Final Debt

Lightening the mood, I snorted. “Perhaps, I should become a carpenter, too, so I know how to use my wood.”

We burst out laughing.

My heart filled with history as I left the past and returned to Nila. “Kes will be happy here.”

Nila nodded, her eyes glassing a little.

More horse hooves thudded over the hill as Tex and Vaughn finally caught up. They’d handled the trek well, allowing their horses to follow us.

Twisting in my saddle, I opened the bag and collected the urn that held my brother’s ashes.

Jasmine moved closer, her lips twisting against the urge to cry. I smiled, reminding her to be happy and not dwell on what we’d lost. “Do you want to say it?”

“No. You. I think you should be the one.”

Taking a deep breath, I unscrewed the lid of the copper urn and held it aloft. “To our brother. Every wind that rustles, we’ll remember you. Every leaf that falls, we’ll think of you. Every sunrise, we’ll recall the times we shared. And every sunset, we’ll value all that we’ve been given. This is not goodbye; this is a ‘see you soon.’”

My hands shook as my chest compressed with sadness. Nila wiped away a tear and Jasmine swallowed a sob. Their emotions swelled with mine, threatening to avalanche with despair.

Needing to say a private goodbye, I kicked Wings forward and shot into a gallop. The ridgeline spread before me as I let my horse fly.

I let him gallop as fast as he could.

I let him carry me away.

And, as the thunder of his hooves blotted out the black hole of grief, I tipped the urn and sprinkled Kes’s last remains.

The grey dust clouded behind me, whirling in the breeze, spiralling in the wind.

Goodbye, brother.

The wind picked up, encouraging the grey cloud to plume and soar down the valley, becoming one with the countryside.

My family had owned this estate for almost six-hundred years. It held many souls. Had seen many events. And witnessed many evolutions. My brother would remain its watcher and warrior—guarding Nila and my new family forever.

As Wings slowed, I looked at the sun and smiled.

The urn was empty.

Kestrel was gone.

From bone to ash.

From blood to dust.

His body had vanished, but I knew he still lived.

And we would meet again.

We would laugh again.

We would be brothers again.

“WHY DID WE come here?”

Jethro grabbed my hand, leading me from the Ferrari and through the car park at Diamond Alley. “You’ll see.”

Four weeks had gone by.

Four weeks of adjustment and simplicity.

I’d had my cast removed and my arm had knitted together, erasing Cut’s crime. My father and I had discussed the revelation of Jacqueline many times, and V and I were both keen to track down our triplet and stare into the eyes of a lost relation.

Every day brought different experiences. Kes was gone. It was hard to get used to—especially as he deserved to enjoy the changes we slowly wrought on Hawksridge Hall—but time ticked onward, dragging us forward without him.

After staying with us for a few weeks—to clear the air and spend time together as a new puzzle-fitted family—my father moved back to London to oversee a busy part of the year with fabric deliveries and demands.

Vaughn stayed most weekends, chatting quietly, slowly letting go of his animosity about a past he couldn’t change. Instead, he focused on a future so much brighter.

During the week, my twin spread his time between his penthouse and Hawksridge. He and Jaz spent a lot of time together, and Jethro and V talked more and more.

I’d caught them chatting over cognac beside a roaring fire in the gaming room. The room no longer tarnished with gambling debts and almost-rapes but a place where my lover and brother found friendship.

Tinsel hair brushing dark hair, discussing the world’s problems and hopefully seeing eye-to-eye on most subjects.

I’d also seen them chuckling over something juvenile in the dining room, slowly switching from enemies to friends.

I’d stop and watch, hidden by shadows, and allow residual fear to flee. The gaming room was no longer the room where the Third Debt was almost repaid, the octagonal conservatory no longer where the First Debt was extracted, and the lake no longer where the Second Debt had been delivered. They were blank canvases ready for new memories.

Hawksridge slowly shed its antiquity of brutality and pain, relaxing into a gentle ceasefire.

And now Jethro had brought me to another place I’d already been.

Diamond Alley.

The fascinating warehouse where I’d met Kill for the first time.

Arthur ‘Kill’ Killian had returned to Florida after the final battle and the day I almost lost my head. We had a future because of him. We had a life to look forward to because of what those men did that day.

Knocking the same door we’d passed through last time we came here, a small pang hit my heart. Kes wasn’t with us today, and he wouldn’t be any other day, but his presence never left. Jethro didn’t bring him up often, but I knew he thought about him.

The nine-digit password was accepted and the door opened.

Immediately, Jethro handed me a pair of sunglasses and pulled me into the large diamond building. The incredibly bright spotlights warmed my skin like a tropical sunshine while tiny rainbows danced on the black velvet sorting pads of the tables.

The diamond collar I wore hummed to be amongst its kinsmen and I willingly clung to Jethro’s hand as he dragged me down the corridor toward the door I’d once thought was a janitor’s closet.