Things That Should Stay Buried - Casey L. Bond Page 0,123
So much more.
I swallowed thickly and looked into Aries’s eyes. “I love you.”
His pale pink eyes shimmered. “And I love you, Larken. I’ll love you as long as we both live.”
Forever…
ARIES
At the end of the worst day of her life, as her human existence ended and her life as Zodia began, her heart was the same. Larken said she loved me and I repeated the words to her so she felt them, so they were always with her, no matter where on this earth we were. As sure and steady as the stars in the sky.
The weight of the day and the loss she experienced were mixed with relief. She could finally allow herself to mourn the brother who died when they were children. I would stand at her side as she buried his body and hold her as she and her parents finally grieved him.
And I would be there for her as she stretched her beautiful wings and slipped into her new role as Zodia, responsible for many, beholden to none.
31
“Can I be there when you lay him to rest?” Aries asked.
Around the knot in my throat, I answered, “Of course. Where is he?”
“He is in my rooms.”
After asking my mother to come with me, Aries led us through the labyrinthian castle, descending into Aries’s lair. Kestrel’s body was lying on the bed, nestled on the dark, silken sheets. Once again, his chest was still.
So very still.
Someone had washed the blood from his skin and cleaned it from his hair. A sweet floral scent filled the room. I traced it to the small bowl of oil that lay next to him, infused with the star flowers from Aries’s tomb. A thin layer of oil glistened over Kestrel’s skin.
The elderly Guardian woman’s knees creaked as she stood from her sentinel chair to face us. She’d removed the axe from his chest and cleaned him, and made the oil with which she anointed his skin. Then she’d dressed him in one of Kes’s Guardian uniforms. She slowly crossed the room, bowing gently to Aries and then looking to me. She reached up and pulled my head toward hers.
With her head pressed to mine, she showed me scenes of Kes from other lifetimes. And in each of them, he was as amazing as he was in mine. Kind. Constantly seeking ways to help people. Watching over the families he was part of whether he was in the role of parent, child, or something else. He was a friend to all.
She pulled away and I clasped her wrinkled hand. “Thank you.”
She inclined her head, then vanished from sight.
Mom stepped around us and slowly walked to Kestrel. She fell to her knees and cried, holding his hand. I hugged her, folding my wings around her and letting her cry within my protective embrace.
When her tears dried, she asked me to take him with us so we could prepare to bury Kestrel with Dad and Kes by our side. I gathered his body into my arms.
Aries extended his hand for Mom and she took it. We disappeared, sliding easily to my castle.
Helena met us in the same room we’d left from, though I barely recognized it. From ceiling to floor, it glistened, the faint scent of bleach left in its wake. “I enlisted some help cleaning,” she said softly. I’d been terrified to bring Mom here. If she saw the room in the state we left it, soaked in blood, with Taurus’s gelatinous remnants piled in the center, she really would have lost it.
“Thank you.”
She looked at Kestrel’s body in my arms. “I’m sorry, Larken.” I tried to thank her with a smile, but it turned to water and my eyes welled with tears again. “Kes and your dad are waiting for you. Do you want me to get them?”
“Please,” I croaked.
Two double doors opened and two faces appeared, one I knew by heart, the other I didn’t. I didn’t know his face at all. But I knew him. I’d know him no matter what body he wore.
Mom sprinted across the floor and threw herself into Dad’s arms when he appeared in the doorway with bloodshot eyes. He hugged her tight and squeezed his eyes closed as he cried. They checked each other over, both amazed and thankful neither had been hurt, or worse.
Aries stood at my side as my parents separated. Mom looked at the man waiting patiently nearby. He towered over her and had Dad by at least a foot now.