Chapter 25
Sylvia
“You know my birthday already passed, right?” I asked, trying to salvage the braids Zia had been halfway through finishing in my tousled hair. I kept my eyes shut as per Jon’s request, reminded far too much of the other night.
“Think of it as your birthweek,” he said, holding his hands steady as he carried me upstairs.
“If we’re going outside, could I at least grab something warmer? It’s almost two in the morning!”
“What, I’m not warm enough for you?”
I giggled, and the sound almost felt wrong. But a strange energy was buzzing around me more than ever. I must have really been on the fritz after the night I had, and Jon’s odd behavior wasn’t helping me settle in the slightest.
After the trauma we’d endured, after knowing we could never return to the spectral realm if we didn’t want to send him to an early grave… How could he possibly be in such a damn good mood?
Managing a small peek, I noticed that we were heading toward a glass door that led outside. I braced myself as Jon took hold of the handle. However, the bite of cold I expected never came. If anything, the air felt almost balmy.
“You can open your eyes,” Jon said softly.
We were on the top floor balcony, and the world surrounding Delilah’s home had become a veritable jungle.
I turned my head side to side, unable to drink it all in fast enough.
Impossible leafy vines hung from pines in droves.
Flowers blossomed across rocky terrain. Melted snow trickled across the ground like bubbling streams.
I hovered past the railing and brought my hands to my mouth as I took it all in, too frightened of disappointment to allow myself to accept what this meant.
“H-how…”
“Sylv.”
Heart pounding, I turned slowly to find that Jon had laid out half a dozen gemstones on the balcony railing in a tidy line. I trembled head to toe as I flew lower to examine them.
“Y-you…” I looked at Jon in bewilderment. “How?”
“Hey, you know me.” He held up his hands and shrugged. “Can’t help it sometimes.”
Tears blurred my vision. The noise I made fell somewhere between a laugh and a sob.
I touched each gemstone in turn, searching.
One by one, I pushed them off the rail to land on the balcony inconsequentially.
They were nothing to me; just empty vessels.
Two sapphires, an emerald, a garnet, a peridot, and…
I landed on the wood railing and dropped onto my knees.
My hand rested upon the final stone—a ruby.
It was about the size of the gem I’d stolen in Veloria.
It pulsed under my palm like a red, beating heart.
The raw power within nearly made me swoon.
I forced my hand away and looked up at Jon as tears finally spilled onto my cheeks.
“This one. I…I think I can do it.” The impossible admission hung between us, dreamlike.
I glance down at the rest of the property, toward the path that brought us here.
“Even with Delilah’s help, I was starting to believe a transformation could only ever be temporary, but…
Now, with him.” I shook my head in disbelief.
“If Father had the ability to turn back, surely he would have. If I change, it could be permanent.”
As I turned to Jon, the uncertainty on his face tugged at my heart.
“Is that really what you would want?” he asked. “Something permanent?”
My breathing turned shallow as I became dizzy at the now imminent prospect. He cupped his hands around me and leaned down, thumbs brushing along my arms.
“I love you, Sylv,” he murmured. “Just like this. Gem or no gem.”
I leaned into his touch—safe, warm, desired.
“I love you, too. But I want the whole world,” I said, meeting his adoring stare. “Not just a hidden corner anymore. You promised to build me a cabin, didn’t you? You can’t fill my head with dreams about making a home together in this fucked up world and then go back on your word.”
Jon looked at me with such affection that it made everything else melt away.
“I’m going to build you that cabin exactly the way I’ve shown it to you. Down to the last nail.”
My heartbeat pulsed in time with the power of the gemstone beside me. He loved me. And he was mine, just as much.
The rumble of a distant engine broke us apart. I turned to find a single headlight down below, pulling toward the house.
Father had returned.