He followed the bend of the River Wry, the path coming back to him like it was just yesterday that he’d last been here. He remembered the hope he’d felt as an eighteen-year-old, coming to meet Ena for their dinner under the stars. The way he’d been consumed by her even then—by her mind and her body and just fuckingeverythingabout the way she was.
Quietly, he emerged from the forest onto the rocky beach. The sky above was filled with stars, the clouds having parted to display the moonless sky. Their multitude of tiny lights shone down on Ena as she crouched by the edge of the water—watching.
She turned to look at Ty as he approached, and he could see her face was troubled.
The sight of it made him angry—he wanted nothing more than to destroy whatever it was that was making her upset. Just absolutely obliterate it so he could see her smile, see her laugh. But he knew he was powerless to do that, and that made him feel so damn inadequate.
He swallowed as he approached her. “Hey,” he said, his lame greeting belying the turmoil within.
“Hi,” she said, standing up.
“Are you alright?” he asked gently. It was a stupid fucking question. Of course she wasn’t alright.
“No,” she said, looking away as her eyes filled with tears. “I’m not.”
Ty rushed to her. He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her, comfort her. Would she let him? Did she want that too? Hefelt paralyzed by his uncertainty so he settled with something simpler.
Raising his hand, he pushed a strand of her dark hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear before cupping her cheek like the precious thing she was. She leaned into his hand, closing her eyes as if savoring his touch, but it clearly made her more sad, because tears started to flow down her cheeks, dripping onto his palm.
“Ena,” he whispered. “Don’t cry,” he said, knowing it was futile. She could cry if she needed to, he just hated to see it.
“Why are you here, Ty?” she asked, opening her damp eyes. “The spell’s over now. We did it. Greya will be back soon with Perse, and you should be—”
“No,” Ty said, his voice hard and angrier than he intended. “Don’t say it.”
“You should be going,” Ena pleaded. “You need to go, before other witches come, before…” She paused, taking a deep breath as if to steel herself. “You have a duty now. You need to go back to the Underworld and free them from Cole’s rule.”
“And what about you? Where will you go? What will you do? You and I know that the rest of the Covens won’t be as forgiving as your sister for what you and the others did. What if they don’t accept you back in as you’d hoped?”
Ena looked away from him, and he didn’t miss the way she refused to answer the question. And that settled it for him.
“Ena, look at me,” he commanded.
She turned her eyes back to his, and he lost himself in the deep blue of hers. The peace of the sky on a clear summer day and the mystery of a calm ocean was before him in her eyes. Constant and beautiful. Deep and restorative.
“I’ve made a decision,” Ty said, his voice calm and certain. “I’m not going back to the Underworld. I’m staying with you—here, if you want, or we can go into hiding if we need to. But I’mnot leaving you. I’m not putting others above you ever again. I can’t, so don’t ask me to.”
“What?” she asked, her eyes widening. “Ty, you can’t be serious. What about the rest of the daemons in the Underworld? What about everything you’ve been working towards for them? You’re the heir. You can’t just abandon them. I won’t ask you to do that.”
“I know you’re not asking me. I’m making a choice, Ena, and I choose you,” he said, his voice moving into desperation as fear crept in. What if she didn’t let him stay? “Ena, please, hear me out.”
He grasped both her hands in his, holding them tightly, close to his chest, so she could feel how much he meant this.
“The truth is, I’m selfish, and you need to know that. Yes, I’ve been working to break the bond to give my people a choice, I do want that, but deep down, the only reason I ever wanted to break the bond was so that we would have a chance to be together. I know that might sound terrible, but it’s the truth. None of this means anything without you. And I know I’m supposed to be king, but, fuck, I don’twantto be.”
He released one of her hands to run his own through his hair, attempting to soothe the agitation he felt now. He couldn’t even articulate how pissed he was at them all—his father, his mother, his uncle, Iblis and Gaia or whoever the fuck they were—for forcing him into this life, and he let that fire in him burn for her to see.
“For the first time in my life, I see a different path for myself. One not dictated by my blood or my uncle or my duty, but by me. WhatIwant. Andyouare what I want, Ena. I’m yours, and I can’t stop being yours. I’m so in love with you, so please. Don’t make me go. Let me stay. Let me be yours.”
Tears started to fall down Ena’s face anew until she was sobbing, and Ty’s heart sank. What was wrong? Did she notlove him back? Did she not want him to stay? Fear kept him paralyzed, and he clenched his jaw to steel himself for her rejection.
“Ty, there’s something I need to tell you,” she said, her voice broken and hurting. Something about the vulnerability in her eyes scared him. “I’m…I think I’m pregnant.”
Ty froze. Had he heard her right?
His brain was fractured; his mind was mush. He was somehow utterly incapable of processing this information.
In all of his wildest imaginings, he had not seen this coming.
