Children who have no family, no home, and no food.
Children like us.
EPILOGUE
SASHA
Three months later…
I’m a knot of anxious energy.
My fingers drum against the arm of the chair, making a sound like rain hitting the roof. I take deep breaths, attempting to steady my racing heart.
It feels as if I’m standing on the edge of a cliff, my future depending on what words lie on the screen before me. How can something like a combination of letters hold such immense power?
My acceptance or denial.
My eyes turn to the window, and the sun casts a warm glow over the room. I can almost feel its rays heating me up, or maybe it’s just nerves.
“Are you going to turn your computer on? Or do you just plan on staring at it all day?”
I scowl at Gideon, and he laughs, a sound I will always love.
My own lips part, and I shake my head at him. “You’re intolerable.”
He grins, and I’d melt on the spot if I wasn’t so nervous. “You might have mentioned that a few times.”
“Just a few times?” I scrunch my nose at him.
“At least once a day.”
I shrug. “It’s because you are.”
“Yet you still love me.” He grins wide enough to show his teeth. My heart does melt at that. I love this man so much.
“For some unknown reason, I do.”
“Just open the computer, firefly.”
“No.” I stand from my chair and pace the room. Gideon steps up behind me.
“Firefly.”
“Don’t firefly me. I’m freaking out.” His warm arms embrace me.
“You need to calm down. No matter what it says, you won’t give up on your dream.” He squeezes me gently. “You’ll find a way. I know it.”
“I can’t.”
“You can do anything you put your heart to.” He places a kiss on the top of my head. “Do I need to remind you I’m only alive because of you? That you saved my life when you sh—”
“Shh. We don’t talk about that.” And we didn’t. Even though I don’t regret killing my uncle, I still killed a man, and for as long as I live, I’d like to pretend I didn’t.
It’s not that I feel my hands are stained with his blood. I don’t. He was an awful man who didn’t deserve to live, but I still don’t like thinking about it.I’m haunted when my eyes close as it is. I don’t need it bleeding into my daylight hours as well.
“Will you do it with me?” I ask, and he takes my hand in his and leads us back to the computer.
“Always. I’ll always be with you.” His lips find mine, and I close my eyes as he kisses the sense out of me. I fall into his tongue tangling with mine. Losing myself in him for reasons beyond avoiding the inevitable. I could kiss this man every day for the rest of my life and still not tire of it. Then he pulls away from me, leaving me to ready myself. He fires up the computer, and the world stops.