“He doesn’t like to jinx things. And I think he’s too scared to lose you.”
“You’re not?”
North smiles at me. “Darling, if I had enough power to make you immortal right now, there’d be no discussion of the other. You’d be ours for all of eternity.”
My mouth twitches upward, stomach knotting at his expression and words. “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Have you ever been in love before?”
He shifts slightly. “No. I always left such things for my romantic brother. But the moment you walked into my life, I knew I would never be the same. Suddenly I’m thinking about someone else’s benefit instead of wholly my own. It’s pathetic and maddening. I think I’d mewl at your feet if you asked me to, perhaps even cut out my heart and dice it in tiny chunks for you to devour, were you starving. ”
“That was graphic,” I say.
“Once you’ve been to the worst parts of the Nether Realm, you’ll realize why that sentence may not be so far-fetched.”
“Will the spell hide me there? I know Blaze said you have to go back at the Equinox.”
“We,” he corrects me. “Weare going back, love. By then, brother dearest will be back to his worst habits—something I can’t wait to see again.”
I stare at North for a few moments, the breeze undulating his hair around his face. “What did you do when he was imprisoned?”
“I told him he was stupid for falling for a mortal. He was supposed to be the lawful one, and when I had to sit back on the side of order while he descended into chaos for love, I think I became jealous. I was mad at him for fucking with the way things were, with our friends having to make a decision that ultimately cost them their lives. I was mad at him for so long, even when I defended him, led parties to free him, still…” He pauses to look at me, smiling softly. “And now, here I am. Ready to do the same for love I never thought I’d deserve.”
“Why don’t you think you deserve love?” I ask.
North rubs his hands together and stares at them for a beat long enough that my insides twist.
“North?”
“I have a confession, Juniper,” he says thickly. “When we first met, my intentions were not based solely on my finding you attractive. Fuck, I did. You enthralled me from the start. But when we met, Blaze had told me about you. He’d told me how he felt about you already, and I saw it as an opportunity. I saw my brother back—the person he once was. His power and manipulation, and I wanted that part of him back so badly that I was willing to do anything for it. Even get you to want me, too.”
I still at his words.
“What I never expected… was you,” he goes on. “I didn’t expect falling for you to be so easy, but I knew it was true when I saw Cornelius in the bar talking to you. The dread and gnawing pain I felt in my gut… gods, it ate me from the inside. It wasn’t a normal reaction. I wanted to rip him apart just for showinghis face. And now, the thought of going on tomorrow or any day after without you smiling at me like you do makes me want to throw myself over a cliff.”
“Wouldn’t you survive?” I ask.
“Yes, but the symbolism is there, darling,” he says, and I almost laugh. “I am in agony around you. Did you know you have that effect on me? I don’t know how people do this without wanting to off themselves at the slightest argument that might mean never seeing them again. The thought is torture enough. My anxiety has never been higher.”
“I doubt you’ve ever even had anxiety,” I taunt him.
“Not like this,” he admits.
I lean over and kiss him hard, and he wraps his hand around my face to bring me closer. I can feel that agony spreading into me with the peppermint taste on his tongue, feel his sincerity and desperation in the way he curves his fingers against my throat.
“I can’t wait to cover you in my magic,” he breathes upon my lips.
“Is that a euphemism for coming on my tits again?” I ask, teasing him.
“Fuck, love, you can’t bring things like that up when we’re in public. You know the state I was in the last time,” he replies.
“I like you in that state.” I kiss him again. “My little spoon.”
He groans as he kisses me once more, and I feel my lips curl against his.
It’s another few minutes before Blaze and Pack join us on the sand. I hold my hand out to him, and he kisses my knuckles in response.
