“I can’t promise anything. Don’t die again, and nothing will happen. Simple as that.”
“For you, I’ll try not to, sweet fire.” He kissed her on her lips, so naturally, so effortlessly, so unexpectedly, that her nerves sent goosebumps to every single part of her body, her eyes widening beyond measure as she stilled as if she had been punched in the gut.
“Do you—can you—” she started.
“Love you?” he cocked an eyebrow, side smiling. “Or hate you?”
She couldn’t form her words, so she just nodded, eyes still wide. She was suddenly very aware of her messy, post-sleep-in-a-cuddle red hair, but was too shocked to sort it out.
“Both,” he said with a wink.
“Both?!” she shouted, indignation expanding in her chest. “What do you mean,both? Both my ass, as if—“
“No, I don’t hate your ass. Just my absolute love for that piece of art.”
Her jaw dropped for half a heartbeat before she snapped, “Oh, for Fifth’s damn sake.” She had missed him so much.
“I’ve held you for the past ten hours in my arms, unable to take my eyes or my mind from you, from your determination and passion, from your courage and lack of fear. Of course I love you, Lenna. More than I ever knew was possible, more than I need air to breathe, more than anything in this world and any other.”
“Every second I couldn’t love you will not be recovered,” he continued, “but I somehow now love you even more than before, because I know exactly what I could lose. I will never take you or your love for granted. I will protect you with everything I have, because all I want is a life with you, loving, kissing, making love, teasing. All Ineedis you.”
Tears couldn’t stop flooding her cheeks, her heart so exposed, so raw, it might as well have been outside her chest. The biggest fear she had held for months was finally cracking into pieces. Her man was back. Fully back.
Hers were painful tears for the past, joyful tears for the present, hopeful tears for the future.
His arms pressed her tighter against his strong body, and he let her cry until her tears dried out, whispering, “You’re safe,” “I’ve got you,” and “We’re together now and will always be,” now and then. Her heart felt steady and stable when she pulled back to look at him.
“I almost forgot,” she said. “The Queen’s piece of heart—where is it? You didn’t touch it with your hands, did you?”
“I took care of it. It’s destroyed, along with half of my House.”
“You’re joking.”
Jake shrugged. “I’m not. Half of my House is on the ground. Nothing some bricks and magic can’t fix, but we will need to decide if we want to rebuild it or leave it as it is. I always thoughtit was too big. It was my first time using the Fifth Power. I underestimated it.”
We.
We.
Wewant to rebuild.
She screamed, covering her wide grin with both hands.
He lifted his eyebrows, brushing his black hair backwards with his fingers, and Lenna wasn’t sure how aware he was of exactly how much her heart was jumping in a wild, happy dance. He said, “I almost forgot. Do you know what you did by killing the East Cardinal?”
She lifted her eyebrows. “Kill a Harming pain in the ass?”
“And?”
She bit her bottom lip, and his gaze stayed there. “And cause a panomquake, I guess? I was too busy trying to save you to pay attention to anything else.”
“And separated the East Petal from the rest of Thyria.”
She gasped loudly. “No, I fucking did not.”
He snorted, grinning. “Yes, you fucking did.”
Placing a hand on the back of her neck, Jake moured them to the edge of the East Petal. Not to the East shore, where the Radel Sea expanded to the horizon, but to the West shore, where a mass of water separated them from the Core. Bloody hell above. One thing was to hear it, but seeing it with her own eyes was much more than shocking. It was excitingly powerful.
