by A L Williams
“I am.”
“I’m glad.” He smiled, but I could see the sadness in it.
“She would want you to be happy,” I said.
“Are you staying the night with Gabriel? I need to know if I’m making dinner or not.”
I sighed. “Yeah.”
I walked over to him, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. One day, I hoped he would let himself be happy instead of stuck in eternal agony.
When I got outside, the hot air dried my throat, and the sun burned my skin. I made a mental note to get some sunscreen and then contacted a ride.
I knocked on the door of Gabriel’s studio apartment. It was still strange saying that. Apparently, during the trip, Adam had asked Lucy to move in with him.
Gabriel answered, and I couldn’t help but stare at their bare chest. I licked my lips. I would never get enough of that lithe body.
“My face is up here,” they said flatly.
“Don’t be a dick,” I said.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” They stepped back, allowing me in. The spats we used to have had evolved to banter, and I loved it.
The moment the door was closed behind them, they spun me around, slamming me into the wall and attacking my lips with the passion that brought me to my knees. I gave in, allowing them to devour me, trembling from the force of it. These moments were usually filled with slow touches and cuddles. We had very little sex—well, compared to my usual.
I was fine with that, preferring the intimacy of just being with them. There was nothing like it. However, at that moment, I could feel their desperation. I let them take it, and take they did, until I was a puddle of need beneath them.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Gabriel
The next morning, I lay with Hayley clinging to me, her naked body pressed into my side. I reached over and brushed a lock of her golden hair from her face. We spent all of yesterday in each other's arms. It was everything I could have asked for. I caressed her cheek. When she opened her eyes, they brightened. “Morning,” she murmured, sleepily.
“Good morning.”
She unwrapped her body from me and stretched. “What time is it?”
I looked at the clock. “Nine a.m.”
Her eyes widened. “Shit, I am supposed to meet Corbin at the shop at ten for reopening.” Hayley jumped out of bed and struggled to put her clothes on.
I chuckled. “Maybe a shower first. I do not think the customers will appreciate the smell.” We had so much sex yesterday that I was going to have to wash these sheets thoroughly. I do not know what came over me. The moment I saw Hayley, I wanted her. Perhaps it was the fact that I almost lost her.
She rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, probably not.”
I stood and walked over to her, pulling her close and kissing her forehead. She melted into me, and I hummed, tempted to carry her back to bed and forget the world outside.
I pulled away. “Go take a shower.”
“Are you coming with me?”
“That is not a good idea.”
She pouted. I smirked and pushed her to the door.
She looked back, and I met her gaze. “Be a good girl.”
Her eyes glazed, and she nodded and scurried out of the room. When I heard the shower going, I walked over to the closet and picked out some clothes. I had become rather comfortable here, especially after Lucifer decided to move in with Adam.
After I gathered my clothes, I sat them neatly on the bed and picked up Hayley’s backpack, pulling her clothes out and placing them next to mine. I admired how domestic it looked until Hayley came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her. She walked over and entwined our fingers, looking down at the bed. “This is nice,” she said. “I never thought I could have this, let alone want it.”
“This?”
“A partner. Someone I’d like to stay with. Don’t freak out, but maybe one day we can talk about living together. You could move in with Cory and me. It would make sense; I mean you already work at the shop and…”
I put my finger over her lips, stopping the endless rambling. Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink.
My chest tightened with more love than I thought was possible. “I would like that.”
She wrapped her arms around me and held me close. We stayed like that as the air conditioner kicked on and the sun shifted, moving the shadows in the room.
I stepped back and turned, leaving the room and walking into the bathroom. I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but I never wanted it to end, and there was no shame in that.
THE END
Epilogue
Iwerydd leaned against a window seal surrounded by stone walls. The chamber was dark, lit only by the luminescent light of the mounds. Vines twisted and curled along the walls, spreading to the window and down the castle.
The sound of fae folk and lower creatures filled the night. Iwerydd was happy to be home. Away from the human universe. It was so dull and gray there. Humans were so boring and fragile. She would never understand their purpose.
If she was honest with herself, she had also grown bored of the mounds. The endless days blurred, spending countless centuries finding ways to amuse herself until she had done and seen everything. Maybe when Bran came home, that would change. She missed her son so much.
Where was he?
Why did he leave?
Iwerydd had thought after she dealt with that woman, he would come to his senses, but he did not. It was puzzling.
“Your Highness.”
Iwerydd turned and found a broonie standing at her feet. The creature peered at her sheepishly, their eyes and noseless face the only thing visible through the thick hair that covered their body under rags. She narrowed her eyes, and it bowed its head. Satisfied with the response, she moved away from the window and towards him.
“What is it?” Iwerydd asked, her words sharp.
He flinched. “The Seer found him.”
A wide smile spread across her face. “My boy?”
The broonie nodded, making sure to continue to stare at the floor.
“Bring the Seer to me,” Iwerydd ordered.
The broonie nodded and scurried out of the room. When the door slammed behind it, she walked to her vanity, laughing with glee. When she sat down, she stared into the mirror at her flawless appearance. Her blue eyes shimmered back at her, glowing in the dim chamber.
“It’s time to come home,” she said, the words filling the room. Waves crashed against the castle walls that stood, surrounded by endless forests of magic and lore.
