She flipped the lock on the door behind her with aclick, and suddenly, Julius understood what was going on.
“Oh,” he said as his heart began to hammer. “That is, I mean…”
He had no idea what he meant. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to matter. Marci had already closed the distance, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck as she pulled him down for a kiss.
Julius jumped when their lips met. Practically leaped out of his skin. She’d clearly anticipated that, though, because Marci’s grip on his neck just clenched tighter, keeping her locked against him as she started walking them both backward toward his bed.
It was at this point that Julius’s brain started to fail him, which was a serious problem, because he’d never needed to think more. This was all happeningwaytoo fast. Marci had just come back from the dead. They were in the middle of a magical apocalypse. He needed a chance to decompress and process it all. He needed totalkto her about all the things he hadn’t gotten a chance to say before she’d died: how much he needed her, that he loved her, that he’d never missed anyone as much as he’d missed her. Everything he’d spent the last week desperately repeating to her memory was still there, eating at him.
He needed to get that out, but he couldn’t bring himself to push Marci away. She was just soclose. So here and alive and kissing him and…and…
His thoughts were still stuttering when they reached the bed. The moment the back of his legs brushed the mattress, Julius’s knees gave way, and they both dropped down together. It wasn’t until Marci’s hands left his shoulders and slid down his chest to grab the hem of his shirt, though, that Julius finally realized if he was going to say anything, it had to be now.
“Wait,” he gasped, grabbing her hands as he sat up. “Stop for a second.”
The hurt that flashed over Marci’s face sent him into a panic. “It’s not like that,” he said as fast as he could. “I want this, but—”
“Good,” she said, leaning back in with a smile. “I want this, too.”
He grabbed her arms. “Marci,” he said, voice shaking. “You weredead.”
“Why do you think I’m in a hurry?” she asked irritably, struggling against his hold. “I already lost everything once. I’m not wasting any more time.”
“Neither am I,” he promised. “But I can’t let this go any further without…without saying…”
Marci went very still. “Without saying what?”
Julius clenched his hands. Here it went. “I love you.”
She took a deep, satisfied breath. “You love me,” she repeated, savoring each word.
“Not a little, either,” he added. “A lot. And this isn’t just something I only realized after you died. I’ve loved you for a long time, but I never said anything because I didn’t want to hurt our friendship and because it would make so many problems for you.”
She stared at him like he was crazy. “Why would you loving me be aproblem?”
“How can you ask that?” he cried. “I’ve caused nothing but problems for you! Gregory tried tokillyou—”
“And I kicked his butt.”
“—and things are only going to get worse now that I’m a clan head. I’ve nearly died three times in the four days you were dead. I can’t ask you to be part of that. It was my fault you diedthistime.”
“You’re not asking me,” she said angrily, yanking her arms out of his grip at last. “I’mchoosing. You think you’re the only one with a crazy life? I’m a Merlin now. You’ve already seen how scary that can get, and you weren’t even there for the stuff on the other side. Is that going to scare you off loving me?”
“No,” he said immediately.
“Exactly,” Marci said. “So stop expecting me to be different.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I amwellacquainted with the dangers of being your girlfriend, Julius Heartstriker. I’ve seen it all, and none of it has changed my mind. So if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to sample thebenefitsof our relationship for once before I die again.”
Julius went pale. “That isn’t funny.”
“It wasn’t meant to be,” she said firmly. “I’m only saying it so you’ll understand I’m going into this with eyes wide open. I know what you are, and I know what that means, and it doesn’t change a thing. You’ve always been the one I wanted. There’s nothing you can say at this point that’s going to change my mind, so while I know you mean well, kindlycut it out. I love you. I want this. End of story.”
That was pretty clear, but Julius couldn’t help it. “You love me?”
“Duh,” she said as her cheeks turned red. “In case kissing you in the hotel wasn’t a big enough hint, I’ve had a crush on you pretty much forever.”
He was grinning like a happy idiot by the time she finished, and Marci rolled her eyes. “So is there anything else embarrassing you want me to admit, or can we go ahead and do this? Because I’m not sure how much of a breather we’ll get in this crisis, and I’d rather not miss what might be our only chance to—”
Julius pulled her back against him. She responded in kind, frantically kissing him back as she pushed off the floor with her foot to send them both tumbling backward into the bed.
