My heart flops when he says it. “You are so special to me, Logan. You know I love you.” My voice is lost in the faintestwhisper.
His lips rise at the tips. “And—I am so thrilled for you and Gage. You did it. You’re finally in your ownhome.”
“It only took a year ofrenovations.”
“It was the right time,” he adds. “Things always seem to happen when they’re supposed to.” His chest fills solid with his next breath. “And that leads me to our babygirl.”
I shake my head, my lips pressed white because I can’t dothis.
“We have to.” He gives my hand a squeeze. “Skyla, we have to come to terms with the fact that those few months may be all we will ever have with her.” His lips turn down hard as if he’s fighting back tears of hisown.
“I know.” My gaze fixates on the purple blooms dangling from a tree in the distance. “She was ours for a very short time. We may not even have eternity with her. She was a mind game, Logan. She was a very sophisticated form of manipulation that my mother heartlessly employed.” I glance skyward like a habit and wait for the thunder, but there is no celestial threat. “Maybe she will exist. Maybe she won’t. But my heart, my devotion, it all belongsto—”
Logan presses a finger over my lips andnods.
“So does mine, Skyla. I am in total agreement withyou.”
He might be, but he couldn’t bear to hear my husband’sname.
“I get it.” The words come from me in a broken whisper. “Life just doesn’t relent, does it? The good book says we go from strength to strength until we end up before the throne of God, and yet it feels like fire tofire.”
“Fire to fire.” He gives a single nod. “You said it, Skyla.” He relaxes his body to mine. “Angel came into our life like a comet, sweeping in and stealing hearts. I’d like to do something to commemorate her. A plaque, a charity, a donation.Anything.”
“How about the bowling alley? It’s opening in a few weeks. The gym, too. Maybe we can dedicate the grounds toher?”
“Yes.” He plants a kiss right over my lips, and my stomach tenses at that soft familiar feel. How I’ve missed Logan’s kisses. “You are brilliant.” His cheeks twitch with what appears to be remorse. “Sorry about that. It’s sort of a reflex. Plus, I couldn’t resist.” He takes a deep breath. “Have I mentioned how gorgeous you are? Let’s find that oaf you’re married to before I get myself into any moretrouble.”
“Deal.” I wrap my arm around him, and we make our way through the crowd. We finally come upon Gage speaking with Cooper by the fountain—fountain of youth knowing my nefarious father-in-law.
“Hey, handsome.” My arms float effortlessly to my beloved. “What’s going on?” I can’t help but note the two of them look deep in thought, both of their masks clutched in theirhands.
Coop blows a breath toward the crowd. “I can’t find Laken. I guess I’m paranoid after what happened at Raven’sEye.”
“Totally understandable, but she’s safe now,” I’m quick to comfort him. “The only reason they took her was because Angel’s powers were misfiring.” I still feel bad aboutthat.
“Laken took the blame.” Coop loses his gaze deep in the forest. “They think it wasLaken.”
“What?” A little detail my friend managed to keep from me. I turn to Gage in a panic. “What if they tookher?”
Logan steps in. “She’s probably in the restroom or lost in the crowd busy looking for you.” He nods to Coop. “Let’s comb this place. I’ll help you findher.”
“Thanks, man.” Coop and Logan take off, and it’s just Gage Oliver and me under the spray of a thousand freshly manufacturedstars.
“May I?” Gage holds out a hand, and I take him up on theoffer.
“Of course. It would be my honor to dance with the birthdayboy.”
The dimple in his left cheek depresses as he places the mask back on his face. “I hear I’m the official birthdaybastard.”
“Ugh. Sorry.” I frown over at Demetri’s monstrous home as if it were the devil himself. “They’re wrong, though. You’re the birthdayblessing. And you’ve been exactly that in my life—and the boys. You are a blessing to me, Gage Oliver, through and through.” I lay my head over my husband’s enormous chest and listen to the steady thumping of his golden heart, tried and true as our love, steadfast and everlasting. Gage and I had sailed an entire ocean of drama and trauma over the years we’ve known one another, and here we are, still standing, still fastened in one another’s arms. Our love is so present, so pure and true it hurts a little to ponder it. Demetri set a flaming sword in our path, and Gage and I traversed it with ease and grace. No matter what my mother, his father, might be plotting—Gage and I cannot be extracted from one another’s lives. We have the boys now, an eternal bond. We have a covenant between us and God—a triune pact, indestructible for as long as we have breath in our lungs. Our love burns bright and deep, a spiritual flame that can never be extinguished, not by the hand of any person on earth or in heaven, not by any force of nature, not by angels, not by dragons. Gage and I have woven our souls together, caged in our hearts, protecting them from the cruel duties outlined by a fate we never really believed in. There is no prophecy, no stone, no heavenly council that could sever our paths. We are moving in a single trajectory, riding the back of an arrow that is unstoppable from reaching the finish line. Our love shines in the light, it hangs steady in the shadows, it crests the highest mountain, sinks to the depths of the stormy seas. We are impenetrable to the forces of darkness, immovable to the transgressions of fate. Destiny may not have planned for us, but it can count on us for damn sure. Gage and I will never give up, never give in, never yield to the mighty hand of our adversaries. Destiny may say we are bronze at best, but our hearts know we aregold.
I pull back and look into those eyes that have captivated me from thebeginning.
“Kiss me,” I whisper over hislips.
And he does just that. Gage Oliver kisses me with his entire being. He pours his soul sweetly into mine, and I drink him down like a sacred elixir. Gage and his love healme.
I bring my hands to the face that I love and hold him like that, precious, anxious to have him, in admiration of the man he has become. Right here, in this celestial congregation, I worship him—the dragon, the dreamer, my beautifulhusband.
