Chapter 5 One Last Goodbye

Lyric POV

Winter turns so quickly that I barely have time to process it before she's running toward him. She throws herself into Mason's arms, and he catches her against his chest, tears already streaming down her face.

"You're here," she sobs. "I can feel you."

Mason closes his eyes and holds her tighter. Neither of them says anything for a while, and I sit quietly watching my best friend cling to the brother she thought she'd never get to touch again.

Eventually, Mason pulls back just enough to look at her. "I'm sorry, Winnie. For everything."

She slaps him hard against the chest. "You stupid jerk. You just couldn't let her go."

His eyes find mine over her shoulder, and for a moment, neither of us says anything. Then he smiles softly.

"Hey, Sunny. You look good."

I roll my eyes. "Oh, shut up. I'm fat and pregnant."

He chuckles lightly. "Yes, you are pregnant, but I meant you look happy."

The words catch me off guard. Of all the things I expected to feel seeing Mason again, relief at knowing he could look at me and see happiness wasn't one of them.

"Congratulations on finding your second mate," he adds.

I look away from his gaze. "Thank you."

Kairo's face flashes through my mind, followed immediately by the realization that Mason knows everything that has happened since he died. I don't know why that makes my chest ache, but it does.

Winter looks around. "Where is Selene?"

Mason walks over and sits on the bench across from me. "She isn't coming. She sent me to explain."

Winter's expression hardens. "Explain why you're dead and Cole isn't?"

The words leave her mouth before she can stop them. Her hand immediately flies over her mouth, and her eyes widen when she looks at me, but the damage is already done.

"Lyric, I didn't mean it like that."

I put my hand up before she can say anything else. "It's okay, Win. You have a right to feel that way."

The words come out easier than they feel. I know she loves Cole, and I know she doesn't actually wish he were dead, but knowing that doesn't stop the ache that settles in my chest.

"You two talk," I say, pushing myself to my feet. "When his time is up here, he'll tell you."

I turn to walk away, but Mason reaches out and catches my arm. "Lyric."

I stop.

"I don't blame you. I forgave you the moment it happened." I stare at him, but I can't make myself say anything. "Please let go of the guilt. This was my fault. I lost myself in your rejection more than I thought I would after finding Aria."

His grip on my arm tightens slightly. "Please let it go. Stop blaming yourself."

For months, I'd told myself I had accepted what happened. I'd told myself that I understood Selene manipulated everything, that Mason made his own choices, and that I reacted to watching the man I loved die in front of me. Apparently understanding something and forgiving yourself for it are two completely different things.

I gently pull my arm from his grasp and walk back toward the palace, leaving them alone to talk.

"She doesn't wish Cole was dead, Lyric," Nova says quietly.

"I know." I keep walking. "Doesn't make it hurt less."

Winter POV

The moment Lyric walks away, guilt slams into me. "I didn't mean it like that," I whisper.

"I know, Winnie, and so does she. She's not mad at you," Mason says gently.

I look at him. "Why isn't Selene here?"

"She felt like it would be best if you heard everything from me."

I suck my teeth. "Does she think I was going to curse her out? Because I was."

Mason laughs, and the sound eases some of the pain sitting in my chest. I forgot how much I missed his laugh.

"I know. That's why she didn't come." His smile slowly disappears. "She didn't manipulate me into killing Cole, Winter. I made that choice on my own."

I shake my head, but he sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "Losing Lyric hurt, Winter. She was mine, and because of things I had no control over, I lost her."

"No, Mason." I pull away enough to look at him. "You made everything worse the moment you started dating that evil bitch. You are not innocent in everything that happened."

"You're right. I could have made things easier by not dating her sister." He's quiet for a moment before looking down at his hands. "But everyone kept acting like I was wrong for feeling the way I did."

His voice cracks. "I loved her, Winter. She was my mate, and she was scared to even be around me. She was being hurt right under my nose, under all of our noses, and we ignored it."

The words hit harder than I expect because he's right. We all saw pieces of what was happening to Lyric, but none of us understood how bad it really was until it was too late.

I lay my head against his shoulder.

"I wasn't myself," he continues. "When she took my memories, I became obsessed with figuring out what was missing. Then when she gave them back, I tried to ignore everything I felt. The jealousy, the anger, the shame, the guilt."

He takes a shaky breath. "I was drowning in my own grief, and I couldn't see the gift Selene was giving me in Aria. I couldn't get past feeling like I deserved Lyric as my mate. My mind was gone, Winter."

"Lyric could have helped you," I say. "She healed Kairo."

"I didn't give her the chance to help me," he says without hesitation. "Nobody gave me that dagger, Winter. I went looking for it."

I lift my head from his shoulder.

"I wanted her," he says quietly. "And by the time I realized how far I'd gone, it was too late."

The anger I've been holding onto doesn't disappear, but it shifts. For months, I'd needed someone to blame because blaming someone was easier than accepting that my brother had been hurting so badly that none of us knew how to save him.

"Mom isn't the same," I whisper. "And Dad..." My throat tightens. "He's just distant now."

Mason reaches up and wipes the tears from my face. "I know."

His own eyes fill with sadness. "I'm sorry for all of this, Winter. None of you deserved it."

He takes my hand. "I have to go."

My fingers tighten around his. "No."

The word slips out before I can stop it. I just got him back, and I'm not ready to lose him again.

"Winnie..."

"Just a little longer."

His expression breaks, and that hurts worse than anything else because I already know the answer.

"Please stop blaming everyone for what happened to me," he says softly. "This is on me."

He leans forward and presses a kiss to my forehead. I close my eyes, and when I open them, he's gone.

My hand is still stretched toward the empty space where he was sitting. I don't know how long I stay there before Vega finally speaks.

"You need to find her and apologize."

"I know," I whisper. "I will."

I thought seeing him would make it hurt less. Instead, I remember exactly what it feels like to have my brother beside me.

And now I miss him even more.