And I kept my promise.
I sat with her for hours as the contractions became longer, closer together and more intense. As her body started shaking and shivering. As she began to bear down. Even when Mona showed up to assist, I didn’t leave. I was there to guide Anna when and how to push as the infant’s head started to become visible. To hold her screaming baby boy in my hands. To hand Anna her child for the first time. To slit my palm with a blade and make her sip my blood to speed up the healing process.
I was there for her every step of the way.
The way I should have been there for Sofia.
Chapter 37: Kiev
Once I was sure that both Anna and her baby were in a stable condition, I caught Mona’s hand and walked out of the cabin, leaving the two of them alone.
We walked up the steps and onto the deck above. We were now far away from the island. There was nothing but thousands of miles of ocean stretching out all around us.
I frowned on seeing the waves glistening in soft evening sunlight, even as our boat was shadowed in darkness.
I looked at Mona.
She smiled.
“Finally, I’m able to be of use.”
Erik was still at the front of the ship, managing the sharks, while Helina sat in a chair next to him.
“Your brother had a few wounds too which I healed. But they weren’t nearly as bad as yours,” Mona said, eyeing my siblings. “As for Helina, she seems to be recovering faster than I expected.”
I sighed with relief as I walked with Mona toward the opposite end of the ship. We both stood in silence, watching as the waves rushed past us.
And what now?
I pondered the question for several minutes. Perhaps Mona was doing the same.
“I need to find a way to return Anna to her family.” I slipped my hands around Mona’s waist, pulling her back against my chest. “But I’m torn, you see,” I whispered into her ear. “Because I also finally have a powerful witch to deliver to Matteo.”
She chuckled and twisted her head up to face me.
“Well, who says you can’t do both?” she said, raising a brow.
I contemplated the two different tasks ahead of me.
I thought first of Matteo and Saira. I imagined what it would feel like to gain their trust back by having my siblings explain what really happened, and then presenting them with Mona. I imagined the smiles on their faces.
I just hoped that nothing bad had happened to them in the meantime. So much time had passed. And I knew how vulnerable they all were, all of them bundled into that ship without a witch. I badly needed to find Matteo and make sure he and his crew were safe. I needed to do this for him. But most of all, I needed to do this for Natalie.
On the other hand, there was returning Anna. She’d already been away from her family for too long, and she needed her husband. Even though it would mean a trip back to The Shade, I was determined to help her find a way.
Shivers ran down my spine just thinking about reuniting with Derek Novak, my sworn enemy. And now, my own blood. I wondered if the Novaks were still unaware about being related to the Novalics.
As I thought about the two undertakings, it was a matter of deciding which to do first.
Mona reached up and placed a soft kiss on my jaw.
“You don’t have to make a decision right now,” she whispered, turning around and placing her arms around my neck. “We can allow ourselves a few hours, I think…”
“You’re right,” I said, pressing my lips against her forehead.
She took a step back from me and hiked up her gown, revealing her long toned legs.
I frowned.
“Hm?”
She pointed to her right thigh.
Her black rose had disappeared.
She reached for my hand and pressed my palm against the spot where the mark had been.
“It means I’m yours now, Kiev.”
Epilogue: Mona
Kiev and my story would never be a perfect “happy ever after” like the one I’d given my fictional characters.
We were both too broken. Our pasts were too tumultuous. Between us, we’d destroyed too many lives.
I knew we’d grate on each other’s nerves. Our tempers would clash. We’d fight.
But this was one of the very reasons that we couldn’t live without each other.
We could live without fear of bringing one another to ruin, because we were both already rubble.
Kiev was able to fulfill me in ways that I knew no other person ever could. And I dared believe that he felt the same about me.
He was my mirror, as I was his.
And I had faith that slowly, we’d help each other heal. It would be a painful ride, but I believed that we’d get there.
This story might not ever be like Adrian and Irina’s.
But it was our story.
And, as Kiev claimed my lips while we sailed toward the sunset, that was all that mattered.