Chapter Twenty
He walked slowly, not wanting to scare or interrupt me. He approached the edge of the rainstorm and looked at me hesitantly. He was close enough that I could see his face. He looked weary. Something passed over his face that made a small smile creep to my lips. It was relief. He was relieved. He raked a hand through his sandy, blonde hair and finally let slip an unguarded smile. He spoke loud enough, so I could hear him through the barraging rainwater.
“You should have told me a wet T-shirt contest was going on out here!” His face was open and happy. I could recognize pure joy playing over his features. The look was one I remembered from our past. It had been missing as of late, so I reveled in it. A sound escaped my mouth that was unexpected; I laughed, remembering our first meeting in the exact same spot.
“Only if you’ve been working out.” I teased him lightly, feeling guilty for the small moment of sheer happiness in the midst of everything that just took place.
He saw my face drop and entered my rainstorm cautiously. I watched carefully as the water soaked his hair, turning it a dark brown. The water from his lashes balled on his cheek and ran off his jaw. I caught the scent of wet cement mingled with his cologne and inhaled deeply. The fact that he was standing there with me and not in the hallway, solid as a stone, told me everything I needed to know. His heart was true to me, not Jade.
I grabbed his hand, already wet, and willed the rain to ease, so I wouldn’t have to speak so loudly,
“How?” Was all I asked when I was sure he could hear me.
“I lied to protect you,” he said sadly. His gaze was downcast. I lifted his chin to look him directly in his sea-blue eyes—the only eyes I’d ever wanted to get lost in.
“I knew what it would do to you to find this out.” He motioned to the building behind us, referencing my now statuesque best friends. “I had to fake some loyalty to Jade to keep you safe. I had to know her plans to stay a step ahead. Everything I did was to keep you safe.” His moving lips distracted me.
Then, I remembered something he said on the awful night Sara cast me into blackness.
“You said you didn’t want to be with me.” He shook his head the moment I started speaking. He knew that question would come next.
“No, you asked if I wanted to be with you...right now. You have to be a little more specific with cathartic casts. You of all people should know that.” He smiled victoriously and grabbed my other hand. Then, he took a step to close the large gap between us.
“I want to be with you always, not just right now or right then. Every second I’m not with you pains me. It’s killed me, literally, to watch you with Xander. I knew he would be a better match for you, which is why I tried to let it take its course. I got a bad vibe off him from the moment he crashed into my store.” I could tell he hoped it would be enough to win me back. I wasn’t ready to admit to him he never lost me in the first place―that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t give my heart away twice. “It’s over, now. We can be together. If that’s what you want. If you can forgive me for all I’ve done.” Kai’s face held wonder and hope. Most of all, it held vulnerability.
“What about Sara?” I asked to prolong the suspense a little more. He grabbed both sides of my face. Leaning down through the sprinkling, cold rain, he whispered into my ear. His hot lips barely brushed my cold skin.
“That was always only a decoy,” he said finally before he kissed my cheek.
I felt myself blushing like a schoolgirl, unable to believe there could be a happy ending in the middle of the muck…not only a happy ending but my happy ending. I had written it off, not only Kai but love altogether. It obviously wasn’t meant for me after everything I’d been through and because of what I was—a Bruxa. I’d always been told being matched was the end-all-be-all to romantic happiness.
They touted Human-Bruxa relationships as hapless mistakes all witches made before being matched, and then, it became real. I knew what I felt with Xander. It was a strong connection, but it was never what I felt for Malakai. I blinked a few tears out of my eyes and decided to skip the rest of the questions for now and just let myself get lost in the moment. Second-guessing Kai’s feelings was something I was accustomed to doing. He was never this open with me. I felt like an equal for the first time in a long time.
Kai explained everything to me about how he kept both of his lives with Jade, and Kellan and the other witches separate. He was confident no one would inform the Elders of the dark witches or speak of his involvement. Keeping them a secret ensured an upper hand when the need for dark magic arose. Evidently, that was often, and I had just been unaware when I lived in Cadiza before.
The words were flowing effortlessly between us as we poured ourselves out for one another. The truth finally connected all the missing puzzle pieces in my head...and in my heart. It was hard to believe one conversation solved everything so easily. The tears I now cried were in relief of finally knowing.
“Madison. I can’t believe I did that to her.” I sank to the ground, really accepting the consequences of what I had done.
“She did it to herself. She had plenty of opportunities to tell you the truth, but that would have been defying Jade. She wouldn’t do it. It doesn’t make your friendship any less real. She was your best friend before you left Cadiza. She knew you. You knew her.” He sat down next to me on the wet, muddy ground, not caring about ruining his pants.
I shook my head. “No, she knew all along.” With the truth out, I could picture all past conversations between us holding different meanings. “I can feel it. It just doesn’t make it any easier to accept she is gone, and Daniel is gone, too.” I felt Kai shift beside me.
“And that Xander is solid as a rock?” he asked hesitantly with a slightly sarcastic hint. A hint of sarcasm that Xander would appreciate, I thought. I realized in that moment what I felt for Xander was never what I felt for the man sitting next to me.
“I’m sad, because I think he was my only true friend in all of this.” I thought of how he’d fallen into Jade’s trap. Madison and Daniel gave into Jade’s demands willingly. Xander, in his innocence, had no idea and ultimately paid the highest price. Kai watched me carefully as I spoke of Xander.
