Destiny Revealed
Page 21
“My Sofia. My bella Sofia, I can’t live without you either. That’s why you can’t ever do anything like this again. Your babbo said if her athame had been a millimeter to the left, you would have bled to death before we ever got there.” I was crying again. I thought it seemed bad when it happened, but didn’t realize it was so close.
“I’m so sorry, Nick. All I could think about was Gia taking you from me. The crazy look in her eyes in my vision scared the crap out of me. I thought this was the only way.”
“The circle was planning on a banishing spell to keep her from coming back to America. And Mamma said they were going to do something to more permanently bind her magic. If you had just waited…” he said.
“I know I should have. How did you find me anyway? I never gave anyone the apartment name.”
“GPS on your phone,” he answered.
“If it makes you feel any better, I’m glad you got there to stop me,” I whispered. The more I thought about how I almost killed Gia, the more upset I got with myself.
“Would you really have done it?”
I nodded and turned my head away from him. I didn’t want to see the look in his eyes when I admitted it. “It was the darkness again. And I welcomed it,” I whispered.
He cupped my face again and made me look at him. “There’s no judgment here. I would not think any less of you if you had done it. But I knew how much it would’ve eaten you up inside.”
There was a loud banging on the front door and then it opened. “Sofia Morini! I mean Bartolini! What the hell were you thinking?” Nat yelled and stormed right in to our bedroom. “You idiota. You could’ve been killed!” Her arms were crossed and she was glaring at me from the doorway, but as soon as I reached out for her, she rushed in for a hug. “Don’t you dare ever scare me like that again. You are my sister and I need you. We’re supposed to get old together.” I felt a warm tear on my cheek and realized it was Nat’s.
“I know, Nat. Never again,” I whispered, squeezing her tighter.
She pulled back, “Ok, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She shut the bedroom door as she left and I heard the front door close a second later.
“I’m gonna go lock that before we have any more visitors,” Nick stood up and left.
I was stripping off my bloody shirt when he came back in the room and he helped me finish. I could move my arm, but it still ached. He followed me in to the shower and helped me wash off. After my shower, I sat on the bed while Nick got some clean shorts and a tank top for me to sleep in. He sat next to me on the bed and took my bare arm in his hands to look at my new scar.
“Your mamma said she can heal, but not make the marks go away,” he said.
“I know, but hey, guys dig scars, right?” I laughed. The wound already looked like an old scar, no stitches, no ugly cut. It was nice having a mother that could heal.
After changing, we crawled into bed. Nick lay on his back and I rested my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. “I love you more than words, Sofia. Don’t ever do anything that stupid again,” he whispered as I started to drift off to sleep.
“I promise,” I said.
That night, for the first time in a while, I slept soundly. No fear that Nick would walk out in the middle of the night and go to Gia. No fear that Ky would visit me in my dreams. Just peaceful, deep sleep.
~Epilogue~
I still wasn’t ready to be a mom. But there I was, twenty years old in the delivery room, in the middle of a serious contraction. I squeezed Nick’s hand so hard I would’ve broken it if he weren’t a werewolf.
Apparently, life had other plans for us. In the end, it didn’t matter that we were on birth control. Nick was more excited about it than I was. Even now, his face practically glowed.
My grandparents had flown in the week before so they could be there for the birth. Mamma and Nonna were on the sofa against the window chatting away. Our friends were milling around in the hallway. “Will you tell them to shut up?” I practically shouted. “I’m trying to concentrate.”
Nick called to Rene just outside the door and told him to take everyone to the waiting room. My water had broken three hours earlier while we were at Aberto’s having lunch. I apologized profusely for the mess, but Daniela shrugged it off and rushed us out of there.
Mamma and Nonna stopped talking in the corner, having heard my outburst. “Do you need something for the pain?” Babbo asked, walking in to the room. Even though he wasn’t an obstetrician, he was delivering our baby girl. I wasn’t sure how I felt about him seeing me this way, but it was too late now.
Once the contraction had passed, Nick placed a wet washcloth on my forehead. “No, Babbo. I want to do this on my own,” I answered.
“Even now, a stubborn one,” he chuckled.
“I wonder where she gets that from,” Mamma came
over and put her hand on mine. The last two years had been peaceful. Nothing left to stand between Nick and I. Dash and Helene were newly bound now that she had graduated from high school. Luca finally moved out and no longer worked at Monte’s. He was renting the studio apartment above the tattoo parlor where Etienne worked and had quite a successful photography business.
Pietro and Gabriela came that summer after Gia was killed. Gabriela decided to permanently move to Arizona and now lived in my old room at my parents’ house. She and Rene started dating shortly after and were still together. Pietro went back to Italy after the summer because of his girlfriend.
And Ky, he decided to leave. He ended up moving to Italy to live with his grandparents, and every so often would send me an email to let me know what was going on with him. After he killed Gia to save me, Nick backed off and was okay with the emails. Only once did I write back, to let him know I was pregnant.
“Anything yet?” Luca stuck his head in the door. Nick shook his head just as I squeezed his hand again. “Soon,” Babbo said. “She is almost fully dilated.” “Ack, I don’t want to know that,” Luca cringed and left
the room.
“You are doing so awesome,” Nick whispered as he
brushed the strands of hair off my face that had stuck from
sweat. Despite the pain, I smiled at him. He was going to
be the best father. He took such good care of me during the entire pregnancy and constantly talked to the baby and
rubbed my belly. It was incredibly sweet.
“I need to push,” I said through gritted teeth. Babbo
checked me one last time and told me to go ahead. Mamma
and Nonna were standing by the bed, but not too close so as
to give me some space.
After about thirty minutes of intense pushing, baby
Alessandra Hecate Bartolini was born. The moment Babbo
put her on my belly, I finally felt it. I was instantly in love
and ready to be a mom. I looked over at Nick and his eyes
were full of happy tears. Mamma and Nonna were both
crying as well.
Luca stuck his head in again, “Can we come in yet? I
hear crying.”
“Give your sister a few minutes,” Mamma chastised. Fifteen minutes later, everyone flooded in to the room.
“Me first,” Luca said. “I’m the uncle.”
Nick was holding her, wrapped snuggly in a blanket.
“You can look, but it’s still my turn,” Nick smiled down at
Alessandra.
“I can’t believe you guys made a person,” Dash chimed
in, pushing his way through for a better look.
“Oh, I want one,” Nat smiled at Jack. Jack turned white,
but Nat didn’t notice. She just looked over Nick’s shoulder
and cooed at the baby.
I was completely worn out, but as I looked around the
room at my pack and coven, I could’t help but smile. This
was what life was all about—la mia famiglia. And I was
read
y to begin our next adventure together.
Acknowledgements First I need to thank my family for putting up with me missing in action for long stretches of time. My sweet boys for coming in to my cave to let me know they still exist, love me and miss hanging out with me. For their stolen kisses and entertaining songs and dances. To my dad Larry for always being the first one to read my stories and give his honest and helpful opinion. Thanks to my friend, Amy Rice for her feedback and support. And lastly, to my friends who encourage me and read my books. It was hard for me to say goodbye to Nico and Sofia. They became my favorite characters that I’ve written so far and I hope you enjoyed reading their tale as much as I did writing it.