30. VANYA: SEE YOU LATER

“Are you okay?”
My eyes darted over to Iris when she took a seat next to me on the log. I shook my head as I focused my attention back on the sunset.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked softly.
“You won’t understand.”
She cleared her throat. “Probably not.”
The silence between us lasted only a few seconds. I sighed when Iris turned towards me.
“Are mad at me?”
*Yes! You’re hogging all their attention while we could have spent the time together before they had to leave.* I remained silent instead of saying my thoughts out loud.
“Look, I’m trying my best to be as helpful to them as I can,” she said. “Devrim asked if I could remember anything after being kidnapped.”
Her words made me feel like an asshole. She was helping them and I was being a jealous bitch.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered.
“No apology needed.” Iris smiled. “What’s it like growing up on an island?”
“The same as growing up any other place.” I paused. “We have to import stuff since we don’t have it on the island which can take up to months to get delivered.”
“Don’t you ever get lonely?”
“Why would I get lonely?” I glance at her. “It’s like living in a small town. Everybody knows everybody. You make friends as you grow up and you stay friends unless they decide to leave.”
“I’d like to meet your friends,” Iris said, unknowingly reminding me of the fact that my best friend was no longer alive.
“I don’t have friends.”
“Oh.” She swallowed loudly. “Did they leave the island?”
“No.” I leaned forward to pick up a leaf and crushed it between my fingers. “She’s dead.”
“I’m sorry.”
Shrugging, I fought the tears and thankfully won. My stomach twisted as guilt flooded me.
“Uhm. . .if you don’t mind me asking, how did she die?” she asked.
“She was killed,” I told her, “by my father.”
Iris stared at me silently for a few seconds before her lips parted but then her eyes darted over my shoulder and the colour drained from her cheeks.
The low growled made me shiver.
“Go fucking do something else,” Obsidian snarled. “Stop upsetting my mate and mind your own fucking business.”
Iris stood. She looked down at me and for a moment it looked like she wanted to say something but Obsidian growled again, sending her hurrying away.
For once I couldn’t complain about Obsidian being an asshole. I looked up at him as he moved closer.
“Have you forgotten about your punishment?” he questioned as he held his hand out towards me.
“I’m not in the mood, Obsidian,” I told him.
He blinked at me. Frowning, he glanced back at the house and hesitated a moment before he took a seat next to me. There was a noticeable space between us so I scooted closer until my side was pressed to his.
“You shouldn’t be sitting out here if you’re cold,” he grumbled.
I smiled. “I’m not cold.”
Silence settled between us as we stared at the darkening sky. I was surprised when he reached out and took hold of my hand.
“It’s not easy for me either,” he rasped. “Leaving you is hard. I’m scared that if I come back you’ll be gone.”
“I have nowhere to go.”
“I don’t mean now. You’ve always wanted to leave the island, Vanya. Since you were a little girl.” Obsidian swallowed. “You want to see all the places you read about in your damn books that you always carried around with you.”
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to travel. I know that we can’t leave the island, you’ve made it clear.”
“I’ve considered taking you to one of those places but the fear of you being kidnapped or killed prevents me from doing that.”
He traced the lines on my palm with a fingertip. Goosebumps broke out over my skin as he continued the movement.
“I use to think of myself as pathetic,” he whispered. “But now things have changed.”
My heartbeat sped up when he raised my hand and pressed his lips to the pulse at my wrist. Was this the part where he was going to tell me that he loved me? I waited and waited but Obsidian remained silent.
“Aren’t you going to say it?” I asked him. “Aren’t you going to tell me that you love me?”
Obsidian stood. “Why is it so important to you that I say those words to you? Isn’t my actions enough?”
“It’s not the same,” I told him. “Things could be done out of kindness and not love.”
He stared down at me for a few seconds before he stormed off.
“You just had to ruin it,” I muttered to myself.
“Ruin what?”
I jerked in fright when Devrim suddenly spoke from behind me. “Nothing,” I muttered once I managed to catch my breath.
