Chapter 19
Bash
Something feels different now. Like our future is stretched out before us and we can’t veer from the course. Not that we would want to, anyway. The change in Elina since she met my mother is stark. Gone is the reluctant woman I held gently, unsure if she wanted this life I was offering her.
In her place is a strong woman, resolute.
She is enthusiastically all in. She seems to have come to some decision about herself, or our future, and is determined to follow the path she chose.
I am eternally grateful to fall asleep with her in my arms and to rise to her waiting in my bed. I hope this change is permanent.
Meeting her grandmother feels like an important step in a very slow march in our journey together. I didn’t just want Elina to love me, I needed her to choose me, and Celeste was an important catalyst for that decision. I can’t help but draw the parallels between our meetings with the respective parents. My mother cares about me the way Celeste cares about Elina,and they both threatened us not to disappoint them. I will protect Elina.
Meeting my mother forced her to make some hard choices, and decide on the spot whether she was going to put in the fight necessary for us. Once she made that decision, she quickly made plans for the rest of the pieces to be in the right place. She is prepared to stand by my side and face whatever comes next.
I love her more everyday.
I hope beyond hope that she will let me spend eternity by her side.
We no longer measure time between us in minutes and days, but in moments.
In May, Ethan and I laughed while Sarah and Elina danced giddily in rain-slicked streets. Their heated bodies full of red wine and joy. The two of us watching them as though they were the embodiment of summer—of freedom—with love etched in our features.
In June, Celeste Girard laughed—truly laughed—at a joke Ethan made, over a cozy night at Sarah’s house where we laughed until we cried, played board games, and the humans ate home-cooked creole food until they couldn't move.
In July, while at a small jazz club, we danced under the lights and I spun Elina’s back to my front, holding her close. I lifted her arm to my neck and took a deep inhale of the inside of her wrist, laying a gentle kiss there in a silent vow.
In August, when the summer heat was at the peak of its suffocating wetness, we sought refuge on the shores of LakePontchartrain and laid in the gently lapping water, under the light of the full moon.
We laughed. We languished in our bodies moving together, covered in sweat. I tasted Elina’s neck, her wrists, her thighs, and fell more in love everyday.
I read from centuries old books, turning the thin pages carefully, sharing history and lore with my rapt audience.
I held Elina while she cried after Celeste asked her what she planned to do when Sarah finally turned.
Sarah and Elina spent hours sparring with Ethan under the stars, learning not only to fight, but to win. To be able to take on predators who prowl the streets but also the monsters who pretend to be men.
There are whispers that get louder everyday. “L’Empire des Ombres Nocturnus,” said in hushed voices that cut off when I get close.
A quick and roughfleur-de-liscarved into the brick of an alley. A message.
Could it be possible? The Shadow Kingdom, thought lost and broken, has found a way to grow within our very city?
The shadows are pressing in.
I have to keep Elina safe. And Ethan and Sarah. Celeste. Our family.
“Re Marcus. Mother.” I incline my head respectfully toward Marcus, and the other council members in turn.
“Sebastien, thank you for joining us tonight.” Marcus reminds me subtly that I have been more than a little absentduring the summer. “We need to discuss thisOmbraproblem. We can’t wait any longer.”
“TheOmbraproblem is a pretty casual way to describe a coup happening right under our noses,” Samson Kitteridge of the Lower 9th barks.
“It’s not a coup,” Evan Rocher of St Roch cuts in. “It's an insidious growth invading the streets.”
“These dramatics are actually quite ridiculous. It’s not a coup or invasion. It’s a pocket of resistance from before. We will find them, extinguish them, and be done with it.” Henry sighs, wearied by this. Seemingly the only voice of reason within this absolutely chaotic and paranoid council.
“I think we should focus our efforts on locating them. Having the enthrall do it during the day seems the best course of action, locating the nest while they rest.” Amelia Moreau of Uptown, this time.
