“Very secluded. The owner owns the lots on either side of it as well, so they will probably remain empty.” She glanced at me. “You won’t have to include that in the listing though.”
“Since they’re not selling the lots you mean?”
“No, since the listing is only for vacation rentals.”
“Oh.” I nodded. “I didn’t know that.”
“Definitely include the helipad.”
I laughed. “I did.”
“Please, come on inside.” She moved out of the way and let me start taking pictures, glancing at her watch.
“I am really so sorry I’m late,” I said again, realizing I probably messed up her entire itinerary for the day. “My friends are getting married here and it’s been hectic.”
“It’s really no problem,” she assured me. “I may have to step out to take a phone call with my son’s teacher, but aside from that, this is the only thing on my schedule today.” She smiled. “It’s my anniversary.”
“Aw, that’s nice.” I moved on to the dining room and tried not to gasp at the view coming from the large windows at the end of the room. I glanced at her after snapping a few pictures. “I’m sorry. I’m not used to taking pictures of new houses. This is beautiful.”
“Very luxurious, right?”
“Very.”
“This is the master bedroom, you’ll find a door that leads to the backyard there.” She held up her phone, which was obviously ringing. “I’m sorry, but I need to step out to take this.”
“It’s not a big deal. I can show myself around.” I smiled as I watched her go before going into the master bedroom, bathroom, closet, and finally, looking out into the yard.
Jesus.
I took a breath as I stepped outside. There was a pool, a large sitting area and an outdoor kitchen, and a long ledge that held another sitting area, which had been perfectly staged for pictures, with a small table and two chairs. I walked around, snapping photos, in awe of it before lowering my camera to take in the view in front of the ocean and other islands in front of me. I closed my eyes and inhaled, feeling the stillness for a moment.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
The voice came from behind me and made my eyes pop open. I turned around slowly, half anticipating this to be a dream, or a figment of my imagination. When I turned fully, I saw him, my heart hammering as I took him in. He was wearing brown loafers, blue chinos, and a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top couple of buttons undone. His hair was parted off to the side and his eyes were set on me as he blew out smoke from the cigarette in his hand. He flicked it away, taking one more step forward. I still couldn’t move, could barely breathe.
“It’s a bad habit. The smoking,” he said. “Some people are allergic to it.”
I nodded, the emotion in my throat too strong to let me speak. Finally, after the silence suspended for a moment too long, I swallowed and willed my heart to settle.
“How?” I whispered, not bothering to fight the tears that sprung in my eyes. “How?”
“How was I waiting for you?” He tilted his head, eyes scanning my face, amusement sparkling in his eyes. If I wasn’t so stunned, I’d be mad. “You are here to take pictures, right?”
It struck me then, as I stood there, that maybe he didn’t remember me. Maybe, maybe he’d survived the un-survivable because he’d taken the leaves and had forgotten me. Maybe, maybe he’d . . . I blinked and stopped trying to justify this to myself. Some things are inexplicable. Hadn’t he once said that? I swallowed and took a deep breath. He walked forward, his shoes tapping against the concrete as he closed the distance between us.
“You’re so much more beautiful than I remembered, little witch.” His eyes were still searching my face. I started crying then, really crying, burying my face in my hands to try to contain myself, and failing, because how do you contain such emotions?
“How?” I asked again, against my hands, wiping my tears in one swift, unattractive motion and meeting his gaze again.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“I’d believe anything you told me.”
“Really?” He quirked an eyebrow. “It’s a series of impossibilities.”
I stared at him for a long moment before bringing a hand up to touch his face, to make sure this was real. I pinched myself then, again and again, and pinched his arm too, which made him laugh. I didn’t find any of this funny.
“What are you?” I asked after a moment. “What are you, really?”
“Yours. If you’ll have me.”
I laughed through the tears, because of all of the things he could have said, that was the most perfect. “Anywhere? Any time?”
“Until the end of time.” He grabbed the nape of my neck, pulled me to him, and kissed me.
Chapter Thirty-Four
River and I were tangled in white sheets, looking out into the sunset that bathed Santorini. You could see all of the ships, the islands, the deep blue water. It was a dream. I felt as though it was a dream. The thought made me panic, but I shook it away. This was real, and if it was a dream, I didn’t want to wake up. I glanced up at River and found him watching me.
“You still haven’t explained to me how you’re here, alive and well.”
“You didn’t give me a chance.” He grinned, kissing my forehead. His expression turned serious when he pulled back and brought a hand to my back, his fingers gliding over the few scars and welts that had already developed. “Tell me about this.”
“Not yet.” I swallowed, shaking my head.
“Mine are gone.” He searched my eyes. “What the hell did you do, Penelope?”
“What did you do?” I sat up, bringing the sheet up with me in hopes to cover myself, but knowing it was futile.
“I wished for you to live.”
“I wished the same for you.” I glanced away, at the blue water.
“That’s bullshit.” He sat up as well, reaching for me and pinching my chin so I’d look at him. “What did you do?”
“Tell me what happened to you and where you’ve been this past year and I’ll tell you what I did.”
“The Manor collapsed. We were hit hard by a wave. My father died.” River paused, swallowing before continuing. “One minute I was sitting underneath the tree with him and the next I was sitting on the Devil’s Chair, sitting on the chair, but floating at sea. I swam to shore. I went to Dolly’s, to my apartment—”
“That wasn’t a dream.”
