“Yes, I remember.”
“For everything that Callum has done for the mortal world, the sacrifices he made for my daughter at his personal expense…I ask that he be allowed to speak with his sons.”
She continued to stare at me like I hadn’t made my request clear.
“Bahamut forced him to abandon his family, and I know it would mean the world to him if he could tell his boys that he never wanted to leave them. That all he wanted was to watch them grow into men. That it’s haunted him these hundreds of years.” I couldn’t imagine being in the same situation, to leave Lily and Hawk behind, to let them believe but for a moment that I didn’t love them more than anything.
She nodded in understanding. “I will honor that request, Talon Rothschild.”
“But there’s more…”
Her eyes narrowed.
“I know he can enter the Realm of Caelum and tell them the truth. But they were men who reached old age when they passed, and it doesn’t change the feeling of abandonment they experienced their whole lives.”
Her eyebrow cocked. “What are you asking, Talon Rothschild?”
It was the biggest ask anyone had ever made. “That he could go back in time and tell them while they were alive. To tell them the truth when it still mattered. And then…pass into the Realm of Caelum and say goodbye to them one last time.”
She continued to stare at me with a hint of disbelief.
“That way, he can prove it was all real.”
“You’re right, Talon. That is a big ask. That changes the past and possibly the future.”
“I know.”
“You’re willing to risk everything you have at this moment for Callum to have this chance?”
I stared into her green eyes and thought about it deeply. “After all the risks he took for my daughter, I will take this risk for him.”
She stared at me for a long time, her hair flowing beautifully around her, the fireflies hovering around her like she was their source of comfort. Minutes of heavy silence passed as she stared at me with unblinking eyes. “I shall honor your request.”
28
CALLUM
Lily lay beside me in bed, her beautiful, long hair on the pillow behind her, her eyes tired and desperate for sleep but too stubborn to close. The fire burned, crackling and popping, and the rain continued to fall outside, gently tapping on the roof.
I brushed my fingers through her hair as I looked at her beside me, the single most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. There was no tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, no future plans or worries that could break this moment we had together. I’d dreamed of the day I could call her my wife—and I made her my wife every night.
Her tired eyes continued to look at me. Her fingers rose and gently touched my jawline, feeling the coarse hair from my beard. They lightly played with me before she moved her lips to mine and gave me the softest kiss.
I’d thought I was damned to the underworld for all eternity, and now, I swore I was in the light of the Realm of Caelumevery day. In love with a powerful goddess who had somehow chosen me to share her kingdom for an eternity.
I’d thought I couldn’t love her more, but the second she became my wife, that love deepened to a new level. Deep enough that it hurt my chest, made me appreciate her that much more. I was in love with a woman I would literally do anything for, but I was also in love with a woman who would do anything for me.
Even trade her soul for mine to set me free.
I’d thought I loved Anya and she loved me, but that love wasn’t true.
This one was.
“What are you thinking?” she whispered.
I dipped my head to her bare shoulder and kissed her flesh. Kissed her collarbone and then the hollow of her throat. Continued to kiss her as I rolled her to her back and moved between her thighs to make love to her again, wanting to be close to her every moment we were apart, because lying together in bed next to the fire just wasn’t close enough.
Lily was still in bed when I got up.
