Where We Ended

by Ashley Munoz

All I wanted was Natty in my arms again. I’d waited long enough; Natty belonged to me, and even if this ended in both our lives being forfeited, at least in the end, she’d be buried with me. Safely cradled in my arms.

Felix natalis mea tenebris silva Happy Birthday, my Dark Forest

“Because you have me, I’ll be your hope. I’ll be your sun, your moon and anything else good in this world. Give me your dark and I’ll hand you all my light.”

“You’re the closest I’ll ever get to heaven, to redemption or being found worthy. I look at you, and I see hope. Isn’t that all heaven is? Hope, eternity spent in the one place we can’t imagine living without? You’re that for me. You’re my religion, Natty. My place of worship and devotion. God wants nothing to do with me, but for some reason he still gave me you.”

“You belong to me, Silas Silva. No matter what you do, no matter how he tries to indoctrinate you with his darkness, at your core, you’re pure light. I’ll be here reminding you of that for as long as you want me.”

“Forever, Caelum. I’ll want you for that long, and then longer when the devil demands my soul.” She kissed my chest. “He can’t have what belongs to me.”

“Brother, please do explain to me why the fuck you’ve cuffed yourself to my wife?”

Silas laughed. “You knew she was mine, Alec. She’s been mine from the first moment you saw her. Don’t pretend you didn’t know. Hand or arm?”

I heard Silas speak over the yelling, “Do not ever touch her again. She does not belong to you; she is not your toy, and she certainly will never be your girl. Next time, I’ll take your heart.”

“She was never a huntress or a goddess. She was none of those things.”

“You locked her up, thinking you could make her love you…but you can’t force the sun to shine, just like you can’t stop it from setting. I hope betraying her trust was worth it, Alec.”

“What about you, you need to protect that beautiful brain of yours. It’s my favorite thing about you, my dark and brooding prince.”

“Anything happens to you, Caelum, and my brain won’t matter. Nor my heart, or anything else that allows me to breathe. It’s you or it’s nothing, my love.”

“Want to make you my fucking wife, and do this every day for the rest of my life.”

“I’ve wanted to make you my wife since I was seven years old. Whenever you’re ready to carry my last name, you’re welcome to have it.”

“Where else would I go, Caelum? You’re my home, my heart…my entire fucking soul.”

Instead of remarking on it, I pressed a kiss there. “It’s what’s under the ink, that’s ours, Caelum. The blood in our veins, the way our souls curl into each other, finding solace. You’re my home.”

“If I’m your home then you’ve been gone for a very long time, my love.”

“Why didn’t you return to me, Silas?” Her voice was feeble and broken.

Clearing my throat, I finally replied, “I did, baby. It was a little late, but I came.”

“I mean before this…why have you waited this long to come for me? Alec said you would have never claimed me if they hadn’t taken me, and part of me feels like you still haven’t. Like you’re death itself, here to steal the rest of my life and run off to hell with it, leaving me abandoned and alone.”

Because you were better off here, without me. Because all I do is bring death. Because you deserve to be happy. Because I love you. I need you. I’d die if anything happened to you.

“Tu meus es sol, luna mea. Vitam meam. Revertar ad te.” You are my sun, my moon. My life. I will come back for you.

“Then build your hope inside of me, Silas Silva. I’ll keep it safe and I’ll make sure our dreams come true for the both of us.”

always assumed he was just obsessed with you…I had no idea you actually belonged to him. You can’t be here. He’ll burn my club down.”

“I’m a stain on your soul, Caelum. There is no removing me.”

“I don’t want to remove you, Silas. I want to exist with you…and the only way to do that is to hunt the same monsters you are.”

“If anything happens to you, I’ll burn it down.” I tilted my head. “Burn what down?” His unsettling light eyes arrested me, holding the very air in my lungs hostage as he said with all seriousness that I knew was within him. “Every last thing that makes up this world. The clubs, the people. The towns. I don’t care. I’ll take it. There’s a dragon somewhere curled in this heart of mine, and it’s greedy for you, Natty. Obsessed, insane and absolutely feral to keep you safe.”

“I’d die a thousand times over if it meant I could keep you safe. My life is not worth living without you in it, Caelum. You’ve been my forever since my life started. If you were to end, then I would too. The fact that you didn’t realize that…it kills me.”