“You can’t.” Gabriel set his glass on the side table and stood up, looming over him like a dark cloud. “The only way to make this right is for you to come back to Paragon with me.”
He snorted. “What? To tell her goodbye? To push her away?” He shook his head. He couldn’t do it.
“No,” Gabriel said. “To marry her.”
Chapter
Twenty-Three
Had Liam heard him correctly? Marry her. “You’d allow your daughter to marry a human?”
Gabriel snorted, then broke into a laugh that seemed uncharacteristically robust. “I’m married to a human.”
“A witch.”
“Are you refusing my offer?” Gabriel asked, all levity leaving his features. “Perhaps your work here—”
“No,” Liam said quickly, all his former passion for his work and his place on this planet paling against the desire to see Charlotte again. “I want to go with you. I very much want to marry Charlotte.”
“Good.”
“Only—”
“Only…?”
“She gets a choice. I will ask her. I will leave this life and happily marry her. But I won’t force her. If she says no, you bring me back here.”
Gabriel seemed almost amused by this declaration. “Deal. Let’s go.”
Liam stood, eyes darting around his tiny abode. “Wait, should I pack a bag or something?”
“Only if there’s something you can’t live without. Everything you need, I’ll make sure is provided for you.”
“I don’t have a ring to offer her.”
Gabriel’s smile grew wider. “I can help you with that as well.”
Liam dropped his hands to his sides, taking one last look at the apartment he’d called home for almost six years. Now it was just a room, one whose importance didn’t hold a candle to the woman he hoped was in his future. “I’m ready.”
Charlotte woke crying. After a meal she’d hardly tasted, she’d fallen back to sleep and dreamed of being with Liam. She’d felt his hand in hers, heard that rare laugh that seemed to only come out for her, smelled his distinct scent. And then she woke up and it was all gone. All she had was her room in Paragon and memories of their time together.
Footsteps outside her room drew her attention. Heavy footsteps. Probably her father. Now that she’d rested, he’d want to return to Darnuith. As a dragon, his every instinct was to protect her mother. She could only imagine how hard it must be for him to be away from her now. As destroyed as she felt on the inside, she’d pull herself together for his sake.
“Charlotte.”
Her breath caught in her throat. That was Liam’s voice. Was she hallucinating? She was almost afraid to look in the direction of the sound. Afraid to find someone else there or no one at all. But she couldn’t help herself.
And he was there. Dressed in dark jeans and a Blackhawks jersey, he looked as if he’d stepped off the streets of Chicago and arrived in her bedroom. She didn’t miss the stubble on his chin or the dark circles under his eyes though. By the look of things, Liam had struggled with their separation as much as she had.
“Liam? What are you doing here?” She sat up in bed, wiping under her swollen eyes. She didn’t need a mirror to know her face was red and puffy and her hair was probably a rat’s nest. But she didn’t care. All she cared about was the man in front of her. If this wasn’t real, if she was dreaming, she never wanted to wake up.
He moved closer to her. “Your dad came to get me,” he said softly.
“He did?” Her gaze drifted to his throat. No finger marks. That was a good sign.
“We, uh, made our peace. Actually, he’s a pretty cool guy… Um, dragon.”
Her heart warmed as she realized what her father had done. But what was his purpose? Had he brought Liam here so that she’d know he was safe? Or so they could say goodbye?
