“Almost,” I emphasized.
He didn’t reply.
I tilted my face so I could see his. “So, what do we do about this curse?”
His chest rose and fell with a deep breath. “I don’t know.”
With a sigh, I settled more fully against him. The morning sun grew brighter, warmer, but even with that—and evencombined with the heat of Aleks—I still felt as if I were sitting at the bottom of a cold, dark pit with all the answers I needed impossibly high above me.
I sat in that pit for several more minutes before I found the strength to try and climb my way out.
“I’m going to go talk to my brother,” I told Aleks. “You should just rest for now.”
He caught my hand as I tried to stand.
He said nothing at first. He only held me with a steady, assured grip, the sunrise washing over his face and making his eyes gleam like polished gold.
I gave him a bemused look. “What is it?”
“I love you.”
I went perfectly still.
“I tried to tell you in Midna last night,” he said. “And I should have said it much sooner than that.”
Slowly, I relaxed, warmth melting through me and coaxing my lips into a small smile. “For what it’s worth, I think that love was implied when you took multiple blades for me a few weeks ago. And that wasn’t even the first time you’d saved me.”
He shook his head. “That isn’t enough. And now isn’t the time, maybe, but I just needed you to actually hear those words. I need you to hear them over and over again until you can’t possibly forget them, no matter what happens next.”
I twisted more fully around, straddling his lap and looking him directly in the eyes.
It hit me in a rush that left me dizzy: All the times I’d rehearsed this conversation in my head, waiting for him to say those three words to me. How many times I’d thought them myself. How I’d fallen in love with every part of him—the good, the bad, the messy—and how desperately I didn’t want to lose any of it.
No matter what happens next.
I leaned forward, pressing my lips to his. He pushed his hands through my hair, weaving his fingers into a tighter grip against the back of my head, pulling me more fully to him.
For several minutes, we were lost in a sea of soft kisses and sunlight, in waves of warmth that carried us far away from the horrors and questions of the night we’d just fought our way through.
It was the sound of a familiar, distant horn that eventually brought us back to reality—guards at the gatehouse announcing visitors. Likely a sign of a long day to come, and a reminder that I needed to speak with my brother before he got swept up in more meetings.
I closed my eyes against the thought. When I opened them again, Aleks still held on to me, his hands resting on my sides with a possessive grip. But he was staring out the window.
And maybe it was merely a shift in the light—the morning sun moving on—but his gaze seemed darker.
Another horn sounded from the gatehouse, jolting me into action.
I planted one last soft kiss on Aleksander’s cheek, whispering as I pulled away: “I love you, too.”
I raninto Phantom after leaving my room. He was sitting in the middle of the hallway as though he’d just been waiting for an opportunity to fix me with one of his judgmental stares.
Typical.
“What?” I demanded.
(How long do you really think you can hide him?)
“I’m nothidinghim, I just…”
