Seventy-Two Deaths #3
His questions caught me off guard. “I…I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I know you don’t feel at home here, but I want you to. I’ll never take that choice from you, but I can’t help but feel that you’re conflicted about whether or not to stay. And the other night didn’t help this uncertainty, I’m sure.”
I opened my mouth to reply but found I didn’t have the words. Drayce had always been a male of few words around me, but now he seemed to be open and vulnerable. Whether I wanted it to or not, it was breaking down the walls around my heart and my trust, even if only a little.
A knock at the door saved me from having to answer. He got up and opened it to find Bramick and Aerie standing there, one holding a bottle of red wine and the other grinning from ear to ear.
“Heard there was a party here tonight,” Aerie said as they pushed past Drayce and came to sit at the table. “Damn, Dray, you didn’t tell us there would be a gourmet dinner!”
She didn’t even hesitate. She headed to the kitchen and made herself a plate of what I’d cooked. I envied so much how comfortable she was just being.
With a last glance at me, Drayce closed the door and shook his head. But I knew I saw a smile there.
When everyone had full glasses of wine and Bramick and Aerie had full plates, the table was at near capacity, but it felt…comfortable. Had my mother ever shared a table like this with these same three people?
“Oh my gods, Naci, did you make this? This food is incredible,” Aerie said, making me smile.
I nodded, and she made a face that I imagined resembled her look of pure pleasure after the throes of passion.
“So, successful raid, Dray?” Bramick asked with a full mouth, somewhat disgusting if I was being honest. He was a brute indeed.
“A successful raid, Bram,” was all Drayce said in response, with a nervous glance at me, earning a whoop and a big gulp of wine from Bramick.
“What happens in a raid?” I asked. I wasn’t going to explode on him this time, but I needed to know the details.
Everyone looked to Drayce, and when he didn’t answer, Aerie just plowed on. “We go town to town, slinking through the shadows, looking for strong fae, mortal sympathizers, or king-haters. And we recruit them. And bring them back with us.”
“Not to be confused with raid raids, where we kill all the asshats that are causing trouble in these towns by killing mortals and spreading purge propaganda,” Bramick added.
“Shut it, Bram, she doesn’t want to hear—”
“Yes, I do. I understand death and sacrifice, Drayce.”
Aerie cleared her throat and got up to bring the bottle of bubbly wine from the cold storage to the table. Clearly, she’d been here a time or two. She and Bramick both. This was a family. They loved and trusted each other. Gods, I wanted that, needed that so much in my life.
After the awkward pause and a few glances at Drayce, they started swapping battle stories, revealing that Aerie was the fiercest and most bloodthirsty of this group, making me like her even more.
They teased each other, poked and prodded, and ended with nothing but laughter.
There was no pressure, nothing forced—just love.
Even Drayce seemed more at ease than I’d ever seen him, talking and laughing openly.
According to my mother’s journal, they’d all been together nearly as long as I’d been alive.
I glanced up at the ceiling. I wasn’t sure I even believed in our gods anymore, but if they were up there, I guessed my mother was too. And I couldn’t help but feel this would make her happy.
“I’d like to, um, say a few words,” I said sheepishly as I stood up, cutting into the banter—this would be a life-altering moment.
Everyone raised their glasses and waited for me to continue.
I took a deep breath. “My mother…Keryth knew all of you. And at first, that made me…really pissed, actually. That I didn’t know my mother the way you all did.
But I’ve come to realize that our lives were destined to be intertwined.
Because of her. Because of what she believed in you all, and in the reason this rebellion even exists.
And I…I’m damn proud to be a part of it. ”
Everyone cheered, praised, smacked the table, taking deep drinks from their glasses, exclaiming, “Hear, hear!”
Everyone except Drayce. He just raised an eyebrow at me, asking silently if I meant what he thought I meant.
It was unsettling that I knew his thoughts without him speaking, but I gave him a nod.
I was staying. This was my home now. And I had found the things worth fighting for here.
Nella left this hectic and cruel world behind, but I could still make a difference in it, for her.
My mother wanted a better place for me, and I wanted a better one for Nella’s memory.
She deserved that more than my vengeance.
I would just have to bear the weight of loss alongside Drayce. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but it was inevitable if I stayed.
Drayce and I tipped our glasses back, quietly sealing the pact that no one else knew was being made.