A Beautiful Torment

Epilogue

Youghal, Ireland.

3 years later.

It had been raining for a few hours, now.

A soft, hazy drizzle that flattened his fringe and plastered strands of damp, black hair to the back of his neck. He didn't really notice; his eyes were focused on the foggy outline of the horizon in the distance, a thin, greyish line that separates the sky from the sea. He'd been walking along the beach for over an hour, now, and the sand had grown progressively softer beneath the heels of his trainers.

The sound of a dog barking jolted him out of his thoughts, and he turned to watch an older, gruff looking man stroll by with his little terrier.

"There you are." He pivoted further around to face the tall, blond girl making her way up the beach. Where everyone else on the quiet beach was wearing jeans and rain gear, she was wearing denim shorts and a short-sleeved top. Her skin was slick with rain, and though he was tempted to point out that she was going to catch pneumonia, he didn't bother. He knew why she was doing it.

"What's up, Georgie?" He called her that on purpose, and he almost smiled at the annoyed look that crossed her face.

"I needed to get out of the house." She rolled her eyes. "It's like they don't understand the word 'space'."

He raised his brows. "It's almost like you don't understand the word, either."

"Oh, shut up, you love my company." She grinned saucily and laced her arm through his. "I'm like the sister you never had."

"Never wanted," he corrected.

"At least I don't stalk you anymore. Or sleep with all your friends."

He shot her a dubious look, and she rolled her eyes. "Not all of them."

He let her rest her arm along the inside of his as they walked toward the end of the beach. The tide was starting to come in and the beach appeared to be shrinking, swallowed by the sea. By the time they reached the pier, their trainers were soggy and the rain was coming down more heavily.

"So why are you avoiding the house?" Georgina finally asked.

"It's her day," he said quietly. "Her... family. I feel like I'm intruding."

He wasn't used to broadcasting his feelings. The words felt heavy on his tongue and he had to force them out, but he reasoned that it was just Georgina. As annoying and obscene as she could be, she'd become one of his closest friends. One of his only friends. In the beginning, they'd shared a reluctant common ground – they'd both been abandoned by their parents and, whether they wanted to admit it or not, they'd both felt unloved.

Georgina's abandonment had been a mistake, however. Faith had trusted her lover to give her baby to the right people, to save her from the fate that had befallen her, and by the time she realized that he'd betrayed her, Georgina was long gone. Faith had never been able to track her down; Georgina's bond mate had hidden her from Scrying.

His own had been deliberate. Georgina's bond mate would never have been able to compel his mother to murder him if she'd never truly considered doing it herself. No, he knew exactly where he stood with the woman who gave birth to him.

"You're being stupid," Georgina said bluntly. "She wants you there." She screwed up her nose, as though she found something distasteful. "She just looks around like a lost little puppy when you leave the room."

He half-smiled. He hated how happy the thought made him – that Isabel felt his loss as keenly as he felt hers whenever he wasn't near her. He felt like he was supposed to wish she was happy, all the time. But he couldn't bring himself to – he wanted her to be happy all the time with him. The same way he couldn't be happy without her.