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“He forced your hand, my love. What choice did he give you?”
The memory of sitting before his burning body while my brothers tried to drag me away pours out of me, hitting Damiano, who gasps in response.
“I couldn’t leave until he was nothing but ash. I had to know he was gone for good so I could let him go.”
“I hate him with the fire of a thousand suns,” Syn says. “Still. He took part of Yves with him. Destroyed his belief in love and fated mates. Nothing could bring it back until you showed up, Damiano.”
I lift my head to gaze upon Damiano’s perfect face. A smile pushes its way through the residual pain. “It was right to tell you,” I say, nodding. “It was right to relive it so I could finally let it go. Syn is right. Marcello destroyed a part of me, but oh, my Dami, you have brought it back to life.”
Damiano cups my face and kisses me hard. As he explores my mouth, I swear everything I held on to with Marcello dissipates into the air, leaving me once and for all.
“Thank you for telling me,” Dami says, pressing his forehead to mine. “I hate that you went through that. I hate that you feel any pain, but I’m here now, beloved, and I always will be. You know as sure as you know yourself that you have my heart, my soul, my loyalty. There is nothing that can shake it. If I was offered death for loving you, I would happily end this eternal walk.”
“I would go with you. I will always go with you.”
He smiles, brushing his thumbs over my cheeks. “Neither of us are going anywhere.” He exhales, and the sweetness of his breath washes over me. “Believe in us.”
“I do.”
“Uh, guys,” Thorn says. “It’s getting closer. That strange vibration.”
“Hadrian is coming,” I whisper. “May the gods guide us to victory.”
TWENTY-FOUR
Yves
My brothers whispering in a circle draws my attention to them. They’ve managed to block me somewhat, their voices nothing but gibberish. I leave Damiano’s side and insert myself into their circle.
“What is this about?” I ask.
Raphael blanches while Thorn and Syn exchange pointed glances.
“Speak,” I demand.
“It doesn’t seem like the right time,” Eros says. “With Hadrian coming, but…” He looks to Midnight, who sort of nods and shrugs at the same time.
“By the gods, one of you better spill it.”
“Fine. I’ll say it,” Eros says. “Is Damiano your fated mate? He must be.”
The question startles me. “No.” I shake my head. “We both would’ve known that by now.”
I don’t miss the way they exchange glances again.
“Tell us how he’s not?” Midnight asks. “Because we’re confused.”
“Right?” Thorn says. “Literal centuries apart, but it’s like no time has passed. You willingly told him about Marcello and survived it. If that’s not a soul connection, I don’t know what is.”
“Trust me, I wish it were true, but it’s not.” I rub my forehead, attempting to block Damiano from the emotions this conversation causes. “If we were mates, Hadrian couldn’t have kept us apart. Damiano, Lorenzo then, simply left when Hadrian told him I didn’t love him. He didn’t fight for me. He didn’t innately know it wasn’t true.”
Syn shakes his head. “Yves, brother, your pain and fear won’t let you see what the rest of us clearly do. Each of us has begged fate to send your love to you, and she did. Finally. Your spirit, your energy, all of it is different because of Damiano.”
“Yes, I’m happy, but…” I trail off as their insinuation grips my chest.
“Syn’s right,” Raphael says. “I felt it. Tonight proved it. Damiano is it.”
“The way love and protectiveness poured from him while you told your story was truly breathtaking,” Midnight says. “We all felt it.”
