Torrent of Tears (Scourge Survivor Series Book 3)(31)
“Everything all right on this end?” Rowan asked.
Terran nodded. “My pater has everything arranged.”
“Your father?” I mumbled.
“Yes, Princess,” Terran said, helping me onto the simple wooden dock. “This is my home. Let me introduce to you to Demos, my father.” I shook hands with Demos and then Terran introduced him to Rowan and Coal. When we were all standing within the clearing, Rowan activated the hovering ability of the coffin and transported Tham’s body up the bank.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Terran caught the look on my face and slipped a hand under my elbow. “There is no place more beautiful for your friend to find his final rest, than the crest of our family plantation. We have orchards on the low ground and acres of forested land overlooking it.”
My eyes stung as my vision grew wavy. Don’t you dare start again. I blinked quickly and swallowed hard. “Thank you, Terran.”
Terran kissed my hand before tucking it into the crook of his elbow and leading us away.
The sun broke across the line of the horizon just before our somber group climbed to the crest of a treed orchard. Terran was right. With the sunrise blazing fuchsia across the Mediterranean blue sky and the green trees flowing in the salty breeze, I couldn’t imagine any place more beautiful. When we paused, Terran waited, a hopeful gleam in his eyes.
“It’s perfect,” I choked.
The pyre had been built to my ramblings and when the soldiers raised Tham’s body into place, he looked like a perfect sleeping beauty in his glass coffin resting atop an altar. I prayed for the millionth time that this was all a trick of the Queen, that maybe he would wake up.
“Castian, please let him wake up. Don’t let this happen. Don’t let Tham be dead. He’s our family. He’s Jade’s family. He’s an innocent.”
Castian didn’t interfere in the lives of his charges. I knew that. He lived by a code; the members of the Fae Pantheon never influenced the lives of the realms. The only time he stepped in was when one of the gods or goddesses was taking unfair advantage and screwing with us.
As each second passed, the crack in my heart widened. “If I had listened . . . if I hadn’t been so cocky—”
“Lexi, don’t,” Rowan said. “Nothing about this can be undone. Don’t go there.” He stepped forward and pulled strips of black fabric from his side pocket. “Are these all right?”
I touched the black, velvety choker and traced the silver symbols. My hands were shaking like flies’ wings. “Perfect. Will you put it on me, please?”
When the four of us had our mourning bands in place I accepted the torch.
The world crackled and snapped as the kindling caught and the fire grew in strength. The air whooshed, flames rising in a wall of gold and orange, reaching toward the transparent dome far above the land. Shifting colors flickered, the oppressive heat slapping my face and stirring my hair. The moisture blurring my vision lessened the sting of smoke as the silhouette of Tham’s body, dark against the brilliance of fire, was engulfed.
I was barely aware of my words as we watched the flames grow, my mind a whorl of images and moments. “Highbornes believe in celebrating the life as the dead pass Behind the Veil. They recount stories of joy and laughter so the spirit of their friend can take those emotions with them.”
I did my best. I chuckled as I retold my adventures with Tham over the past eight months.
The clean ones anyway.
Tham, dressing up as Legolas for Samhain and charming a crowd of women until a cat-fight broke out over who was going home with him. Tham, running naked through the first snowfall, then diving into the waters of the hot spring caves. Tham, breaking up an argument at the Hearthstone and then proceeding to get smashingly drunk with the two who almost leveled the place. How could one man have such a gift to live life and have it taken away?
That was it, wasn’t it? Tham was heart and laughter, love and acceptance. He lived every moment with the strength of a warrior and the passion of a lover devouring you. His spirit burned brighter than any star in the night sky, but he was too good to last.
Tham had become my best friend. Jade, Bruin and Julian would always mean the world to me, but they were my siblings. They expected things of me. They pushed at me. Tham was . . . Tham. Loving, inspiring, fun. I would miss him every day of my life.
Fighting the quiver of my lip, I did as Tham would want and discarded the guilt weighing on me. For the first time in hours, my throat let oxygen pass. I cried my last tears and wiped my cheeks. “Goodbye, Hotness. I will miss you forever. Safe travels.”
Turning away from the smoldering, charred remains I tried to draw breath into leaden lungs. “Terran, could we possibly impose and go to your home for a bit? I’d like a little time before we head back.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
It was the rich scent of vegetables roasting in garlic that woke me from the dead. The curtains were closed in the pale-yellow guest room, but I could see by the softened glow peeking around the edges that the day was waning. Thankfully, my nap had stopped the surreal scattering of my brain. My vision was clearer, my ears had stopped ringing and my inner centrifuge had slowed to an uneasy swirl. I tried to breathe past the mid-sized sedan parked on my chest.
Nope. Not quite yet.
My stomach rumbled long and loud and I forced myself out of bed. I didn’t dare look in the mirror as I shuffled to the door. The last thing I wanted was to look at myself. I may never be able to look at myself again.