Page 38 of Saint’s Revenge

"And then Daniel showed up and told both of us to shut up because we were drawing attention." Lucas's voice gets quieter. "The three of us sat under that broken slide for the rest of recess. Didn't talk. Just... existed together."

"First time any of us felt less alone." My throat tightens. "First time I remember thinking maybe life didn't have to be so hard all the time."

"Me too." He pulls me closer. "You saved me that day, Riley. In more ways than you knew. You and Daniel both."

The mention of his brother makes the air heavier. I wait, knowing he needs to say something but not sure what.

"This is our new start," Lucas finally says. His voice is barely above a whisper. "You and me. No more running. No more hiding from what we feel."

I shift slightly to look up at him.

"Yeah," I agree. "A new start."

He's quiet for a long moment. His jaw works like he's trying to find the right words. When he speaks, his voice cracks.

"I want to have a funeral. Tomorrow. Just you and me." He stops. Swallows hard. "Not for Demon. For Daniel. For the kid he was before everything went wrong. The one who sat with us under that broken slide. Who made sure we ate. Who protected us."

Tears blur my vision immediately. "Lucas…"

"I need to say goodbye to my brother," he continues, and now his voice is shaking. "I need to grieve him. The real him. Not what he became. Not the monster. Just... just Daniel. The boy who was the closest thing to family either of us had."

A tear slides down my cheek. Then another. "Okay."

"Tomorrow," he says again, more firmly. Like he's convincing himself. "It has to be tomorrow. I can't overthink this. Can't give myself time to talk myself out of it or convince myself I don't deserve closure. I just… I need to do it and move forward."

"Then tomorrow." I reach up, cup his face with my hand. His cheek is wet. He's crying too. "We'll say goodbye to him tomorrow."

"After that, I don't want to talk about him anymore." His voice breaks completely. "I can't carry him with me, Riley. I can't think about who he was and who he became and what I had to do. It's too much. It's—" He stops. Takes a shuddering breath. "It's destroying me from the inside."

"Then we let him go." My own voice is thick with tears. "We say goodbye tomorrow and then we let him rest. Let ourselves rest."

He closes his eyes. Tears stream down his face. "I killed my brother."

"I know." I press my forehead against his. "I know, baby. And I'm so sorry you had to. I'm so sorry it came to that."

"He was scared at the end." Lucas's shoulders shake. "He called me Lucas. Not Saint. Lucas. Like we were kids again. Like nothing had changed."

"But everything has changed."

"Yeah." The word comes out broken. "Everything has changed. And I still… I still held him. Still told him I forgave him. Still made sure he didn't die alone even though he deserved to after what he did to you and everyone else."

"You gave him more than he deserved." I'm crying harder now. "You gave him mercy. You gave him love. You let him die as Daniel instead of Demon. That's everything."

He pulls me against his chest, both of us crying, both of us grieving for the boy who used to protect us and the man who tried to destroy us.

"I loved him so much," Lucas sobs. "Before. When we were kids. He was everything to me."

"I know. I loved him too." I hold him tighter. "And tomorrow we'll tell him that. We'll tell him goodbye. And then we'll let ourselves heal."

We stay like that for a long time. Just holding each other. Just crying. Just letting ourselves feel everything we've been holding back. Eventually the tears slow. The shaking stops. We're left exhausted and wrung out and somehow lighter.

Lucas pulls back enough to look at me. His eyes are red and swollen. His face is blotchy. He's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

"Thank you," he whispers.

"For what?"

"For understanding. For not trying to talk me out of it or tell me I need more time." He traces my jawline with his thumb. "For just... being here. Being you. Being mine."