FINAL GOODBYES
44
- ALANIS -
E veryone is slowly healing. Kailu’s wounds healed quickly once he received proper medical attention, though the fact his back already had scars left by his father made it impossible to fully heal the new ones from Iclas.
I have grown my powers over the past week, studying and training with anyone who is available. I spend girl time every day with Hannah and Leena. Their friendship heals the pains from my past. I no longer feel like the weird outcast who was abandoned.
Here, in this realm, is where I belong.
I flip through the pages of my grandmother’s grimoire as I watch Mal and Kailu spar outside. Malakai says it is the quickest way for Kailu to gain his strength back, to Kailu’s utter dismay. He was hoping having endless amounts of sex would do that.
The three of us will rule this realm one day, and I want to make sure we are the best rulers possible for the people. It’s why I’m scouring through history books to learn everything I can.
I even visited Maryanna the other day, profusely apologizing for my prolonged absence. She gave me a smile and patted my hand. “It’s your turn for adventures.”
Hendrix comes over to where I sit at the patio table, leaning against the ivy-covered pillar of the pergola. “It’s good to see you. I thought we lost you for a second there.”
I smile. “Me too. What would you do without me? You and I make a pretty good team in a fight.”
He chuckles. “Very true. Plus, I need you to keep Kailu in his place.”
I stand, hugging him tightly. “I’m so glad you’re all right.”
“We all are.” He gives me one last squeeze before heading for the front door.
Just as I step towards my mates sparring in the grassy yard a few feet from where I stand, the ground rumbles. It shakes so hard it throws me to the ground. I cover my head, protecting myself from falling debris. Malakai and Kailu race towards me.
When the shaking stops, they help me to my feet, and we rush through the castle for the foyer. Malakai throws open the large oak doors and I’m not prepared for what I see when I step outside. Smoke billows throughout the city. We race to the iron gate to see ghouls attacking the citizens of Percius, and none other than Iclas himself on the cobblestone street, weaving his death mist. He holds a man by the throat, slowly suffocating him. Anger like I’ve never felt before crawls through my body.
Where do these ghouls keep coming from?
“Why won’t he just die ?” I scream over the sounds of anarchy.
The rest of our friends and family come out, cursing at the sight.
“The slippery bastard has a knack for escaping death,” Viros says through gritted teeth. “We thought we got him when the Fates destroyed the building in the blast, but we couldn’t confirm anything. Nothing survived, bodies turned to mist.”
I look to Malakai and Kailu. “Let’s end this once and for all.”
Everyone murmurs in agreement and readies for battle.
Hannah stands near Hendrix looking every inch a warrior.
I hug Hendrix tightly. “I know this is your job and you are used to it, but you are my friend and I am telling you that you better be safe. Got that?”
He chuckles. “Yes, ma’am.”
I kiss him on the cheek, then turn to Hannah. “And you, too. Kick ass but come home safe.”
Siveral comes up and wraps his arm around me. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep her safe.”
Hannah groans in annoyance. I give Hendrix a knowing look, and we both laugh.
I walk away, Hendrix following. “Those two are going to kill each other.”
“You aren’t kidding.” I laugh and then we walk side by side to find Malakai and Kailu.
Hendrix and Kailu talk briefly, hugging each other before strapping knives to their bodies. My nerves skyrocket, knowing that a lot of our men are injured still. Barely healed.
But I step into the fray, giving Malakai and Kailu one last look.
I decapitate every ghoul I find, not stopping until their black blood flows down the city streets. One crawls towards a little boy crying in an alleyway, curled in a ball as he screams for his mother. I sprint as quickly as my legs will carry me, the entire time focusing on my emotions, tapping into the anger just beneath the surface. Flames dance at my fingertips and I shoot them towards the ghoul, his shrill screams like nail on slate. Repulsion skitters down my spine, but I battle through it to slice clean through its neck. Quickly I grab the young boy in my arms, seeing the male from the flower shop across the way holding his own against a ghoul, pushing him back with his water magic. I shield the boy’s face in my shoulder, cutting the head off the ghoul. The florist looks at me, his normally stoic expression filled with shock. I thrust the boy into his arms. “Keep him safe.”
