Shadows of Ash and Gold

Chapter nineteen

Watching Bash and Nyan argue who was cuter as a child, watching Octavious, quiet as he was, laugh and nod along. Watching Mara tell Kaida stories, as she always did, and watch Kaida just listen to her trying not to smile.

This was home. This was where he was meant to be. With these people. Forever.

"So," Bash started, getting everyone's attention, "I have some news."

Ever gasped. "You're pregnant?"

Nyan shushed him with a hand and turned back to Bash, a grin on her face. She stared at him expectantly. Like she knew what he was going to say. What was going on?

"I have an idea. I think there is a way we can all be together again without the demon king finding us," said Bash. All jokes washed from Evers head as he heard those words. They all gaped at Bash, waiting for him to continue. "I have built a school."

Evers eyes narrowed. "A school?"

"Just listen," Nyan hissed.

"It was built on the burial ground of human witches. When a witch dies their magic seals around them, like a shield, so no harm can come to their bodies," said Bash. "no magic can get through it. No seer could find them. No seer could find us."

The air left Evers lungs in an instant. Was Bash saying what he thinks he's saying?

Was he saying that they could ... they could be together? That they wouldn't have to be separated? that the demon King would never find them?

"I have found us a home. A home where we can be safe."

A home.

No.

It couldn't be. Ever thought. His heart weighed and fell into his stomach, he suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe.

It wasn't possible.

If it was true that meant he had to live there. With all of them. And he was grateful for it, he was, but he didn't know if he could live through that type of pain.

His eyes shot forward.

They lingered on Octavious, longer than they usually did. He was still astonishing. He was beyond words. His eyes were brown as ever, with gold flakes running through the center, his hair dark as the night sky, his skin almost as dark and smooth. His lips .. his lush lips. He wondered what they would taste like on his mouth, if he were sweet or bitter. If they were as smooth as they looked.

And this is when he couldn't take it. Couldn't take his own thoughts, couldn't handle the disgust of it.

Ever grabbed the bottle of wine and poured it into his glass until it reached the rim. Nobody paid attention to it. Not even when he reached for the bottle a fourth time, it wasn't because they didn't care, it was because they expected this from him. They expected him to get drunk and reckless, they hated it, deep down, but Ever didn't really care. He was too selfish to care. So he raised the glass to his lips and downed the rest of it.

He fell helplessly against the wall of the music room of the Sormcav castle. He was drunk off his ass and didnt have a care in the world. He thought the others might have gone to bed but not him. He couldn't sleep on nights like this. Or most nights if he were being honest. The hard wall scraped against his back as he slid down it, a bottle of wine in his hand and a drunken smile on his face. His eyes closed gently. His body was light. His head was lost in a sea of nothingness, just as he liked it. He didn't have a care in the world.