“I am willing to take the risk to help Ruby,” she told him. “But I don’t think I can do the same with you, Kaz. If doing this means that I putyouin danger… I’ve done that enough. I can’t lose you, either. I’m at peace with this giving up, big guy. I promise.”
Well, at peace might be stretching it a bit.But she accepted it. Weighed against Kaz’s life, it wasn’t worth the risk. There was nothing more to be said.
“I could call Teddy,” he offered, clearly distraught by her decision to give up on the conference for his sake. “I could try and convince him to send a squad out to help us.”
Atria turned to face him more fully. Cradling his hand in her lap, she massaged soothing circles in the meat of his callused thumb. “My mate,” she murmured, “you know that won’t work. We’ve done all this becauseyouknow your brother would do the smart thing and drag us back to the EVP without hesitation.”
“Then I’ll call in favors,” he insisted, desperate now. “I’ll— there’s a few people I know who owe me a major favor. The weres owe me, and the McCorans would be smart to try and get back into our good graces after the shit they pulled. I could ask Shade to—”
She reached across the console to press the very tips of her fingers to his lips. “Kaz, it’s okay. I don’t want you owing anyone or being forced to put trust in people who could betray you for the right price. You said yourself that most of your contacts are criminals just as likely to take the bounty as anyone else.”
He squeezed his eyes shut. “Atria…”
“Kazimier Rione.” She skated her fingers upward, over the curve of his arrow-shaped jaw and up to the chiseled arch of his magnificent cheekbone. Her skin tingled where it touched his, and when she reached inside herself, she felt her magicsingingfor him.
I can’t lose him. Nothing would ever be worth that pain. Not when I just found him.
“Big guy,” she whispered. “My mate. Let’s go home. I want to see your apartment. I want to meet the parrots who sit on your balcony in the morning. I want to go to your favorite bar. I want you to show me around the city and fuck me in the back ofyourcar.” When the corner of his lips kicked up, she smiled back. “Let’s throw our weight behind trying to unravel who was paying Norm and contribute something to the hunt for Ruby. Everything else— It’s like you said. What does it matter if I change the world tomorrow or three years from now, really?”
Kaz tilted his head into her hand. For a moment, he looked at her, brows pinched, before she caught the slightest tremble of his chin. “It’s your dream, princess. Itdoesmatter.”
Cupping his jaw, she leaned in close to whisper, “Dreams change. When you find the person you’re meant for, they become fuller — better for having that person to share them with. I wouldn’t trade that for anything, Kaz.”
“Are you sure?”
“If it was just me, I wouldn’t hesitate to go,” she answered honestly, “but I’m not risking you, Kaz. Never again.Thatis what I’m sure of.”
Relief. Sorrow. Joy. Gratitude. Shame. Affection.
Kaz’s emotions swirled in a steady current around her. For once, they were equally clear in his eyes. “We’ll find her,” he vowed, baritone deepening. “I promise you, Atria, I’ll make sure Ruby gets home safe.”
“I know, big guy.” She closed the distance between them to press a soft, reverent kiss to his lips. “I know.”
They lingered in the car for a while longer, letting their choice settle. Eventually, when the cold began to seep in, Kaz reluctantly pulled back and motioned toward the home.
“We should get ready to go, then. I’ll call Teddy in the morning. We probably won’t be given any time to pack.”
No, I imagine not.Atria stifled a wince. She didn’t know much about the sovereign’s temperament, but she really hoped Kaz wouldn’t be in too much trouble when they finally stepped back onto elvish territory.
Perhaps sensing her worry, Kaz gave her knee a comforting squeeze before he moved to climb out of the vehicle. “Don’t worry. Teddy will be pissed, but he’ll be happier to have us home safe.”
He closed the driver’s side door and circled around to open hers. Just before he put his fingers on the handle, she muttered, “I sure hope so.”
She wasn’t entirely sure where the line for treason was, but surely the sovereign wouldn’t throw his own brother in jail.Right?
Hopping out of the car, she held his hand as he led her across the driveway and back into the homestead. “I’ll miss this place,” she told him, looking around the sitting room wistfully. She’d never really had a home of her own, so she’d grown attached to the cozy homestead where she’d made so many rich memories with her mate.
“Why would you miss something you own?” he asked, giving her a teasing look as they walked by the sofa, the empty fireplace, and into the underground hallway that led to the bedroom.
The heaviness began to leave the air as if their decision, painful as it was, had finally allowed them to breathe easier. Atria even managed a real smile. “Do I, now? I didn’t realize you’d given it to me.”
Kaz tugged her along. “You’re my mate. Everything I have is yours.”
“You know, that’s something we really haven’t discussed,” she pointed out as they entered the bedroom. Despite their long absence, it was warm and cozy. The air smelled like them, and when she looked around to find her scarf hung on the back of the door, his t-shirt thrown over the dresser, the parted curtain around the messy nest, she tried to imagine a new nest, a new home where they would make more memories.
“What?” he asked, dropping to his knees to pull her empty suitcase from under the bed.
“How all that stuff is going to work. You know, the nitty-gritty of mating.”
