Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
Under a night sky bright with stars, there once lived a firebird, and he was all alone. He knew pain, but no pain he’d ever felt had been worse than the constant loneliness that ate at his very being, at his very heart.
Each night, the firebird cried. He cried for a mate he didn’t know existed, and he cried because he couldn’t understand the longing in his firebird heart.
Help me, his cry said. Find me, his cry said.
But it was a long time, a long, long time, and there was never an answer to the firebird’s cry. He had given up, had forgotten about his voice and even the color of his plumage, which the heavy coat of night had hidden from him.
I burn for you.
I am fire for you.
I am sorry it took me so long to find you.
I cannot let you go, Amory. Stay with me. Stay.
A firebird’s heart is not like a flame that burns out, but like an ember that waits for life-giving breath.
The firebird had never truly forgotten his voice, he’d just never known the truth behind his cry.
He was the beating heart of fire everlasting, and no fire could ever hurt him. All it could do was force rebirth.
Everything sort of hurt. Everything was wet and dark, and I was naked.
“My heart? Amory? Look at me. Open your eyes and look at me!”
I did. I hadn’t even realized I’d closed them.
Soyer was there, my firebird. He was naked, much like me. I looked down at where the blade had gone into me, and—
My phoenix had moved. He was back on my chest, his beak right where I thought there should be a scar, where I saw only unmarked skin.
“Oh, Amory, say something.”
Soyer. I reached out to touch him, and got to his hair, which was wet and sooty.
“S-Soyer?”
He wrapped me in his arms then, so tight it hurt, but in a good way. In the best way.
“I love you, Amory.”
“Did I burn again? Did I make the sprinklers go off?”
He cackled. “No. This time, I did that. This time, I saved you. I didn't know I could do that, but I can save you. I’m worth something after all if I can save you.”
I curled my fingers through his hair. “You’re worth everything. Don’t you know that, Soyer? You’re everything.”
I was on the floor with Soyer bent over me.
I realized this when Simeon’s head of blond hair came into view.
He looked down at me, slinging a battle-axe over his shoulder.
It begged the question of where he’d gotten a battle-axe, but I decided to ignore that for the time being.
Everything hurt, Soyer had burned for me, and—
“The witch!”
Simeon tsked. “I got the head off after Caecilius went stabby on her. I wanted to ask if that means I can’t use my axe anymore, but I thought it might be awkward since you’re both naked.”
“Thaeros? Echo? Soyer, let me up.” I remembered I had hands and tapped his shoulder, but he growled and wouldn’t budge. “Soyer, please.”
That did it. He pulled back and helped me up into a sitting position. How he’d been able to fight a vampire right after I’d burned for him back at the Moonlight, I had no idea. Then again, I was no badass like he was.
Valentin and Elias were taking care of Thaeros, and Ambrose was there. He was bent over Echo, keeping his neck stabilized.
“We called the healers. And the cleaners,” Simeon said. “Bennet, the axe?”
“Burn it, then salt it. That should do it. Amory, my heart, come on, let’s leave here.”
Simeon looked at his axe with mild disgust. “Ugh. Seems excessive. Bennet, it’s freezing out there. Let’s wait until someone finds you clothes. Just in order to…avoid any embarrassing situations.”
I shook my head. “We need to wait for Echo and Thaeros.”
More people came into the room through the door the witch had almost broken, and I knew them, except not like this. They were the regulars with the sandy hair, the triplets, one of whom was a nurse or a doctor, except it wasn’t just three of them. Unless I had miscounted, it was seven.
Two of them saw Soyer and me and came over. Two each split off to go to Echo and Thaeros.
“Hello. We’re here for cleaning, but we’ll do first aid while we wait for the healers,” one of them said.
“We should go find you shock blankets,” added another.
I nodded as if I understood what had happened, as if things made sense. All that mattered, all that made sense was that Soyer was here, and that the witch wasn’t.
I hugged him close. “I showed her the watch. She didn’t like that. You were right.”
He made a desperate sound. “Oh, Amory. Amory, my love. I never wanted you to meet a witch ever again. Never.”
“But…this is the one. The witch who hurt you just for wanting a few cherries. I was scared you’d be afraid, that if you saw her—”
He cupped the back of my head, holding me close. “I know. I froze up. I was scared out of my mind, and I froze up, and you got a fucking witch blade in your chest.”
“Yeah, but that’s fine now.”
He grumbled. “You sound like you need a lie down and a break.”
The witch blade. My thoughts caught up with what had happened. “Caecilius?”
I tried to turn away from where Soyer was effectively pressing my face into the crook of his neck, but he wouldn’t let me.
“He’s dead. Don’t look, my heart. He’s dead now. You don’t need to see it.”
“He lost it. He wasn’t thinking straight.”
Soyer snorted. “Yeah, no shit.”
I heard the crinkling of a shock blanket being unfolded and draped over us. It was a familiar sound and sensation, and it shouldn’t have been. Either of us bursting into flames really wasn’t ideal, and it was hard on the infrastructure.
“I’m glad we didn’t burn the building down,” I said, adjusting the shock blanket one of the triplets who weren’t triplets had given me.
Simeon made a noise of agreement. “True. You two are quite something. You should make sure you have good insurance, you know. Or just don’t erupt into flame.”
Soyer kissed my forehead. “Don’t listen to him. He’s full of shit. I’ll always burn for you, Amory, always. I love you, and I don’t want to be without you.”
I kissed him on the lips—an acknowledgment. “You’re not meant to be without me. You’re my firebird. We’re meant to be together where loneliness can’t find us.”
Simeon snorted. “Weirdos. Make sure to cover up, at least. It’s charming and all, but nothing anyone really needs to see.”
It didn’t matter that we were naked or who saw us. I had my firebird, and he had me. Everything was as it should be, as it would be, as it had to be, our hearts’ flames burning for each other.
Forever.