Excerpt from Eternal Scars (Scars #4)
Brân stood, dresses in breeches made of the finest fabrics, gazing around at the carnage that was once his home. The once lush kingdom was painted with the blood of his comrades. Bodys lay scattered about the foggy hills, their blood seeping into the barren earth below. His family. Fog rolled through the hills, hovering over the corpse at his feet.
Brân waved around the battered and beat forms of every face that he knew intimately. For hundreds of years he watched these people grow and change, building lives that were their ancestors before them would be proud of. He knew because he had watched them grow as well. Them and the ones before. So on and so forth. Destined to watch time pass with an added wrinkle to their youthful faces. At that moment the pain of each loss intensified. They were all gone. Everyone. Not a child left to continue their names.
Tears burned behind Brân’s eyes, threatening to escape. He continued, moving with an unnatural grace even in the destruction. The sky flashed and roared with each step he took, the sound vibrating the land underfoot.
In instant rain burst from the dark clouds above, turning the soil to mud. His clothes grew wet, sticking to his flesh. He didn’t care.n
Where is she?
He searched, scanning each form. The rain pounded his body with a vengeance that matched his own. Every step he took his rage bubble beneath his skin. He made a silent vow to find whoever did this and tear them
limb from limb. Green energy sparkled from his skin, sizzling and waiting. Waiting for something to kill. Something to destroy. He ignored it, trudging through the mud that stuck to his boots. A familiar form came into view and he froze, his jaw going slack.
He ran with everything he had in him. Kicking the bodies of his fallen friends, caring only for the one he sought. He fell to his knees and hauled the body into his arms, tears rushing down his face as he gazed into his wife’s lifeless face. Brân touched her pale cheek that felt of wax. A part of him hadn’t believed that she would be among the others. He had hope with everything he was that she’d gotten away. He was wrong.
A sob broke from his lips and hugged her close, her body limp in the armor she wore. She had died as a warrior should and for the first time Brân wished she had been a coward. She could have lived.
He shook violently, the pain over taking every part of him. Nothing mattered anymore. At the moment all he wanted to do was follow her to the place human souls travelled. He wished with all he was that he had been born a human.
.Goosebumps rose on his arms and the rain slowed to a drizzle. His head snapped up, finding his mother moving towards him, her eyes glowing through the thick fog like pools kissed by moonlight. She stared at her as she approached, stopping in front of him. She eyed him curiously and then glanced down at Aoife’s body, disgust clear and then gone a second later. She brushed her golden hair from her face, the lock brushing her bosom that peeked out over her corset.
“What is it my son? You look unwell.”
Brân looked around, his chest tight and his head spinning with confusion. “I do not know who has done this and why?”
“Do not fret, boy. It was I.”
His heart slammed into his chest as he gawked at his mother. Her expression was neutral as if she was taking an evening stroll through the mounds.
“Why?” he rasped.
She reached for her dress, the fabric drizzling down around her hips and shifted it, grimacing at the mud that soaked the bottom. “How unfortunate. This gown was made by my most talented bronnie.”
Brân’s shoulders shook, anger washing over him like the tidal waves his mother willed. “Why!” he shouted this time.
Her gaze snapped back to him in shock. “Mind your manners boy. Remember who you speak to.”
He skin tingled at the pulse of power dancing across his skin. He winced as it invaded his body, sending sharp pain through him. “I apologize, mother. Why did you do this?”
“It pleased me.”
He slumped, lowering Aoife’s body to his mud soaked lap.”I don’t understand.”
She sighed. “You were distracted.”
Brân opened his mouth, but was unable to find the worlds.
She picked up the front of her long flowing gown the color of the sky on the night of the new moon. “Come my child. The pixies wish to perform in honor of your return.” She turned away, gliding through the endless gray and vanished into thin air.
Brân’s heart sank into the pit of his stomach, knowing that he had no choice. She had once again reminded him that she would always control him. Nothing would change that. His happiest was in her hands for all eternity until the Goddess decided otherwise. More tears fell and he leaned over aoife’s form, hopelessness consuming his very being. He had to get away from her. He couldn’t do this anymore. It was at that moment that he made his decision. He was done. He would run until she could never find him again.
The feeling of Aoife’s soft fingers caressing his cheek drifted through his mind, bringing more tears with it. It was at that moment that the last wail of pain Brân would ever cry escaped him, echoing for miles alongside the massacre.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank everyone who encouraged, as well as those who discouraged me, along the way because all of you lit a fire under me that could not be contained. I wholeheartedly appreciate you being a part of my writing journey.
Very special thanks to:
Alpha reader Stephanie Gillis
My editor Elouise East
My proofreader Drea Roman
&
Last but never least all of my beta readers.
NOTE FROM AUTHOR
Thank you so much for choosing to be on this journey with me. If you would take a few moments and leave an honest review on Amazon & Goodreads, I would appreciate it!
Do you want to be notified of any pending book releases or updated content every month? Sign up now for my newsletter! You will get a short prequel to Immortal Scars. I also will be sending out shorts and vignettes every few months.
You can also follow me on social media here!!
Please do not hesitate to connect with me if you have any questions about this series. I would be happy to hear from you and I enjoy connecting with readers.
A.L. Williams Novels
Immortal Scars (Scars #1)
Hopeless Scars (Scars #2)
Shameful Scars (Scars #3)
