Chapter 30 To Believe #2
Ira’s twin was much more like him than their younger brother.
She carried herself with grace and kindness, but an undeniable respect followed her wherever she went.
Her words carried weight, but she never abused that power.
Always leaving a choice. She would have made a great queen if she’d been born a few minutes earlier.
Noah came every six hours to give more tonic, but the last round, he said they needed to be careful about giving any more because if they wanted to attempt to grow any more, they needed to salvage the rest of the flower.
So now it was time to wait. Given that Brielle’s appearance had improved dramatically, Luci couldn’t argue.
Somehow, the magic worked to gain weight back while her hair shone bright blond and silken soft, and her skin was without imperfection.
Still, the thought of perpetual sleep plagued Luci, but she and Calcifer continued their vigil.
Another sunset passed by, and Luci decided to pull out Brielle’s favorite story.
Incidentally, the Vencia’s claim to fame.
Though reading through now felt a little like peeking through the curtain, knowing what a true beast the love interest was. The horrors he committed.
It felt wrong that his legacy was anything other than the destruction of an entire race, but so the history pages went to the victor.
“Knowing she couldn’t stay in the castle a minute longer, Isabella ran through the bitter.
cold, desperate to make it back to her village and to her father.
Unfortunately, the night was not made for maidens running from cursed princes, but rather for predators.
The first howl of the wolf stalking her sent a chill into her very bones, but Isabella never wavered.
It was either that she remained trapped in a damp and lonely castle or that she braved the night.
Desperation at her heels, Isabella launched through the trees, but it was too late. Snow crunching below her boots, she saw the first set of yellow eyes watching her. Another after another eye appeared, surrounding her. That was when she knew no help was coming.
Tears streaming down her face, Isabella grabbed a stray branch and attempted to ward off the wolves, but they only prodded on deft feet closer and closer.
Just as the first wolf leapt, teeth bared, a force barreled through the trees, toppling bushes and snow alike, and slammed into the wolf.
Isabella let loose a wild cry as she was sure she was done for, but instead a form she knew all too well was lifting the wolf and throwing it into the woods with a yelp-”
“Kind of ruins it a little when you realize how much of a monster he actually was.”
Luci went completely and utterly still.
She lowered the book from her face and found Brielle smiling up at her, Calcifer already above her and licking her forehead, which didn’t faze her at all.
Heart in her throat, Luci dropped the book, hands shaking.
“That bad, hmm?” Brielle asked. “I wasn’t worried, you know, I believed in you.”
If there was ever a time Luci could remember that felt like this, it was buried deep in her memories. All of a sudden, she was standing next to her mother’s body again, begging her to take one more breath. Except this time she did. She did, and she was there. Alive.
Brielle sat up, her smile falling, and Calcifer huffing out a frustrated breath that his cleaning was being ignored.
“I’m all right, Luci. In fact, I feel better than I ever have. Nothing hurts, and I’m fairly certain I could run a mile,” she said, running a hand down Luci’s tear-streaked face.
For days, Luci lay in bed and thought about this moment. She imagined telling Brielle not
to be so dramatic from then on, or forbid her from talking to Lucien ever again. Never, in her wildest dreams, did she expect to be paralyzed in time, heart cracking and reforming with every gesture and word.
For there, undoubtedly sitting before her in a pale blue nightgown with golden hair and full lips was the reason for her heart’s every beat.
The piece to her soul that latched together at only five years old.
A piece that was more a part of her than her own limbs.
Brielle. Her best friend. Her soul mate.
“You died.” Luci whimpered, lips quivering.
It was like all the strength she’d used to be brave was used up. The moment Brielle spoke, Luci’s body could no longer go on pretending that she hadn’t been terrified beyond return. All the panic she’d suppressed, all the fears, all the loss boiled up to the surface, and she couldn’t breathe.
Silver lined Brielle’s eyes before gently falling down her porcelain skin. She reached up and wiped at Luci’s tears, and it was then that Luci realized her whole body was trembling. Terror and heartache leak from every surface, nowhere to hide.
“I’m here. You didn’t lose me. I’m right here. I’m here because of you. You saved me, Luci. You did that. I’m here. I’m all right. I’m going to be just fine,” she said the words quietly, like she was afraid to scare Luci.
All at once, Luci’s vision blurred, and she crashed into Brielle like a wave desperate to
touch the shore’s sun soaked sands. And there she clung to her, resolute in her determination to never return to the sea. She was the sand and the sand was her. Where there was Brielle, there would always be Luci, as it was always meant to be.
Brielle held onto her with an iron-clad grip, never for a moment letting go. She weathered all of Luci’s stormy winds, her tears, and her desperation. Words lost to emotion clogging all her senses. A fortnight of worries poured out onto her, but Brielle never wavered.
Slowly, ever so quietly, the tears dried up, and the shaking subsided. Luci convinced herself Brielle was real and this wasn’t a dream. She let herself believe the words when Brielle repeated that she was all right and that everything would be fine.
And when the tears and the pain were poured empty, Brielle let out a long breath and said into Luci’s shoulder, “You smell terrible.”
Beneath choked laughter, Luci did something she’d spent her whole life running from.
She believed.