Page 20 of The Raven

I Can't Say Goodbye

The Raven

Thick black smoke billowed into the air, the flames from the fire consuming the Vipers’ warehouse, turning the early morning sky into beautiful shades of reds, oranges, and yellows.

After we’d left Pyro and his car to burn to a crisp, we drove in silence to the warehouse. Luckily, Mason’s car wasn’t too badly damaged from where he plowed into Pyro; otherwise, it would have been a long walk back.

He waited patiently as I poured gasoline over the place, his injured legs preventing him from helping. I wished I could say I lit the match and watched the flames go up with a smile on my face, but reality was sinking in. Halloween was upon us. My time was nearly up.

Despite Mason’s apartment being on the other side of town, the fire was big enough that it could be seen from miles away. I watched from his balcony, imagining firefighters tackling the blaze, trying, but failing to get it under control.

Good. By the time the fire was extinguished, the Warehouse of Hell would be no more. One less reminder of the Vipers’ existence and the misery they unleashed on the town.

Mason showered, desperate to get the stench of smoke from his clothes and hair, giving me time alone to reflect.

Reflect that I only had one more day left on this earth. Reflect that we only had one more day together. Regardless of whether I succeeded in killing Grim or not, as soon as the clock struck midnight, I would leave the mortal plane.

Leave Mason.

Yes, Eric would be waiting for me on the other side, and I loved Eric, I really did. But the love I felt for him was different from what I felt for Mason. When it came to Mason, I loved him with every fiber of my being.

Every inch of my soul.

In life, I’d planned on marrying Eric, and if Grim hadn’t taken that away from us, I would have been his wife, but who knew what else the future had in store for us.

There would have always been a part of me that loved Mason.

Maybe one day, we would have been together.

Or maybe the three of us would have had a polyamorous relationship.

It was a future that I would never know.

Tears welled in my eyes, grief consuming me for what had been so viciously stolen, but also at the prospect that soon, I would have to say goodbye to Mason.

How was I supposed to say goodbye to my soulmate?

I felt Mason before he spoke, his calming warmth engulfing me the second he appeared in the doorway.

“Any sign of him?” he said.

My raven had been circling Hadleigh Peak from the minute we returned from the warehouse, trying to find where Grim was hiding, but to no avail.

Her wing was still injured, and every time she flapped it, pain shot through my arm, reminding me of the consequences of what would happen if Grim discovered she was my weakness.

“No,” I replied, not turning to face Mason, because the second I did, I knew the dam would break. “Are you feeling better?”

A pang of guilt added to the torment already swallowing me. I hated that Mason had been hurt earlier. It was exactly the reason I didn’t want him involved. If I hadn’t jumped in front of Grim’s bullets. If the car had crashed when we were chasing Pyro.

If, if, if…

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Mason said, hearing the distress in my voice that I’d failed to disguise.

He moved behind me, placing his hands on my hips and turning me to face him. His hair was still damp, and he’d forgone a shirt, deep purple bruises tarnishing his gorgeous bronzed chest and ribs.

Taking in his injuries, the first tear spilled over, quickly followed by the next. Mason swiped the tears from my cheeks with his thumb, his featherlight touch sending tingles through my body.

“Talk to me, Blackbird,” he whispered, resting his forehead against mine.

A rock-solid lump of emotion caught in my throat, preventing me from replying. I swallowed, trying to push it down. “I don’t…” I started, failing to stop another tear from falling. “I can’t say goodbye to you.”

With both hands, Mason tenderly cupped my face, placing a light, delicate kiss on my lips, pulling away far too soon. Only now, his beautiful brown orbs were filled with determination.

“Raven, there’s…” he started, but trailed off, squeezing his eyes closed.

“Mase?” I urged.

When he opened his eyes again, they were filled with sorrow. “I don’t know how to say goodbye to you either.”

I held his gaze for a long second. He’d stopped himself from saying what he really wanted to, but I didn’t push.

This was hard enough on both of us.

Leaving his unspoken words hanging between us, I battled against the pain in my arm as I rested both hands against his chest, his heart beating furiously under my palms.

His grip moved from my hips to my lower back, hugging me closer to him, and for a few seconds, we stayed like that, the two of us lost in our thoughts.

