Lucian Divine(63)

“You said no apologies. You can’t fault a person for love, and you’re still here.”

Just when I said that, he looked like he was going to pass out. An alarm went off on the screen above his bed. I ran to get the nurse.





I FELT WOOZY. An alarm was beeping above my bed. Evey had run out to get help. On the other side of the darkened room, I noticed a figure sitting in the chair.

“Mona?”

She stood and came to me. “Well, you got your wish.”

“I didn’t wish for this, to die this way.”

“I mean you got yourself an appointment with Him.” She pointed at the ceiling. “A face-to-face, a sit-down, Lucian.”

That angered me. “Oh what, now? So I die, and then I get to go talk to Him? What’s the point of that?”

“To plead your case.”

“To plead my case? You’re not any less cryptic than you were two thousand years ago, Mona.”

She put her hand on my arm, and I felt a surge of energy. “They’re coming,” she whispered. “I have to go.”

She kissed my cheek, and then she was gone. The alarm stopped.

“False alarm,” I said when the doctor, nurse, and Evey all came rushing in.

“Oh thank God,” Evey said.

“Don’t thank him.” I smirked.

The doctor and nurse checked me out thoroughly before leaving the room. The doctors were all stupefied by my case. I think the fact that they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with a seemingly healthy thirty-year-old man, bruised their egos a little.

They stopped giving Evey updates. I think they were just trying to keep me alive.

I coded again later that day. The only thing I remember about it was that Evey was screaming. Later that night, I woke when I overheard a doctor telling Evey I was septic and that my body wanted to die.

Evey lay beside me and cried. I drifted in and out of consciousness. I tried to hold her and comfort her, but I couldn’t anymore. I was only hurting her. At one point I asked her to call her mom, but she refused.

“No,” she said. “It’s too complicated, and I don’t feel like lying to them anymore.”

“I understand. I just don’t want you to be alone. I love you so much. For two thousand years, I had no life. You gave me life, and I’m grateful to you.” I kissed her and she kissed me back, and then she began sobbing again. “Please say something to me.”

She sniffled and tried to calm down. “I don’t know whether I’m alive or dead, in heaven or hell or if any of this is even real. I just know that I love you, Lucian.”

The alarms went off.

Poof.





“HEY, PINKY, WAKE up!”

I opened my eyes to find Brooklyn hovering over me. “What are you doing here, and how’d you get into my loft?”

She smiled. “I stole your key the other day and made a copy for myself.” She tried to lean down and kiss me.

“Ew, get off me.” I glanced at the clock. It was six thirty on a Saturday. “I’m going to kill you. Seriously, why are you here? I was up all night sketching. I wanted to sleep in.”

“Well, first of all, don’t you miss me?”

I rolled my eyes. “And second of all?”

“Second of all, you should be out on dates on a Friday night, not held up in your loft, drawing.”

“This coming from a woman who wouldn’t go out with the same person twice. Now you’re married and the expert?” She was right though. I should have been out dating.

“You know I’m right.” She looked around the room. “Your loft looks amazing. I can’t believe you did all of this yourself.”

“Well, I don’t date, remember? I have plenty of time on my hands.”

“We can fix that.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“Please don’t set me up. You know I hate being set up.” I got up to head to the kitchen to make coffee. Brooklyn followed close behind. “You want some coffee?”

“I already had my daily allowance.”

Turning around in the kitchen area, I glared at her. “What are you talking about?”

She grinned from ear to ear and batted her eyelashes. I looked down at her stomach. “Are you serious? Are you pregnant?”

When she nodded, I grabbed her and squeezed her. I felt her start to cry.

“You’re gonna be an auntie,” she said.

“I can’t wait.” I was getting emotional too. As happy as I was, I felt an emptiness inside of me that I couldn’t explain—a void. I was envious of Brooklyn for the first time in a long time.

She pulled out of the hug and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “It’s still early, but I wanted to tell you first—after Keith, of course. I haven’t even told my parents.”

“Brooke, I’m honored. I want to be there for you every step of the way. I know I’ve been so busy lately and I haven’t been the greatest friend. I was just swept up with the loft and my new line. I feel like I’ve been living in a social fog the last few months.”

“It’s okay, pinky. By the way, how is the line coming along?”

Brooke never used to care, so I stared at her before I answered. “You’re never going to believe this. Divine Denim is being featured in next month’s Vogue.” I started jumping up and down. “It comes out in two weeks. Ah!”