by Lund, S. E.
We stand like that, me biting back tears, him with his hands now in his pockets, glancing away as if he’s embarrassed to see me cry. I wipe my eyes, overcome with emotions.
“Don’t,” he says and steps closer, wiping my cheek with his thumb. He slips it into his mouth and closes his eyes and I remember…
Then I’m in his arms, and his face is buried in the crook of my neck. I’m crying and I don’t care anymore because he’s here, and he remembers me.
He remembers us.
I remember how much I loved him once upon a time, before all this happened, and we were together.
Before the world fell apart.
He holds me and rocks me slowly back and forth in his arms and he’s warm and solid and smells like sandalwood.
We stand like that for a long while, not speaking, enjoying each other’s embrace. No words are spoken because none are needed. All this time, he didn’t want me to know that to destroy Soren meant he had to die. He was afraid it would be me and he couldn’t let me die.
In the end, neither of us wanted the other to die.
He’s wrong, of course. Soren’s still alive because he can’t be killed. Only neutralized for a time.
That’s right. I’m eternal. My power comes from life itself. Keep me down in the mine, keep me on top of a high mountain. It doesn’t matter. I’ll be back. I was put here for a reason, I have powers for a reason and I don’t die for a reason.
Think about that.
I exhale and pull away, smiling up at Michel.
“I should get the camera set up and running.” I glance around at the darkening sky. “The Milky Way should rise pretty soon. I want to catch it.”
Michel lets go of me with clear reluctance, but then he helps me finish setting up the camera. We get it set on the tripod and the timer programmed to take a long-exposure image every twenty seconds, then I roll out the sleeping bag and we sit side by side, the way we did what feels like ages ago.
“What happens now?” I ask. If I’m not mistaken, Michel has come in search of me for a reason. I think he wants to be with me again. If so, he has to know that means sharing me with Julien.
I don’t know how I feel about that.
Hell. I do know.
I want him, despite everything. Maybe because of everything. It was never because he thought I couldn’t handle the truth that he never told it to me. It was because he knew Soren had direct access to me. It was because he thought that I wouldn’t do what was necessary in order to destroy Soren. I wouldn’t pay the price and let Michel die.
He was right. I couldn’t let Michel die. I didn’t have to but I never got the chance to tell him that Soren can’t be killed. He wanted to forget me, and live as a priest the way he always wanted back before he first became a vampire. Now, he’s had two decades to do just that.
“I want you back,” he says softly. “I want the three of us to be together again.”
I say nothing for a moment, feeling incredibly guilty that I’m even considering it. How will Julien feel if I admit I want Michel again?
“What does Julien think about this?”
Michel smiles and leans his head on his knee, looking in my eyes. “He said it’s up to you.”
“It’s up to both of you as well,” I say, still not sure what I think. I want them both. I want them both to be okay about it.
“He told me that he knew that one day, we’d all be together again.”
“He never said that to me.”
Michel says nothing. “He said you weren’t ready to hear it yet.”
“And I am now?”
Michel reaches out and takes my hand, stroking my palm with his thumb. It sends a shiver through me and my body still remembers his touch.
It brings tears to my eyes and I have to cover my mouth with my other hand. Then Michel pulls me onto his lap and holds me in his arms.
Finally, he kisses me and I let him. Despite the intervening twenty years, I still feel the same thrill at his touch. We kiss and it’s tender, sweet. It feels like relief.
Like my heart and mind are saying finally…
The kiss ends and I turn my head and settle back in his arms.
Soren’s words echo in my mind.
You’ll get everything you want. Everything.
He was right.
I blocked that idea from my mind. A selfish part of me wanted both brothers but the better angels of my nature said I had to choose.
I was wrong, because as much as I thought I loved only Julien, and wanted only Julien, there was a part of me that wanted them both
Now, I have them.
In the distance, a bright falling star burns across the sky, a long white streak ending a bright flash of light fading into darkness.
THE END
About the Author
S. E. Lund is a writer who lives with her family of humans and pets in a century-old house on a quiet tree-lined street in a small city in Western Canada.
She writes erotic, contemporary and paranormal romance and dreams of living in warm climate beside the ocean where snow is just a word in a dictionary.
For more information:
@elizal2012
S. E. Lund
www.selund.com
[email protected]
Acknowledgments
A special thanks to some of the people who have helped get this book out the door:
To Michelle Saunders for your wonderful and careful editing of all my books!
To my designer for the great covers
To Sharon for ongoing support
To the folks on a forum that shall not be named – for all the support and encouragement
To the other authors who are there for me – you know who you are! Thanks for listening and for being so positive
Most of all, thanks to all my readers who read my books, the bloggers who recommend them and for everyone who sends me emails and posts on my page – thank you! Your letters and feedback make it all worthwhile!