Together. Always.
“You asked for two things, Brogan Gauge,” Bo said. “My protection and a way to break the agreement.”
“Those are our terms,” Lula said.
In that moment, I couldn’t have been prouder to be her husband.
The god studied us. I could not read his expression.
“All right,” he said, slowly, as if he were about to take a shot of a drink he’d never tried before. His boots crunched in the dirt and gravel as he crossed the short distance to us. He held out his right hand,Goldtattooed across the knuckles, the dove shifting in flight, feathers liquid silver and melted sunlight.
“You have my word.”
Just that—his agreement—rolled through me like an earthquake.
Lu and I both reached out at the same time, my palm against the back of her hand, our fingers slotted.
Together.
“You have my word,” Lu said.
“And mine,” I added. My heart was beating fast—too fast. If we did this, everything would change.
But if we didn’t…nothing would change.
Our flesh touched his, and he felt warm, human, but with something more, something like sunlit laughter and moonlight dreams right there in our hands.
Something like love.
“Oh,” I said, as Lu exhaled a soft sound.
“Good.” Bo grasped our hands, firm and real and kind. “This is good. I’m already pleased. With the deal. With the two of you.”
Lorde lifted her head and bopped her nose on our still-grasped hands.
Bo chuckled. “The three of you. I wouldn’t forget you, Lorde. You’re a part of this. Of them. Of us.”
And when he looked into my eyes, such relief rushed through me, cool water, a river endless with life, filling the dry, hopeless canyon of my mind, my heart. He was a breeze softly blowing, the soothing brush of a hand on skin fevered and stinging.
Then. Right then. Just to feel alive again. Just to feel Lu again. Just to know we were not alone. It was more than I’d hoped for.
My throat tightened as I choked back a sob. Tears prickled at the edges of my eyes. I exhaled, shaky, grateful.
Relief. Solace. Succor.
Lu leaned her head into my shoulder, blinking back tears.
The comfort of his presence flowed over us, holding, soothing, keeping. Neither of us wanted to let go of his hand, held now safe, finally safe in his protection.
“I think,” Bo said, as the world went on around us, buzzing and busy and beautiful, “this might be the beginning of something unforgettable.”
“Magic,” Lu said.
“Better than that,” he promised, and I could tell he meant it, could feel the ties between us and him strengthening with every passing moment, every beat of my heart.
“Now it’s time to begin.” He stepped back, his fingers dragging across ours before he let go, and knelt in front of Lorde again. “Let’s start with your leg, sweet girl. After that, there’s a book I need you to find.” He glanced up at us. “You might have seen it recently buried beneath a broken shack.”
Lu’s free hand—the one not clasped with mine, because she could not let go, I could not let go if I tried—drifted up to the feather key hanging on the chain with the watch.
