Some decisions happen all at once. And others build up over time.
A girl makes a deal with the darkness, after years of dreaming.
A girl falls in love with a boy in a moment, and resolves to set him free. Addie doesn’t know exactly when she decided.
Perhaps she has known since the night Luc walked back into their lives. Or perhaps she has known since the night he wrote her name.
Or perhaps she has known since he said those words:
I remember you.
She isn’t sure.
It doesn’t matter.
What matters is that, three nights before the end, Addie slips out of bed. Henry rolls over in his sleep, wakes enough to hear her padding down the hall, but not enough to hear her put on her shoes, or slip out into the dark.
It is almost two—that time between very late, and very early—and even Brooklyn has quieted to a murmur as she walks the two blocks to the Merchant bar. It is an hour until closing, the crowd thinned to a few determined drinkers.
Addie takes a stool at the bar, and orders a shot of tequila. She’s never been one for hard liquor, but she downs the drink in one, feels the warmth settle in her chest as she reaches into her pocket and finds the ring.
Her fingers curl around the wooden band.
She draws it out, balances the ring upright on the counter.
She spins it like a coin, but there are no heads or tails, no yes or no, no choice beyond the one she’s already made. She decides that when it settles, she will put it on. When it falls—but as it begins to wobble and tip, a hand comes down on top of it, pressing it flat against the bar.
The hand is smooth and strong, the fingers long, the details just as she once drew them. “Shouldn’t you be with your love?”
There is no humor in Luc’s eyes. They are flat, and dark.
“He’s sleeping,” she says, “and I cannot.” Luc’s hand has withdrawn, and Addie looks at the pale circle of the ring still on the counter.
“Adeline,” he says, stroking her hair. “It will hurt. And it will pass. All things do.”
“Except for us,” she murmurs. And then she adds, as if to herself, “I am glad it was only a year.”
Luc sinks onto the stool beside her. “And how was it, your human love?
Was it everything you dreamed of?” “No,” she says, and it is the truth.
It was messy. It was hard. It was wonderful, and strange, and frightening, and fragile—so fragile it hurt—and it was worth every single moment. She does not tell him any of that. Instead, she lets the “no” hang in the air between them, heavy with the weight of Luc’s assumption. His eyes, such a smug shade of green.
“But Henry doesn’t deserve to die to prove your point.” The arrogance flickers, cut through with anger.
“A deal is a deal,” he says. “It cannot be broken.”
“And yet, you told me once that a deal could be bent, the terms rewritten. Did you mean it? Or was it just part of the ploy to get me to surrender?”
Luc’s expression darkens. “There was no ploy, Adeline. But if you think I’ll change the terms of his—”
Addie shakes her head. “I’m not talking about Henry’s deal,” she says. “I’m talking about mine.” She has practiced the words, but they still tumble awkwardly off her tongue. “I’m not asking for your mercy, and I know you have no charity. So I’m offering a trade. Let Henry go. Let him live. Let him remember me, and—”
“You would surrender your soul?” There is a shadow in his gaze when he says it, a hesitation in the words, less want than worry, and she knows
then, she has him.
“No,” she says. “But only because you do not want it.” And before he can protest, she continues, “You want me.”
Luc says nothing, but his eyes brighten, his interest piqued.
“You were right,” she says. “I am not one of them. Not anymore. And I am tired of losing. Tired of mourning everything I ever try to love.” She reaches out to touch Luc’s cheek. “But I won’t lose you. And you won’t lose me. So yes.” She looks straight into his eyes. “Do this, and I will be yours, as long as you want me by your side.”
He seems to hold his breath, but she’s the one who cannot breathe. The world tips, falters, threatening to fall.
And then, at last, Luc smiles, his green eyes emerald with victory. “I accept.”
She lets herself fold, bows her head against his chest in relief. And then his fingers come up beneath her chin, tipping her face to his, and he kisses her the way he did the night they met, swift, and deep, and hungry, and Addie feels his teeth skate across her bottom lip, the taste of copper blossom on her tongue.
And she knows that it is done.
