Six Hours Earlier
The heatfrom the fire warmed my face as I defrosted inside Stone’s arms.
We were on the floor at the foot of the bed, wrapped in blankets, sweat dewing the edges of our bodies. It was the crackling and the warmth that made us quiet for a while.
The magic had worked, and I was no longer bleeding or wounded or in any pain. I was at ease, relaxed, content. Until, “You’re supposed to be married in two days,” Stone said. His fingertips skipped along my arms nervously, and I could feel the pounding of his heart against my back. “Is what you said in your letter truly how you feel?”
My heart jumped into my throat. “Which part?”
“All of it.” He exhaled. His breath hit my neck. “Do you love me, Adora?”
It fell quiet again as I stared into the flames, unblinking and scared out of my mind. All of my feelings and emotions were much easier to express by paper and ink. Paper could not cut me open with a voice. Ink could not poison me with scrutiny. Alone I could write, never feeling ashamed of how I felt. Alone he could read, never feeling ashamed of how the words made him feel. It was perfect, really. No room for pressure, fear, or rejection.
“No one’s ever loved me before, so I need to hear you say it,” he continued, his fingertips trembling as they gently stroked my arm. He was so nervous; I was so scared. “I want you to turn around, look me in the eyes, and tell me how you feel about me.”
Slowly, I turned between his legs, and he dragged me closer until I was straddling his lap. We were face to face. Nowhere to hide. He swallowed down a lump in his throat, dropping his head against the footboard of the bed, watching me closely through heavy lashes.
He could be so detached and cold to the rest of the world, but he was so gentle and vulnerable with me. I touched his face, tracing his details with my finger, brushing his lips, stroking his cheekbones, his jawline. Stone cupped my hand and rested his face in my palm, needing to be touched by me, letting me hold him like this.
“I’m in love with you,” I drawled out in a whisper, my voice shaking. “I love you, and only you.” I held his gaze, watching his eyes water, so I shrugged to fight the nerves. I had to say it, and he needed to hear it, whether he would ever say it in return. “And I love who I am when I’m with you. I believe that matters. The other half of falling in love is to fall in love with yourself, too.”
His eyes were so black when one tear slashed his cheek. “Then marry me.”
“What?” My gaze jumped across his face. He was serious.
“Marry me, Adora,” he repeated, eyes sailing between mine. “I don’t have a home, or money, I know this, but I’ll do everything I can to make a life for us—”
“Stone—”
“No, please, let me say this,” he said, bringing my hand to his chest. “I just need to say it, and for you to listen.”
I nodded, his heart slamming against my palm. “Okay.”
The apple in his throat bobbed. “I cannot give you a fairytale, but life isn’t meant to be a fairytale. Life isn’t supposed to be about being happy all the time. Life is supposed to be full of experience, and I can give that to you. We will learn and grow and push each other beyond what we thought capable of us. And we will become better people because of it. There will be all kinds of suffering, but we will feel pleasure with the same intensity, if not deeper.A lot of pleasure,darling. Sometimes we’ll hurt each other, make mistakes, and drive each other mad. Then there will be times when we can’t pull away from each other, nurse each other, and be whatever the other needs, and that is life. It’s not designed to be perfect. It’s designed for us to live and experience it all and leave this world better than how we found it.”
It was only when he was wiping tears from under my eyes that I realized I was crying. He grinned with an exhale. “Could you imagine? We can have a life together, you and me. An adventure.”
My heart ached for this. My heart starved for this. I wanted this. Desperately. And it was right here. “But ... if we marry, the town will burn to the ground, and we will all die. How do you expect me to be selfish like that? I’ll never be able to forgive myself.”
“Who said this to you? Him?” He nudged his eyes to the east. “Adora, listen to yourself. Your decisions are being dictated by predictions of an event that hasn’t happened.”
“This isn’t from a boot-leg version of a psychic. I saw the future with my own eyes. I could smell the burning skin and hear the screams.”
“All right,” he said, combing my hair back. “Perhaps the town will burn. Perhaps there will be a war, and if so, it won’t be the last.” His eyes sailed between mine. “Battles and challenges will come, Adora, this world is not lacking in hatred, but we can fight together, on the same team, side by side, you and I.”
My nerves vibrated beneath my skin. He would never understand what the town would do to him. He was never raised here. He had never witnessed what would happen if one rebelled against an order. “Sacred Sea and the town will not let us happen. If we marry, they will kill both of us for rebelling. This wedding with Cyrus will take place. They won’t let anything stop it, Stone.”
His jaw flexed. “Then marry me in secrecy.”
My eyes widened. “In secrecy?”
“Yes, if I cannot stop this wedding, and the moment comes where you are standing before him, I want you to stand there as my wife. If they force your hand and you must fuck him, I want you to have my name and fuck him as a Danvers. And if there comes a day I must leave this world, I want to die as your husband.” His fingers wrapped around my neck, and he pulled me to him. “I will wait for as long as it takes, Adora. All I need is us, bound together. Us, and nothing more.”
My hands were shaking. My eyes were fogging up.
“But the wedding is the day after tomorrow.”
“I’m asking you to marry me tonight. Under the gods, soul binding and in spirit, so no matter what comes tomorrow or the day after, no one can ever take this from us. This way, only our vows and marriage to each other will be valid and true. All others that may come after will be null and void,” he said, and my heart was beating so fast. “Adora, no one has to know. But if you are being true, we only have tonight.” He kissed me, and I tasted salt on my lips. “We can be together for eternity, whether it be in Weeping Hollow, the afterlife, or on this earth again.”
