Chapter 41
Felix
Why was I nervous? This was my sister and my best friend. I sighed. It did nothing good to worry outside their bedroom door. They hadn’t been to breakfast, as I had hoped, so I had to track them down instead, which really wasn’t a hardship considering they rarely left their room.
Steeling myself, I knocked.
Claire opened the door with a confused expression. “Did something happen?” she asked, already on the defensive.
“No,” I hurried to say, noting how her shoulders visibly relaxed. “I just wanted to talk to you both.”
“Oh,” she said, stepping back to let me inside.
“If you want me here, that is,” I muttered, her surprise making me bitter.
“Of course, we want you here,” Claire said, rolling her eyes as she walked past me to sit next to Astrea on their couch.
Their room was huge, one king sized bed in the right side of the room, and a sort of living room to the left.
They had on a movie I didn’t recognize, both of them looking cozy with blankets.
“Everything okay?” Astrea asked as I sat down on the only armchair.
“Yeah,” I replied, clearing my throat. “I just needed to make sure we were okay.”
They both looked at me with confusion. “Why wouldn’t we be?” Astrea questioned, looking me over.
“Because you two rarely leave your room? Because even though the danger has passed, I still don’t see you? Or maybe, because I might have believed you would seek me out as I did with you both at first. But now, I’m unsure what you want.”
They blinked, then Astrea sat up from where she’d laid comfortably before. “I didn’t know you felt that way.”
I could only nod.
She sighed. “I’m sorry, Felix. I never meant for you to feel abandoned.
I, um. I’m still struggling, okay? I mean, I’m getting better each day, but I still lost five years of my life.
It felt like I blinked and in an instant five years had passed without me.
It still surprises me when I see the news. ”
Oh.
“I hadn’t thought about that,” I admitted.
She gave me a soft smile. “I know, but I’ve told Claire. She’s been helping me every day, showing me, or telling me, a bit about the world as it is now. It helps. I don’t like feeling overwhelmed.”
“I get that,” I agreed, feeling stupid for thinking it had something to do with me. Of course she would need time to adjust, but instead of being understanding, I’d taken it personal.
“Then there’s you,” she continued, giving me her full attention.
“What about me?”
“The Felix I knew had just started making potions and infusing crystals. You were too afraid to date around, because as you’d put it, ‘you didn’t have time for that shit.
’” I grinned, because that had been exactly what I had told them when they’d pestered me about my dating life.
“And now you’re bonded to a vampire,” she finished.
“And living in a castle,” I added, because that had to be said. She laughed and Claire did, too.
“Maybe you should mention all of it,” Claire said, nudging my sister with her elbow. “Better to let it all out there.”
Okay, that had me worried.
Astrea met my gaze. “I also feel guilty.”
I tilted my head in question.
“You worked your butt off to get enough money to free me from my curse, money you’ll never see again.” She shook her head. “I feel like because of me, you lost five years of your life, too. And that thought is eating me alive.”
I abandoned my chair, moving over so I could hug my sister. “Let’s agree on blaming the Silver Lock Coven for everything and not ourselves. Okay? They don’t deserve to still haunt us.”
She choked out a laugh. “Deal.”
“No, the killer is clearly the handsome one,” Claire argued, pointing at the screen with her fork. “It has to be.”
“No, no,” Astrea intervened. “It’s always the ugly ones with scars.”
“Pfft. It is not!”
I enjoyed listening to their bickering. It was so familiar, I could almost imagine I was back in Gran’s old house with them.
“See!” Astrea jumped up from the couch in victory, gesturing wildly to the TV where the villain was finally caught. “Told you!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Claire waved her off.
It was nice to see they hadn’t changed even with the horrors we’ve been through. There was just one question that burned inside of me, one I didn’t know if they’d welcome, but I really wanted to know so I could show them my support.
“Are you two dating?” I tried to keep my voice kind and a bit uninterested, hoping they would be less anxious about telling me if I didn’t stare them down while I waited for them to answer.
“Oh, um.” Astrea shot Claire a horrified look, but to both our surprises, Claire just laughed.
“Have you only just now figured that out?” Claire asked, her face a mask of humor.
“No,” I quickly defended myself, pouting as Astrea joined in on the laughter. “I started to question it before Astrea was cursed, but I knew for sure you liked her when you continued to take care of her in my absence.”
Astrea gave Claire a loving smile, before her gaze met mine.
“We were dating before I got cursed. Which was also the reason I shot the Silver Lock Coven down before meeting Giro. They’d knocked on my door and told me they wanted to talk.
I knew they were witches, so I invited them in, thinking they wanted to talk about Gran or something like that.
But instead, they showed me a picture of Giro, telling me how rare male witches were, and that this one had picked me to marry.
I was apparently supposed to feel honored by that. ”
“Seriously?” I asked, appalled by how normal that behavior had seemed to them.
She nodded. “Yep. Took me a few seconds to realize they weren’t joking.
They thought it was this huge honor, getting a male witch for myself.
I kindly told them I was in a committed relationship, and that I had no interest in men.
They weren’t happy with that, arguing that I’d never even met Giro, and once I did I would without a doubt change my mind. ”
“Was that when they cursed you?” I dared ask.
She nodded. “I led them to my door, telling them, once again, that I wasn’t interested in joining their coven, or marrying Giro.
One of them gave me her hand to shake, and I figured, why not, if it made them leave faster.
But when my hand met hers… all I felt was a tiny stab, like a pin prick, and then the world turned black around me. ”
“I’m so glad they’re gone,” I said, feeling my anger towards them rise once more.
Astrea held her hand out to me, and I took it, glad for the contact.
“It’s in the past now. And Claire stayed true to me all of these years.
I feel like the luckiest and most loved girl in the world.
You did everything you could to help me, which just shows I truly am loved, and Claire…
well, I never imagined us ever parting, so I was pleased she’d waited for me. I would’ve done the same in her place.”
I shook my head, still a bit stunned. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize sooner.”
“We planned to tell you, actually,” Claire said, her arm rubbing Astrea’s leg. “But then Astrea got cursed. It didn’t feel right to tell you without her.”
“I can see why,” I answered, feeling lighter already now that I knew everything. “So, we’re all good?”
They both grinned at me. “Yeah,” they said in unison.
“Anything new going on?” Claire asked, tugging Astrea down on the couch so they could cuddle.
I tried to think what news they might have missed. “Cole and Dina are fated,” I announced.
“Oh, we know,” Astrea laughed.
I threw my hands up. “Then I don’t know! —Uh!” I exclaimed, remembering that I did, in fact, have something to share. “I gave Sev a moonstone necklace.”
They blinked, then Astrea threw herself at me. “Yay! A wedding!”
“Wait? What?!” I said, pushing her back a bit. “What are you talking about?”
That seemed to confuse her. “You gave him a moonstone?”
“Yeah?”
“And did he accept?”
“Of course, he did. He loves me.”
“Then what is the matter?”
“Now you’re both confusing me,” Claire complained, groaning like we were causing her a headache.
Astrea pointed towards me. “Felix proposed to Severin, but he seems confused about why a wedding is involved with a proposal. Trust me, I am just as confused as you.”
“Proposed?! I thought it meant I would love him forever!”
“Well, yes. Hence, the proposal aspect. Did he not answer you when you gave it to him? Maybe he doesn’t know the symbolism either,” Astrea asked, her tone thoughtful and annoyingly amused.
“He said that he accepted,” I whispered, realization hitting me. “Oh, God. I have a wedding to plan!”