Page 116 of Carnal: The Beast Who Loved Me

He looked at Rosie. “You can, and should, undo what you did, but you can’t change Carnal’s fate.” She looked away. “And you need to do it fast, before somebody notices. Somebody we really don’t want to take notice.” When she didn’t respond, he said, “Rosie!”

“Yes! I understand!” she replied with just as much emotion.

“It’s not just you. If they find out that I’ve known about you… Well, it wouldn’t be good for either of us.”

“All right.” She looked at her lap. “I want a minute with my parents.”

Kellareal stood to leave. “I’ll be watching.”

“Fuck off,” Rosie replied.

And then he was gone.

“That’s my girl,” Deliverance said as he walked around the island. He gave Rosie a shoulder squeeze, wishing he had some magic to make the pain go away, but he knew all too well that even elementals have to endure a passage of mourning and time before scabs begin to form over the wounds of loss. He brushed a kiss on top of her head and then he was gone as well.

“I’m sorry I didn’t come for visits and… let you know what was going on with me.”

Storm said, “We love you. We worry about you. And we’d really appreciate it if you didn’t make a stranger of yourself.”

She nodded. “I’ll try to do better, but it could take some time to get over this. It hurts more than… more than anything, I guess. I didn’t imagine this in my future. But I guess nobody ever imagines something like this in their future.”

She accepted hugs from first Litha, then Storm.

“Do you know how to do this?” Litha asked.

“I haven’t done it before, or seen it done, but yeah. I think I do know.”

“You’re amazing,” Litha said. “Everybody makes mistakes, but not many people really try to fix them. I’m proud of you.”

“Love you, Mom.” Rosie made a valiant try for a smile, but couldn’t quite manage it.

“Please don’t just disappear,” Litha pled, but Rosie was gone.