“I—what?” It took a moment for his words to sink in.
He pressed a kiss to her cheek, sending shivers of warmth down her spine. “Boris would need a lot more than a glamourto make me mistake someone else for you. I’m a Bird Catcher. I know a swan when I see one—or when I don’t.”
Relief swept through her, leaving her body in a breathy laugh. “Really?”
“Really. Katrin is lovely, but she isn’t you. I know what the song of your soul sounds like. It matches mine.” He blew out a slow breath, as if preparing himself for something potentially unpleasant. “But before I go any further, I need to make sure?—”
“I love you,” she blurted, the words tumbling from her lips.
He was so still for a moment she was afraid that he hadn’t heard her. “You love me?”
“I don’t know why either of you are surprised. You’ve both been dancing around it for weeks.”
“Thank you, Bean,” Jax drawled. Odessa could hear the smile in his voice.
“He’s right, though,” she admitted. “I knew that night we danced beside the lake that I was falling in love. If I had just been honest instead of running away, this could have all been avoided.”
“Funny. Drosselmeyer said something very similar to me.”
She straightened. “You saw your wizard friend?”
“He showed up last night. He does that—pops in without warning to dispense wisdom and general life advice and maybe cause a little mischief before disappearing again.”
“So you’re going home?”
“Eventually, but not without you. Which brings me to the topic of your curse.”
She turned halfway so that she could face him. “The curse is broken.”
He blinked at her, stunned. “It…it is? How?”
“Bean broke it. He said thatIwas his hoard, which I suppose was enough undying devotion to satisfy the stipulations of the curse.”
Odessa could practically taste the general sense of smugness in the air radiating from Bean.
“Oh.” Jax’s face fell. “I mean, I’m happy for you. Of course I’m happy for you. Am I a little disappointed that I wasn’t the one who promised undying love and affection and was beaten to the punch by a giant lizard?—”
“Swan,”Bean interrupted.
“A giant lizard with an identity problem?” Jax forged on. “Sure. Am I miffed that I won’t get to seal my pledge of devotion with a kiss? Absolutely. Will I allow it to drive a wedge between me and said lizard? Probably not. But I am happy the curse was broken.”
Odessa rolled her eyes. “Are you finished?”
“I don’t know. Give me a minute.”
“You realize you can still kiss me, right?”
He paused. “I can?”
“Please.” She linked her hands behind his neck. “I should have kissed you that night by the lake.”
Jax’s eyes twinkled mischievously. “You did kiss me by the lake, remember? It’s how we met.”
“For the last time, Jax, Idid not kiss you!”
“I don’t know. Our lips touched, our breath mingled. Well, your breath mingled. Mine was out of commission. I think that?—”
Odessa, tired of his ridiculousness, grabbed the collar of his shirt in her fist and pulled his mouth to hers. His surprise lasted only a heartbeat before he melted into her, threading his fingers through the hair at the back of her head and drinking her in as if he had drowned again and she was the air he needed to survive.
