53. What Comes Later

53. What Comes Later

Marilynn

Niles sits by himself inthe stadium, hunched over his knees with his hands tightening in his hair.

I plant myself in the seat next to him in the first row that faces the stage. He leans back in his chair, noticing my presence with a quick glance.

“How’re you holding up?” I ask.

Niles shrugs in defeat.

“You can talk about it,” I say in a softer voice. “I know you’re not one to bottle up what you’re thinking.”

“You want to know one of the first conversations I ever had with Skylenna in the asylum?” He stares off into the distance of the mocking red stage. Eyes unfocused and sad.

“Tell me.”

“We talked about soulmates. And how once you find them, there is no life without them.”

“Right.”

“Well…I’ve now watched my sister grieve through the death of her soulmate, burying him, avenging him, loving him even when his heart no longer beat. And now? Now, I watch as she loves her soulmate who feels nothing but hatred for her.” He balls his hands into fists. “And Dessin has done nothing but love her fiercely through her amnesia. Protected her friends. Kept us safe. How is any of this fair?”

“It’s not.”

“And what about Ruthie? I’m supposed to accept that my best friend will never walk again? Never be able to run in the early morning the way she did when we’d make camp in the forest? She doesn’t deserve this fate!”

I turn my head to look at him as he crosses his arms, shaking his head while working out his grief. Exhaustion darkens the spaces under his eyes like smeared charcoal. His skin has lost its stunning golden glow.

We have to get out of here.

“You can’t give birth in this prison, Marilynn.”

I meet his hardened stare with the vertical wrinkle in between his brows. It’s this no-bullshit look that seems to float deeper and deeper into my heart like a leaf drifting in the wind.

“We’ll get out before then,” I assure him.

At least, I think we will. There are a lot of details missing from the prophecy. I assume it’s to make certain meaningful events happen at the right time.

“And once we’re out?” he prompts.

“Once we’re out, I’ll raise him in Demechnef.”

“It’s a boy?”

Damn, I’m not sure if I should have kept that to myself.

“The prophecy says it will be a boy.”

Niles doesn’t move for several seconds. “I suppose Aurick will be happy he’s having a son. An heir.”

Before I open my mouth to respond, I observe the slight lowering of his gaze, the twinge of insecurity. “I’m not going back to Aurick.”

“No?”

“No.”

Niles rubs the back of his neck. “You’d go through your pregnancy alone?”

I smile. “I’m a strong woman, Niles. I’ve been alone for a very long time.”

“And if I said I wanted to be there? To help?”

Every atom in my body jumps with nervous energy. It’s like every bedtime story I’ve heard. Like déjà vu spinning around my head in a carousel.

“I’d say I wouldn’t mind the company.” Though I try to remain unfazed, my smile spreads. He matches my expression with a devastating grin. Stunning in every way.

“Good, because I am an excellent chef for pregnancy cravings.”

My smile burns against my cheeks. “Are you really?”

“Absolutely. Midnight, freshly-baked cookies? Chocolate malts? Cheesy baked potato soup? We’ll have a fully stocked kitchen on standby for you.”

My stomach grumbles like a small animal.

We both laugh.

“You’d do all that for me?” Have I ever smiled this much in my life?

“No.” Niles shakes his head, and his dimples appear in the shifting shadows. “I’d do all of that for you and your baby boy.”

If only he could hear how my pulse races, how the blood rushes to my head at his sentiment. I bury my face in my hands and let out an excited giggle. I was supposed to keep my distance. I promised myself since I was a little girl. Why is this so hard?

“Well, that makes me really happy.”

Just as I remove my hands from my face, Niles leans in and places a slow, lingering kiss on my cheek. His breath fuses with my skin, and the warmth of his lips burns into every membrane. It gives me delirious flashbacks to our kiss on that one Fun House Night.

“It makes me happy, too.” Niles smiles against my cheek.

I pivot my head toward his face hovering so close to mine. Looking into his eyes, I see the anticipation dilating his pupils, lowering his lids. Tilting my chin toward his lips

“I’m calling an emergency family meeting.”

We pull apart at the sound of Skylenna’s voice. She’s standing in front of us looking like a storm ran her over, disheveling her hair, whipping against her eyes and pink cheeks. It’s evident that she’s been crying for hours.

“Someone needs to find Dessin,” she adds with a thick voice. “Then we can meet back at the cages.”