When a few more seconds passed, Mason began to gently sway us, our hips grinding against each other in a sensual, musicless dance.

“Do you remember what I told you when I left Hadleigh Peak all those years ago?”

I shook my head, my stomach lurching. I didn’t want or need another painful reminder of our past.

Mason lifted the hem of my top and rested his palm against the skin of my lower back, his soft caress sending a shiver through my body.

“I told you we weren’t saying goodbye. Goodbye is final; it’s meant for people whose paths will never cross again.

But that’s not us, Blackbird. It could never be us.

” He pulled back to look down at me, his eyes shining with unshed tears.

“I told you that it could never be us because what we have will last far beyond any distance put between us. Far beyond the time that passes. When our souls found each other, they became entwined forever, in ways that not even fate can untangle.”

The memory materialized in my mind, and suddenly, I was transported back to the moment fifteen-year-old me stood under a tree in the field where I’d first met Mason. Fat tears rolled down my cheeks as Mason held me, softly swaying, just like he was right then.

“This isn’t the end for us,” Mason continued, repeating the words he’d once said to his heartbroken girlfriend. “This is just a pause. A temporary break in our story. We won’t say ‘goodbye,’ we’ll say, ‘see you soon,’ and know that, one day, we’ll find our way back to each other.”

“We have to,” I said, speaking the words he’d once said to me. “Because something this deep, this real, it doesn’t fade. It waits.”

“And I’ll be waiting too,” we both said together.

We gazed at each other, neither of us blinking, neither of us moving. But when the need to feel more of him consumed me, I reached up, my lips brushing against his as I whispered, “I need you, Mase. One last time.”

As if he’d been waiting for permission, he grabbed my ass and lifted me into his arms, my legs wrapping around his waist. Our mouths crashed together as he carried me inside, and my memory from the day he’d left Hadleigh Peak changed once more, returning to the image of two children at the beach.

It was the same boy with Mason’s hair, and the little girl with black hair, only this time they were laughing because an older man who looked identical to Mason was chasing them.

When he caught up to them, he grabbed them in his arms. The little girl squealed, her high-pitched voice traveling the length of the beach as she called him, ‘Daddy.’

I realized then that what I was seeing wasn’t a memory. It was a glimpse of the future. Mason’s future. When I was gone, he would go on to have children. He would have a wife. He’d find happiness again.

Without me.

Joy and sorrow rushed through me like a tidal wave as I shook the image away. I wanted Mason to be happy more than anything, and if that meant he moved on, then so be it.

He deserved nothing but happiness.

But I could have my last night with him.

When we reached his bedroom, Mason sat on the edge of the bed with me straddling him, our hands roaming over each other’s bodies, and the discomfort in my arm long forgotten.

Breaking the kiss to lift my top over my head, my bra swiftly followed. When Mason’s mouth worked its way down my jawline, neck, and to my breast, a surge of electricity powered through me, intensifying when he grazed his teeth over my nipple.

I laced my fingers through his hair, holding his head in place as I ground my hips against his solid erection. “More, Mase. Please.”

Panting, Mason flipped us over, yanking his sweatpants and boxers down to free his cock. I popped the button on my leather pants, and with Mason’s help, I pulled them off, leaving me naked.

Mason’s heated gaze traveled the length of my body as he fisted his cock, pre-cum gathering on the tip. He didn’t move for several long seconds as if he was committing every inch of me to memory.

Just as I was about to beg him again, he pushed my legs apart and lowered himself over me, his cock nudging at my entrance as he held himself up with his strong, muscular arms.

“There are so many things I want to do to you, Blackbird,” he said, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. “But I need to be inside you before we run out of time.”

The two of us groaned in unison as he slowly pushed inside me, my core aching deliciously, stretching around him. He moved with unhurried thrusts, peering down at me, and seeing right into my broken soul.

Potent electricity crackled between us, pressure building deep inside. I wrapped my legs around his waist and held him impossibly close to me as his thrusts increased, his head burrowing against the crook of my neck.

“I love you, Raven,” he whispered between pants. “I loved you from the day I met you, and I’ll love you until the day I take my last breath.”

A single tear slid down my cheek. “I’ll love you for eternity.”