Page 193 of Serpent In White
I tug her chin. “They’re the sweet ones.”
“And you?” She asks, mouth hovering over mine.
“I’m a little more wicked.”
It’s time.
It tells me that. The voice is deep, penetrative.
It calls, like an inner beckoning.
Itistime.
Rolling out from under the blanket and Drake’s heavy arm, I shift to my feet.
It tells me to put my dress on, so I do. But not my shoes.They’re Gem’s.
My mind is clear in the pale morning fog. The breeze brushes calm across my skin as I walk.
It’s alright, It tells me.You’re loved. You’re beautiful. This is necessary.
In a voice that sounds almost like Drake’s, only darker, more cavernous, it repeats his words;The most perfect bliss of control comes when you let go.
Let… Go…
Exiting the clearing, I glance back once more at the guys; those three gorgeous souls.
They love you, It whispers.
I think I love them, too.
I feel certain that in a different place, I’m going to live with them forever. We’ll work and love and exist together… Start a family.
Finding this land, the Expanse, and all the spectacular things they’ve made here… It changed everything for me. Last night was the ultimate awakening. And after my realizations with Darian, then the four of us coming together… I’m whole.
They’re whole, as well. Together.
The three of them arefinallytogether, and I think I helped that happen. I did good for It.
In return, my entire life will be different, starting right now.
Just not righthere.
The black rock isn’t visibly there, where they sleep. But itis.
Turning, I walk slowly, stepping softly to mind my bare feet. It reminds me of Abdiel, that morning after we first met.
He’s such a perfect human.
The closure, the acceptance he found last night in the deaths of his parents…
His Ecdysis is complete.
And so will be mine.
Wandering over to the edge of the cliff, I close my eyes. I take a deep breath. The wind brushes through my hair.
And I smile.