“It was always you, Malakai Griffin.” I reassured the man who never needed reassurance. He smiled, relieved to hear me say it, and leaned back on his elbows.
“How long will they be...well, you know. Rocks?” He seemed unsure if this question would upset me. The curse grimoire hadn’t been too specific as was the case for most grimoires that were older than dirt. It said the effects of my curse would lessen in time, depending how strong their allegiance was.
“It depends,” I said coyly. I hoped it would be before anyone began to suspect me as the perpetrator. Kai’s eyes turned wistful. That’s when I realized he wanted them to stay rocks.
“It will take a pretty serious spell to revert Jade,” Kai mused. Then, his face grew grave, even scared, as he pointed across the field to a black portal five figures were stepping into. The blissful moment with him wrapped me up so much, I failed to notice the dark magic thick in the air.
It hit me all at once. I clenched my tattoo tightly with my free hand to ease the burning. If I wasn’t mistaken, the burning felt a little weaker than it did the last time I was exposed to dark magic. That couldn’t really be the case, because it would mean Kellan’s dark magic had affected me. The figures were too far away to distinguish faces, but I saw Blythe’s black hair waving softly in the wind. Her familiar gait sent chills up my spine.
“I know her.” I leaned in closer to keep my voice low. “I don’t know how I know Blythe, but I do.” It scared the shit out of me.
“They came to clean up,” he said solemnly, ignoring my admission. “It will be as if the others disappeared.”
“I guess they are good for something,” I said harshly, not wanting to think about Blythe. The black portal closed, taking all traces of black magic with it. I breathed a sigh of relief at the closure I felt with its disappearance, knowing full well I’d be dealing with dark magic for a long time to come.
“You shouldn’t be so hard on them.” I could see loss in his eyes. I assumed it had to do with his brother, or maybe it was his loss of a normal, carefree human life. That could be pondered another day. I came up with a better idea.
“So, we can go, now?” I asked while standing up and offering him my mud-caked hand. “I’d love to hang out here and reminisce, but I’m sure people will start asking questions, soon.” I looked at my watch. “Training sessions will be out soon, and this place will be swarmed.”
He grabbed my hand and stood up but kept my hand tight in his grip. I brought my other hand up to the much-too-perfect sky and cast the rain clouds away. The sun came back with a vengeance, shining on our soaking bodies. It felt nice and unlike an hour ago, it felt right.
In the madness where truth and lies blended together like friends, I finally knew where I belonged. It wasn’t with a certain man or huddling beside friends for protection. I belonged to myself, to make the choices I felt were right. I owned my own life and my own decisions. They led me to the place I loathed and loved in equal measure, and in the end, they led me to the truth.
It may have been hard to accept that the past few years had been little more than a masquerade ball, where everyone played their parts in the act, but now I was as free as I could have hoped for. I squeezed Malakai’s hand while I looked around the false paradise for the last time.
“Where to?” he asked. “I was really hoping for a warm destination, but I’d be agreeable to snow as well.” He laughed, accepting my extended hand without pause.
“Hey, hey. Who said you were invited?” I quirked one eyebrow and dared him to take the bait. He grabbed my waist and pulled me up next to his body.
“God, I’ve missed you,” he whispered as he brought his lips down to meet mine.
The fireworks I felt confirmed all my wildest dreams―even the ones I thought were only fairytales. That was what it felt like to love someone. Not a love of convenience or those of a summer fling, but the real kind. I broke the kiss but kept my hands resting on the sides of his rough, unshaven face. The moment was intense as we both were eager for more; however, I needed to take a beat to find what I needed in his eyes—the spark, the intensity of the blue, his love for me shining through. It was all there, as it was the last time we kissed in his store. It was reassuring to know that what I felt from him there was in fact the truth, albeit buried under numerous lies.
“There is always truth in madness,” I said, confusing him as he studied me in return. He ran his thumb down the side of my face.
“Huh?” he questioned. His smile picked up more in one corner of his mouth than the other. He rewarded me with his perfect half-smile.
“Kiss me,” I ordered. He gladly obeyed. He moved his hands all over my body tirelessly. The heat I felt in that moment was overwhelming. He broke the kiss just as I was about to lose myself completely.
“We should go.” His labored breathing and his eyes told me that halting our interactions was the last thing he wanted to do.
I was glad for his sensibilities. I had a trick or two up my sleeve, and with an intricate cast—in Latin I might add—I opened a glittering, golden portal in front of us.
The air around it smelled sweet and cool, and the wind made me shiver in response. The rain-soaked clothes wouldn’t do, so I peeled off my jeans and shirt and went to stand in front of our golden mode of transportation. He did something so unlike himself that it caused me to laugh. He stripped down to his boxer briefs and joined me.
“Cold clothes are no good,” I said with a smile. He hugged me in response, his heat warming my body completely. The cold from the droplets falling off his hair and dripping down my back was the only difference in temperature.
“I love you,” he proclaimed into my soaked hair. I looked up at him with all the wonder in the world, amazed at how everything had turned out―so miserable, yet so perfect. I responded with the one thing that I knew I could say for sure.
“No, I love you.”
We stepped into the golden hole, our limbs intertwining, and our lips molding together. For the first time while traveling that way, I wasn’t alone.
The blinding light was blissful and perfect. I wished it would last forever. We were together, and it would stay that way if I had anything to do with it. The rest could wait for another day.
