Chapter 444 Avery

Chapter 444 Avery
Avery - The Reunion Part 1

The first thing I see is blue.

Not darkness.

Not the ceiling of our room at the Institute. Not the worried faces that had surrounded me. Not the soft glow of Rowan's fire or the shadows Ezra had wrapped around the bed because I'd complained that the afternoon light was too bright.

Just blue.

An endless blue sky stretches above me, so impossibly clear that for a few seconds, I simply stare at it.

Birds cross overhead.

Small ones.

Their wings flutter through the warm air, their calls drifting down to me, and I watch them until they disappear behind a cloud.

Then I sit up.

Wildflowers.

They're everywhere.

Yellow and white and purple, growing tall around me, brushing against my arms. A warm breeze moves through them in waves, carrying the smell of grass and something sweet I can't place.

I look down at myself.

My hands don't ache.

That is the first thing I notice.

I flex my fingers.

Nothing.

No stiffness in my joints. No weakness in my wrists.

I touch my face.

Smooth skin.

My hair spills over my shoulder, long and gold.

I scramble to my feet.

My knees don't hurt.

My back doesn't hurt.

My lungs don't struggle for breath.

Nothing hurts.

For the first time in years and years and years, there isn't a single ache inside my body.

And when I look down at myself, somehow I know.

I'm young again.

Not a child.

Not eighteen.

I'm exactly as I was the last time he saw me.

The realization should frighten me.

None of this does.

Because somehow, I know where I am.

And when I turn, I see the house.

It's small.

Simple.

Nestled at the edge of the meadow, with a little wooden porch and flowers climbing along one side. Smoke curls lazily from a chimney despite the warm day.

I stare at it.

My heart starts beating harder.

I know.

I don't know how I know.

I just do.

He's there.

My feet move before I can think about it.

I walk through the wildflowers.

Then faster.

By the time I reach the little path leading to the porch, I'm almost running.

My hands start shaking.

Three hundred years.

More than three hundred years, and suddenly I'm terrified to knock on a fucking door.

I climb the steps.

Stand there.

Lift my hand.

Knock.

Once.

Twice.

Footsteps sound from inside.

My breath catches.

The door opens.

And the entire world stops.

He's just as beautiful as I remember.

Exactly the same.

That face.

That hair.

Those shoulders I remember seeing beneath armor so many times.

And his eyes.

God.

Those kind eyes.

For centuries, I've been terrified that I would forget them.

That eventually memory would blur the exact shade or soften the lines of his face until he became more story than man.

It never happened.

I remembered.

I remembered everything.

His eyes widen.

He doesn't move.

Neither do I.

His expression crumples into complete confusion.

Then disbelief.

“Avery?”

My throat closes.

I smile.

“Hi, Markus.”

He grabs me.

There isn't even a second between us.

One moment I'm standing on the porch, and the next I'm crushed against his chest.

A sob breaks out of me.

My arms go around him.

He's warm.

He's so warm.

Real and solid and here.

His arms tighten until it should hurt.

It doesn't.

I bury my face against him.

“Oh my God.”

“Avery.”

He says my name like he can't believe it.

One hand comes up behind my head.

“Avery.”

“I know.”

He pulls back suddenly, gripping my shoulders.

His eyes sweep over me.

“What happened?”

The fear in his face makes me laugh through my tears.

“What happened to you? Are you hurt? Did something—”

“No.”

“Avery—”

“Markus.”

I cover one of his hands with mine.

“I'm okay.”

His brow furrows.

“Then why are you here?”

And somehow that makes me laugh harder.

Because, of course.

For him, I'm still the girl he left behind.

The girl bleeding in Damien's arms.

The girl he died to save.

I wipe my cheeks.

“It's kind of a long story.”

He looks increasingly alarmed.

I squeeze his hand.

“Really long.”