She had a mental breakdown.
I was there for her. Unlike what I would’ve thought, I couldn’t just watch her disintegrate. She’s still my twin, and like Bran said, it’s in our DNA to love our twins, no matter what they do.
Our family has been healing, but I’m not sure how long this process will take. I guess, as the family counselor said, it can take as long necessary.
The positive thing is that Nikolai apologized again for ignoring me that day and promised not to interfere in my relationship with Landon from now on. There’s no love lost between them, but I’ll take any peace offerings I can get.
“What are you thinking about?” Lan whispers in my ear as we fall behind while everyone else goes to the dining room.
“How much I like your family.”
“Everyone except for the nuisance Eli, you mean!” he shouts the last part.
“The only nuisance is you, prick!” Eli shouts back without hesitation.
“Hey, Lan.” I stop in front of him and wrap my arms around his waist.
More than his gorgeous statues, he’s the brutal beauty that always, without doubt, steals my attention.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for letting me into your world.”
“Thank you for being my world.”
“Thank you for helping me get my voice back.”
“Thank you for letting me hear it.”
“Seriously, you’ve been taking Bran’s lessons so well.”
“No lessons are needed. Besides, Bran is the one who’s in dire need of lessons, not me.”
The bell rings and he frowns. “Mum, are we expecting someone else?”
“I invited someone over.” Eli comes rushing through.
As he opens the door, Glyn jumps Lan in a hug. “Surprise!”
The surprise is, of course, that she brought Kill along.
I wince. This is such a terrible idea.
It doesn’t matter how many truces exist between the Heathens and the Elites. Lan and Kill can’t stomach each other to save their lives.
“Your presence isn’t enough, so you added another obnoxious presence?” Lan asks Eli.
“Of course. The more the merrier, am I right, Kill?”
“Right.” My cousin grins as I greet him with a hug. When I back away, his face reverts to the usual coldness. “Landon.”
“Killian,” he says with the same destructive energy. “For the record, I still don’t like you.”
“I don’t like you either.”
“The solution is simple. Leave my sister.”
“Only if you leave my cousin.”
“No.”
“We’ll agree on that, then.”
I meet Glyn’s gaze, which looks so done with their shit, and we both roll our eyes.
“My favorite psychos.” Eli grabs each of them by the shoulder, but they disengage. Lan grabs my hand and Killian does the same with Glyn.
“Rude,” Eli mutters under his breath.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Lan whispers in my ear.
“No. I’m not bailing on your parents. Besides, this is fun.”
“As long as it amuses you.” He seems unhappy, but he’s definitely faking it.
I get on my tiptoes and kiss his cheek, then murmur, “I love you, Lan.”
“Fuck.” He smiles a genuine heart-stopping smile. “You sure know how to calm the beast inside me, little muse.”
And I always will.
It doesn’t matter how the world sees Landon.
He might be crazy, but he’s my crazy.
EPILOGUE 2—LANDON
TWO YEARS LATER
Remember that thing I was working on for some time? Well, I might have gotten a bit sidetracked and the task took me longer than I planned.
Two years longer, to be specific.
But what’s a win without a few struggles along the way, am I right?
Actually, I’m not right. I know it’s rare, but it’s true at times. This meaningless fucking hurdle has been bothering me for a while.
But here I am. Finally. In the middle of my own exhibition.
Now, to be perfectly clear, I’ve had multiple offers from renowned domestic and international art galleries to host my first solo art show ever since I was at uni.
I refused each and every one of them because, as I mentioned during my earlier moaning about timing, I was simply not ready.
And while that might sound like a flimsy excuse, it actually is true.
The Landon from two years ago needed a bit of a shake and a kick in the arse so he’d get his shit together and finally produce the masterpiece he was put on this earth for.