The Kingdom of Night (Book 3)

Twenty-Seven - Dark Acts and Good Deeds

George

For a moment, all we did was simply stare at one another. The large redheaded bloke standing slightly between me and Cousin Al, with his pistol aimed straight at my chest, struck me speechless enough. Not to mention he looked like he wanted to kill me. That didn't bode well either.

     'Who are you?' he said, voice thick with a Scottish accent.

     I raised my good arm, because the other one still hurt. 'I swear, I mean you no harm.'

     His brow lowered, and he cocked the gun, but Al stopped him with a touch on his arm. 'Colin, wait. I know him. Don't shoot, please.'

     Colin softened at her touch, and he turned his eyes from me to her. I'd never quite seen the pleading look in my cousin's eyes before, fear and pain and love mixed in all at once. They were close...how had I not seen that before? The way he'd stepped in front of Al, shielding her, said everything.

     'Please, Colin.' She put out her other hand. 'Give me the gun.'

     Reluctantly, he did. She clicked the safety back on it and returned it to him, their hands briefly clasped over it.

     'Trust me, Colin. I need you to trust me.'

     Colin didn't reply. Al let go, spinning on her heel towards me. Only a second passed between seeing the expression on her face and when she collided with me, wrapping her arms tightly around me. A couple sobs escaped her before she spoke.

     'Y-you're alive, George...how...however did you do it?'

     'That's quite a long story,' I said, holding her just as tightly. I breathed in and caught a whiff of gardenias. She always seemed to have that scent around her, no matter what she'd been doing. 'Much too long for right now.'

     'I thought you—we thought you were dead.' She pulled back, with tears still running down her face. 'But you're...not. You're...you're alive. Alive.'

     ''Course I am.' I grinned, giving her shoulder a good squeeze. 'I'm a survivor, didn't you know?'

     'Oh, George, I...' She kissed my cheek and then pulled me in again, burying her face in my neck. 'I thought I'd lost you...'

     This was almost too bittersweet a reunion. I hadn't seen her in so long, and the war had separated us for what felt like years. But it was wonderful to be so close to her again, as we were when we were children and thought nothing could keep us apart. And yet she'd changed so much. The sadness in her eyes made my heart ache.

     'Alice,' Colin said, his voice still gruff. 'Some explanation, please?'

     Al took a deep shuddering breath and finally pulled away, motioning Colin closer. 'Colin, this is my cousin George. George, this is Captain Colin McAvoy, RAMC.'

     'Hello,' I said, Colin's gaze snapping to mine. 'Come from the RAF myself. Wing Commander. George Haywood's the name.'

     He scowled at me, but didn't comment on that. Instead, he said, 'Alice told me you were dead.'

     'She didn't know.' I looked over at her, and a smile flickered across her lips. 'The rest of my family thinks I am too.'

     He surveyed me quickly, from my mismatched uniform to my sling to the fairly fresh bruises on my face. 'What the devil happened to you, anyhow?'

     I grinned again. 'That's me not being dead.'

     That got a smile out of Al, and Colin's mouth twitched slightly at the corner too. I was grateful for that small bit of levity, because those moments were fairly hard to come by nowadays.