“I don’t know. I can’t say what that was. All I know is that I couldn’t stay.” He shook his head. “My body was dragged away, dragged back to the chair, back across the iron gate. I was just out there, stranded, floating on top of a structure that shouldn’t have floated at all.”
He looked at me briefly. “I don’t think I’d ever cried before, if I had I can’t remember, but that night, as I vacillated between what once was Dolos Island and Pan Island, I cried. When I woke up again, I was in the Bahamas.” He sighed.
“It took me months to get to the States, but during my time in the Bahamas, I went to see a witch that was also passing through. She told me I’d been freed. The curse had been lifted, and that made me panic because if I was free and alive, what did it mean for you? I went to Florida, to Amelia Island, but you weren’t there. There was no sign of you there at all and I thought . . . I thought . . . ” When he looked at me, his expression was pained. I set a hand on his and wiped my cheeks with the other. “What did you do, Penelope?”
“What I had to.” I licked my lips, tasting the salt on them. “I burned my family’s house. Burned the leaves. I told him that if he set you free, I’d endure his pain. I’d endure the suffering caused by the souls he’d taken in.”
River shut his eyes, swallowing hard. “Why would you do that?”
“Because I love you too much to watch you suffer,” I said loudly. “Because I didn’t want to live in a world that you weren’t a part of.”
“Penelope,” he whis
pered, opening his eyes. He brought a hand to my face, wiping my tears. “My world was over the moment you left that island.”
“It wasn’t. It didn’t have to be.” I wiped my face again, hating the pain in my chest. “It was the only way to undo the curse.”
“I hate that he has any part of you. I hate that you did that for me.”
“But I get to have you.” I cupped his face.
“I know how this feels.” He tapped a scar. “I know how much it hurts when you get new ones.”
“You were ten when you started getting them. Ten years old, River. I’ll survive it just fine.”
He shook his head, glancing away briefly.
“How’d you find me?” I asked after a moment.
“The Haunt.” He smiled at me. “You started posting pictures in Greece, and then more and more here in Santorini, and here I am.”
“And now you’re putting this beautiful house up for rent to vacationers,” I said, smiling.
“Not really.” His eyes crinkled as he looked at me. “It was just a ploy to get you here. I just bought it last week, but I didn’t know what your plans were. I could stay here forever, but only if you’re going to live in it with me.”
“What?” My heart thumped harder.
He kissed my nose. “If it feels like home, we’ll make it home.”
“River Caliban.” I sat up straighter, letting the sheet fall from my hand so that I could grab both sides of his face. “The only thing that feels like home to me is you.”
“Good, because the feeling’s mutual.” He pressed his lips against me then and kissed me with the fire of a thousand souls trying to get back to their other half.
Epilogue
“When we said you’d find a Greek god in no time, we were not expecting you to actually go out and find one,” Dee said, eyes wide on River.
“I hope it’s okay that I brought him,” I whispered. “It was all so very last minute.”
“Um, yeah, as if we’d ever turn away a super-hot guy from our wedding guest list.”
I laughed, then looked over at Jose, who was uncharacteristically quiet. Dee squeezed my hands and went to change. Jose stood quickly and rushed over to me.
“What the fucking fuck?” he whisper-shouted. “He’s supposed to be dead. How does Dee not remember this?”
I bit my lip. “If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Try me.” He raised an eyebrow. “I am from the fable capital of the world, after all.”
“I gave Dee and Martín tea leaves and set the intention that they’d forget,” I said, rushing to explain myself. “It was too much for me, I can’t even imagine how traumatizing it would be for you guys. I’m sorry I couldn’t make you forget.”
“I’m glad you didn’t. How else was I supposed to fight my insurance company into covering what the flood damaged if I had no memory of it?” Jose shook his head. “So, they didn’t die?”
“They did.” I looked down, hating that lives were lost at all. “He survived.”
“I can’t imagine how,” Jose said. “I saw the tsunami from my window. I can’t . . . it was un-survivable.”
“Yet here we are.” I looked at him again.
“And Dolos will just become another fable, like Atlantis, like Port Royal would be, had it not been for all of the witness accounts.”
“People loves fables.”
“And other lies.” Jose’s lips twisted. He thought about that for a long moment. When he looked at me again, he smiled. “I’m glad he’s alive. I’m glad he’s with you again.”
“Thank you. So am I.” I smiled back.
When we stepped into the church with Dee, Jose walked her down the aisle and I stood beside her at the altar. As the priest held Mass, River and I didn’t take our eyes off each other. I felt something deep inside my ribs as they said their vows and smiled knowing that we had our own happily ever after ahead of us.
Thank you for reading!
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About the Author
Claire Contreras is a New York Times Best Selling Author who traded her psychology degree to write fiction. Don't worry, she still uses her knowledge on every single one of her characters.
She's a 2x Breast Cancer Survivor, who was born in the Dominican Republic, raised in Florida, and currently resides in Charlotte, NC with her husband, two adorable boys, and their French bulldog Hendrix.
Her books range from romantic suspense to contemporary romance and are currently translated in over fifteen languages. When she's not writing, she's usually lost in a book.
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Also by Claire Contreras
Text BOOK to 21000 to receive a text from Claire whenever a new book is available! <3
Half Truths
Twisted Circles
Because You’re Mine
There’s No Light in Darkness
The Sinful King
The Naughty Princess
The Consequence of Falling
The Trouble With Love
Then There Was You
The Wilde One
The Player
Kaleidoscope Hearts
Paper Hearts
Elastic Hearts
Fables & Other Lies Page 19
