The pretender’s form flickered and became Nevaeh. Her eyes twitched with weakness. Her red hair lay limp on the floor around her head. She opened her mouth to breathe her last breath and to say her last words.
“I...loved...you.” she whispered weakly, losing consciousness.
Nevaeh was soon still as a statue, with her flat blue eyes staring down the aisle, seeing nothing. I felt nothing as she lay there, cold and still. That was what made me a good soldier. Very few people in the world made me feel any pity or remorse, especially if they threatened one of the very few people that made me happy.
"No!" I heard Jasper scream in agony, "Please, no!"
I was shocked to see my eldest and cruelest brother kneel beside her and weep. He kept repeating "no," over and over again like a skipping track. I had never seen Adolph, I mean Jasper, act like this in all the years I've known him.
Suddenly, both Jasper and the dead Nevaeh were gone at the flick of Elizabeth's wrist. I had just recollected a memory of something Jesse had said.
"If I ever leave your side and you start to miss me, just open the box, and I'll be there before you can say, "I love you." "
I quickly reached into my pocket and pulled out the mahogany box. I unfastened the metallic closure and opened the box. The little star escaped from the box went out in search of Jesse. I squeezed my eyes shut.
"I...love..."
I opened my eyes, and Jesse, the real Jesse, my Jesse, stood in front of me, the star hovering beside him. It flew to hover over the box, making squeaks of impatience. I opened the box, and the star snuggled into it and closed the lid behind it.
“Oh, how Stelian loves his box!” Jesse whispered, as if speaking of a child instead of a star.
“Now that Groom number two is finally here, can we proceed?”
“Of course.” Jesse and I said in unison.
“Excellent. Xanthe?” Elizabeth continued, “Bring the pot!”
A small girl barely older than my Beth with blue hair and eyes to match came in, hauling a large charcoal cauldron that was bigger than herself with ease. The pot contained a boiling, waxy black substance. Elizabeth grabbed our hands and starts chanting. Jesse and I couldn’t take our eyes off each other.
She set our hands into the boiling substance, and I could feel a change take place inside me. All the carvings on the walls of the chapel turned into words, English words. Elizabeth’s chanting faded from the exotic, ancient language of the Leviacs to plain English.
All that your Other understands,
You understand.
All that your Other sees,
You see.
May the Spirit of your love be savior,
As a single kiss,
Shall ascend it.
She slid our hands out from the pot, the substance rolling from our interlocked fingers without a trace. I tucked a strand of Jesse’s platinum blonde hair behind his ear and kissed him. I never wanted to be any further from him than I was at that moment.
When Jesse and I parted, a light burst from us. The light was silver and gold swirling together. The ceiling, the sky, tore like paper, and the light vanished into it to who-knows-where. The tear mended, and the light was gone.
I looked at our hands, perfectly intertwined like two puzzle pieces. I gazed at Jesse’s engagement, now wedding, ring, and I could finally read the carvings.
You are my love, my life, my world, it said, and Jesse was.
YOU ARE READING
Unkillable (Monsters Series #1) (Wattys2014)
RomanceIn an alternate future in America, when his parents throw him over the Border River, Jesse Salvatier is rescued by Colonel Angel Harper of Liberal Ground, who can never die, and falls instantly in love with him. When his family comes knocking on the...