“You and your mother used to sit here and watch the sunset every day,” Devrim said after a few minutes of silence. “It was the favourite part of your day.”
I blinked up at him.
“Melanie wouldn’t admit it but I knew she liked it too because even if she was bone-tired after working all day, she would still pack a small basket with snacks and meet you here.” He smiled at me.
“W-what else do you remember?” I asked him.
“I remember you going out of your way to tell on Ezra whenever he was about to do something without permission.”
I shared his smile but it quickly faded. “I wish that I can remember.”
Devrim held out his hand. I placed mine in his without hesitation and allowed him to pull me to my feet. He pulled me against the front of his body and hugged me tightly.
“Ezra is going to see if he can find more information about amnesia,” he said softly. “We’ll figure things out, rosebud. I promise.”
“I don’t want you to leave,” I whispered when he fell silent.
“I know.” His hold tightened. “It’ll all be over soon and then we’ll be back home and things will be back to normal.”
I nodded. “Can we have a honeymoon when this all ends?”
He pulled away and frowned down at me in confusion. Reaching up, I flicked the strand of hair from his forehead. My fingertips slid across his skin and down his neck
“When humans get married they go on a honeymoon. It’s like a holiday where it’s just the two of them,” I explained.
“You want to go on a holiday?” he asked.
“I want a holiday where it’s just the four of us,” I told him. “Where we don’t have to worry about Joy or the Pride. Where it’s just us doing whatever we want to do.”
Devrim smiled. “Is there anything specific you have in mind for this honeymoon, rosebud?”
“A few,” I whispered as I stood on my tiptoes to press my lips to his neck.
His head dipped back as one of his hands slid into my hair and came to rest against the back of my head. Remembering his confession about liking pain, I bit down hard. Devrim’s body jerked as his hold on my hair tightened.
Muttering a curse, he jerked away and lifted me. I wrapped my legs around his hips and gripped his shoulders as he kissed me. I was aware of us moving but I didn’t pay any attention to where we were going until Devrim tripped.
Cursing, he turned around at the last minute so he took the brunt of the fall. Luckily the fall was softened by the leaves on the ground.
“Are you hurt?” he breathed.
I leaned up to stare down at his face. “No. Are you?”
“I’m fine.” He opened his eyes and blinked up at me as his cheeks flooded with colour. “Sorry.”
A laugh fell from my lips and a few seconds later Devrim joined in. Our laughter slowly died down as we stared at each other. Licking his lips, he reached up and gripped the back to pull my lips down to his.
I pulled away and sat up. “What did you trip over?”
A gasp fell from my lips when Devrim suddenly sat up too, knocking me off balance. He pressed a hand between my shoulder blades to steady me as his eyes darted around.
“I’m not sure.” Devrim looked at me again. “Are you sure that you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.” I sighed, eyes dropping to his chest. “W-what time are you leaving?”
His hands dropped to my hips. “Around midnight,” he answered. “Red already worked out a route we can take that’ll keep us out of sight of the hunters.”
*Great. Another thing to worry about.* I pursed my lips and looked away. Devrim’s fingers brushed along my jaw down to my chin that he gripped gently and turned my face towards him. His eyes darted between mine as they darkened with concern.
“Worry is bad for you,” he said softly. “You don’t have to worry about us, Vanya. We’ll be okay.”
“I can’t help but worry,” I told him. “I’m scared that—”
“We’ll always come back to you,” he interrupted me. “We’re stronger than we look.”
“But not invincible,” I croaked. “It would be so easy. . .” I trailed off as tears burned my eyes.
“Listen,” he said softly, “there’s no guarantee that we’ll live forever but we have a reason to live for which means that we fight harder. Even if something happens to us, we’ll always be in your heart.”
“Please stop saying things like that. It makes it feel like you’re saying goodbye to me.”
With his hand at the side of my neck, he pressed his thumb to the underside of my chin and tilted my head back to press a soft kiss to my lips.
“I love you, Vanya. Don’t ever doubt it.”