“I’m so glad you’re okay. I was worried Hermes might hurt you or try to use you to get to me.”
He shook his head. “I’m fine. Well, I will be once we have a chance to talk.” He came to stand in front of her. “Charlotte, I’ve been thinking about the day you came to get me. You appeared on that sheet of ice, glowing like a star, and I wondered if I’d died.” He laughed and glanced down at his hands. “I thought you were there to take me to heaven.”
She gave a breathy laugh. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, but in my defense, I thought you were someone else.”
He reached out and brushed her hair back from her face. “The thing is, I was right.”
“Huh?”
“I did die that day, in a way.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’d spent so many years studying science and thinking I knew exactly how the universe worked. The only things I believed in were the things I could experience through my senses. I had no faith. I had no real family. All I had was my work, and as important as that work was, there was no joy in it for me anymore. It was only a distraction from the things I didn’t want to face or feel.”
“After meeting your family, it’s pretty clear to me how you got there, Liam.”
He held up a hand. “But then you came, and everything I thought I knew was challenged in an instant. And you, you didn’t just glow. You were a light to me. You were my light, guiding me to shore. I don’t know when it happened exactly, but knowing you, coming here, it reconnected me to who I was, to the joy I thought had been drained out of my existence years ago.”
“It’s still there. I love to hear you laugh.”
He cupped her chin in his hand, searching her eyes. “I love you, Charlotte.”
A swarm of butterflies took flight within her, and she couldn’t stop the smile that took over her expression. “I love you too. So much.”
“Your father brought me back here because I don’t want to be apart from you anymore.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. She gasped at the beautiful piece. It was gold, an intricately designed star shape. The metal was decorated with a radiant blue diamond at its center. “Full disclosure—Gabriel helped me with this one. I’m afraid blue diamonds are not within the budget of an academic.”
“It’s gorgeous, Liam, but—”
“Charlotte, will you marry me?”
She gazed up at him, her every instinct simply to yell yes and throw her arms around his neck, but she couldn’t. Not without knowing for sure that this is what he wanted.
“You said my father came to see you. Did he… did he encourage you to do this?”
Liam laughed and shook his head. “No, Charlotte. He suggested it was a possibility, but I wanted this. Your dad did give me his blessing and help me with the ring though.”
“But… I mean, you love what you do. Do you understand I can’t leave here? Not without putting myself in danger. If we were married, you’d have to stay here… unless you’re thinking we’d live apart.”
“Hell no.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to live apart. This proposal comes with the understanding that I will stay here, not because I have to but because I want to. But there is one thing that can get me to go, and that’s you sending me away. You can say no. I won’t be angry, and you won’t be putting me in danger. I only want you to say what’s in your heart.”
She reached out and took his hands in hers, new tears flowing down her cheeks. “My heart wanted me to say yes the second I saw you standing beside my bed.” She slid her finger into the ring, admiring the rare purplish blue of the diamond. “Yes, Liam. I will marry you.”
Taking her face in his hands, he wiped under her eyes with his thumbs, then met her mouth with his. A hum started in her veins, the same current of desire she’d felt the day she met him, but also something more. A connection. A recognition of him by her celestial blood that she’d found her other, her mate if dragon terms could be applied to her, and she’d never be alone again.
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Two weeks later, Charlotte waited in front of the massive Christmas tree in the great hall for her mom and aunts to return from Darnuith. They’d sent a falcon letting her know of their impending arrival and that the spell was a success. After the Darnuith witches reinstated the three sisters’ magic, Avery had displayed accelerated healing powers and Nathaniel’s magical tests had proven what Queen Penelope and the witches of Darnuith had suspected—her body had incorporated the tooth. She was, as far as anyone could tell, immortal.
“How’s this look?” Liam yelled from the rafters where he’d hung a bit of greenery that was supposed to look like mistletoe.
“Perfect,” she said. “Come down here and we’ll put it to the test.”
He climbed down the ladder, his tunic and boots making him appear more like a dragon than a human. Leaping off the last rung and landing in front of her, he grabbed her waist and spun her under the mistletoe, dipping her back before kissing her soundly on the lips. He was still kissing her when voices startled them. He stood her up, laughing as he straightened her dress and his tunic.
“Oh my god, it’s Christmas!” Avery squealed. She ran into the room, staring up at the tree and clasping her hands in front of her chest.
“Wow! It’s a really good representation. This could be from Earth,” Clarissa said, coming in behind her.
Her mother came in next, stared up at the tree, and then looked directly at her. “Charlotte, did you do this?”
