“You promised,” I say.
“Architecti,” she hisses and swipes my hands off her body.
“Youpromised,” I say, more insistent this time.
She leans down, pressing her forehead to mine.“You tricked me.I’m the demon, I’m supposed to do that.”
I smile, press a kiss to her lips and then say, “I learnt from the best.”
She sighs, “Tell me…”
“You’re not coming any further, I’m leaving you here.I can’t risk it.I… I can’t risk your life.”
The way she stiffens in my arms tells me how furious she is with me.She trembles against me, not from fear, but the fury of a demon who has been fooled.
I have to leave or I’ll stay and abandon not just my mission, but my fate and my future.I have to see this through and stop Interitus, but not at the expense of Gellara.No matter what happens to me, she has to be here when this is over.
There is only one future I see, and she is in every memory I haven’t made yet.
“I love you.With every fibre and feather, with all the celestial light and love I have.I will love you in all the futures, fates, and forevers.No matter what happens, I will always be yours.”
Two tear streaks carve their way through Gellara’s soft skin.
I did that.
Realising that makes my chest ache worse than any pain a demonic blade could inflict.My throat thickens.
“Fuck you,” she whispers.The tears flow thick and heavy, plopping on the alley floor with a splash.
My moth flutters around her head, her wings brushing the tears.I reach out to wipe her cheek, but she steps away.“Fuck you,” she says again.
I lower my eyes.Sometimes, hurting the one you love is the only way to save them.
My feet carry me away, but before I’m out of earshot I turn and remind her.“In all the futures, fates, and forevers, Gellara.Always.”
She drags her gaze away from me, dismissing me.
That rejection is the last thing I see of Gellara as I round the corner and follow the ever-increasing trail of carcasses.
The streets are thick with the stench of rotting flesh, drying blood, and frayed Veil fabric.It creeps over my skin leaving ugly shivers in its wake.
My feet move on autopilot, deeper and deeper into the ever-condensing city.My back itches with how dense it is, buildings everywhere, streets crawling with humans.It’s suffocating and I am well aware that gazes and glares are starting to linger on me.I tug my cloak hood tighter around my head.
There is a potency to the stares.A sharpness that makes me twitchy.
Interitus has seen to it that the city hates me, she has vilified me over and over and now I am the enemy.
It is a moniker I will wear if it means I can stop her.
After an hour, I find her in an abandoned park.The play frames rusted with neglect.The gate hanging loose.Mist shrouding most of the field.Despite the fog, I know she’s here.It’s the wrongness that clings to the air that gives her away.
I shrug my wings out and reach out to the light.The crowned moth acquiesces and shapes possibility.Together we bring enough sun to burn the fog away.No more hiding, sister.
As the light pierces the thick white cloud, my heart drops into my stomach.
The playground is littered with bodies.
And not just shredded shades and the limp carcasses of demons.
