Kurtz turned to Rilla. “And how did you know Thusk was captured?”
Rilla smirked. “I paid a man to follow you.”
Mistel clicked her tongue. “Well, you should have demanded a refund, because Thusk’s men were caught, but he wasn’t.”
“Yet,” Kurtz murmured.
“In the name of King Gidon Hadar, you are both under arrest,” Cole said, voice ringing firm from outside the door. “You will be held on Ice Island as you await your trial.”
Verdot whimpered again, but Rilla just glared at Kurtz.
“This is your fault,” she said.
“No,” he said. “I’m done taking the blame for someone else’s crimes.”
“We’ll put them in the Cliffwatch dungeon for tonight,” Zanna said.
“I’ll help.” Kurtz grabbed Rilla’s arm and dragged her toward the door. “We’ll need Lord Livna to appoint a new warden first thing tomorrow.”
“The king says he’ll speak to Lord Livna,” Cole said. “He thanks us for our service.”
Mistel brushed ash from her sleeve and curtsied. “The pleasure was entirely ours.”
“While we’re gone,” Kurtz said, “see what evidence you can salvage from that brazier.”
As Kurtz and Zanna led Verdot and Rilla out of the office, Mistel’s heart swelled. It was over. Truly over. They’d completed their mission.
She threw her arms around Cole and pressed a kiss to his jaw. “We did it! The pieces of this twisted puzzle are finally falling into place.”
He smiled, gaze warm and steady on hers. He slid his hands around her waist and pulled her close. “Wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.” He brushed a kiss to her lips. “I love you, Mistel Wepp.”
She pulled back just enough to see the sincerity in his hazel eyes. “I love you too.”
The words came so easily, it startled her, but the truth of them hummed through her bones like a chord. For so long, she’d chased adventure like it was the only thing that made her feel alive. But Cole, he was an adventure she’d never seen coming. The kind that anchored her instead of pulling her apart.
He loved her. And she loved him back. His wit and worry, his thoughtfulness and courage. And oh, that voice. She could listen to him sing forever.
“I suppose that makes the whole ‘pretend cousin’ thing a little awkward,” she said, grinning up at him.
Cole laughed and kissed her again, this time slower, sweeter.
For once, Mistel didn’t care what came next. The kingdom could wait. The world could wait. She had everything she needed, right here in his arms.
Chapter 44
Cole
Four months later
The chilled wind pushed against Cole’s back as he stood at the bow of the Zephyr, a sturdy cog slicing through the waves, bound for Land’s End. The rhythmic creak of the mast and the ever-present crash of the sea against the hull filled his ears, adding to the joy of the moment.
His father stood beside him.
Crispen West. Alive. Free.
Even after all this time, Cole still couldn’t believe it.
Over the past months, he’d gotten to know the man a little. There had been much to do in Tsaftown. Prince Oren had wanted them to find Renshaw Thusk, and they’d tried to no avail. Though they had also followed his associates and Sir Fenris’s remaining Howlers, and with the help of Nash Erlichman, found evidence to implicate dozens. This they passed along to Lord Livna who rounded up the villains and found them new accommodations in the Ice Island prison under the fair oversight of Tom Raven, the new warden.
