Page 156 of The Oath We Give

"You doing okay?"

I nod, "Better now."

"What were you boys talking about?" Briar asks from next to Alistair, grinning, completely unaware of our potentially life changing conversation.

"Memories." I say simply.

Not a lie. Not the truth.

There were roads of freedom in front of us. Roads where the reputation of the infamous Hollow Boys did not follow. A place where the distant echoes of our tortured past doesn't reach.

We'll forever be the bastard sons of Ponderosa Springs, but we know now, that isn't all we are.

We are more than rage, sin, lineage, and silence.

Alistair Caldwell is more than wrath. He is a fierce protecter, an older brother, a shadow that can not exist without a little light.

To know, Rook Van Doren is not internal damnation. It's a blessing to witness his burning, his inferno that consumes and releases the embers of the ones he loves.

And Thatcher Pierson is not an apple fallen from a sinister tree. He's the reminder that our family's history does not determine our future. That love is action and never words.

I am more than words no one believes. I'm a voice to someone who needs it.

We are not unlovable creatures of the night with appetites for violence. There are people, our people, willing to convert to the shadows to show us life beyond vengeance and trauma.

Beyond the flames of our destructive rage, there would forever lay a single thread of obsidian weaving our souls together. It will linger in us as a reminder. That we were once just four boys, little kids who in the darkness of our lives, forged a family out of our despair.

We weren't blood, but that means shit in the grand scheme of it all.

It's easy to love someone who shares your DNA. A true test of unconditional love is who you choose to never give up on, regardless of relation.

That's what we are to one another.

Family.

"Where do we go from here?" Rook asks leaning forward, resting his crossed arms on the pew in front of him.

The fear of parting weighing heavy on his shoulders. I know we'll never leave each other, not really, but the possibility of different futures taking us apart scares me too.

"Wherever the fuck we want." Alistair leans over, ruffles his hair, like he used to when we were younger, "Wherever the fuck we want, Van Doren."

I pull Coraline tighter to my side, pressing my lips to the top of her head, inhaling the smell in her hair. Knowing I have my arms wrapped around the person that I'd give up anything for. Even if she's truly cursed and loving her kills me, I'll die sated.

I'll go with her scent of lavender in my nose, the memory of her touch ingrained in my skin. Full and overflowing with her I'll meet death with a thank you and a favor.

My favor will be this, give my soul a head start next go around. She's stubborn and hard as fuck to catch.

"To the styx?" I offer.

In the dawn of death, with a fresh start on the horizon.

"To the styx."

This is the echo, that is heard across lifetimes.

The End….or is it?