Page 75 of Forget Me Not
Del had taken one step onto the porch before she stopped short, eyes widening when she noticed the wolf skin draped over the wooden slats. She promptly spun on her heel and vanished back into the house.
Sighing, Bastien looked away from the empty doorway where his sister had disappeared, attention landing hard on Syve when he finally spoke.
“I…how? Where was he?” he whispered. The unspoken ‘who?’ hung heavy in the air.
“I’m going to tell you, but I need you to swear to me you won’t run off half-cocked and do something stupid—I’m serious!” she hissed her warning when she noticed a glint of malice in his eyes.
“You’re still healing, first of all, and this man has already almost killed youtwice! I know you want to be and I know it will be hard not to, but don’t be selfish. Think about Mama and Del! Even Cyrus and…” She looked away from him, inhaling deeply before continuing.
“Think about me.Please.”She begged. “You have to swear you won’t go on another murderous rampage. Let me help you. We’ll figure out what to do about him together. He won’t get away with this—justplease.”
Resignation was painted all over his face when she turned back.
“This fuckertore my soul apart. I have wanted nothing more than to personally rip his throat from his neck—but you, Syve, you have stitched my tattered edges back together. I love you more than I hate him. For you, I swear I won’t go after him myself.”
Tears welled on her lashes as her hand slid into his. She would tell him again what she already admitted while he slept—once this was all over.
She quickly recapped her morning—the jacket mending and drop-off, how she’d stumbled across Dez. Mercifully, she kept the finer details to herself. He would not gain anything by knowing about the picture on the wall, how the fur was used as furniture decor—the kiss.
Her short story ended as she whispered, “It was Gunther.”
Bastien
Explodingfromhischair,the force toppled it backward. Bastien growled, “I knew that fucker was a piece of shit!” He pulled at his hair, pacing short lines in front of her.
“Please! You promised you wouldn’t do anything!” she begged.
“I’mnotdoing anything—I just can’t believe it. I’ve had conversations with him—stood right in front of him! I’ve looked him in the eye and I didn’t know?!” He stopped, tipping his head back with a frustrated yell. “How could I not know?”
A finger hooked in the waistband of his shorts, tugging him back until he sank into the chair Syve must have righted.
The sound of liquid dousing the pyre interrupted them. They both sat transfixed as Cyrus emptied a bottle of lighter fluid onto the fire, then threw it into the pit.
In one fluid motion, he pulled a lighter from his pocket, spun the wheel to spark a flame, then tossed it.
Within seconds, flames claimed the wood and fur, the smell of burning hair wafting on the wind—a smell Bas would never forget.
As his gaze followed the orange and yellow tongues licking the air, he found Cyrus staring back from the opposite side of the fire. A strange look creased his features as he stepped back, then another, then melted into the shadows.
How much had he heard?
Long after the coals had grown cold and Syve had helped his mother scoop the ashes into a decorative vase, Bas finally stood. He found Syve in the kitchen, wiping down the counters while Soriah sat at the table with her arm slung around the ceramic vessel.
Mama nodded off for a second before jolting awake to ask, not for the first time, if he had to wager, if Syve was sure she did not want any help.
“Mama, if you get up from that table again, I’ll hide your apron and padlock your oven shut!”
Soriah tisked in return but made no move to get up. Delanira’s absence concerned him, she still had yet to make a reappearance since before the pyre was lit.
“I’m just about done here,” Syve murmured over her shoulder when Bas slipped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Tea for Mama and Del, then I’m getting you up to bed—have you seen Cyrus?”
“Don’t worry about him…Can I teach you how to make Mama’s cocoa?”
Her eyes lit up, darting to Soriah, who was fully asleep in her chair now.
“Is that allowed?” she whispered.
“Bambi, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, Mama seems to like you more than she likes me. It’ll be fine.”
