Promises and Pomegranates by Sav R. Miller

CHAPTER 39
I SLIP out of bed the morning after Elena comes back to the island, trying to
reacquaint myself with the parts of the house I avoided while she was gone.
The beach, where I showed her my physical, visible scars. The library where
she spent so much of her time upon her initial arrival curled up, reading
books she’d already been through a dozen times, desperate for something to
do.
After giving Marcelline the morning off, I toast a bagel, slather it in
cream cheese, and split open a pomegranate, arranging the food on a tray and
bringing it to bed before she’s even close to waking up.
Setting it on the nightstand, I perch on the mattress beside her sleeping
form, running my hand over her side like I have repeatedly since last night,
just reminding myself that she’s real.
That she came back to me.
The beast’s beauty.