The crowd waited, and the crew grew uneasy waiting for me. The ceremony demanded its rhythm, but all I could hear was the echo of Demi’s words and the pounding of my heart.
I did the only brave thing I could think of. I was going to risk everything. My career, my reputation, even life as I knew it—all of it.
“Demi,” I whispered. “Maybe it’s not too late to architect your love story. Our love story.”
A collective gasp rippled through the circle before fading into a deafening hush. Even the harps ceased to play. But it didn’t take long for the crowd’s silence to collapse into murmurs. I didn’t care.
I drew Demi to me, her body trembling against mine, her eyes wide with shock and something else—something that looked like hope.
Above us, the moon crested the horizon, spilling silver light across her hair until it blazed like fire. I could feel that the gods themselves were watching. Her father. Zeus.
“My love,” I whispered, my voice breaking but steady enough to carry, so there was no question as to what I was doing. What I was laying on the line. “No matter what happens tonight, I will search all the earth and heavens and even hell for you. Even if you were to forget who you are, I would find you and remind you. If I were a god among men, I would give that all up for you. I will only live in any world you are a part of. I love you.”
The words hung in the air as if waiting to see if they were enough to unlock Demi’s heart. The crowd froze, the ceremony suspended, and the world itself had paused to see how it would all turn out.
And then I felt it.
Every part of me connected with her heart. Our two halves snapped into place with a force that stole my breath. A rush of warmth, memories, and truth surged through me—and I heard it all, felt it all.
There was no doubt that the man she had fallen in love with was me.
And to my horror, she had locked her heart because of me. Her soulmate. The one who had rejected her, despised her, blinded by her disappointing appearance, by the clothes, the glasses.
And all along she knew. Because her goddess had recognized me for who I was. No wonder she’d believed that part of her had lied to her. Her “soulmate” had rejected her.
A sickness like no other rose in me. It was merciless, but I deserved it. My knees threatened to buckle, the dais tilting beneath my feet.
But just as the pain was about to consume me, light flooded through every vein, every breath. All that Demi had done for me this summer became clear. The fake drama she’d manufactured. The way she’d humiliated herself. Even how she’d stayed away from me. Most importantly, her longing to have her heart back so that she could love me. And . . . she did love me. I could feel it.
“Roman,” she breathed out.
She clung to me, her voice trembling. “My heart. I feel it. It’s mine again,” she cried. “And it’s yours too, if you want it.”
Was there any question? “Of course I want it.”
“Oh good,” she laughed. “I suppose you know everything now,” she whispered.
“Everything,” I whispered back. My lips inched toward hers, but before I could taste them, a crack of lightning split the sky, thunder rolling so violently it shook the dais beneath our feet. A few in the crowd screamed and some stumbled back, their faces all lit in brilliant flashes of white.
And then—Eros appeared. His normally hidden wings unfurled. His face beamed like I’d never witnessed before. He bowed to both of us.
“You have rectified my mistake. Thank you.”
Chapter XLII
Demi
Inadaze,Istared at my father and everyone around us, who seemed to be frozen. Mouths gaping open mid-scream, eyes wide with terror. As if time itself had paused for everyone but us.
“Rectified your mistake?” I questioned. “What do you mean?”
My father cautiously approached us as if the space between us were hallowed ground.
I clung tighter to Roman, still a tad salty about this quest and the fact that it felt like my father and Zeus were gambling with my life. Talk about letting it get down to the wire. I was just glad Roman had said whatever magic words my father and Zeus needed to hear.
“My darling daughter, I have failed you twice.”
“Twice?”
