Page 82 of Bones

Stellan spun the chair to follow her movements, like he couldn’t stand to have her out of his sight.

Not that I could judge. I’d set up a spot for Aurora in the kitchen at Black Horse because having her in the office was somehow too far away.

Juno gestured to the couple at the bay window. “Nate got stuck in place, turned invisible, and lost his memories. Not to mention his soul.”

My head snapped to look at my brother because I didn’t feel that kind of void from him.

And I would’ve. I’d felt it in others. Not because they were victims of Absolve.

Some people were just born without one.

“Don’t worry, brother,” he reassured with a content smile. “When Denny gave me her love, she shared hers.”

“It’s a weird feeling, huh?” Stellan asked. I thought he was talking to me or Nate, but his focus was on Aurora. He tipped his head to where she rubbed her sternum. “That pull of your soul. Even once you know what it is, it takes some getting used to.”

Aurora swallowed hard and dropped her hand.

“Baby?” I whispered, but she just grabbed her drink and knocked off the last of it.

Something is wrong.

Through everything my siblings shared, she’d asked for clarification but had barely blinked at the ludicrousness. Now that they were done, though, something was eating at her. It wasn’t the same despair or hollowness from before.

It wasworse.

My chest burned like I’d swallowed acid.

I rested my hand on the top of her bent knee to teleport us out of there, but Juno said the only thing that could stop me.

“I was in purgatory, and?—”

“What?” I asked. “You went intohowmuch detail about your damn cotton candy, but you left out that you were in purgatory?”

“Have you never heard of saving the twist for the end?” She shook her head like I was the foolish one. “It’s called good storytelling… And also, I forgot.”

“Youforgotyou were in—” I ran my palm down my face and beard before gesturing to her. It wasn’t worth the fight, and the less I interrupted, the less likely she’d be to forget another minor detail.

Like maybe one of them had been reincarnated as Elvis.

“Sorry, continue.”

“Thank you.” She put her nose in the air and resumed pacing. “As I was saying, I was in purgatory, also lost my memories, and then they were worried I was no longer immortal. Which I’m pretty sure was the curse goal, and I just lucked out. Or I’m so powerful, even pure evil couldn’t take me down.” She gestured to Lennon. “And this bleeding heart became a cold-hearted bastard, along with the aforementioned memory loss.” Halting, she put her hands on her hips and studied me. “But not only did you keep your memories, you weren’t cursed at all.”

“Yes, he was.”

Everyone’s attention shot to Aurora when she spoke. Not with her pen, but with her beautiful voice that was hoarse from underuse.

“I don’t know how,” she continued, “but I can feel his emotions. He missed you. He’s relieved. He’s thrilled to be reunited. But it’s so much more than that. The longer you’re here together…” A ghost of a smile touched her lips, there and gone. “It’s like a big meal of comfort food and Christmas morning and a favorite book, all rolled into one. Family clearly means an immense amount to him, but for centuries, he had no idea where you were or whether you were even still alive. Do you know how that unknown can eat at a person? It becomes an obsession. Wondering each morning if it’ll be the one. The day when he finds one of you. Or even just a hint. A lead. Something.Anything. You hope and you hope and you hope until there’s nothing left. Until you give up.”

I wanted to reach for her. Pull her into my arms. Wipe away the tears I doubted she knew she was crying. Ask her how she knewexactlywhat I’d experienced and why sorrow dripped from her voice. But I kept my mouth shut, assuming that getting it out would make her feel better.

She stared blankly ahead and kept going. “Then there’s the loneliness. This bone-deep ache that you can try to ignore, but it doesn’t work. Not when every single day is a reminder that you’re alone in the vast world. That even if you find someone you get along with, you can’t let them in. That you have to build walls on top of walls and then line those with barbed wire.”

“Baby—” I started since I’d been wrong. Talking was doing nothing more than filling that hollowness in her with the poison rot that burned in my chest.

Her feet hit the ground, and she sat up. “Keeping his memorieswashis curse. It was the cruelest thing they could’ve done to him, but the universe or the devil or maybethose powers-that-be you mentioned weren’t done. Because his siblings have beautiful mates. A detective. A selfless woman who protects the vulnerable and has an angel. No.” She frantically shook her head. “Anarchangel. I don’t know what Denny does, but I’m sure it’s something as lovely as her. And noble, of course, since she shared her soul.” Aurora’s hauntingly beautiful eyes met mine and broke my damn heart because all I saw was pain

So much fucking pain.

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