“For fighting for me. Your leg, he said-” She hiccups a small sob, and Abel’s chin trembles.
“No, Darlin’, thank you. I remember what happened in that house.” We all turn to him questioningly, but he shakes his head. “It’s not my story to share. I remember though. What you did, sacrificed, to keep me alive. You did the real fighting. You’re not a little wave. You’re a fucking tsunami. I love you, Darlin’, and I am so proud of you. Now rest.” He wipes tears from his face, and I am sick with the thought of what put them there.
“I knew you were listening to us that night.” Jonah shakes his head, placing a hand on Abel’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze before pushing Abel’s chair from the room.
“We’ll come back by later, beautiful.”
“Okay,” she whispers, looking down and twisting her hands in her lap when they close the door behind them.
“What happened?” all three of us ask together.
“Princess, did he-” I swallow hard.
Eliana
I take a deep breath. “What did the doctors say?”
“They said there was… trauma but wouldn’t say anymore.” Jaxx takes my hand. “Baby, he didn’t? Did he?”
I should lie, tell them he never had the chance to touch me, but I can’t. I promised Joshua I would try to be happy, and I can’t do that if we continue this dance.
“Not exactly,” I force out.
“What does that mean, Eliana?” Jaxx jumps to his feet, taking my face in his hands gently and searching my eyes.
“Princess?” Costin is tugging at his hair beside me.
“I don’t want to talk about it, guys. You trained me to survive, and I did. I fucking killed him,” I cry. “I did kill him, right?!”
“He’s fucking dead,” Jaxx confirms. “Wait, you did that?”
I nod. “It was him or Abel. I would do it again.”
They sit on either side of my bed.
“Your screams?” Jaxx asks, and I nod again.
“He touched me, but that’s all I’m saying. I will not let this define me or paint any more pictures in your heads. He has no hold here. Not anymore.” I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand. “He had Joshua killed.”
“We know, baby. We put it together before but didn’t have a name. When your call came in, we realized how blind we had been.”
“Where’s Daddy? I heard him there.”
“He ran, Princess. He stepped up when it mattered though. He loves you in his own way. He wanted to be here. It’s just that Richard had a ton of dirt on him that he turned over right before taking you, including the house fire from the night we found you, the murder of his brother and father, and the details of him manipulating you to take control of your inheritance. Turns out, you don’t have to marry at all. He just wanted a man beside you, willing to do anything to keep you sheltered. That way, he could get your husband to sign over control of your grandfather’s fortune to him. He knew Joshua would. Turns out both he and Jaxx had already agreed to it so long as you were provided for and safe,” Costin huffs.
“Coming after me in the end doesn’t fix everything he’s done,” I spit. “That’s why he wouldn’t let you be with me? Because you are too unpredictable and would have probably just told him to fuck off?”
“We all know how that would have gone,” Jaxx snarls.
“Come here, Jaxxson.” I open my arms, and he gently lays his head on my chest.
“I’m sorry, baby.” He turns, burying his face against my gown, soaking it with his tears. “I keep failing you.”
“Listen to me, Jaxx. None of what he said to you on that phone was true.” I run my fingers through his hair soothingly, the way he always does for me. “You did everything you could to protect me, and you succeeded. When the time came for me to fight back, I could. Because. Of. You. Teaching me how to defend myself may have been a group effort, but you taught me how to be smart about it. I only made it out of there because you taught me how to stay calm and think. You gave me the strength I needed to get through it, and I did. So, no more guilt. I love you so much, and you will always be my person. You have to know when to accept that sometimes things happen beyond our control, no matter how hard we try to prevent them. We didn’t do this; they did. We were simply trying to survive, and we did.”
“When did you get so wise?” He smiles through his tears.
“Someone I love dearly sat me down and talked to me.” I smile back.
“When?” Jaxx raises a brow.
“After,” I breathe out softly.
“You’re still an oddity, Munchkin.”
“Munchkin?”
“We both know where your heart lies, and you’re no longer bound to me.” He shrugs sadly, looking over at Costin, who is standing, facing the window.
“I don’t regret a single second of us, Jaxx.”
“No?”
“Never-ever, Jaxxson. I love you so very much. Thank you for always putting me first. I don’t always deserve you, but I am so grateful that you chose to stay with me through it all anyways.”
“I love you, too, Munchkin.” He leans over and kisses me softly. “Talk to him. You’re free now. It’s time to listen to your heart. It does matter. I’m going to go speak with the police. I’ll be back.” He slips quietly from the room, and I look at Costin.
“Costin-“
“Princess-“
We laugh, speaking at the same time.
“I’m still in love with you, brave knight,” I blurt out through my tears, and he spins, practically running to my bedside and dropping to his knees.
“You love me, Princess?” He takes my hand, trembling.
“I do. So very much,” I reply softly, barely holding it together.
“And what about Joshua? Will you be with me?” he begs, hope filling his eyes.
“He still owns part of my heart, Cos. He always will. But now, I know that it’s all right to feel that way. That I can love you both, and it doesn’t diminish what I feel for either of you. It never has.” I smile softly through my tears, scooting carefully to the left, needing him to come closer.
“I know, Princess.” He quickly climbs in next to me, holding on as if he is afraid I may disappear any second.
“I’m done waiting for my happily ever after, brave knight. I am ready to be happy again… with you. That is if you still want me?” My voice shakes. I know that I am no longer the girl he fell for, and he may have changed his mind. I am unsure of who I am anymore. My soul is damaged. My heart has been shattered. My trust in everything was broken. My entire universe is in ruins. But at the bottom of it all, there is hope… hope that I can heal, that I am more than the sum of my tragedies, and that maybe Costin was wrong about the Princess and her Knight all along. Maybe they can have their happily ever after.
“I will always want you.” Costin leans his forehead against mine, smiling gently through his own tears.
“Always, brave knight?” I whisper, needing to hear him say it more than I need my next breath.
“Always, Princess.” Always… I’m his.