brother, Vade. My parents. My cousins, aunts, uncles—all of them standing at the edge of the garden, watching in silence, their faces lit by the glow of the fairy lights. They were all smiling, dressed in black. I was the only one in blue.
My hand tightened at my side. I hadn’t even realized how hard my heart was pounding.
Azariel stepped forward, one slow step at a time, eyes never leaving mine. “I said those words to you in a garden once,” he said. “Words I’ve regretted every fucking day since. ‘You don’t belong here,’ I told you. And I was wrong. So fucking wrong.”
He reached into his coat pocket—and pulled something out.
A red card. Worn, with creased edges, but unmistakable.
My breath faltered.
The Valentine’s card. The one I’d made for him as a child. The one he’d torn in half—along with my heart.
But now, it was whole.
“I spent that night finding the pieces,” he said, his voice rough. “You thought I let the wind carry them away, didn’t you? But I didn’t. I couldn’t. I’ve kept it all this time... waiting for the right way to return it to you. It’s time, baby.”
My hand flew to my mouth as tears burned behind my eyes.
Then he knelt.
He pulled out a small black velvet box and opened it.
Inside was a silver ring—delicate, brilliant, blue. A diamond shaped like a rose.
Oh… wow.
The tears came freely now, sliding down my cheeks. I must look like a mess but I didn’t care.
“Poe,” he said, voice steady and strong, “I know I once said you didn’t belong. And in a way, I was right. You didn’t belong in the broken world I lived in… because that world wasn’t worth anything until you were in it. You’ve lived in my breath, my blood, my scars, my soul since we were kids. You’re it, little fox. You’re my world.”
A sniffle broke the silence—my mom.
My aunts and cousins clutched each other, trying not to cheer. My dad looked bittersweet. Uncle Enzo was recording. Everyone was here.
But all I could see was him.
Azariel.
The boy who once broke my heart. The man who now held it in his hands.
“I wanted to rewrite that night, baby,” he said. “To give it a new ending. I want to be the man you write your stories about. The man you give your forever to. I want to be the man who walks alongside you. Will you marry me? Will you be mine until death do us part?”
The wind rustled through the blue roses—our roses.
Tears streamed freely, but I was smiling. Smiling so widely it hurt.
This was it.
Our forever.
I just had to say the word.
My voice barely rose above a whisper, but he heard it.
“Yes,” I said. “A thousand times… yes.”
And just like that, he slipped the ring onto my finger and rose to his feet. When he kissed me, the past—every bitter piece of it—melted away. Not forgotten. Rewritten. In blue. In love. In us.
Aunt Kadra played the violin as applause broke out behind us—laughter, cheers, even cries. Uncle Vitali clapped Azariel on the back. His sister teased him. My mother wrapped me in a hug, tears glistening in her green eyes.
But all I could feel was him.
All I could think about was how, after all these years, he’d turned our saddest memory into the most beautiful one.
A memory written in stars.
A love that never stopped.
Mom stepped back, and Azariel pulled me into his arms, trembling as he held me close. He kissed the top of my head and breathed me in like he did the roses.
“I don’t deserve you, Poe,” he murmured, his voice thick with emotion. “But I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to prove that I do.”
I looked up at him, my heart overflowing. “You already have,” I whispered, fingers gently tracing the small tattoo beneath his eye.
And with our cats and everyone we love around us, we danced beneath the stars, surrounded by blue and the beautiful certainty that neither of us would ever walk this earth alone again.
We have each other now.
We have blue.
We have love.
Forever and ever.