Chapter 54 Olivier
OLIVIER
Olivier had run out of time.
He was certain of it now. As he stood there, watching as August and Wren walked through the doorway, obliterating their souls from existence for the hope of a second chance, he felt the end of his own road approaching.
He’d run from the inevitable for longer than most. Tricked fate more times than he could count. But now…the time for running was over.
The brilliance of Masika’s power was overwhelming. She had always been beautiful, but staring at her now felt devastating. It was as if her soul had been infused with starlight. An all-consuming glow burned beneath her skin…an awe-inspiring sense of power.
Though, truthfully, she’d always been brilliant.
Lost in the sheer magnitude of Masika’s power, Olivier hadn’t noticed the moment she’d approached him. Her gaze seemed to drink him in, analyzing something Olivier couldn’t quite understand.
“Your mind,” she whispered. “I can’t reverse it. I can’t stop the Forgetting.”
Olivier let out a bitter chuckle. “I figured as much.”
“But…” Masika continued with a tilt of her head, “unlike Wren…your soul is intact. It’s still tethered to this plane. Which means there’s something else I can offer you. Something I can offer you both.”
“What?” Emilio asked breathlessly.
“I can relieve both of you of your duties and offer you the choice that should always have been yours.”
“What does that mean?” Emilio asked, looking between them. “What choice?”
Olivier met Masika’s knowing stare. There was a flash of hope in them…a whisper of promise. But there was something else. Something far darker. An ember of sorrow that burned deep inside. An understanding that this choice, this decision, would change the three of them, forever.
“The Other Side.” Olivier laced his hand through Emilio’s. “She means both of us can cross over.”
Emilio’s head snapped toward Olivier in confusion.
“B-but…” he stammered, brows furrowed. “That’s not what you want. You always said you hated the idea of the Other Side.”
Olivier couldn’t help but laugh. He found that a warm calm had settled over him. He’d never felt more clearheaded. More certain of anything in his entire existence. It was so simple. So wonderfully, blissfully simple.
“I want to be with you,” he whispered. “It doesn’t matter where I am.”
“But what if you’re right?” Emilio asked in a broken whisper. “What if there’s nothing waiting for us?”
Olivier smiled.
“But what if I’m wrong?”
Emilio’s chest shuddered. His brown eyes gleamed with tears.
“Are you sure?”
“I used to think there was nothing more terrifying than the unknown,” Olivier explained, the words tumbling out of him, almost frantic.
“That only a fool would cross over to the Other Side without knowing what was waiting for them. But now I realize that I was wrong. Completely and utterly wrong. It’s far more terrifying to know.
Because now that I know, with utmost certainty, that my heart is yours, there is nothing more terrifying than the thought of existing without you. ”
Emilio shut his eyes.
“Olivier.” He whispered his name and Olivier felt his soul draw him closer, that invisible tether between them tightening. If he closed his eyes, he swore he could feel the echo of his heart daring to beat—daring to live.
“I know, my love.” Olivier pulled Emilio closer. “I know.”
Their lips crashed together. Olivier tasted the universe on Emilio’s lips.
Felt eternity in his touch. He wanted more.
More of Emilio. More of his hands traveling against the length of Emilio’s torso.
More of his breath brushing against the lines of Emilio’s neck.
But above all else…he wanted more time. He’d never have enough of it.
Not here, anyway. But perhaps…on the Other Side…
perhaps they could finally have the afterlife they deserved.
They parted slowly. Reluctantly.
Caught up in the heaven of Emilio’s touch, Olivier had nearly forgotten that Masika was still standing there, watching them. She’d turned slightly, offering them privacy, but her presence was nearly impossible to ignore.
Olivier cleared his throat.
“Okay.”
Masika turned back to face them.
“Okay?”
“We’ll cross over.”
Masika let out a breath—a strange mixture of relief and sorrow. She nodded.
“Very well.”
She raised her hand and the doorway transformed into another—this one gleaming in gold, a dozen rose-dotted vines wrapped around its edge. A ruby river of velvety petals flowed down its sides, cascading onto the floor.
“This is your stop.”
Emilio approached Masika tentatively, a sheepish look in his eyes.
“I trust you’ll watch over Benji?”
Masika smiled through her own tears.
“You have my word.”
Emilio hesitated, eyes darting over Masika’s face, and then he jolted forward, wrapping her in a tight embrace. Masika’s expression faltered, a single tear falling down her cheek.
“God, I’m going to miss you,” Emilio muttered weakly.
“I’ll miss you every second of every day.” Masika gently pulled away from Emilio, lifting his chin with her thumb. “But you deserve this. You deserve the eternity you always wanted.”
When Masika’s eyes landed on Olivier next, he found the breath snatched from his lungs, a sudden rush of panic traveling up his throat.
What could he even say? They had quite literally been through hell and back together, seen things, done things that most couldn’t even fathom. And now…they’d reached their end.
“I’m glad we became friends.” Olivier mustered up a smile. “Even if it took us a few decades.”
Masika chuckled. She laced Olivier’s fingers through hers and gave his hand a squeeze. “Friends, huh? What happened to unfortunate acquaintances?”
Olivier shook his head, smiling, but tears burned behind his eyes.
“I think I prefer friends.” And then a thought occurred to him, and he couldn’t help himself, continuing with a sharp intake of breath.
“Oh, and by the way, I know you’re like the ruler of the afterlife or whatever now—but please…
do us all a favor and just make up with Catherine already. She’s crazy about you.”
And then the Headmaster of Blackwood Academy did the unthinkable.
She blushed.
Olivier smiled, pleased.
That’ll do.
He turned back toward the door, facing it with wild determination.
There was a weighted silence. A moment of hesitation.
“So…should we place bets?” Olivier asked casually.
Emilio snorted.
“You want to bet on our souls?”
“I don’t know.” Olivier laced his fingers through Emilio’s, gripping the boy like a lifeline. “It could be fun. We could make it a bit naughty. Loser has to strip naked.”
Emilio let out a cackle of laughter.
“Olivier Dupont. You cannot seriously be flirting at a time like this.”
“Oh, my dear Emilio.” Olivier smiled. “It’s always a good time to flirt.”
When the two boys walked through the door, crossing into the unknown, there were no tears to be shed. No sadness. Not even an inkling of fear. There were only smiles on their faces and the promise of more. More time. More laughter.
And, most of all, hope.