Page 38

My mom cried in my dad’s arms. I turned to look at Sebastian’s mom.
I moved a little closer until I was right in front of her and dodged her hand. “Wait, I have a question before you kill me,” I said.
“What’s the point of this?””I ask.
“Where a devil stands, another follows.”
She wants Sebastian to be ruthless again and tell Miguel about it. That’s why she wanted to kill Sebastian: he fell in love and opened his heart, which she thought made him weak. I looked back at Sebastian and Miguel; he was holding Miguel in his arms. Miguel had his head between Sebastian’s neck and jaw, which kept him from dying.
I said to her, “He won’t hesitate after you kill me.”
“Yes, but you’ll be dead, and so will his heart.”
I felt her cold arms wrap around my neck. She turned me around so I could see them. I swallowed the huge knot in my throat and slowly reached down to my back pocket so she wouldn’t notice.
My dad nodded at me, as if he knew what I was going to do.
I turned around quickly and stabbed her in the throat. Blood poured out of her mouth as she held on to my arms. I looked into her shallow eyes while holding her hair and the knife in her throat tightly. I pulled her head closer to my mouth so she could hear what I was going to say.
“I’ll love my kid so much more than your sick mind wanted him to be.” I pushed the knife in deeper.
“….The Reaper will…never…be…gone.”
The word “reaper” gives me the creeps. She’s talking about Miguel.
“Burn in hell, you evil bitch.” I gritted my teeth and pushed her off the cliff.
I fell to the ground and threw the knife to the side. I looked down at my hands, which were painted scarlet red. I had just killed someone. My dad was now in front of me, and his hands touched mine, bringing me back to reality.
My dad says, “You did what you had to do, Princess.”
I nod. He helps me get up, and my mom hugs me right away. She smells me and combs my hair back. I hug her back, and tears start to form in my eyes.
“God, I really thought I was going to lose you,” my mom said.
“I’ll be fine,” I said softly.
We broke apart. I looked over at Sebastian and Miguel. Sebastian’s face was wet from crying, and he looked broken but relieved. He was biting his lip. I walked slowly over to them and stopped just before I got to them. I threw myself into his arm and grabbed Miguel from Sebastian, holding him tightly to my chest. Sebastian held both of us as I looked at him.
Sebastian kissed me slowly and passionately this time. I kissed him back with the same passion.
“Aria,” my mom yelled. Damn, I forgot she was right behind us.
I turned around and saw her smiling. She wasn’t looking at us; she was looking at Miguel.
“Can I please hug him?”
“Of course. “That’s your grandma,” I said. He looked at her like he was trying to figure out if she was mean or not. It was sad to see him so scared to talk to someone. I walked over to my parents with Miguel in my arms, and when we got there, Miguel threw himself at her.
As she cried into his neck, my mom wrapped both of her arms around him.
My dad was standing right next to her and looking at Miguel with interest.
“Looks like he has the Callahan gene,” my dad said, pointing to Miguel’s green eyes. “Beat that, Sebastian.”
Sebastian rolled his eyes in a funny way. My dad kissed Miguel’s forehead, and he did the same to my mom.
Sebastian says, “Thank God I called your dad for help.”
I nodded.
“I’m here.”
We all turn to see Caleb pointing his gun at the air. He looked confused at first, but then he understood.
“God damnit, the bitch is already dead?””He huffs.”
“Yeah, you’re a little late,” I said with a laugh.
“That’s it for f*****g sprinting. Caleb says in a dramatic way, “I need to sit down; my blood pressure is probably high now.”
Everyone laughs.
Sebastian says, “Caleb, you are in perfect health.”
“Okay, doctor.”
Everyone laughed. I looked Sebastian in the eye. He finally looked at peace with everything. He seemed happy that he didn’t kill his family or his sister. He isn’t a monster; he thought he was for half of his life. I can’t imagine not having my mum or dad. I’ll never be able to understand that part of Sebastian’s life because I’ve never been through it. There is a reason for everything.
“Let’s go home.”
I was afraid to leave Miguel alone for even a few minutes. I needed to get some fresh air, but I didn’t want to be away from him. I put a blanket around me and went out to the balcony. I felt the cool air on my cheeks and looked out at the lights of the city. I looked down at my ring. Yellow sapphire is my favourite diamond.
“It’s a nice night out.” Caleb stood next to me and looked out at the city.
“Yeah.”
Caleb says, “I need to say I’m sorry for something.”
I turned around and raised my eyebrow. I’m definitely confused about how I feel about Caleb right now.
“Every problem you’ve had, I thought you wouldn’t be able to get through it.” Caleb faced me head-on, and I did too. He ran his hand over his chin and then put it back down to his side. “You just did.”
I turned my head so that I was looking away from him. “I don’t have that much strength,” I said softly.
Caleb said in a very serious voice, “You are stronger than you think you are.” Caleb has always been able to make me feel better with just his words. Not many people can do that.
“Sebastian gave me back my freedom, and I even got a cool tattoo out of it.” Caleb showed off his “Code of Silence” tattoo on his arm.
My fingers moved over it, and a smile came to my lips.
Caleb says, “I want you to come with me.” I put my hands back at my sides. Caleb then pulled them into his and lifted them just below his mouth. “Aria, just think about it. We can leave all of this behind, move to Louisiana, and start a family. I don’t care if Miguel isn’t mine; I’ll love him like he’s my own. We’ll finally be at peace.”
My eyes quickly moved to his. I thought about what he just said. If I leave with Caleb, I’ll have a normal life without worrying about who might die next, but I’ll never see Sebastian again. I can’t have both Caleb and Sebastian. I could hear Maya’s voice in my head saying, “It’s time, Pumpkin.”
“I’ve loved my little sister’s best friend my whole life.”
I put our hands down and rubbed circles on his wrist with my thumb.
Caleb says, “You’re not coming,” before I could.
I shook my head. “I swear I care about you, Caleb, but…”
Caleb finished my sentence before I could. “You love him.”
I could see the pain in his eyes, and it makes me feel terrible that I was the one who caused it.
I nodded my head again. He moved closer to me, and the air from his breath blew against my cheeks. He ran his thumb across my cheek, and I closed my eyes and then opened them again.
“I can’t lie and say I’m happy. I love you, Pumpkin. I always will. You were my first love, my first everything.”
“I know. You were too,” I say.
Caleb laughs softly. “That little boy in there is lucky. He has a great mum and dad who love him very much.”
I laugh too, then I stand on my toes and kiss his cheek gently.
“Be careful, Caleb,” I said quietly.
“See you later, Aria.”
Caleb goes out the door in the opposite direction from me. I looked up at the sky and saw that the stars were brighter than the sun that had been up a few hours earlier. I thought Maya was smiling at me, like she was happy that her brother was finally getting away from all of this. I couldn’t agree with her more.
I went inside when it started to get cold. I locked the sliding door behind me. When I turned around, I saw Sebastian in the bathroom trying to clean up his cuts.