“I’llBeGood”—JaymesYoung
The things I had endured would’ve broken a lot of people. I was fortunate enough that they had made me stronger. I had been reunited with the other half of my soul, and soon, I would see my brother again.
To have the memories of my past all slam into my head at once was the headache of a lifetime. But being able to merge my past feelings for Aros with my current ones, amplified them beyond belief. It was a little hard processing the fact that the cacodaemon had taken me after Aros had been ripped from my life. He hadn’t lied. I’d had sex with him and I had loved it—but he didn’t tell the whole truth.
The cacodaemon had made some kind of bargain with the fae. I never knew what it was, but he used fae glamour to make himself look and sound like Aros—until the day he gave himself away.
I’d caught him without his glamour. It had left me tormented and, despite knowing it wasn’t my fault, I felt guilty for not knowing better. I then refused him. He became angry and brought me here to torment Aros, but not before he wiped my memory. He wanted Aros to suffer by remembering everything about us and me remembering nothing.
“Baby, you should sit down. Pacing and looking out the window every five minutes won’t make them show up sooner,” Aros said from where he was sitting on the couch, watching Supernatural, which I found hilarious, all things considered. He had been so worried Hayden was angry with him, but they had spoken on the phone, and I guess they worked everything out.
I huffed and dropped down next to him.
“I don’t understand. I thought vampires couldn’t be out during the day,” I muttered before I began to chew on my thumbnail.
“Calix told us that was a fallacy that humans created to make themselves feel safe during the day. It was perseverated over the years because when the vampires would feed, it was easier to do it at night when most people were sleeping.” He was so blasé about the fact that he knew vampires and details of their secrets. I sat there, blinking at him.
Then the doorbell of our new townhome rang, and I jumped up. He was hot on my heels and stepped in front of me. “Hold on. Let me make sure it’s them first.”
Heart pounding, mouth dry, I nodded.
He kissed my forehead, and I closed my eyes. I breathed evenly and absorbed his calm.
Because of the strange way cacodaemons and eudaemons could jump from dimension to dimension, I hadn’t seen my brother in around five years. As for Aros, he hadn’t seen my brother in over a hundred and fifty years. For my brother it had been over six hundred. It was mind-boggling.
Aros glanced through the peephole, then unlocked the door and swung it open. Calix stood there, hands in his expensive pant pockets. The man behind him had his back to me, but he turned when he heard Calix greet us.
“Hey, Sabre. Soleil, you’re looking as lovely as ever. I brought you someone I think you—”
He didn’t get to finish because I pushed past him and threw myself into my brother’s arms. Without a beat, he wrapped me in a tight hug.
“Sis,” he whispered and I’m pretty sure his voice cracked. He squeezed tighter.
“I missed you so much!” I sobbed.
“Shhh,” he soothed as he rubbed my back. “If I had known you were here, I would’ve come for you. You went missing shortly after my near death and I couldn’t find you. God, Soleil, I’m so sorry.”
“Should we take this inside? We’re gaining an audience,” Aros murmured.
Reluctantly, I untangled myself from my long-lost brother. I glanced around, and Aros was right. Several of our neighbors were pretending to do various things outside and by their cars as they covertly watched our reunion. Not that I cared, but I didn’t want to share this moment with the world, so I hurried inside.
Calix and Hayden followed, and Aros closed the door.
“Aros,” Hayden greeted as he shook Aros’s hand. Then he pulled him in for a big man-hug. “Thank you for saving her.”
They separated and stared into each other’s eyes. “I still feel like all of this was my fault,” Aros admitted.
“Like I told you on the phone, maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. Regardless, I’ve had time to really think about everything since we spoke on the phone and I can’t fault you for falling in love with my sister. She’s one-of-a-kind.” My brother’s green eyes caught mine, and it was almost like looking in the mirror. They were exactly the same color as mine. His hair was a darker brown with less red than mine. I remembered how in the summer the red would be more visible than in winter. I stared as I took in each and every feature.
Then, his hair was shoulder-length and a bit curly. Now, it was in a close-cropped style that was longer on top and with a messy, careless look to it. He was still so handsome.
“Is it crazy that I think you look younger now than you did then?” I asked, amazed by everything.
That crooked grin I remembered so well showed itself as he shrugged. “Well, I do have the best genetic repairing abilities ever created.”
It was so unreal that he was standing before me. “Let’s sit,” I offered, more for myself because my knees wanted to give out.
He sat next to me, and it was his turn to look me over. Then he said something that struck me speechless.