I smile down at my plate.This is exactly what I hoped for.Sterling is as curious as they come, even more so than Lucky or me, but he rarely lets anyone see.
“Incredible,” Lucky says.He leans closer, placing his elbow on the table, until the two of them form a barricade around me.It’s intimate.“I’ve never experienced anything like it.The rush … it’s indescribable.There were times I was sure we would flip, turn so far over that the sea would block out the sun.”
“Any man who thinks he can best the ocean is a fool,” Sterling says, a wry smile twisting the corner of his mouth.
“A swordsman and a poet,” Lucky says, his voice low.“What other skills should we know about?I bet you’re excellent with your hands.”He reaches forward, brushing his finger along Sterling’s knuckles.
Sterling’s fingers twitch before he pulls his hand away.
He says nothing.
“Sterling has many talents,” I say, reaching for my water glass.My pulse is racing.“And few equals.”
When there’s no reply, I look up to find his eyes on me while Lucky looks between us.
“Curious why you’re not joining us on the journey back tomorrow, Sterling.”Lucky picks up his glass and takes a sip.“I must admit, I’m disappointed.Why would you stay while Mia leaves?Do you value your vow to her so little?”
Hurt cuts across Sterling’s expression as surely as a blade, but before he can answer, a scream rings out from beyond the house.
Both men stand in a rush.
Even Louis is at attention, already storming toward the door.“Get Mia out—now.”
More screams call out, indecipherable, except for one phrase—in the sorcerer’s name—and my blood runs cold.
“Come,” Sterling says, his dagger drawn.
Damn.I left mine in my room.
“I’ll keep you safe.”
“We both will,” Lucky says, taking my hand.
Sterling looks like he’d rather swallow glass, but he agrees.
We move quickly to my rooms, Sterling leading and Lucky behind, keeping one hand on my back the whole way.I expect them both to leave me when we arrive, but they don’t, and the tension follows us inside as Sterling closes the door.
Wonderful.A possible madman outside and two stubborn ones locked in with me.
The fire has shrunk since I left, and tending to it calms my mind as I add fresh wood and stoke the flames.
“Do you think he’s returned?”
It shouldn’t be possible.My parents promised me.They saw him turn to ash with their own eyes.
“No,” Sterling says from the other side of the room.He has been guarding the door since we entered.
Lucky is closer and cups my shaking hands between his.It helps.“I’m sure it’s nothing, but even if it isn’t, we won’t let anything happen to you.”
It can’t be a coincidence.There has been no sign of unrest in over a year, but the night before our wedding, a stranger appears, calling out the name of the man who attempted to destroy us all?
“Promise me you won’t go out there,” I plead, slipping my hands free to grip at Lucky’s clothes.“I just got you back.I can’t lose you.I …” What if this is a sign of worse to come?There may be more men tomorrow, and I’ll never get to tell him … never get the time back.“Lucky, I love you.”
“Oh, love.”He cradles my face in his palms, lifting my face so I can see the truth ring out in his gaze.“My heart is—and has always been—yours.”
The kiss is a relief.Years of longing released in the breath between us, in the eager press of his lips on mine.I don’t let go—I can’t—using my hold on him to bring us closer together.I never want to be parted again.
Let evil return.I will not let it separate us.
