Page 78 of Little Wing
“Silas,” Lotus uttered, turning to me with her eyes shimmering. “I’m notdreaming, am I?”
My lips twitched and I brought my hand to her hair, picking off a flower that got caught in her raven locks. “You’re not dreaming, my love. I’m sure it may take some time for things to s—”
Lotus’s lips suddenly crashed against mine before I could finish speaking. As her arms wrapped around my neck and I pulled her closer against me, I knew that I’d never let her go. Because now that I’d got to the center of the flower that was Lotus Everett, I could never go back to life without her joy.
If I had to go through everything I lived through again—all the pain and loss, and disappointment, I’d do it all again knowing that I’d be lucky enough to call her mine.
It took eight months for me to feel the taut cord that connected me to Luca snap. It happened suddenly while Silas and I enjoyed a late afternoon in Seattle. It felt like a brief sting of a rubber band snapping against skin. It happened without warning, like a nudge that aimed to knock me off-balance. But I barely moved, only shifted my weight to my other foot before leaning down to select a bouquet of fresh flowers from a vendor at the market.
Every day since the sentencing, I wondered when it would happen and what it would feel like. Would I fear the severance? Would I squeal in joy? Would I miss the connection we had? Would I misshim?
No—it was none of that.
One moment, I was tied to Luca, and the next, I wasn’t.
It was that simple.
I understood that the pain that I'd endured over the last few centuries would not disappear as quickly as the tether did. It would take time to heal, but I knew it would be possible. After all, I had a tether that remained a source of so much of my joy.
When my tether to Luca snapped, I paid for my flowers and walked back over to Silas who was waiting for me. He studied my face and allowed his smile to widen even more when I gave him a slow nod.That was all I needed to communicate for him to know that there was a shift in my being.
I was still there; I was finally free.
The world didn’t shatter when Luca’s leash on me was removed.
“You ready for the next stop?” Silas asked, pressing a quick kiss against my temple.
With a small nod, I tucked my flowers under my arm and laced my fingers with his before moving on from the market—ready for whatever would come next.
Five years later.
“Thank you for visiting, Books & Bats! We hope to see you again real soon!” I grinned happily, handing over a bag of bookish goodies to a young woman with bright white fangs. She took the bag from me and hurried over to the cozy seats we had set up closer to the café, where Kait was already concocting another delicious, caffeinated creation.
Once there were no other customers left to check out, I unpinned my name tag and dropped it into the basket we kept on a shelf behind the checkout counter. My shift was up for the evening, yet as I looked around our bookstore, I could hardly believe that we made it. Even after three years of being in business, it felt surreal to be part of something that Reina, Kait, and I once only dreamed about. Everything that happened with Luca made us realize that there was no reason to put our dreams on hold any longer. After many loan applications, assistance from Silas’s realtor, and many sleepless days and nights, we finally had our little slice of bookish paradise in Books & Bats.
“Hey, bestie!” Reina stretched her arms over her head as she approached me. Five years had come and gone, but the infectious energy that beamed off Reina didn’t fade one bit. Her trademark lavendercurls were pulled into tight buns that sat neatly on top of her head. “Heading out to meet Silas?”
“Yeah, I just wanted to say goodbye to you two. I’ll be off for a few days, so I won’t be back until Sylvie Reverie’s book signing next week.”
“Pfft!” Reina scoffed. “We have everything ready, so if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were stalling.”
“Or maybe I wanted another opinion on my outfit?” I joked, giving my friend a quick spin in my green plaid skirt that reached my knees and the plain black short-sleeved shirt I kept slightly tucked in. “Do I pass the test?” I asked, pointing my black Doc Martens in her direction.
“Well, it’s an improvement from the preschool art teacher vibes you had. So, you’re getting there," Reina said with a wink.
Hearing us chatting, Kait peeked over the espresso machine and called us. “Maybe one day Lotus will come in wearing a super grunge band shirt.”
“Like what? A Beethoven world tour shirt?” Reina responded.
I gasped. “How old do you think I actually am?”
“Old enough to know better than to keep your man waiting for you!” Reina shot back before she pulled out her phone from her pocket.
Yes, years had passed, and Silas’s affection for me didn’t fade. Not even a little. Now, we lived together and existed just like every other couple. We had our arguments and misunderstandings, but we certainly had our passion. And that? Oh, that passion showed no signs of cooling off. For creatures who had all the time in the world, Silas still made me feel like each day was brand new and worth celebrating. It was just the way we experienced each other, like the hours that we shared together would never be enough.
I loved him.
Before Reina could scold me again, Kait approached us, quickly wiping her forehead with her tattooed forearm. Since the store opened, I saw Kait shine more and more now that she had the opportunity to oversee the entire café menu. Maybe this truly was what we all needed. A place for our passions to shine where no one could dull our creativity with rules and expectations.
