Eurus smiles. “Then I am ready to walk that road with you.”
Never could I have imagined a love like this. It is not perfect. It has been forged in the fires of mistrust and betrayal, it has withstood cracks and broken edges, but I want nothing and no one else. Our love is beautiful. This I know.
Curling my arms around his neck, I draw the East Wind’s mouth to mine, bestowing onto him this newfound beginning, where two hearts meet on an island of rock in the middle of the sea.
EPILOGUEIn Which the East Wind Hosts a Family Reunion
THERE WERE SOME WORDSEURUSloathed more than anything.
The first wasmoist.Whoever conceived of the term should be eradicated—immediately. The grating whine pairing its articulation, the awkward shape it made of one’s mouth. Truly, an affront to the lexicon.
The second wasointment.As an adolescent, he had used it to coat the burns that had ravaged his body, and to this day, he could not hear the word without returning to the dim, windowless room where his father had tortured him.
But the two words he despised most in the realm, the ones that dried out his throat and sent him dripping in a cold sweat?
Family reunion.
It was the reason why Eurus was seriously—definitely?—considering lighting himself on fire. That, or tossing himself off the nearest cliff, wings be damned. Mortal or not, it would be far less agonizing than sitting through an evening meal with his siblings and their respective families.
But alas, he had invited them all, at his wife’s behest. Boreas and Wren, traveling from the Gray. Zephyrus and Brielle, to arrive from Carterhaugh. Notus and Sarai, journeying from Ammara. All four brothers, the former Anemoi and their wives, gathered in one place.
Eurus felt faint. And he never felt faint.
Hour after hour, he’d paced the sitting room, hands balled into fists. He fully expected to wear a trench into the floor. Min wouldn’t appreciate that, considering the time they’d spent restoring the estate to its former glory. The grounds, once unkempt, had been properly groomed, hedges clipped and lawn trimmed. They’d patched the roof, refinished the floors, repainted half the rooms, tackling each project as it came.
Following the defeat of Prince Balior six months before, they had agreed to split their time between St. Laurent and his manor. Summer and autumn in Marles for the growing season and subsequent harvest. Winter and spring on their island, where it was restful. It had taken the villagers time to grow used to the sight of a winged man, but Eurus didn’t venture into town often, except to wander the market with Min. And that’s exactly how he liked it.
His wife, on the other hand, was thriving since having taken over the apothecary full time. Some villagers were disappointed to learn Lady Clarisse’s beauty teas had been discontinued, but they were in the minority.Lady Clarisse’s Apothecary—renamedNan’s Tinctures & Teas—was shifting its focus onto healing. As an added bonus, Min had even begun to make friends with a few herbalists in town. It warmed Eurus’ heart to watch his bird’s wings unfurl. If anyone deserved the world, it was Min.
Which was why, as soon as they’d moved into the estate, he’d destroyed the old broom cupboard where she had slept for so many years. The basement cells, too, were demolished, every square of blood-soaked soil buried in fresh earth. The former he’d replaced with an elegant, hand-carved bookshelf, which housed Min’s herbology books. The latter was transformed into a root cellar. After erasing all signs of Lady Clarisse from the property, Eurus had commissioned a painting of Min’s grandmother, which now hung over the sitting room fireplace.
As he peered through the window, a knock sounded at the front door.
“Are they here?” Min bounded down the stairs, flushed and bright-eyed.
“Unfortunately, yes.” Still, he brushed a kiss across Min’s cheek as she rolled her eyes, all too aware of his distaste for, well, everyone.
Today, as with all days, his lovely wife was dressed in flowing trousers and a lacey blouse, her black hair braided back from her face. With a frown, he traced the raised scar beneath her left eye, where her mother had attacked her. It had healed well.
As though sensing where his thoughts had gone, Min’s expression softened. “Are you ready?”
“No.”
She huffed, crossed her arms. Her irritation was adorable—and alluring.
Gathering her close, Eurus dipped his mouth to the curve of her warm, bare neck. Min squirmed, then drew taut with a soft gasp of air.
“What if we pretend no one is home?” he whispered into her ear. “We’ll return to the bedroom, explore each other’s bodies…” He trailed off suggestively, skimming her backside with the flat of his palm.
Min shivered and pressed closer. “We can’t! I mean, we could, theoretically, but… no! What am I saying? Yourfamilyis here. They came all this way.” She bit back a moan. “We can’t ignore them.”
“Sure we can.”
“No,” she clipped out, pulling away and adjusting her blouse. “We can’t.” Her cheeks pinkened, and the bob of her throat compelled him.
Once more, he caught his bird, diving into the honeyed pliancy of her lips, pulling from her throat a sweet sound of need before easing back.
Min lifted a hand to his scarred cheek, peering at him with a depth of understanding that frightened him even as it warmed him. “I’m here,” she murmured. “And I’m not going anywhere.”
