AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Is there any news about who shot you?”
“No. It’s something Mateo will have to deal with now that he’s the Don.”
I nod. I don’t envy Mateo. Not only will he be grieving the loss of his brother but also the loss of his freedom. As Don, the expectations of him will grow enormously.
“So you’re not afraid?” I ask again, getting back on topic.
“No. How could I be when you’ll become the keeper of my heart… and my soul. Both are safe and protected with you.” Suddenly he laughs. “And here I thought it was my role to keep you safe and protected, and it turns out it was yours all along.”
Hmm, it’s a different way of looking at it—I like it. I beam at him, before remembering our previous topic. “So, if you’re not afraid, are you sad?”
He laughs again. It’s the best sound. “How could I be? I will live inside of you… as part of you… one with you until the very end. And then I’ll be waiting for you on the other side and welcome you back into my arms. So, you see, we will be together forever. This isn’t goodbye. It is coming home.”
He’s rendered me speechless… again. I stare at him, but he seems far away. Minutes pass before he speaks again.
“Will you be there with me when I take my last breath?” he gently asks.
Goosebumps spread like wildfire over my skin, my heart turning heavy as stone, while my throat closes over, feeling so damn tight.
No,is what I want to scream. No, I don’t want to watch you die, but instead my mouth opens, and “Of course” is what I squeeze out. “But I don’t want to think about that now,” I whisper.
Tiero nuzzles his nose against my cheek. “Thank you, angel.”
I swallow the lump, taking a deep breath to dispel my anguish. “Let’s talk about something else, shall we?” I suggest.
Tiero’s expression is pensive when he says, “That Gandalf riddle you told us about in Brazil. It’s been on my mind.”
“Your soul is not one but three. Find all parts, you must, to be completely free,” I recite.
“I believe it. And I believe you were always meant to be the catalyst for bringing us together. And now, in the strangest way, the three of uswillbe together.”
My heart flutters as I listen to him. But it’s not uncomfortable. It’s like giving me wings to fly, to soar above it all, giving me a bird’s-eye view of my life.
“I’ve been contemplating the whole three thing a lot,” I say. “Looking back, there’s been this theme of threes running through my whole life.
“I told you that when I was a little, I always felt like I was one of three and kept pestering my parents for siblings, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. And then my Da’s favorite Celtic symbol was the triquetra. He always went on about the power of three and how it can be found everywhere.
“Mind, body, spirit. Past, present, future. Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit… the list goes on and on. He used to say three holds magic because it’s the number of manifestation,representing thoughts, emotions, and actions.”
“And there’s the saying ‘All good things come in threes,’” Tiero adds.
“Right.” I smile. Remembering that too was something my Da would bring up regularly. “Perhaps my father sensed that my soul was in three and that’s why he was so fascinated by it. But that’s something I’ll never know.”
“After you ran away in Monza, I wandered the halls of the house we stayed at—” Tiero says, but I interrupt him. “House? That place was a palace, or at least a mansion.”
He nuzzles his nose into my hair, chuckling. “I came across a painting in a gallery that drew me in. It wasn’t of anything amazing. It was of a three-legged stool.”
How did I know he was going to mention that particular painting?
“I saw it too; the morning after we spent the night together. I remember it well. There was something special about it. Amongst all those family portraits, it seemed out of place. I stared at it for a long time. It had a bunch of laurels placed on the seat. I took it to mean ‘Don’t rest on your laurels.’In hindsight, I think it was urging me on. I had found one part of our triad; it was time to find the other. I ran away that morning. Isn’t it spooky?”
The synchronicities… everything seems so well orchestrated. Are we mere puppets acting out a bigger plan? Or is there just the outcome of recovering our freedom by finding each other, and we’re given signposts along the way, little hints here and there to help us get there? I wish I knew the answer.
“And the chair legs,” Tiero muses. “One leg was bathed in darkness, one in light and one in half shadow, half-light. Isn’t it just like the three of us?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re the light; your name even contains it. I don’t need to tell you which leg is me. And Aiden… he’s a mixture. He’s wandered in the dark during his military service, but he’s done it on the side of light. I’m not sure how to explain it better.”
