Violette
She waited patiently until Maya and Harlan left for their honeymoon to make her announcement. She didn't want to spoil their happiness and hated the thought she eventually would.
But she needed to say it, needed to get it out of her chest. And she would hurt them all, especially him, for some reason she didn't want that.
She thought back to the night she found out her mother was dead.
"Leave," she said, her voice tired. She didn't have the energy to do their amusing little dance.
"Not until you tell me what happened," Blaze said, so determined.
"Blaze, please, I'm tired," she said. This time she wasn't in the mood to fight with him or even pretend she didn't want to fuck his brains out.
"You have bruises around your neck, who did that?" His anger should have moved her because it meant he cared, but she knew that. She'd always known that.
"Please leave, Blaze." She looked at the ground. She was begging at this point. But she also wanted him to stay.
"Vi," she flinched at the new nickname, "Something happened, you need to talk to someone or it's going to eat you up."
She had no will to resist any longer, so she spoke. She told him everything, and when she was done she didn't know what to expect of him, wasn't sure what he would do.
She never would have guessed it as he pulled her into his arms. A place she'd never been before, but a place she felt she belonged in.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, and she broke down crying for what felt like hours.
He never let go, not even as she fell asleep. They woke up together and never spoke about it again, but she could feel how something shifted between them. She knew she felt something for him, she knew he felt it too. So it made it harder for her to say what she had to say.
Even as she buried the corpses of Dahlia and Lily, he'd come to her.
She was staring at her younger sisters as they lay dressed in white, heads separated from their bodies. Pale as they had always been, the magic in their blood still thrumming, hoping it would be able to heal them.
She wouldn't allow that. Not as she started putting iron nails through their bodies. Not as she chained them to the coffin. Not as she put iron pebbles on their mouth and staked their hearts for good measure.
"Hey," she'd heard him coming from a mile away.
"Hello," she responded, faking a smile as she tried to avoid the sight of what she had done. She struggled with it. But it was the right thing to do.
"Are you okay?" he said as he stood next to her, surveying her work.
"Fabulous," she responded, turning to look at him. "Why?"
"Because they were your sisters, as evil as they were."
"It's fine, we fought a lot," she lied. It wasn't fine.
"So do Callum and I, and it would destroy me if I ever had to hurt him," he shrugged. "Don't tell him."
"Callum is a good person. The twins never were," Violette smiled nostalgically. "From the moment they were born, they brought havoc and destruction to the world. It was amusing."
"I'm sorry anyway," he said, and she appreciated it.
"Well I am not," she forced herself to look away. "They killed my sister, they got what they deserved." She'd keep telling herself that until she believed it.
"They were your sisters too," he said. "It's okay to love them, it's okay to miss them."
"Feelings for the departed will get you killed in my world," Violette mused, remembering her father's words. "We don't spare a thought for the dead."
"You don't have to live in that world anymore, you're here with us."
'For now' were the words she had wanted to say but didn't. And so, as Callum arrived at the table, she finally ran out of excuses, finally ran out of time.
"So?" Damien asked expectantly and looked at Selene, who was calmly feeding Victoria—or Tory as they had been calling her lately.
"So," she started, nervously playing with her hands. "I..." she took a deep breath.
"What is it? I'm worried now," Callum said as he reached out and held her hand.
She looked at Blaze, who was looking back with his undivided attention.
"I'd like to preface this by communicating how much you truly mean to me, and how, in a way, you've become my new family," she said, earning a smile from Selene. "I suppose there is no good way of saying this, so I'll just say it then." She looked down, avoiding everyone's eyes as she uttered the words she had been dreading to share. "I made a deal at the start of our partnership, and I have upheld my end." She looked up decisively.
Selene's smile dropped. "What are you saying?"
Damien was serious as he answered for her. "She still wants us to kill her."
She couldn't bear the disapproval in his tone as he spoke. She didn't dare look at Callum or at his cousin. Both of them were staring daggers at her, she could feel it.
"Are you insane?" Callum said angrily.
Blaze's silence was menacing, so she avoided his eyes. Being completely aware that if she were to meet them she would burst into tears.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"Violette," Blaze said, voice rough. He was angry and hurt, she could tell.
"I do apologize," she tried to maintain her composure. "If it is too inconvenient for you I will find someone else."
Blaze was going to say something but she cut him off again.
"I just thought you should be aware."
She vanished. Like a coward.
She was sure this was what she wanted. It was for the best. Even though she was feeling things again, enjoying life in a different matter, she couldn't continue on like this. She had lived too long, she had done too much damage. It was her time to go. It would be better if she died without helping Andras, so she was in a rush.
She walked among the shadows, finding her room quickly and appearing there. It had taken a few more seconds than she intended, and those seconds had cost her.
Because there he was, standing at her door, looking like a lost puppy.
"Blaze," she needed to get him as far away from her as possible. But he stepped in and grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her in.
"What are you doing?"
"Why do you keep lying to yourself?" he asked, face filled with anger and disgust. She simply could not bear to look at him.
"I don't know what you mean," Violette said, looking down. "Now will you get away from m.."
He used his free hand to grasp her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes.
"You're an excellent liar, Violette, you've even managed to fool yourself," he whispered. She could feel his hot breath on her face. It was turning her on.
"Blaze, please," she begged, not sure exactly for what.
He let her wrist go, and now his hand was on the side of her face, pulling her closer and closer.
"I know you feel this. I know this time I'm not wrong."
Violette remembered helping Blaze put himself back together after Maya rejected him.
"I can't do this," she whispered, her eyes going to his inviting lips.
"Please stay," it was his turn to beg now. "Fight." He was afraid, she realized—terrified.
"Blaze," she said again, on the verge of tears. But he grabbed her waist and pulled her body close to his. His muscles contrasted against her curves as she closed her eyes for a second, savoring him.
"Fight for us," he said. But there was no us, and there shouldn't be.
"I can't go through this again," she whispered weakly. "I can't love and lose again," she admitted, and he tensed at that but still held her close as if he wanted to imprint her in his bones.
He looked into her eyes and saw the tears forming.
"I'm scared too," he admitted. "But I'm more afraid I'll lose you without telling you how I really feel..."
He was now staring at her red lips.
And she didn't know if it was because she wanted to prevent him from telling her something she couldn't recover from or because she wanted him more than anything, but she kissed him. Fiercely and passionately, as she tangled her hands in his blonde hair.