“We need to reschedule our meeting,” he says, ever thegood prince, everorganized, everbusiness minded. “I was…shall we say…looking forward to it and rather disappointed when you called to cancel.”
Sighing into a smile, I pat his back once and pull away, closing my hands into my sleeves. “I’ll let you know when we come up for air.”
Alexios whistles again, so I offer him my middle finger—more bonding, in case you didn’t know—and twist on my heel to finish making my way to my soulmate.
The love in her eyes heats me through. “Ready?” I ask as our hands latch together, fitting perfectly.
“Ready,” she confirms, then lowers her voice, “Unless you think we really should stop by home first. I’m a little worried about what Frelsi’s getting up to with all her new pixie friends…”
All her new pixie friendsbeing, of course, what happened when Heather renamed each piece of the statue that wound up accidentally broken.
I murmur, “I’m sure Eggbert has everything under control. And if he doesn’t, it’ll probably be fixable.”
Flickers of concern run across our bond. Then she scans me and remembers that she would actually prefer marriage to babysitting right now. “Yeah,” she says, softly, blushing, “you’re probably right.”
Not right enough to lose thatprobably, but I’ll take it.
I’ll take it, and I’ll take her through trod, after trod, after trod until we’re standing on the very same cliff I took her to before.
There, we talk of nothing, of everything. We share vow, after vow, promising love eternal, love unending. Together, we wait for the sun to crest the sky, and when it does, it battles her wings for brightness. I watch the scene unfold, soaking the warmth in.
It is here—in plain terms, for the first time—that my soulmate tells me she loves me.
And it is here—in plain terms, for the first time—that I believe myself worthy of love.
It’s an odd experience, to be sure. Feeling a subatomic shift inside oneself may always be…
But, as far as I’m concerned, I shall always consider this ability to grow, to change, tobecomemore in the face of anything…what it means tobefae.
And to be fae?
Is perfectly normal.
Alice
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The beginning.
Shortly thereafter…
As the final word writes itself onto the manuscript between my fingers, I smile and let the full stack of pages flutter until I am staring at a, truly, obnoxious title.
Falling in Love with My Unseelie Kidnapper, huh?
“It’s giving…paid by the word, Camilla.”
Casting a look toward my library of enchanted tomes, I snort and pluck Camilla’s free from beside Citrus’s retired journal. I open the heavy leatherbound up to our last correspondence and find a single, judging word.
Rude.
A further statement etches itself into existence.
Clearly, it’s intentionally a Fall Out Boy title.
Uh-huh.
My eyes roll, but I’m smiling. “Did Frank tell you that one?”
