Out of the Night: Escape

"You know what to do."

"Scattered to the four winds, got it. It would be my pleasure."

Adam left with the box and Damien took the spear, spending the next few hours deconstructing and destroying the various elements. "Nothing like this should exist in this world," he explained.

The butler, who was named Emil, was buried in the grove in a sealed, rune covered coffin.

Together, we cleared the rooms of magic, cleansing every surface and appropriately disposing of the items and ingredients we had used, storing the reusable and least combustible items.

By the time we were finished we were exhausted, collapsing into bed.

...

I woke to the sun shining through the curtains. Damien had wrapped himself around me in his sleep and I lay comfortably cradled against his chest.

I breathed in his heady scent, enjoying the closeness and peace after the past week.

"Did you just smell me," Damien mumbled sleepily into my hair, taking a deep breath of his own. "You smell good too."

I grinned, snuggling closer.

"Are you ok? I mean... do you think all that helped?"

Damien took a moment to answer, long enough that I thought he might not. He took another deep breath before responding, "I don't know yet. What I do know is that that was the best sleep I've had since I can remember. I also know that I'm not alone anymore."

"Oh yah, Adam's great company," I said sarcastically.

"I'm thinking of inviting him to move in," Damien joked, pulling me closer.

"Oh god, please don't. We would never have any peace!"

"What? You don't want an audience?"

"NO!" I giggled as he squirmed against me, pushing him away as he pulled me closer.

We settled back down, getting comfortable to watch the dust moats in morning beams of light.

I sighed, holding his hand in both of mine, flipping it over to look at his palm. The razor thin scar rose pale across his lifeline.

"You would have been free from all of this, you could have just let me die. No one could have blamed you." I stared at him, shocked by how simple he made it sound. Like it hadn't felt like part of my own soul was dying also.

"I told you before that I wouldn't leave again and if I can't leave, then neither can you."

He smiled a smug smile that made me want to slap and kiss him at the same time. I went for the later, using my lips to move his. A breathless minute later, I leaned back.

"This is weird, isn't it?"

"What's weird?"

"This. Us. Acting like a normal couple."

"Are we not a couple?"

"Not in a traditional sense, no."

"No, I guess not." Damien closed his hand over mine. "But I like weird. I've learned to embrace it. Weird keeps things interesting."

"Ha, 'interesting' is one word for it."

"There are very few things that make life worth living. Trust me, I know. And not being alone is the biggest one. I've been alone much too long, living a life hardly worth living. But now... now I have someone to share it with and if you let me, I can show you just how weird life can be."

It was such a pure and honest request that I couldn't say no. I could feel his earnesty. His hope in the future.

So I said, "Okay."