Page 529 of Once Upon a Fable

“Free as the birds, little Quell. We’ll grow wings and fly away from here.”

Quell buried herself into my arms, aging me, cursing me.

We were just two kids, hiding in terror.

“Silly, Kas, always trying to volunteer,” Storymaker hissed. “The day is coming when you’ll no longer be here to put up your hand, and then...all your little siblings will know exactly what they’ve been missing.”

Rage crashed through me.

Horror splashed acid on my tongue.

I wanted to kill them all over again.

I want them to motherfucking bleed.

Fang headbutted my side, interrupting the fury burning my every thought. He whined and nuzzled my neck—giving me softness when I’d gone cold, love when all I felt was emptiness.

His muzzle wedged between Quell and me, claiming me as his own, hauling me back from the blackness and ensuring I didn’t slip any further.

My racing heart rate paused.

I blinked and raised my head, recentering on our lawn, our wedding, and the house where Gem and I found such happiness. Everything was bathed in sunshine, freedom, and safety.

I sucked in a tattered breath.

I wasn’t a kid covered in wounds and bruises anymore.

I wasn’t a terrified brother doing his best to protect his family.

I was a married man who’d triumphed over physical and mental trauma. I was strong enough not to relapse. Brave enough to say,enough. Enough of the flashbacks, enough of the nightmares.

This was no longer about me.

I’d found my place with the woman I was meant to marry. Now...it was Quell’s turn. I would do whatever I could to ensure she found the same bliss I had. To understand that she deserved it. That we weren’t dirty or fucked up or any of the things Storymaker had made us believe. We were worthy. So, so fucking worthy.

I hugged her close, saner now. Back in focus and ready to be whatever she needed. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“I’m so sorry, Kas.” Her voice was older than I’d last heard it, huskier and layered with nightmares that I was well acquainted with. “I’m so, so sorry.”

Fang whined and sniffed the girl who wasn’t my wife, curled into a ball in my hold.

I ripped away, my eyes wide with disbelief. “Sorry? Why the hell are you sorry?”

“For staying away from you for so long.” She looked up, sniffing back her sadness. “I wanted to see you the moment Jareth took me to that hospital. You were the only one I wanted to see, but...then I saw my dad again.” She looked up to Tony, who had his arm around Gemma, both of them crying and standing vigil around us. “And I knew that if I saw you before I accepted I was free...before I could learn how to bemyselfinstead of what they made me...then I might never have had the courage to work through it on my own.” She sighed heavily, her eyes delving into mine. “I had to heal on my own...do you see? I let you keep me safe so many times in my youth, but this time...I had to do it on my own. I couldn’t put that pressure on you. We put so much pressure on you. All of us. All the time.” Her voice cracked. “What you did for us—”

I cupped her cheeks. “It’s me who should apologize. I wasn’t there for you for so many years. I gave you to a worser fate. I should neverhave—”

“It was that fate that showed me just how much you sheltered us. It taught me the level of pain you took for me.”

“A lesson you should never have had to learn.”

“Why? Because you deserved what they did to you?”

“No...but I knew what they wanted. It was already too late for me—”

“You sacrificed—”

“Just like you.”