Each declaration hits me like a physical blow, like he’s reaching into my chest and healing parts of me I didn’t know were broken.
“I love that you trust me enough to let me see you vulnerable,” he continues, his voice rough with emotion. “I love that you make me want to be worthy of you every single day. I love that you chose to stay on Earth, that you chose me over everything you’ve ever known.”
I’m crying now too, silent tears that feel like release rather than sorrow. “I love you too,” I manage, my voice barely audible. “I love that you see me and you’re not afraid. I love that you make me soup and braid my hair and punch people who hurt me. I love that you carried me home. But most of all, I love that you are you. Kind and good. Honourable and just. Clever and determined to do the right thing. Bright and perfect.”
I snatch in a quick breath. “I love that you laugh while riding a dragon.”
When he kisses me again, it tastes like joy and tears and the promise of a thousand tomorrows. I can feel his heartbeat against my chest, strong and steady and alive. We’re both alive. We won. We have each other.
The kiss deepens even more, becomes something desperate and grateful and overwhelming. I’m dizzy withit, drunk on the taste of his love and the reality that this is mine to keep. No one can take this away from us. No political machinations, no family obligations, no wars or invasions or ancient prophecies. This is ours.
When we finally break apart, we’re both breathing hard, foreheads pressed together like we’re sharing the same air, the same heartbeat, the same soul.
“I can’t believe everything is so perfect,” I whisper, echoing my earlier thought but meaning it on an even deeper level now.
Jack smiles, with that warm, wonderful smile that makes me believe I can conquer worlds. “Perfect seems like too small a word for this.”
He’s right. This moment, this feeling, this impossible happy ending we’ve somehow stumbled into… it’s beyond perfect. It’s everything I never dared to dream of.
For the first time in my life, I have everything I never dared to hope for.
And it’s mine to keep.
Chapter forty
Dyfri
Riding in a car for long distances is going to take getting used to, but I think I’m going to like it. It’s giving me time to think, to prepare and to brace myself. It gives me time to just sit next to my husband and hold his hand.
All in all, it’s not such a bad thing that ever since the magical upheaval settled, portals haven’t worked on Earth.
The countryside rolls past the windows in waves of winter green and gold. Hedgerows and stone walls marking boundaries that have existed for centuries. There’s something soothing about the steady rhythm of the engine, the way the landscape unfolds slowly rather than appearing in sudden bursts like portal travel. It feels more real. More grounded.
I continue to gaze out of the window at all the green whizzing past. Rolling hills dotted with sheep, ancient oak trees standing sentinel in fields that stretch to the horizon. It’s going to be awhile before we arrive, and anxiety is swirling in my guts like storm clouds gathering. Was the invitation sincere? Are they going to be happy to see me? They are tolerating Selwyn’s presence, but will they accept another fey? My people drove them into hiding, and whilethey have created something wonderful, they were forced into it. Surely they are going to bear grudges?
“Are you sure about this?” I ask for probably the thousandth time since we left London.
Jack smiles and lifts our joined hands to his lips to brush a kiss across my knuckles. The gesture is so tender, so instinctive, that it makes my chest tight with emotion. “I’m sure. We can stay for a few months, and if we don’t like it, we can leave.”
The simple certainty in his voice should be comforting, but doubt continues to gnaw at me. I sigh, turning away from the window to study his profile. “But the humans all love you. They want you to be the next prime minister. Leaving now is terrible for your climb to power.”
“They love you too,” Jack says, squeezing my hand.
I roll my eyes at the absurdity of that statement. The polls might show approval ratings, but I know what people really think when they look at me. I’m the useful traitor, the exotic prize that their golden boy claimed. “I still don’t understand why your father’s press people included me in their story.”
Jack grins, that boyish smile that never fails to make my heart skip. “Because it makes me sound awesome. I’m so amazing, I got a fey prince to fall in love with me and betray his people, and that’s how I drove all the fey out.”
I snort and shake my head, but I can’t quite suppress my own smile. “You’re ridiculous.”
Jack’s smile grows even wider, clearly pleased with himself. “And yet you married me anyway.”
“Twice,” I remind him, thinking of our quiet second ceremony in a stone circle last week. No politicalarrangements this time, just the two of us choosing each other in front of Silas and the dragon riders.
“You should capitalise on the people’s devotion before it wears off,” I say, returning to my earlier point. “Public opinion is fickle. Strike while the iron is hot.”
Jack shakes his head, his expression growing more serious. “I never planned to be prime minister. I don’t think I want it. Even with you by my side. But anyway, a couple of months of peace will help me decide.”
I sigh, studying the determined set of his jaw. It is very sensible. As well as very deserved. A couple of months of peace after everything Jack has been through is the very least he should be rewarded with. Still, the political strategist in me winces at the missed opportunity.