I have no time to explain further, and thankfully he nods and hurries inside with the lost child.
I trip over a body on my way back towards the gates of the castle, just down the road from the florist’s shop. I whirl to find Maryanna’s vacant eyes staring up at the sky. Nausea churns in my gut, tears following down my sweaty face. I gently close her eyes, sadness lingering at the loss of my first actual friend here, even though she would never admit to liking me. Stubborn woman that she was.
An explosion of magic rocks the ground so hard that debris scatters into the sky, a piece knocking me flat. Smoke floods the air, choking breath from my lungs. I cough, trying to clear the soot and ash from my throat, and squint through the haze, seeing my brother laying on the ground. I crawl to him, fear skittering up my spine. I reach a hand out and turn him over, finding blood seeping from his hairline. His face is caked in soot. He lets out a groan, and I immediately release the breath I had been holding.
I scan the war-torn area, looking for my family. I see a few of them shakily getting to their feet, riddled with injuries. I scan the street, looking for the faces that will instantly calm me. My blood simmers with each passing second.
I walk through the bodies, checking every single one. Some I know, some I don’t.
I still don’t find them.
At last, I spot Kailu’s blond hair in the distance where he’s fighting off a ghoul, but my heart flips over, dropping like lead into my stomach. Where is Malakai?
The rage overwhelms me.
I scream, sending a shockwave rocking through the city.
The bastard took him.
Now he will die, slowly.
I round the corner to check the next street when I spot him. Iclas holds Malakai by the throat, his swirling death mist hovering just above Malakai’s head. The cobblestone streets are completely destroyed. Some buildings crumble, some still stand strong.
Malakai’s eyes meet mine, no fear present in his gaze. Just love.
I smile slowly.
“Oh, you fucked up Iclas,” I hear Malakai mutter as he slashes at the Fae with his dagger. Iclas staggers backward, just narrowly avoiding the assault as he kicks out, sending Malakai tumbling to the ground.
All Iclas manages to do is enrage me further. My anger and love for Malakai mix, forming a ball of energy in my soul.
“You made your last mistake the minute you laid your hands on my mate,” I growl.
I stomp my foot onto the earth, my powers splitting the ground we stand on. The crevice opens up where Iclas stands, throwing off his balance.
Malakai heaves himself to the side.
Iclas grapples to wrest control over his power, but I’m one step ahead. I surround him with a wind so powerful that it blows his death mist away the second he conjures it. My flames dance on my fingertips as Iclas’s gaze latches onto me.
I shoot a flame and he dodges it, his mist slithering towards me, crawling across each crack in the ground. The ice in my veins fights to escape, and with the help of my wind I send an icicle soaring straight into his gut.
Iclas is thrown to his back, clutching his stomach as blood oozes between his fingers. I don’t pause in my assault, sending another ice shard straight at him, clipping him in the shoulder. The ground trembles, knocking me off my feet, and in the time it takes to stand he’s running at me with his sword held high. I move but not in time. His sword slices across my side, the wound shallow but painful. My energy is running low from using so much magic in such short succession, but I dance just out of reach, quickly dipping low and stabbing my dagger into his thigh.
Blood spurts from his leg, but not enough for me to have hit the right spot. He stumbles, but regains his footing. His wounds quickly heal so that he can continue his attack.
Malakai staggers to his feet, but I don’t want his help. I need to finish this.
I dig deep into my soul, pulling the water from the sea that borders the entire northern shore of Percius and the Outskirts. I pull so deep that I feel something else rising with the water.
The skeletal body atop a water horse follows, unable to deviate from the watery trail I create. I hear the fear in the voices around me. I see the shock on Malakai’s face. But the thing that brings me such joy is the absolute terror radiating from Iclas.
