Page 43 of Between

I have given every part of myself to her, in every aspect, and this was her doing the same. The weight of it was something I could easily recognize.

Narrowing my eyes and brows, I took a single step toward her. “You will never hide yourself from me. Ever. I won’t allow it. You understand?”

Her lack of response concerned me for only a moment.

“You will always be the you that I want, no matter how hard you try to cover it up.”

She dropped her hand, and her face instantly softened. Streaks of her light brown makeup ran down the sides of her face, blurring away any chance of secrecy in her identity.

“Caius,” she began, pushing back at my words. “You don’t understand. This isn’t something I can simply wash off. People have stared at me. People have laughed at me. I am different, and I am not someone who blends in easily unless I cover myself in my makeup.”

I shook my head. “No, I understand all that perfectly.You’rethe one that doesn’t understand that I don’t give a singlefuckabout any of that. And even though none of that superficial shit matters to me, no one’s opinion of you matters except for yours.”

Her eyes glazed over with a faint shine as she continued to stare at me.

“I’ve seen so much death here,Meum Caelum.So much grief, so much loss, so much damage. More than you could imagine. And let me tell you, once you’re gone, absolutely nothing matters. Not money, not looks, not prized possessions, nothing. We are all reduced to nothing but a single soul.”

I lifted my hand to the base of her skull, moving my thumb up to trace the discolored three on her face. I could feel her head tilt into my palm.

“Do not let this be anything more than a piece of your essence. It might define you in your own eyes, but it willneverdefine you with me.”

Glass shattered on the floor

Burn every paper with the deal

Red water moved in waves

Celeste

Chimes sounded through my car speakers as a phone icon popped up on my car’s stereo screen. The name flashed in the space below.

Serena

I tapped the green answer button and put my hand back on the wheel, focusing on the drive ahead of me.

“Hey,” I answered.

“Hey, Cel. Sorry I haven’t called. I’ve either been working, sleeping, or everything in between.”

I shrugged to myself. “It’s no problem. Are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine. I was actually wondering the same thing about you. You freaked me out at Mass.”

I scrunched my nose, remembering the way Caius licked the wine off my neck only ten minutes after Serena left. I squeezed my thighs together at the memory of his warm tongue on my skin. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Okay, what?”

Taking a sharp inhale, I continued to drive as I spoke. “So, you know the place where Uncle Russ is buried?”

Serena paused. “Yeah. What about it?”

“I think…” I started, trying to figure out a way to phase this correctly. “I think Uncle Lucas wants to be buried there, too.”

Serena’s confusion was bleeding through my car speakers. I could feel it.

“And?” she asked.

“And…” I trailed off, unable to find my wording.

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