Page 8 of Severed Heart (The Ravenhood Legacy #2)

I freeze, my fear for her and Ezekiel overtaking any need to confess about my departure as she grips him tightly to her. “Abijah will kill him if he finds out.”

“I know,” she whispers. “But he doesn’t care. He would take me away now if I allowed it. And I think, no, I know I’m in love with him.” Her eyes fill. “I know it’s wrong, and I feel so guilty, Delphine.” She shakes her head, her tears falling steadily. “How did this happen?”

I hesitate but only briefly with the truth. “I envied you,” I admit, “your connection and bond, and if I thought for one second it could be salvaged, I would urge you to try. To stay, but he is only becoming more dangerous.”

“He leaves us for weeks at a time now without a word and comes back different each time. The man I married is just ... gone. I can’t raise my son with what he’s becoming, and I don’t know what to do.”

“Come with me,” I offer instantly. “I’m leaving for America tomorrow to be with Alain. He sent for me as he promised. We’re to be married once I get there.”

She pales again, this time pulling out a chair and sitting with Ezekiel in her lap. “You can’t be serious. You’re far too young—”

“You know that’s not true. My age does not match my intelligence. Even my body agrees and does not match my years. I’m nothing like the other girls at school. I’m far more evolved.”

“Yes, yes”—she waves—“you are a soldier.”

“I am,” I declare with confidence. “Come with me, Abijah won’t ever find you where I’m going. Please, Celine, think of Ezekiel,” I utter, terrified for them both. I know she shares my fear as we stare off for long seconds.

“Mamannnn,” Ezekiel draws out, wanting her attention as she stares at me—through me—lost in thought. She’s so beautiful, my cousin who insists she’s my sister. And I allow her to believe it because I feel the bond now as truth. Aside from Alain, Celine is all that remains.

“Wait here,” she finally says before disappearing into her bedroom. Not long after, she emerges with a bag that holds a few dresses, shoes, and makeup, as well as a smaller purse full of money.

“It’s all I have, but it should help you until you find work. How will you work, Delphine?”

“Abijah has found a factory where the boss helps to get visas for all who come to work for him. You could work there too. We could both start a new life together.”

She bites her lip.

“Please, consider it.” I glance at Ezekiel, my throat burning. “Please, Celine. If this new man truly loves you—”

“Beau, his name is Beau.”

“If Beau loves you, he will follow you there. Leave Abijah. As you said, he is gone, and I am convinced of it too.”

She swallows, her expression solemn, before she breaks it with a smile. “He has red hair.”

“Who?”

“Beau,” she whispers before shaking her head. “What am I doing, Delphine?”

“You already know what you’re doing. You’re simply stalling from seeing it through because you’re scared, but it’s the right thing.”

“And you’re so sure you want this?”

I nod. “He’s good to me. He’s beyond his age, like me. He’s my match, and I’m most myself when I’m with him. I’m sure.”

She nods and sets Ezekiel on his feet, his little shoes slapping the floor as he runs toward me and crashes into my legs. Laughing, I lift him up and speak to him. “Take care of your maman for me, okay?”

Ezekiel nods very slowly as if he’s making a promise to me. “La poursuite, Tatie,” he squeaks in demand to play our game.

“Not today,” I tell him regretfully as my throat burns that I can’t promise to play tomorrow.

“Soon, you’ll have your own son or daughter,” Celine whispers fondly. “You’re so good with him.”

“Only because he is yours,” I say, setting him on his feet. “I will have no children. They will only get in the way.”

She lifts a brow. “Does Alain know that? You might want to tell him that before you marry him.”

“I will. I’m not afraid to tell him what I want.”

She smiles. “Always so sure of everything. I admire you for that. Are you not scared at all?”

“What is there to fear?”

“So much,” she says, “but maybe I won’t worry too much for you. I believe you scare even Abijah sometimes.”

We both laugh and spend the rest of the day together until I know I must leave to prepare to sneak away tomorrow.

After promising her no less than a dozen times to write—with the decision that I address my letters to Celine’s best friend to keep them from Abijah’s reach—she finally frees me.

Kneeling next to Ezekiel at the top of her apartment stairs, they both wave me off.

Celine’s tears fall freely as Ezekiel calls after me. “Au revoir, Tatie!”

“Au revoir, ézéchiel.” Goodbye, Ezekiel.

The image of the two of them on the top of those stairs imprints in my mind and heart as I roll the lit part of my cigarette along the curve of the ashtray.

In that moment, I vow to keep Celine in my life.

Aside from Papa and now Alain, Celine is the only other person who has ever accepted me exactly as I am.

As I catch a glimpse of the ocean out of the window past the snoring man, I feel little remorse for my decision to leave.

My gut telling me they won’t be far behind.

In hours, I’ll have a home and husband. I’ll have a purpose, and we won’t have to hide our love, nor will I from who I truly am. I can finally rid my life of the ruffles and the lie of being a little girl with a woman’s mind and start my true life as a soldier and wife.

My heart beats faster at that knowledge as the flight attendant stops her cart next to me, eyeing my cigarette and dress.

“How long to airport?” I ask.

“We have about three hours left. Can I get you something to drink?”

“Vodka. No ice. Merci.”

She pauses. “Vodka?”

“I am”—I briefly struggle to find the English word—“celebrates. I marry tomorrow.”

“Oh? Congratulations, I’ll get that drink for you.” When I have my vodka in hand and the attendant moves to the next passenger, Janet lifts a brow at me.

“You know, I’m not worried about you at all. You’re going to be just fine, but I am a little worried for your fiancé.”

I laugh at her joke, but Alain knows how to handle me when I get too cross.

My love.

For years, I had to make him see me as the woman I am.

Not Celine’s little sister or a little girl, but as an equal and soldier.

For years, he denied me, but all the waiting has proven worth it.

Soon, we will be together the way real couples are together.

Physically, intimately, and completely. Hours until I become his—entirely his.

My heart pounds as the minutes pass, and I drink down the vodka in celebration of the new life that awaits me.