The Nuckelavee barrels toward the Fae, only able to stay on the path of water. Unfortunately for Iclas, the path leads straight to him.
“You may have escaped him once; I doubt you’ll have the same luck again. Give Ames my best when you see him.”
I push the water back, the Nuckelavee following it back to the sea, dragging Iclas with him. Iclas’s screams echo off the city streets. Each second he is in the Nuckelavee’s grasp, the more his body deteriorates. By the time he is back to the sea, Iclas will be nothing but cursed bones. Ones I most definitely won’t be setting free. They can lie at the bottom of the Sidereal until the end of time.
I search for that newfound power, the one that love makes stronger. Light manipulation that also ran in my mother’s veins. I pull on that energy, creating a ball of light and flame before pushing it outward in the direction I want.
Malakai comes up behind me. “Where did you send that?”
I lean back into his hold, weak in the wake of such magic. “The Isle of Rimoldi. That should be enough flame and energy to burn the entire island. When the flame recedes, the island will be cleansed. A rebirth of sorts, I guess. I read about it in my grandmother’s grimoire. A way to cleanse a cursed place.”
As we walk through the streets, the amount of unnecessary loss shoots a pang through my chest. Elion is stumbling on his feet, Leena helping him back into the castle.
Kailu looks fine save for a few scrapes, thank the Gods. I was worried since he was barely healed from his last injuries. His face is drawn, sorrow pouring from him.
“What happened?” I race to him, cradling his face in my hands.
Kailu looks away, but I can see the tears collecting in his eyes. “Hendrix is gone.”
My heart clenches. Hendrix.
“No.”
I hug Kailu tight, squeezing him so hard that he groans. “I’m sorry, Kailu. Gods, I’m so sorry.”
He holds me, breathing in deeply as Malakai hugs Kailu as well. “Hendrix was fond of you. Especially when you aimed your attitude towards me. He was a man of honor; he would have done anything to protect this city. And now we won’t even be able to give him a proper burial.”
Kailu swipes at a wayward tear. “One of the ghouls got him with a bite. Poison was seeping through his body, but I couldn’t get to him, there were too many. When I looked over, he was lying prone on the ground. When the fighting finally ended his body was gone. I’ve searched everywhere.”
Hope surges through me. “Maybe he got up and is all right. Maybe…”
Malakai’s expression cuts off my next words. “Do you remember how fast that poison went through your system? Even if he managed to get up and away from the fight, he would have needed assistance within the hour, and that’s the best-case scenario.”
“I’m not giving up on him. He may have gotten away and found help.” I fight to speak through the tears.
A soldier ambles towards us, dirt and blood smeared on his face. “Captain Thelos is gone. Iclas’s damn mist took hold of him. I tried so hard to free him, but it was no use.”
Kailu nods, the shock of Hendrix’s disappearance and now the loss of the captain too much to comprehend.
Malakai and a few others collect our dead.
Hendrix, the captain, and many more soldiers and even innocent bystanders lost their lives today, but I will make damn sure that it never happens again.
- KAILU -
We hold the funerals for our friends separate and more privately than all the others. For days we searched for Hendrix. We checked all around the capital, even extending our search throughout the Obsidian Hills. It would have been near-impossible to make it any further with poison in his system. I eventually called off the search, even though the sharp pain in my chest made it near impossible.
I say my last goodbye to Hendrix. Since we had no body to bury, we plant a willow tree in the castle garden instead, one that could grow for centuries in his memory. I say goodbye to the captain, too, the man who trained me and took me under his wing. I grip Alanis’s hand, tears slowly sliding down my face. Malakai stands on my other side, his expression subdued. Sunlight streams through the floor to ceiling windows, the light glinting off the chandelier and sending a rainbow of colors over the entire room.
I watch as Alanis says a quiet goodbye to her grandmother. The woman who turned her back on family until Alanis set her straight. The one whose eyes looked identical to my mate’s. The powerful witch who, when it mattered most, defended her family to the bitter end.
