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“I know that,” he replied with a nod. “I’ve talked to him here many times and we’ve become friends as well. He made a mistake, but who hasn’t? Nobody is perfect. I hate that the accident took me from you; I never wanted to leave you, but it was just an accident. You can’t blame yourself. I blame no one.”
James was always a better person than I was. He had a level head and a pure soul. “Besides,” he continued, “If it weren’t for the accident, I may never have met Charlene.” I cocked my head in confusion and he called out over his shoulder, “Char, can you come here, please?” A few moments later, a pretty lady with dark skin and curly black hair joined my brother in the doorway. “Charlene, I’d like you to meet my brother Marcus.”
She smiled widely and held out her hand. “I’ve heard so much about you. It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too,” I replied on instinct, shaking her hand. “But I’m confused.”
“Charlene is my partner,” James explained with a smile. “We met here and fell in love.”
“You can do that?” I blurted out, and the trio shared a chuckle.
“It’s like I told you,” Ambrose said gently, “Just because someone passes in your realm doesn’t mean that everything ends for them.”
“That’s amazing,” I breathed. “So do you have any kids I should know about? Am I an uncle?”
The couple shook their heads while Ambrose once again explained, “Souls are not created here.” The shock of seeing my brother and his partner had also made me forget about the ‘people don’t age’ thing. They couldn’t raise a child anyway.
“But we have everything we need,” James said before placing a kiss on Charlene's temple. “Please come in, we’ve got so much to catch up on.”
He waved Ambrose and I inside the surprisingly normal home. It lacked a kitchen, but it held creature comforts of sofas and chairs. Charlene and James sat on a loveseat while Ambrose and I took another.
“How long has it been?” James asked curiously, and I furrowed my brows. Did he not know? “Time works differently here,” he explained without me having to ask. “It feels like it’s been forever and yet no time at all.”
“It’s been six years.”
James nodded as he gazed over me. “You look different.”
I traced my fingers down my face and replied, “I got it in the accident.”
He shook his head. "I meant your hair." I should've known that James wouldn't draw attention to the scar that bothered me so much.
"Oh, right. Yeah, I dyed it lighter. I just wanted a change." I couldn't bring myself to tell him that after he died, I couldn't look at myself in the mirror; that I needed to change my appearance because I couldn't look at the man who did something so awful.
"I like it," he replied with a smile which quickly faded. "But you still look so young. How did you die?"
"Oh, I'm not dead."
James and Charlene both appeared perplexed and Ambrose jumped in with, "He came here with me. I visited the human world and found him there. Marcus is my mate."
"The mate of a demigod," James repeated. "I always knew you were something special. Congratulations, little bro."
"I am the lucky one," Ambrose insisted, and my brother smiled.
"Good answer. I guess you're good enough for him."
My eyes widened. While I was happy to see that my brother was still the same happy-go-lucky guy that I remembered, Ambrose was technically in charge of James, and I wasn't sure it was a good idea to sass him. But to my delight, Ambrose chuckled and replied, "I'm glad that I met your approval."
"And did you get our parents' approval?" James teased, and my stomach dropped.
"About them…" I explained how they'd cut off contact with me after the accident. James was disgusted with their behavior, but he was hopeful that once they passed from their world and saw us together, things would change. He always looked for the best in people. I wasn’t so sure that I could get over what they’d done to me, but I supposed we’d cross that bridge when we came to it.
We fell into conversation of lighter topics, like the way James and Charlene met while they were out walking, and the way Ambrose and I met at the masquerade ball.
Ambrose beamed with pride while he spoke about the way he felt when he first saw me. My heart melted as he described how he was attracted by my beauty, and how he’d discovered that I was beautiful on the inside as well.
As I talked to my brother, Ambrose kept his hand on my knee in a show of support. And every time I looked over, I caught him gazing at me with an adoring grin. He looked truly happy just to be there with me.
Then it dawned on me; he was happy because I was happy. The first thing he did when he brought me into his world was deliver me to my brother, whom he knew I missed terribly. Meeting my needs was important to him.
