I knew her sister well, and she more than forgave her. “I’m sure she thinks there’s nothing to forgive. Your sister loved you, Tee, more than you’ll ever know. We both agreed you were the best of the three of us.”
“Do you still miss her?”
I waited for the pain, because usually it was difficult for me to even think about losing Regina, but … there were just fond memories of the supe I once loved. “I haven’t missed her for a long time.” Admitting this truth out loud felt almost cathartic. “But I still mourn her loss. The world needs more Montgomerys in it. But … my heart no longer aches for her. When I stopped punishing myself, I realized that I moved on a long time ago.”
“Could you move on from me?” she asked, and this time the pain was swift and brutal. Before I could think twice about it, I followed her energy and somehow arrived right in front of her. I’d never done anything quite like that before … it wasn’t a step-through, more like … instant transmission.
“W-what?” she said, her mouth ajar as the phone fell from her hand.
I moved closer, drinking in the sight of her. My heart ached and burned at her red, swollen eyes and tearstained cheeks. I brushed away the last of the moisture, desperate to touch her again. I found myself cupping her face, breathing in everything about her. “I will never be able to move on from you.” This was the absolute truth I held in my heart. “If you were no longer in this world, then I would follow you to the next one. Not for a moment did I consider it with Regina, but for you, there’s no other option. I’ve been with you for years, even if you didn’t know I was there. As long as you were okay, I left you be. But now … now that I’ve touched and tasted and loved you, I cannot leave you again.”
Part of me was begging, something I’d never done before in my life, but I’d never wanted anything the way I wanted her.
A million emotions flashed across her silvery eyes, and I felt through our bond the moment she allowed herself to trust in it. In us. “Don’t break me,” she whispered, lifting herself up toward me.
I’d been dying to kiss her, so I wasted no time in pressing my lips to hers. Fire licked along my body and the energy between us veritably hummed. It was so strong even humans would have felt it.
“Are we really doing this?” she whispered huskily. “I mean, so many years, so much history. I can’t believe we are in this moment now.”
My eyes flicked behind to the gravestones, to her family cemetery. It had been years since I’d been back here, years since I felt the energy of Tee’s ancestors. Of Regina. There were so many memories here, at this farm and in the town where I grew up.
I understood why Tee was so emotional, but for me there was peace here now that hadn’t been there before. I pushed some of her hair back, mostly just needing to touch it.
“We’ve wasted too many years; I won’t waste any more. I need you, and more importantly I want you.”
She smiled, a bright, brilliant smile, and I had to kiss her again. I wasn’t sure what the hell I’d done to deserve this second chance, but I was never going to make her regret it.
20
Elizabeth Teresa Montgomery II
His kisses were addicting. Like, block everything else in the entire world and make me forget my damn name sort of addicting Unfortunately, we had run out of time to just sit around and explore this new bond between us. I could tell by the urgency in Louis’s voice that this meeting in Romania was not going to be as smooth as he’d hoped.
“They’re going to fight me on this,” he said. “Some of it is about power, but most of it is about what they think is the next logical step for supernaturals to take. But they’re not looking at the bigger picture, the long-term effect of what they’re doing. Until now we’ve still had all the power and control while managing to stay under the radar and not deal with the drama of humans. If we are integrated with the humans, we will take that drama on.” He pushed his hand into his hair, sending it up in spikes. “We’ll be targeted by them. And I, for one, don’t want to spend the rest of my life dealing with humans.”
My head was resting against his shoulder, his arm keeping me close to him. He had barely let me go since we finally saw each other again, and I had absolutely no issue with that. “What’s your plan, then? Is there any way that you can put this secret back in its box?”
His chest rumbled under my head, and he let out a long breath. “There’s a way. It’s going to be dangerous, and most probably won’t work completely, but there’s still one option left to us. If they hurry the hell up and agree to allow me to try.”
I pushed myself up and twisted so that I could see his face. Those arresting purple eyes still stole my breath away just like they had that first day we met when we were children. “I guess we’d better get to the sanctuary, then.” The meeting was basically due to start in the next few hours, and while I loved that Louis cared more about me than that, it was a pretty important meeting. He couldn’t miss it.
I scrambled to my feet and he followed. Both arms wrapped around me as he pulled me tighter into his chest, and for a moment I wondered how this had become my life. It felt like … too much. I’d been punishing myself for so long that to finally have something good happen, to finally have this perfect moment in my world … I kept waiting for it to crash down around me.
I had to stop thinking like that though—this would never work if I was continuously looking over my shoulder waiting for the big bad to hit us. Louis must have felt some of my darker thoughts creeping in through our bond, because a scowl brushed across his face, making it appear even more menacing—and gorgeous—than usual.
“Stop doubting us,” he said. “You’ve known me since we were children. We were best friends for years, and I’ve adored you since you were a tiny doe-eyed girl with more hair than sense. The fact that you are my true mate as well is just a bonus, because I would have chosen you any day. I did choose you. Despite us getting our wires crossed for a little while there.”
His words hurt, but in a good way. He didn’t disregard my sister or the feelings that they had shared, but he made it clear that I wasn’t second choice to him. I never had been.
I hugged him close as magic roared around us, and before I could blink we were no longer at the farm. I had never been to the sanctuary, though I had heard much about it over the years. I knew it was based roughly on the jeweled lands in Faerie, and that it was designed to house and hide supernaturals from the world. If the council leaders got their way and continued this push for human-supernatural integration, would most of us end up here? Hidden away? Never free again?
I wasn’t sure how many supes were usually here—some supes called this place home—but when we arrived there were thousands packing the place. The sanctuary was filled with so much power and energy that as I walked through the town hand in hand with Louis, tingles ran up and down my skin and across my neck.
“When was the last time that this many supernaturals would have gathered like this?” I asked him.
Louis spent a few moments acknowledging people, nodding and shaking hands, before he said, “There was a pretty large gathering when we took on the Dragon King, but that was still nothing compared to this.”
Familiar guilt scraped away at my insides, and I wondered if I would ever forgive myself for ignoring that call. Louis’s hand wrapped tightly around mine, and before I could blink I was hauled into his body, his hard chest slamming against my cheek. “We’re gonna stop this right now, Tee.” He was looking so fiercely at me that I lost all urge to argue. I really wanted to climb him and fuse my mouth to his. To taste those full lips. Because it was kinda hot the way he thought he could boss me around. Hot and annoying.