Alanis also wanted to say her goodbyes to her adoptive father, Tiernan. The man who tried his best to raise a girl not from his world. Who tried to protect her and guide her, even though her powers scared him. To the man who loved a girl who wasn’t his flesh and blood as his own daughter.
She even quickly says her peace to her adoptive mother, Matilda. The woman who took her in, then regretted it. Alanis says she did the best she could, and I will always be thankful to her for taking Alanis home. Without her, Alanis wouldn’t have had Elion and everything would have been different. I get she was scared and unsure. I still would like to wring her neck with my bare hands for the pain she caused Alanis.
Viros and Alanis say goodbye to her birth mother, Odessa Grim. The woman she never knew but who died to protect her. A mother’s love, one that no other love can match.
Alanis looks between me and Mal. We would turn this world upside down for her. We each kiss her softly before leading her back into the castle.
She pauses just outside of the dining hall, pulling us around to look at her.
“Marry me,” she says.
Mal’s deep chuckle sends shivers through her body, my own tightening in response. I smirk and watch as her thighs clench together.
“I believe I asked you that first,” I joke as I tickle her side.
She laughs, slapping my hand away to give me a smile. “I just think we should get married soon.”
Malakai holds onto her hips in his firm grip. “What’s the rush, firecracker?”
She smiles at us and my heart rate picks up. Then she whispers, “I just would like to be married before our baby comes into this world.”
Shock and wonder overtake me. Malakai is speechless, his mouth gaping open.
“You’re pregnant?” I ask.
She nods, biting her lip to hold back a smile. My heart rate doubles, and a lightness I’ve never felt before takes residence in my chest. I know it won’t matter who the father is, as we will both love this baby with everything we have. We’ll both be their fathers. It will grow up with three parents.
The smile that graces Malakai’s face is one I’ll never forget. “We’re having a baby?” he whispers.
She nods again, and the smile that grows on her face is magical.
I pick her up, squeezing her in a bear hug.
Malakai hugs her from behind, his hands closed around my back. It’s that that allows me to feel him stiffen, his hands clutching hard to my tunic. “Wait, you fought in a war knowing you were pregnant!”
She just pats his chest. “Shh. The healer checked me. Everything is fine. And anyway, I didn’t know until afterward.”
I release a breath at the quick bout of panic that sliced through me.
Malakai leads us around a corner and into an empty hallway, pushing her up against the wall as he shoves her dress up and moves her underwear to the side. Gods, I love watching them together. The two people I love more than anything. Malakai’s gaze latches onto mine, desire darkening his eyes. Before Alanis can even catch her breath, he has freed himself and is pushing inside her drenched center. I yank her hair, smashing my lips against hers.
Mal’s tempo is fast, an urgency filling him that she is loving. She runs her fingers through the hair on the nape of his neck, causing him to growl. He latches his sharp canines above her collarbone. The second his teeth make contact with her skin, she explodes.
He follows her over the edge shortly after. Her little gasps of pleasure and his groans nearly send me to my knees.
“Gods, I can’t get enough of you,” he says reverently.
I laugh and scoop her up, speedwalking towards Malakai’s room, which we now all share. My turn now.
I gently lay her on our bed before sinking inside. My tempo slow and filled with love, a far cry different than the ravage way Malakai just consumed her.
Later, when we are all sated, Malakai runs a gentle finger over her abdomen, leaning forward to place a kiss to Alanis’s belly.
His eyes shine with unshed tears. “Thank you for saving me.”
I place my hand on her stomach next, my fingers resting on top of Malakai’s. “I think you saved me just as much,” I whisper.
She kisses us each softly. “I love you both, in this life and the next.”
As she stares into our eyes, I know that this is the life we were meant to live. One full of love and joy, not endless pain and loss.
I thank the Fates every day for tying my soul to theirs.
“In this life and every other one to come. I will follow your souls anywhere,” Alanis whispers.