“How do you do?” Killian asked, taking Ihsan’s teeny hand in his own and shaking it gently.
“The pleasure’s all mine,” Elyse squeaked from the corner of her mouth.
Killian laughed, and the sound was the perfect addition to the merriment surrounding them. Her heart swelled with so much happiness, she nearly felt dizzy.
“I didn’t know you like babies,” Killian mused as he glanced from Ihsan to Elyse.
“I love them for a few hours at a time,” Elyse answered, bobbing Ihsan to the beat of the music. “Doesn’t everyone?”
“I prefer them when they’re a few years older and have a bit more personality,” Killian said. He gave Ihsan’s foot a tiny squeeze. “Though, these little feet are irresistibly cute.”
“So, does that mean youwant kids of your own?” Elyse asked with a smirk.
Killian raised his brows. “Are we having this conversation?”
“Humor me,” she said casually.
Killian continued to wiggle Ihsan’s feet, though the infant remained aloof to the action. “Maybe one day,” he answered vaguely. “You?”
“Maybe one day,” Elyse repeated his words.
Killian let go of Ihsan’s foot and turned toward the party. “And what about all this?” he asked, gesturing at the gardens.
Elyse followed his gaze, scanning the revelers and their broad smiles. “Do you mean a wedding? Or marriage in general?”
“Both, I suppose,” Killian answered. “Humor me,” he added with a wink.
Elyse pursed her lips to the side as she considered. “I can’t say I’ve thought about it much,” she admitted. “First, I never thought I’d be able to reveal my secrets about Lazarus to anyone, so I figured I’d be alone, like my mother. Then I had the widow’s decay,” she continued, bristling at the memory of the disease that Privya had cured her of. “Anything regarding weddings or marriage was always a distant fantasy for me.”
Killian nodded, remaining quiet. He never acted uncomfortable or pitying. He never offered hasty condolences, as if doing so would erase the past. He simply let her words be truth, nothing more or less. She loved that about him
“Well, what do you plan to do after we defeat Lazarus?” he asked. “You’ll have total freedom. No secrets, no warrants, no rituals. What then?”
Elyse didn’t dare feed the hope that was blooming in her chest. She kept it at bay, but didn’t snuff it out entirely. She’d dreamt of the day when she could put Lazarus behind her, but she never allowed herself to look too closely at that life. There was still too strong a possibility they wouldn’t all make it out alive.
But if she let herself peek at that prospect of a future, she saw various things. Killian was always there, of course. Sometimes they were young, sometimes old. Sometimes there were children, other times not. Manny and Sera made appearances, too, along with Mrs. Southwick, Corin, and Nina. Privya had been in those glimpses, but that, Elyse realized with a pang, would never be.
“There is one thing for certain,” she started. She lifted her gaze to Killian, letting her emotions show on her face. “If I survive, and Lazarus is ended, then I’m closing the Emporium for good.”
A hint of surprise flashed across Killian’s face, but he let her go on.
“I’ve never truly liked it. Most of the customers are idiots, and I hated dealing with them. The shoppe was always my mother’s dream.”
“What do you want to do instead?” Killian pressed.
“I don’t know,” Elyse said with a shrug.
“Well, you’d better figure it out. I have very expensive taste, and I expect to be taken care of.”
He grinned at her, and Elyse elbowed him in the side. A moment later, Ihsan spit up, dribbling down the front of his little outfit.
“Look what you’ve done,” Killian teased. “You’ve sickened him with your violence.”
Fortunately, Dah came rushing over. “I’ll take him, dear,” she assured Elyse. “He didn’t get any on you, did he?”
Elyse handed over the baby, then inspected her own dress. “No, it appears I’m safe.”
As Dah whisked Ihsan away, Killian slid behind Elyse. She would never tire of feeling his warrior’s body against her own, or the way his hands caressed her waist. His stubbled jaw prickled her cheek as he whispered in her ear, “What a shame. It would have been a good excuse to get you out of this dress.”
