I swallowed. “I don’t care now. I can’t or it will consume me.”
She patted my hand just as Bishop entered my room. My mouth watered and my jaw almost hit the floor. He wore black slacks and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, displaying his tattoos. His hair was styled perfectly on the top of his head, and his skin had a light sheen over it, glistening against the light.
“Are you ok?” he asked, tilting his head. His eyes flew between his mom and I. “Do I need to be worried about this little bond you two have together? Like are you going to team up on me a lot?”
Scarlet and I both looked at each other, then back at him. “Every chance we get,” we both answered in unison, then laughed.
Once everyone left my room, and only Bishop and I remained, he leaned into me. “I know you don’t want to talk about this right now, but it’s your birthday next weekend.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to celebrate anything this year. Please. I really don’t. Maybe next year.”
He nodded. “Okay, baby. I respect that.” Then he leaned forward, his hand going under my bed and pulled out the book. “You need to finish this.”
I took it from him.
His eyes searched mine. “You’ve made history, baby. You’re a damn hero. Now because of you? This Katsia gets her final wish.”
I opened up to the final chapter.
16.
Legacy
Today is the final time I write in this diary. I can no longer live through this crippling pain Humphrey inflicted on me and my family on a daily basis. My thoughts had turned dark, like an infectious disease he implanted into my cranium, it slowly spread like cancer, consuming my thoughts with dark depression. Days were harder to come by, I could no longer live with the guilt of knowing what was happening amongst our world. I could no longer live with what my husband was doing to baby girls or their families. No one would ever confront him, this would continue for years to come and I could no longer live a second more in this hideous place we call life. The Lost Boys have turned evil.
No one stands with me.
To Maree, my maid, my friend, my confidante, I plead you live a life full of happiness and freedom. Please leave Phillip, becoming a Venari would seal your fate of living behind an aging cage. You will never grasp true happiness by being confined to the palms of his hands.
My son’s:
I wish that you both always rule with more love than power. Use the light to see you through, as darkness could never lead you through darkness, only light could do that.
I wished for a better world. Where the Silver Swans could be unleashed to bathe in the crystal water of purity and not be crucified.
Signed, Katsia Hayes
Katsia put her pen down on top of her desk for the final time, stood on the chair she had sat at numerously throughout the years, wrapped the noose around her neck, and took her final leap.
I sucked in a breath, my hand coming to the front of my throat.
Bishop came to me, pulling me into his arms. “You gave Katsia her final wish, baby.”
I wiped the tears from my cheeks and sunk into him as he slowly rocked me. “You’re my little hero.”
We made our way downstairs, and then outside. Bishop beeped his Maserati, but I froze. “Wait!” My hand dug into my handbag and gripped around a set of keys. I dangled them in front of my face.
Bishop grinned.
“I think Daemon would have loved to see this.”
We both slipped into my Lamborghini, and Bishop gestured to the pedals. “I trust your driving, but just saying, you need to go easy—” I floored it forward and flew out of the driveway, passing everyone who were on their way to Daemon’s funeral. “Or not.”
Adrenaline spiked through my veins as my fingers clenched around the leather steering wheel. I turned to face Bishop. “We’re going to be ok.”
He grinned back at me. “Always, Kitty.”
My phone vibrated, and I opened it, slowing to a safer speed.
Bishop: Riddle me this, Kitty, what’s round, smooth, and is home for a sparkling stone?
My eyebrows pinched together.
I looked at him. “What?”
His lip kicked up in a grin. “Don’t worry about it, baby. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, I’m sure you’ll figure it out someday….”
I put my phone back down and floored it to the funeral.
If you had told me that I’d be where I was when I first started Riverside Prep, I would have laughed at you. I struggled to make friends, let alone turning a whole bunch of friends into family. I smiled, even though today was one of the saddest and hardest days I would have to face, I recognized the amount of support I had around me. If it weren’t for these people, I may not have survived losing Daemon. I now understood the name “Silver Swan.” I was built to handle any and everything life threw at me.
As graceful as a floating swan, but as deadly as a silver bullet.
People gathered around the burial ground like I’d seen in so many movies before. The parts that they don’t show in the movie though, is the feeling of your world stopping as its happening. Micaela twisted in my arms and tears streamed down my face. My heart snapped in my chest. I struggled to keep my emotions at bay.
“You see, sister.” Peyton leaned forward as we watched my friends and family mourn the loss of Daemon. “You don’t belong with them. You belong with us.”
She sat back in her seat. She was so wrong. I deserved to be there, with them. They were my family. Daemon was my family.
I glared at her from across the dark black limo.
“It’s for the best, Tillie, those people aren’t good people,” Carter added, his eyes coming to mine.
“Why are you here, Carter? You were Madi’s friend. How could you?”
His laughter was smug. Mocking. “I never was her friend. She killed Ally.”
“You and Ally?” I asked, confused.
He leaned back in his chair. “That’s right. Ally didn’t send the video—I did.”
“Let me go,” I deadpanned.
Peyton shook her head and laughed. “Never. They will get what’s coming to them, and then some. You see” —she leaned forward again— “The Circle doesn’t even know that I’ve been working with Katsia all along, our mother. You need to learn your loyalties, sister.”
Carter’s eyes came to mine again. “They’ll get what’s coming to them.”
I wanted to scream, to demand they let me and my daughter leave, but then an excruciating pain thudded on the side of my head and everything went black.
“I think I love you, Daemon.”
His head tilted, but his eyes studied my lips. He always watched me with importance. He made me feel like I mattered. Cherished, loved.
“Te amo?” Then his eyes glassed over as he slowly rocked Micaela. “I—I’m not—not good.”
I shook my head, my hand falling to his thigh. “We can make this work. I know we can.”
His eyes connected with mine, and I saw something flash over the surface. Since Daemon walked into the room the day I was in labor, he hadn’t left my side. He refused to leave us here to go home, even for Madison. I could never tell her. I would never want to steal that away from her because I knew how overprotective she was of him. I had heard stories about their bond. But our bond was unique, too. It was instant, and easy. He moved, I moved. Even though we lacked communication for the most part with the language barrier, his eyes gave me what his words could not.
His touch.
He placed Micaela into the little crib Tinker stole for us, pulling her blanket up to her chin. I wrapped my arms around his stomach. His body, so still and stoic, relaxed in my embrace.
“I love you, Daemon.” My heart beat for him. I knew his did for me too.
His hand came to mine and he turned in my embrace. His eyes searched mine, his finger coming to my lip. He slowly kissed me, his warm lips caressing mine so softly it stole my breath. “Te amo, amans.”
The End